Date	Tuesday, 18 January 2022
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 3:1 Motherwell
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	2,423
Referee	John Beaton
Comments	Match Report Report by Nick McPheat for the BBC. Ross County 3 Motherwell 1 Manager Malky Mackay says his 10-man Ross County side were "galvanised" by Jordan Tillson's red card as they beat Motherwell to move five points clear of the Scottish Premiership's bottom two. County took the lead when Sondre Solholm swiped into his own net before the visitors deservedly levelled with Jordan Roberts' fine 20-yard strike. The game turned on Tillson's dismissal just before the hour, but the hosts rallied and regained the lead through Regan Charles-Cook, who then added a third from the spot. "I'm delighted for them," Mackay said. "It was a tough first half. Getting the goal to go into half-time was terrific. The sending off galvanised us. Off the back of that, every time we broke we looked a real threat. "I thought we defended really well. As a whole, the lads pulled together to make sure we went on to get a terrific win against a team flying high in the league." The victory keeps Mackay's side 10th, but they are now seven points clear of the foot of the table. County have been guilty of getting themselves involved in basketball-like encounters this season, but Mackay's side started this one in cagey fashion as Motherwell dominated the ball. The visitors created little with it, though, but began to show more threat when Kevin van Veen had a near-post effort blocked before Solholm's header looped over. County were dealt two blows when winger Joseph Hungbo and midfielder David Cancola had to come off injured. And they almost found themselves behind to go along with that bad fortune when Barry Maguire and Van Veen both had strikes from outside the area drift just wide of the right-hand post. But out of nowhere, the home side gained the lead in first-half stoppage time when the influential Charles-Cook beat Bevis Mugabi on the left before cutting inside and seeing an effort swiped in by Solholm. In a similar theme to the first half, the away side enjoyed the majority of the ball as they searched for a route back into the game, but were struggling to create until Roberts' stunner. Van Veen broke up the left and fed a ball across, allowing Roberts to take a touch and rifle a strike into the top-right corner. The game looked to have turned when Tillson saw red for a two-footed challenge on Liam Donnelly, but the 10 men of County found another gear. The hosts capitalised on cheap Motherwell defending as Dominic Samuel's cross could only be cleared as far as Charles-Cook, who finished low past Liam Kelly. And the County winger sealed an unlikely three points when a cross off Mugabi's hand allowed the Grenada international to slot a penalty home. To survive in this unforgiving league you need players to stand tall when the chips are down, and Mackay has that in abundance. After Roberts' equaliser and Tillson's red card, it looked like the game would only go one way. But County dug in and showed immense bravery to take the game to the 11 men of the visitors. Motherwell have had days like this with Tony Watt in the side, but Alexander's men were wasteful in their first game following the departure of their former attacking talisman. But a lot of that poor attacking play was in the Fir Park side's approach, with hopeful high balls a constant route to goal. More slack defending will also concern Alexander, an issue that will have to be addressed if the Lanarkshire club have any hope of remaining in the league's top four. Motherwell manager Graham Alexander: "We threw the game away. We were completely dominant right up to half-time. We had good opportunities to score and started the second half in same fashion. "The red card for them softened us up mentally. We played worse when they went down to 10 men and allowed them to play better. That's what happens when you take it easy."
Ross County
Manager	Malcolm (Malky) Mackay
Starting 11	31: Ashley Maynard-Brewer, 2: Connor Randall, 3: Jake Vokins, 4: David Cancola, 7: Blair Spittal, 8: Ross Callachan, 16: Alexander Iacovitti, 17: Regan Charles-Cook 2 (1 pen) 1, 20: Declan Drysdale, 23: Joseph Hungbo, 26: Jordan White
Bench	1: Ross Laidlaw, 9: Alexander Samuel, 10: Dominic Samuel, 18: Jack Burroughs, 19: Kayne Ramsay, 22: Jordon Tillson 1, 24: Benjamin Paton, 30: Matthew Wright, 32: Adam Mackinnon
Motherwell
Manager	Graham Alexander
Starting 11	Liam Kelly, Stephen O'Donnell 1, Bevis Mugabi, Nathan McGinley, Sondre Solholm Johansen 1, Barry Maguire, Liam Donnelly, Sean Goss, Kaiyne Woolery, Kevin van Veen, Jordan Roberts 1 1
Bench	Jake Carroll, Scott Fox, Darragh O'Connor, Callum Slattery, Justin Amaluzor, Dean Cornelius, Liam Grimshaw, Connor Shields, Peter Morrison