Date	Saturday, 16 January 2021
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 4:1 Aberdeen
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance
Referee	Bobby Madden
Comments	Match Report Report by Andrew Southwick for the BBC. Played Behind Closed Doors Ross County 4 Aberdeen 1 Aberdeen suffered a "horrible afternoon" said manager Derek McInnes as they were hammered 4-1 by Ross County in Dingwall. To make matters worse, Jonny Hayes, Ross McCrorie and Ash Taylor were all injured in the rout. Ross County rose off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership with their first home league win since the opening day of the season. "At both ends of the pitch we weren't good enough," said McInnes. Oli Shaw and Charlie Lakin drove County into an early 2-0 lead before an Alex Iacovitti own goal on the stroke of half-time gave Aberdeen hope. But as the visitors faltered in front of goal, Shaw scored again before Jermaine Hylton made it four. "I'm as disappointed by the last 10 minutes as I was by the opening," McInnes told BBC Scotland. "We have two players leaving here on crutches, it's been a horrible afternoon for us." It is the second win in six games under Hughes since he took charge last month, and moves them up to 10th in the table. However for Aberdeen, it is now just one win in their past five games as they fall to fourth. It is a result that will send shockwaves through the north-east. Within seconds of kick-off, they were behind amid a calamity in the Dons defence. Andrew Considine's pass was loose, and Tommie Hoban fell over in the box while cutting out Lakin's pass to gift away possession. But, despite a flurry of red shirts, no-one could get close to Shaw, who in the confusion drove a shot low into the bottom left-hand corner. Passes went astray and it got all too scrappy at times, but both sides were getting forward. Aberdeen threatened through Curtis Main and Sam Cosgrove, but just as they began to look more dangerous County stunned them with a second. Lakin collected the ball in space on the left of the six-yard box and sneaked the ball into the bottom corner. Every time Hughes' side marched forward they looked like scoring as Aberdeen's defence wobbled, and Regan Charles-Cook's cross was begging for a blue shirt to knock it in, while Lakin had a long shot that just deflected wide. Yet Aberdeen looked like they too had a goal in them. Home goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw made point-blank saves twice from Scott Wright, Lewis Ferguson had a free-kick deflected over, and Hoban and Cosgrove both had strong penalty shouts. But they did get a break when Hoban's header deflected off County defender Iacovitti and trundled over the line to pull one back before the break. The story of Aberdeen's game was summed up in one attacking move. Wright made a great pass to Matty Kennedy on the right, whose ball across goal expertly found Cosgrove. But the striker, once so deadly in that position, let it slip through his legs. But County were not only repelling what Aberdeen had, they found a second wind going forward. Shaw struck a shot from distance that just whistled the post, but he made no mistake when Ross Draper's header fell to him and he hit it first time past Joe Lewis to seal the three points. Even then they were not done. The gloss was put on the result when Hylton raced on to a pass, Lewis' attempted clearance bounced off him, and he just had to knock it home to add a fourth. It is now a second win under Hughes, just one short of their entire haul under Stuart Kettlewell this season. They both have come against Hibernian and Aberdeen - sides in the top four of the Premiership - suggesting perhaps their best stuff is reserved for the better sides in the division. Aberdeen created plenty of chances, but the once-prolific Cosgrove is struggling to find his old form while Main cut a frustrated figure again. In defence they simply fell apart, and an unhappy Aberdeen support will be asking questions of the result. Ross County manager John Hughes: "What they [the players] have given me since I've come in is they give me everything they've got. No matter who we play, win or lose, they'll know they've been in a game. I've got a committed bunch of boys. To get a reward like that, I'm really pleased for them. "That victory is for the chairman and everyone at the club." Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: "The defending wasn't good enough. At both ends of the pitch we weren't good enough. We created numerous chances. At half-time it was about trying to pick up where we left off. But some of the chances we missed were not good enough."
Ross County
Manager	John Hughes
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 2: Connor Randall, 5: Callum Morris, 8: Oliver Shaw 2 1, 11: Iain Vigurs, 14: Jermaine Hylton 1, 16: Alexander Iacovitti 1, 17: Regan Charles-Cook 1, 19: Charlie Lakin 1, 23: Jason Naismith, 24: Harrison Paton
Bench	31: Ross Munro, 6: Ross Draper, 7: Michael Gardyne, 9: Billy Mckay, 15: Keith Watson, 18: Stephen Kelly, 22: Jordon Tillson, 28: Tony Andreu, 43: Josh Reid
Aberdeen
Manager	Derek McInnes
Starting 11	Joseph Lewis, Thomas Hoban, Andrew Considine, Curtis Main, Ashton Taylor, Sam Cosgrove, Jonathan Hayes, Lewis Ferguson, Scott Wright, Matthew Kennedy, Ross McCrorie
Bench	Gary Woods, Shaleum Logan, Funso-King Ojo, Niall McGinn, Connor McLennan, Bruce Anderson, Dean Campbell, Miko Virtanen, Kieran Ngwenya