Date	Saturday, 17 March 2018
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 2:2 Hamilton Academical
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	3,586
Referee	Kevin Clancy
Comments	Match Report Report by Paul Mitchell for the BBC. Ross County 2 Hamilton Academical 2 Premiership bottom side Ross County moved to within three points of Partick Thistle after battling back to draw with Hamilton Academical. Jamie Lindsay got the break of the ball and fired in County's opener midway through the first half. Dougie Imrie equalised from the penalty spot after Lewis Ferguson had been fouled by Christopher Routis and Marios Ogboe's strike put Accies in front. But Andrew Davies volleyed the hosts level from close range. Hamilton, who are ninth, remain eight points clear of bottom spot and have two games in hand over the three sides below them. The pressure was on Ross County to start well and they did. Interim co-managers Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson had made personnel and formation changes with a three-man central defence and these alterations combined to produce a solid first-half display, which yielded a deserved lead. Lindsay - back in the starting line-up - had the misfortune to put through his own net to hand Hamilton the points when the sides last met but he scored at the right end this time. Davies sent a long ball that was collected by Billy Mckay and the striker's shot deflected into the path of Lindsay, who showed composure to finish from 10 yards out. Despite being on the front foot County could not find a second goal but Martin Canning's Hamilton were being troubled by the pairing of Alex Schalk and Mckay. Imrie was introduced at the interval and he took only a few minutes to make an impact as Hamilton shocked their hosts with a fast start. Routis tripped Ferguson and referee Kevin Clancy, who had waved away several previous claims, correctly pointed to the spot. Imrie sent goalkeeper Aaron McCarey the wrong way from 12 yards. Moments later Routis did not cope with a long ball and Ogboe was quick to pounce and drag a shot across the body of McCarey, which the keeper failed to keep out. However, County showed resilience and Davies marked his return after six games out with the equaliser, alert at the far post to turn in Schalk's deep corner having run unchallenged into the six-yard box. Schalk and Craig Curran, twice, came close but it was Curran's fellow substitute Michael Gardyne who had the best opportunity to win the game. He beat three players inside the box and fired into the side netting rather than passing to a team-mate. Ross County interim co-manager Steven Ferguson: "Anyone who was there today would see a group of players giving their all to win a game of football. "For 85 minutes I thought we were great and showed a togetherness and team spirit but we had a five-minute spell in the game that turned things on its head. "I thought we showed great character in turning it back round and getting the equaliser and we were looking to win the game. "The frustration is there for all to see but we look round the dressing room and we see how disappointed they are and they are as equally as frustrated as we are. We look at the positives and we'll take that into the [international] break." Hamilton Academical manager Martin Canning: "You could tell that Ross County were up for the game and I spoke to the boys all week about the importance of this and I thought they wanted it more in the first half, which was disappointing. "I was happy to go in just one down at half-time and it gave me the chance to say a few things and try and fix a few things. "I thought the second half was completely different, the first 20-25 minutes we were in control but we concede the goal late and the last 10 minutes we had to defend properly. "It is a point we take and move on."
Ross County
Manager	Steven Ferguson Stuart Kettlewell
Starting 11	31: Aaron McCarey, 2: Marcus Fraser, 3: Jason Naismith, 4: Christopher Routis, 8: Timothy Chow, 10: Alex Schalk 1, 15: Andrew Davies 1, 17: Ross Draper, 18: Jamie Lindsay 1, 22: Billy Mckay, 32: Liam Fontaine
Bench	1: Scott Fox, 7: Michael Gardyne, 9: Ryan Dow, 11: Craig Curran, 14: David N'Gog, 25: James O'Brien, 35: Max Melbourne
Hamilton Academical
Manager	Martin Canning
Starting 11	Gary Woods, Xavier Tomas, Kenny van der Weg, Shaun Want 1, Scott McMann 1, Ross Jenkins, David Templeton 1, Darren Lyon, Lewis Ferguson, Antonio Rojano 1, Marios Ogboe 1
Bench	Dougie Imrie 1 (1 pen), Mikel Miller, Rakish Bingham, Daniel Redmond 1, Ryan Fulton, Ronan Hughes, Ross Cunningham