Date	Saturday, 10 September 2016
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:1 Motherwell
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	3,019
Referee	Alan Muir
Comments	Match Report Report by Martin Dowden for the BBC. Ross County 1 Motherwell 1 Motherwell came from behind to claim a point against Ross County in Dingwall. Liam Boyce gave County the lead just after the hour mark, firing past Craig Samson after being teed up by Alex Schalk. Louis Moult converted a penalty after Scott McDonald was fouled to bring Motherwell level. County's Jay McEveley saw red for his second booking with 20 minutes left but the visitors could not press home their numerical advantage. Dingwall is often a difficult destination and most sides leaving with a point will feel fairly content. The fact that Motherwell had a numerical advantage after McEveley's sending off and didn't win might frustrate Mark McGhee, but County didn't sit back and might have nicked it themselves. Jim McIntyre might feel his side should have managed the game better after getting in front but an honest appraisal of events would suggests a point was fair for both. The destination of the points may have hinged on the sending off of McEveley, which was hardly contentious, after picking up a second yellow card. Perhaps referee Alan Muir's decision to award Motherwell the penalty from which Moult scored will attract a little more scrutiny. McDonald ran through on Scott Fox and went down under the keeper's challenge. There was contact but the question is whether the contact occurred before the player was going down. There were few complaints from County players which suggest it was a clear penalty. It's one of those decisions that is very hard for the referee, with some spectators convinced it was a stonewall penalty, others casting doubt depending on their location in the stadium. Once again Boyce was the man to deliver for County with another composed finish. He instinctively drifted into space and confidently slotted home to open the scoring in a match, until that point, which lacked finesse in the final third. Frustratingly, he did have chances to win the match and might have expected to have taken at least one of them. He slashed at one which flew past the post, missed a close range header from a brilliant Jonathan Franks cross and nodded one over from six yards. It's hard to criticise a striker who's scoring but he might have delivered more on this occasion. Ross County manager Jim McIntyre: "Once we get the goal I thought we were well on top and looked as if we would go on and get the next one. "Obviously the sending off just turned the game on its head. It's a silly challenge, Jay doesn't need to make that challenge. I thought the boys from then battled manfully, we still looked a threat. "I'm annoyed that we haven't taken three points "I think, Scott McDonald is definitely looking for it (the penalty), there's no doubt about that. Being a former striker I understand that. I've not seen it again to see whether there's clear contact." Motherwell manager Mark McGhee: "Regardless of the man being sent off, a draw was probably about right. They missed chances, we missed chances. I'm absolutely content with a point. "We're still working out what is the best system and best way to play with this team. In a sense our season started today. "Marvin Johnson's gone, we put a lot of onus on him and have him no longer. We've got to find other ways of beating teams. We're content. "For all the world it can look like a penalty. It's one of these ones you know you see it up close in replay it might not be. "There wasn't a lot of complaint from them and that's usually quite a good indicator."
Ross County
Manager	Jim McIntyre
Starting 11	1: Scott Fox 1, 3: Erik Cikos, 4: Christopher Routis, 5: James McEveley 2 1, 7: Michael Gardyne, 8: Martin Woods, 10: Liam Boyce 1, 15: Andrew Davies, 17: Jonathan Franks, 23: Alex Schalk, 43: Paul Quinn
Bench	31: Aaron McCarey, 2: Marcus Fraser, 11: Craig Curran, 12: Timothy Chow, 18: Ian McShane, 28: Kenny Van der Weg, 53: Greg Morrison
Motherwell
Manager	Mark McGhee
Starting 11	Craig Samson, Richard Tait 1, Steven Hammell, Ben Heneghan, Stephen McManus, Ryan Bowman, Chris Cadden, Keith Lasley 1, Joe Chalmers, Craig Clay, Scott McDonald
Bench	Lionel Ainsworth, Louis Moult 1 (1 pen), Dean Brill, Dom Thomas, James McFadden, David Ferguson, Tom Fry