Date	Saturday, 15 August 2015
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:2 Heart of Midlothian
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	4,806
Referee	Bobby Madden
Comments	Match Report Report by Martin Dowden for the BBC. Ross County 1 Heart of Midlothian 2 Hearts maintained their winning start to Premiership life thanks to goals from Osman Sow and Alim Ozturk. Ross County opened strongly but fell behind after 11 minutes when Sow cut in from the right and thrashed home a powerful shot via a post. Ozturk was then on hand to divert in a volley from Callum Paterson. A foul by Igor Rossi allowed County's Liam Boyce to convert a penalty before the interval but Hearts held on to make it four victories from four games. The promoted Edinburgh side stay top of the league, while the Staggies were unable to add to the four points amassed from their last two outings. The hosts created the best early chance in a high-tempo first half, with Neil Alexander doing well to parry a close-range shot from Michael Gardyne. And the visitors punished that miss when they opened the scoring with their first attack of note. Sow broke with pace down the right, leaving Richard Foster in his wake, and fired an accurate drive in off the base off a post that gave Scott Fox no chance. Soon after, Paterson made a late run to meet Juanma's corner and the defender's volley was perfectly executed, although Ozturk made sure with the final touch. Cheered on by a noisy travelling support, Hearts were now full of confidence, surging forward with skill and purpose. However, with half time approaching, the visitors lost a little of their intensity and handed Ross County a route back into the match. Rafa De Vita floated a free kick towards the back post and Jackson Irvine knocked the ball over the target after interference from Rossi. Referee Bobby Madden awarded a spot kick which Boyce confidently stroked home for his first goal of the season. Brazilian Rossi was shown a yellow card but, given Irvine's proximity to goal when fouled, he was perhaps fortunate to stay on the park. The second half was interrupted by a series of substitutions and injuries, with Hearts' rhythm suffering notably after the departure of midfield lynchpin Prince Buaben. Hearts were less threatening but defended stoutly and County failed to trouble their back line with much regularity. Jamie Walker did create a wonderful opportunity for the visitors as he persisted down the right, got to the byeline and found Gavin Reilly, who somehow scooped the ball over an unguarded net from six yards or so. Staggies substitute Jamie Reckord almost inadvertently delivered a late equaliser when his cross was missed by Gardyne as he ran in front of Alexander but the ball floated narrowly wide of the far post. Ross County manager felt Hearts defender Igor Rossi might have been sent off during the Staggies' 2-1 defeat in Dingwall. Rossi felled Jackson Irvine, allowing Liam Boyce to convert a penalty, but was only booked. "He's definitely got the arms round him, hauled him to the deck," McIntyre told BBC Scotland. "Whether that's a red card; I don't know how it works anymore, one is, one isn't, so that's a bit frustrating." McIntyre's men fell behind to early goals from Osman Sow and Alim Ozturk, before Boyce's spot-kick brought them back into the game. "I felt we gave away poor goals today; really disappointed with that, especially the second goal because we knew exactly what type of corners they do," continued McIntyre. "But one of our players has switched off and we've been punished for that. "I felt the two quick goals knocked the stuffing out of us, put a bit of doubt in our mind, and it took another 15 minutes of Hearts getting a lot of space, and it knocked our game plan off a wee bit. "The players took a while to adjust, but credit to them, we got back in the game, we got the penalty incident which is a penalty, I've watched it." Hearts head coachRobbie Neilson has guided the Edinburgh side to four wins from four since returning to the top flight. "I thought at 2-0 we were really in command," he said. "We looked to go and score more, then we got the penalty decision against us and it totally changed the dynamic of the game. "We ended up having to camp in and hit on the counter, but we can do that as well. I'm confident in the defenders and midfield we've got that we can do that for 90 minutes. "The foreign guys coming in know how to manage a game - the younger Scottish boys are starting to pick that up as well, how to win a game. "You don't always have to win it by playing wonderful football; at times you have to win it by managing it properly."
Ross County
Manager	Jim McIntyre
Starting 11	1: Scott Fox, 2: Marcus Fraser, 6: Christopher Robertson, 7: Michael Gardyne, 8: Ian McShane, 10: Liam Boyce 1 (1 pen), 11: Craig Curran 1, 12: Richard Foster, 15: Andrew Davies, 24: Raffaele De Vita, 36: Jackson Irvine
Bench	21: Daniel Bachmann, 3: Jamie Reckord, 4: Rocco Quinn 1, 5: Scott Boyd, 9: Brian Graham, 18: Stewart Murdoch, 19: Tony Dingwall
Heart of Midlothian
Manager	Robbie Neilson
Starting 11	Neil Alexander, Callum Paterson, Alim Ozturk 1 1, Juwon Oshaniwa, Igor Rossi 1, Morgaro Gomis, Jamie Walker, Prince Buaben Abankwah, Sam Nicholson, Osman Sow 1, Juan Manuel Delgado Lloria 1
Bench	Kevin McHattie, Billy King, Jack Hamilton, Gary Oliver, Gavin Reilly, Jordan McGhee, Sean McKirdy