Date	Saturday, 05 December 2015
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 2:3 Saint Johnstone
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	3,229
Referee	Kevin Clancy
Comments	Match Report Report by Martin Dowden for the BBC. Ross County 2 Saint Johnstone 3 A superb free-kick from Dave Mackay snatched victory for St Johnstone in a five-goal thriller at Victoria Park. Saints appeared to be cruising when a double from David Wotherspoon gave them a two-goal cushion before half-time. County hit back through Liam Boyce and a Murray Davidson own goal and looked to have earned a share of the points. But Saints captain Mackay curled home a long-range strike in the dying minutes to snatch a seventh consecutive away win in all competitions. Manager Tommy Wright will be thrilled that the winning away run continues, but his team made life difficult for themselves by surrendering a two-goal lead, and County will feel they might have won in the end as they pressed forward. The Staggies had scored in every home game this season. More impressively, St Johnstone had scored in every domestic match and it did not take long for them to continue that run. What seemed a harmless pass back to home keeper Woods resulted in a bizarre goal that had County boss Jim McIntyre fuming on the touchline. The goalkeeper took his time with an attempted clearance but Wotherspoon had not given in and saw the ball ricochet off him and straight into the net for the opener. The home side responded with Boyce directing a firm header on target from Jackson Irvine's near post cross, only to see Alan Mannus parry to safety. Richard Foster almost created an equaliser with a cross from the left but Stewart Murdoch couldn't capitalise from close range under pressure with the goal gaping. Tony Dingwall then narrowly missed the target with a low shot across Mannus as the home side stepped up the pace. St Johnstone stamped their authority with a brilliant second. Wotherspoon cut inside Murdoch, into the area and curled a beauty past the outstretched arm of Woods to put his side firmly in command. County got the shot in the arm they required arrived when Boyce reacted to a ball across the six yard box to slam County back into contention at 2-1. They took heart from that and, from a corner, Andrew Davies and Davidson challenged for the ball, with the Saints midfielder steering the ball into his own net under pressure. As the home side smelled blood they created some unrest in that St Johnstone back line but Wright's men have shown their fight and ability many times and pulled a win out of the bag at the finish. Michael O'Halloran was hauled down by Davies. McKay sized up the free-kick from 25 yards and superbly curled it over the wall for a winner that not only reinforces their top six position, but has them within touching distance of the top three. St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright pointed to the togetherness in his squad as the reason his side managed to produce a last gasp winner as they defeated Ross County 3-2 in Dingwall. It was a seventh straight away victory in all competitions and extended their unbeaten run to seven matches. Dave McKay struck a wonderful free kick late on to seal victory after County came from two goals down to level. "It's not unique. We've been doing it for a while," Wright told BBC Scotland. "The lads really are first and foremost good footballers but they're really good people as well. Good characters on and off the pitch. "They're just a unique group of people who get on really well together and have great belief in each other and that's been the core of what we've done for he last few years, not just today. "It means on days like this when it looks like you could possibly lose the game, you turn it round on its head." David Wotherspoon's double had St Johnstone in control, but Liam Boyce and a Murray Davidson own goal brought the sides level. "We showed what we're about, we dug in deep," said the St Johnstone manager. "A betting man would think Ross County would go on and win the game. We made sure that didn't happen." St Johnstone closed the gap on third placed Hearts to just one point, with the Tynecastle side's match against Inverness CT postponed. Their next task is a home tie against Celtic and Wright concedes his side are getting more recognition this season. 'We're getting more attention because of the number of goals we're scoring," he explained. "We finished fourth last year and because we only scored 34 goals it was organised and hard to beat. "This year we've caught the eye because of the number of goals we've scored. That might actually be more, I think we're up to 35 now. "That's pleasing and good but we're still a small team and small club that can cause a few surprises every now and then." County manager Jim McIntyre was pleased with the response his side produced after a catastrophic early concession when goalkeeper Gary Woods blasted the ball off David Wotherspoon and watched the ball sail into his net. "Obviously Gary knows he's got to deal with that and get the ball away," said McIntyre. "It gave St Johnstone a major lift. I thought our reaction after that was excellent." McIntyre did not doubt his players were capable of coming back after Wotherspoon's curling effort just before half -time put his side further adrift. "We know they've got plenty of character and substance," he said. "We got ourselves back in the game. We made a tactical change as well and I think that helped us. "It's that consistency during a match where we're having periods in the match where we're doing a lot of things right. "At this moment in time we're going through a spell where the players are performing in periods but when the opposition has their period we seem to be losing goals and we need to eradicate that." This week, McIntyre cited St Johnstone as a club many sides should look to as an example to follow. He reiterated that after today's result. "(They) are a model of consistency and they deserve to be where they are because they've proven it year after year. That's what we're trying to become."
Ross County
Manager	Jim McIntyre
Starting 11	21: Gary Woods, 2: Marcus Fraser, 5: Scott Boyd, 10: Liam Boyce 1, 11: Craig Curran, 12: Richard Foster 1, 15: Andrew Davies 1 1, 18: Stewart Murdoch, 19: Tony Dingwall, 36: Jackson Irvine 1, 42: Martin Wood
Bench	31: James Severn, 3: Jamie Reckord, 4: Rocco Quinn, 6: Christopher Robertson, 8: Ian McShane, 17: Jonathan Franks, 23: Alex Schalk
Saint Johnstone
Manager	Tommy Wright
Starting 11	Alan Mannus, David Mackay 1, Thomas Scobbie, Joseph Shaughnessy, Darnell Fisher, Christopher Millar, Murray Davidson 1, David Wotherspoon 2, Liam Craig, Steven MacLean, Michael O'Halloran
Bench	John Sutton, Alexander Clark, Brad McKay, Liam Caddis, Brian Easton, Christopher Kane, Craig Thomson