Date	Saturday, 25 April 2015
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:2 Partick Thistle
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	3,315
Referee	Don Robertson
Comments	Match Report Report by Martin Dowden for the BBC. Premiership Bottom Six Ross County 1 Partick Thistle 2 Partick Thistle came from behind to secure a vital win to move 10 points clear of the relegation play-off place and to the brink of safety. County struck first when Michael Gardyne fired Jamie Reckord's cross low into the net via a deflection. Thistle promptly responded with Frederic Frans stunning the County rearguard with a long range effort that arrowed in off the post. Then Stephen O'Donnell nudged Thistle ahead with another beauty. It was an unusually flat performance from County as their nine game unbeaten run comes to an end, but they remain six points ahead of second-bottom Motherwell. That appeared to be partly the result of an impressive performance from the visitors who threatened the home defence throughout. Thistle quickly took control of the flow of play and came close when Ryan Stevenson fired a powerful effort narrowly over from inside the box. Then the home side faced threats from several areas of the pitch and struggled to create many clear openings. However, Jim McIntyre's side struck first following a wonderful delivery from the left from Reckord which Gardyne finished. Thistle would have felt aggrieved given the balance of play but demonstrated their strength by continue to dictate. They were rewarded from an unlikely source when Frans equalised with an unstoppable shot. Thistle continued to press and went close again when Stuart Bannigan measured a curling left foot effort which narrowly evaded Mark Brown's post. Brown then put himself under real pressure when he took too long on the ball and his clearance was charged down leaving him isolated outside the box. The keeper did just enough to unbalance Ryan Stevenson who's effort bounced wide.. Into the second half, the visitors had a claim for a penalty when Steven Lawless appeared to be pulled as he drove into the box. Thistle wouldn't be denied and O'Donnell fired his side ahead with a strike of real quality. He gathered on the right side of the area and drove the ball fiercely, catching Brown out of position when he perhaps expected a cross. Substitute Tony Dingwall did claim for a penalty for the home side when he went down after surging into the box but the referee waved it away. Given County's recent form you expected a late surge but it didn't materialise as Thistle on the day proved to be the better side. With just four games to go, Partick Thistle will feel a 10 point advantage and vastly superior goal difference should allow them to focus on finishing higher up the table. Ross County manager Jim McIntyre is still confident his men have what it takes to beat the drop despite losing 2-1 at home to Partick Thistle. County led through Michael Gardyne's goal, but Stephen O'Donnell put the Jags in front after Frederic Frans' equaliser. They now face second-bottom Motherwell next week at Fir Park, who they remain six points ahead of. "I think we've shown in the last nine matches how much we're up for it," McIntyre told BBC Scotland. "We scored against the run of play, Thistle deservedly got an equaliser. We tried to mix things up in the second half but we just didn't have that energy or zip today. "I was slightly concerned coming into the game as we knew we had a few players carrying knocks and hadn't done a lot of training this week. "We're obviously six points ahead, we go to Motherwell next week which makes it a right cracking game to be involved in. "It's going to be a pressurised situation, but one I'm really confident the players will respond to."
Ross County
Manager	Jim McIntyre
Starting 11	21: Mark Brown, 5: Scott Boyd 1, 10: Filip Kiss, 11: Craig Curran, 12: Jamie Reckord, 16: Liam Boyce, 24: Raffaele De Vita, 26: Martin Woods, 40: Michael Gardyne 1, 43: Paul Quinn 1, 44: Marcus Fraser
Bench	1: Antonio Reguero Chapinal, 4: Rocco Quinn, 6: Steven Saunders, 7: Joseph Cardle, 20: Darvydas Sernas, 22: Ruben Palazuelos Garcia, 30: Tony Dingwall
Partick Thistle
Manager	Alan Archibald
Starting 11	Scott Fox, Stephen O'Donnell 1, Callum Booth, Conrad Balatoni, Frederic Frans 1, Stuart Bannigan, Steven Lawless, Kallum Higginbotham, Abdul Osman, Ryan Stevenson, Lyle Taylor
Bench	James Craigen, Kris Doolan, Paul Gallacher, Christie Elliott, Ben Richards-Everton, Gary Fraser, David Wilson