Date	Saturday, 27 October 2012
Competition	Scottish Premier League
Fixture/Score	Heart of Midlothian 2:2 Ross County
Venue	Tynecastle Park
Attendance	12,139
Referee	Craig Charleston
Comments	Match Report Report by Keir Murray for the BBC. Heart of Midlothian 2 Ross County 2 John Sutton grabbed a deserved equaliser for Hearts with the last kick of the ball despite Ross County goalkeeper Michael Fraser's heroics. Arvydas Novikovas beat Fraser from 14 yards after Marius Zaliukas set up the winger five minutes from half time. Richard Brittain scored with a 55th-minute penalty after Andy Webster pulled down Iain Vigurs, who set up Stuart Kettlewell to fire County ahead. But Sutton hammered in the equaliser after a miss-hit strike from Zaliukas. It was a sore end to the match for County, who were aiming to pull off a double over the capital sides following their 3-2 win over Hibernian last weekend. A low-key start to the match was notable only for early Hearts pressure, with skipper Zaliukas guilty of heading an outswinging corner well wide of Fraser's goal from 12 yards. With County struggling to advance over the halfway line, they had to rely on Fraser to keep the score level with an outstanding double save, first from Andrew Driver's left-foot shot then immediately from Ryan McGowan's diving header. County registered their first decent chance when captain Brittain pinged a shot a couple of feet wide of goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald's right-hand post with a low effort from 20 yards. Hearts striker Callum Paterson was certain he had been fouled in the box by Fraser after half an hour as the pair raced for the ball, but his claim looked weak. County's only other chance in the first half fell to Kettlewell, who was afforded time and space to fizz a shot that MacDonald parried only as far as former Jambo Gary Glen, whose blushes at his wayward follow-up shot were partly spared by his being called offside. Barr's downward header from Driver's corner looked a certain goal but was cleared off the line by the leg of Grant Munro. With five minutes until half-time, the Lithuanians put Hearts ahead. Zaliukas played the perfect ball for Novikovas to run on to it and hit it through Fraser's legs. After the break, the impressive Fraser blocked a Novikovas effort when the winger should have doubled Hearts' advantage. The hosts were made to pay for that when Webster barged into the back of Vigurs in the Hearts box and Brittain calmly stroked home the equaliser. Paterson stabbed a shot wide, Ryan Stevenson stung the palms of Fraser and Driver could not control his effort from the rebound. Paterson raced from the halfway line to reach a through ball but his shot was diverted wide by Fraser under pressure from a hastily retreating County rearguard and the County keeper made a wonderful instinctive save from Paterson's overhead kick as Hearts responded. Vigurs had threatened the Hearts defence with a run and shot moments before County moved in front. On the more profitable occasion, in a quick break, Vigurs set up Kettlewell, who steadied himself just outside the box and, with stunning accuracy, hammered the ball a foot inside MacDonald's far post. Substitutes Sutton and Gordon Smith both missed chances to level as Hearts camped in the County box. With the final move of the game, Sutton latched on to a ball into the box and his shot on the turn across Fraser was just reward for the home side. Derek Adams chose to look at the bigger picture in the Scottish Premier League after seeing his Ross County team lose a last-minute equaliser at Hearts. The County boss accepted the 2-2 draw was fair, given Hearts' chances, and the point gives his team 12 points after a full round of top-tier matches. "We lost two points against Celtic with the last kick of the ball and we have lost two points today," said Adams. "But overall I couldn't be happier with the first 11 games." This is the Staggies' first season in the SPL, having progressed through the divisions since their switch to the Scottish Football League from the Highland League in 1994. County are ninth in the table, but are only six points behind second-placed Hibernian. "I am delighted with the progress we have made," said the manager of his team this season. "It's not easy coming here. We have come up from the First Division and we have done exceptionally well in our first 11 games. "I'm delighted but we probably should have more points than we have. "We lost two points against Celtic with the last kick of the ball and we have lost two points today. "At the start of the season we picked up a lot of nil-nils but we have opened up a wee bit since then. "I was pleased with the whole team. We are on a different planet from Hearts and Hibernian - we come from a wee village up in Dingwall." County went into the match at Tynecastle on the back of a 3-2 win over Hibs in Dingwall last weekend. They fell behind to an Arvydas Novikovas strike and, with keeper Michael Fraser in superb form, moved ahead through a Richard Brittain penalty and a Stuart Kettlewell strike 13 minutes from time. John Sutton salvaged a point for Hearts with the last kick of the ball. Adams said afterwards: "It was two points dropped at the end because we were 2-1 up before the last kick of the ball. "I thought overall a point is fair. Hearts definitely played better than us in the first half and in the second half we came into the game. "Kettlewell put us ahead and they definitely put us under a lot of pressure. "I would expect nothing else coming to Tynecastle. "Michael did very well, he made a number of important saves for us. "They are a good side, they have a number of experienced players. "We are happy to come away with a point but disappointed we haven't come away with three points because we were in that position."
Ross County
Manager	Derek Adams
Starting 11	1: Michael Fraser, 3: Marc Fitzpatrick, 4: Grant Munro 1, 5: Scott Boyd, 7: Stuart Kettlewell 1, 10: Richard Brittain 1 (1 pen), 11: Iain Vigurs, 12: Rocco Quinn, 20: Gary Glen, 22: Mihael Kovacevic 1, 29: Mark Fotheringham
Bench	25: Mark Brown, 6: Ross Tokely, 9: Colin McMenamin 1, 14: Martin Scott, 24: Steven Ross, 26: Tony Dingwall, 27: Adam Porritt
Heart of Midlothian
Manager	John McGlynn
Starting 11	Jamie MacDonald, Danny Grainger, Dylan McGowan, Darren Barr, Andy Webster 1, Marius Zaliukas, Callum Paterson, Ryan Stevenson, Mehdi Taouil, Andrew Driver 1, Arvydas Novikovas 1
Bench	Peter Enckelman, Kevin McHattie, Ryan McGowan, Scott Robinson, John Sutton 1, Gordon Smith, Billy King