Date	Saturday, 17 April 2010
Competition	Scottish League Division 1
Fixture/Score	Airdrie United 1:1 Ross County
Venue	Excelsior Stadium
Attendance	798
Referee	Steven Nicholls
Comments	Match Report Report by Colin Paterson for the Daily Record. Airdrie United 1 Ross County 1 KEVIN McDONALD netted a late penalty equaliser but this point did Airdrie few favours today. The Diamonds are five points adrift of Ayr United who occupy the First Division relegation play-off spot after being held by Ross County while the Honest Men won 1-0 at Partick Thistle. It is now effectively win-or-bust for Kenny Black's side this Wednesday night when they travel to face Ayr at Somerset Park. The manager said: "On the basis of play, I thought we deserved a point. We were the slightly better side in the first half while they were more prominent in the second half. "I felt we showed a bit of character to come back and had a couple of chances to win it at the end. We are five points behind but there are 12 to play for and we still have a chance." Steven Craig had put the Scottish Cup Finalists ahead at a windswept New Broomfield with a close-range finish but McDonald's spot-kick strike spared Airdrie defeat. The hosts had dominated the opening 45 minutes by producing a workmanlike performance and created a number of good chances. John Baird was desperately unlucky not to put Airdrie ahead in the 35th minute when his low shot was cleared off the line by defender Scott Boyd. County keeper Michael McGovern will claim some of the credit for taking the pace off the ball with a partial save. The mud in the six-yard box also helped the visitors avert danger. Airdrie came close again in the 42nd minute. This time Marc Smyth fired in a volley from the edge of the box with McGovern pulling off a fine fingertip save. But the Diamonds struggled in the second half as they tried to contend with a strong, swirling wind and a County outfit showing much more urgency and ambition. Michael Gardyne drove an effort past the post in the 52nd minute with a Martin Scott header, from a cross by the impressive Iain Vigurs, then blocked by Stephen Robertson. Vigurs was causing problems and it was his cross which led to County's opener. Smyth headed the midfielder's delivery goalwards with Robertson pulling off a fantastic save. But the ball fell nicely for Craig who was alert to the rebound and the hitman made no mistake from a couple of yards out. Boss Black threw on Paul Keegan in the closing stages and the Irish striker proved a handful for the Staggies defence through his aerial ability and determined play. And when he was bundled over in the box by Alex Keddie, referee Stevie Nicholls had no option but to point to the spot with McDonald converting the resulting penalty. There was still time for Airdrie to have one more chance as they pushed for a winning goal to match Ayr's result at Firhill - but Keegan headed Scott McLaughlin's free-kick straight into the arms of McGovern. Staggies boss Derek Adams said: "We were poor in the first half but better after the break and a draw was a fair result."
Ross County
Manager	Derek Adams
Starting 11	1: Michael McGovern, 2: Gary Miller, 3: Alexander Keddie, 4: Scott Morrison, 5: Scott Boyd, 6: Martin Scott, 7: Richard Brittain, 8: Iain Vigurs, 9: Michael Gardyne, 10: Andrew Barrowman, 11: Steven Craig 1
Bench	0: Joseph Malin, 0: Steven Watt, 0: Stuart Kettlewell, 0: Garry Wood, 0: Paul Di Giacomo
Airdrie United
Manager	Kenny Black
Starting 11	Stephen Robertson, Simon Storey, Paul Lovering 1, Marc Smyth, Bobby Donnelly, Scott McLaughlin, Alan Trouten, Ryan McCann, Ricky Waddell 1, Diarnuid O'Carroll, John Baird
Bench	Lee Hollis, Tom Parratt, Kevin McDonald 1 (1 pen) 1, Paul Keegan, Scott Gemmill