Date	Tuesday, 04 October 2022
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 0:5 Motherwell
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	2,568
Referee	Chris Graham
Comments	Match Report Report by Jack Herrall for the BBC. Ross County 0 Motherwell 5 Kevin van Veen's classy hat-trick helped Motherwell demolish a lacklustre Ross County in their first Scottish Premiership win in five attempts. County were condemned to a third defeat in five games as they also failed to score for the fourth game in their last five. A scintillating Callum Slattery strike and a neat Joe Efford finish also helped Motherwell climb to seventh. County continue to sit in 10th, one point above the play-off spot. Van Veen is now on 10 goals in 12 games this term, with this his second hat-trick of the season after hitting three against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in August. Both teams could be forgiven for taking a bit longer to warm up than usual on a typically crisp early October evening in Dingwall. The home side watched a low, strike fizz wide courtesy of Ben Paton as both sides began to show signs of attacking intent. However, Motherwell's endeavour was soon rewarded. Ross Callachan clumsily brought down Efford in the box, gifting Van Veen a chance from 12 yards that he coolly slotted in the bottom-left corner. County went close again as the half drew to a close but Josh Sim's effort as he twisted and turned in the box was deflected wide. Motherwell started the second half with more intensity than the opening 45, with Slattery doubling their lead just three minutes after the restart. County cleared the ball but only as far as Slattery, who was still 25 yards out, and his laced shot found its way through a sea of bodies. Having missed from a close-range cutback mere seconds into the second half, Van Veen then side-footed an Efford cutback over the line for the away side's second goal in as many minutes. The goals kept coming for Hammell's side as Efford converted a Matt Penney cross with great composure. Van Veen rounded off his hat-trick with the best of the lot, walking through the County defence before a deft dink lifted the ball over the onrushing Ross Laidlaw. Only four goals in their opening nine league games now for Ross County is simply worrying. They remain perched perilously above the relegation play-off spot and increasingly unlikely to find the back of the net. In previous games they showed glimpses of attacking flair but this evening it was not the case with their second-half performance being particularly woeful. For Motherwell, it is a welcome return to winning ways, with the goals flowing again, too. Van Veen's hat-trick was impressive on its own but the whole team, particularly the attacking players, were formidable throughout. Ross County manager Malky Mackay: "I want to apologise to our fans for having to watch what they did. I am embarrassed by my own performance. "The second half was awful and that is something we have to address. I am deeply disappointed." Motherwell manager Steven Hammell: "It's not our best performance of the season, I think our level of performance has been high most games this season. "We probably created more chances in other games but the difference is how clinical we were. Some of the goals we scored were magnificent."
Ross County
Manager	Malcolm (Malky) Mackay
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 3: Ben Purrington, 5: Jack Baldwin, 6: Alexander Iacovitti, 7: Owura Edwards, 8: Ross Callachan 1, 11: Joshua Sims, 12: Callum Johnson, 22: Jordon Tillson, 24: Benjamin Paton, 26: Jordan White 1
Bench	31: Jake Eastwood, 4: David Cancola, 9: Dominic Samuel, 10: Yan Dhanda, 14: Victor Loturi, 15: Keith Watson, 17: Kazeem Olaigbe, 18: William Akio, 19: Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila 1
Motherwell
Manager	Steven Hammell
Starting 11	Liam Kelly 1, Ricki Lamie, Sondre Solholm Johansen, Paul McGinn 1, Matt Penney, Blair Spittal, Callum Slattery 1, Joseph Efford 1, Sean Goss, Connor Shields, Kevin van Veen 3 (1 pen)
Bench	Stephen O'Donnell, Bevis Mugabi, Barry Maguire, Aston Oxborough, Stuart McKinstry, Dean Cornelius, Louis Moult, Josh Morris, Ross Tierney