Date	Saturday, 02 April 2022
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:1 Heart of Midlothian
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	5,210
Referee	Gavin Duncan
Comments	Match Report Report by Nick McPheat for the BBC. Ross County 1 Heart of Midlothian 1 Ross County remain in the hunt for a Scottish Premiership top-six spot after an entertaining draw with Hearts leaves them one point off the top half. Alex Iacovitti poked in the opener for hosts after Hearts' Barrie McKay had his penalty saved by Ross Laidlaw. McKay rectified his spot-kick miss when he drilled in a deflected equaliser for the third-placed visitors. But neither side could find a winner after the break, with both goalkeepers in inspired form in Dingwall. "It was a terrific game for a neutral," Ross County boss Malky Mackay said. "It was two teams that really went for it as you saw that from the chances created. "We were playing against the third best team in the country and we actually stood firm and took the game to them. I'm very proud of the players and where we've come from since the start of the season." Robbie Neilson's men still hold a 14-point advantage in third spot, and a win in next weekend's Edinburgh derby could secure that position. Hearts, now unbeaten in their last nine Premiership trips to Dingwall, should have grabbed an early lead when Liam Boyce somehow diverted Aaron McEneff's ball across goal away from the County net. The away side were the greater danger in the opening exchanges and had a second golden opportunity to open the scoring when McKay went down easily under a challenge from Connor Randall. The home side felt justice was served when McKay picked himself back up and struck a poor penalty low to the left, which Ross Laidlaw was equal to. County enjoyed spells of possession without really hurting the visitors, but ramped up the pressure as the half progressed. Ross Callachan saw a corner glanced on before crashing off the inside of the far post. The ball fell to Harry Paton, who looked certain to score, but Boyce denied the midfielder's rebound with a goal-saving challenge. There was more last-ditch defending from Hearts as Alex Cochrane got a crucial touch on Callachan's close-range effort, but the hosts got the goal their brief dominance merited when Blair Spittal's inch-perfect ball was poked in by Iacovitti. Spittal was again the architect as another fine delivery from the right found Regan Charles-Cook, but the forward's cushioned finish again clipped Craig Gordon's left-hand post. It was a let-off for Hearts, who ended the half brightly and found a way back into the game when McKay drilled in a deflected strike after Boyce saw an effort blocked brilliantly. After an entertaining first 45 minutes, both sides had their goalkeepers to thank as neither side could find a second-half winner. Gordon was first to showcase his stunning reflexes when the Scotland stalwart sprawled at full stretch to tip Jordan Tillson's low strike onto the woodwork. The Hearts stopper sprung to his feet to then deny Callachan in a sensational double save. Up the other end, Stephen Kingsley guided a near-post header wide before Laidlaw had to show a Gordon-like reaction to get low to substitute Josh Ginnelly's finish across goal. The rebound rolled back to the winger, who steered a strike beyond the far corner, ensuring both sides take a point from a gripping encounter. It doesn't seem too long ago that County were regarded as relegation candidates. With six games to go, Mackay's men are 13 points clear of bottom side Dundee and seven in front of 11th-placed St Johnstone. To be in with an opportunity of a top-six place with one fixture remaining before the split is testament to the Highlanders' recent form. After an early penalty miss and going a goal down, it would have been easy for Hearts to let the game fizzle out with third place all but secured. However, Neilson's men deserve credit for getting themselves back into the contest. But with a double-header against Hibernian in the league and Scottish Cup semi-final to come, the Hearts boss will want better from a backline that rode its luck in Dingwall. Ross County manager Malky Mackay: "There's disappointment at not winning it, very much so. We had the chance in the second half from a couple of yards - how Craig Gordon saves it I'll never know. "We also had two that came off the post. But I'm really delighted with the steps forward the players have made this year." Hearts boss Robbie Neilson: "We've come to expect that from Craig [Gordon]. He's one of the reasons we can be quite expansive because we know it's going to take a decent effort to beat him. "There was a 10-minute period they put us under a lot of pressure, then we managed to get the goal back and the second half was back and forth."
Ross County
Manager	Malcolm (Malky) Mackay
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 2: Connor Randall, 3: Jake Vokins, 5: Jack Baldwin, 6: Harrison Paton, 7: Blair Spittal, 8: Ross Callachan 1, 16: Alexander Iacovitti 1, 17: Regan Charles-Cook, 22: Jordon Tillson 1, 26: Jordan White
Bench	21: Ross Munro, 10: Dominic Samuel 1, 15: Keith Watson, 20: Declan Drysdale, 23: Joseph Hungbo, 24: Benjamin Paton, 30: Matthew Wright, 32: Adam Mackinnon, 34: Ryan MacLeman
Heart of Midlothian
Manager	Robbie Neilson
Starting 11	Craig Gordon, Stephen Kingsley, Craig Halkett, Toby Sibbick, Peter Haring, Aaron McEneff, Andrew Halliday 1, Alex Cochrane, Liam Boyce, Barrie McKay 1, Ellis Simms
Bench	Ben Woodburn, Ross Stewart, Taylor Moore, Josh Ginnelly, Mackenzie Kirk, Macauley Tait