Date	Saturday, 15 August 2020
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:2 Dundee United
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance
Referee	Craig Napier
Comments	Match Report Report by Nick McPheat for the BBC. Played Behind Closed Doors Ross County 1 Dundee United 2 Dundee United "expect" to compete in the Scottish Premiership because of the club's history, says manager Micky Mellon after his side ended Ross County's unbeaten start to the season. United trailed to Coll Donaldson's opener, before goals from Peter Pawlett and Nicky Clark turned the contest. It gave Mellon's side a second win in two away games since their promotion. "We expect to come and be involved, because that's the size of the club and the ask of the fans," he said. The victory - a week after United triumphed at Motherwell - moves them fourth, level on points with third-placed County. However, it had seemed more likely that the Dingwall side would be six points clear of their visitors after the opening half hour ended with them in front. The game had faded after a purposeful opening, notable for Harry Paton being booked after going to ground after running at Mark Connolly, when the ball broke for Ross Stewart after a County corner. He cushioned the ball for former United defender Donaldson to connect perfectly with a half-volley that fizzed past Benjamin Siegrist. Stewart then squandered a huge chance to double the advantage, scooping a close-range effort over just moments before Pawlett levelled. Impressive work down the right from Luke Bolton allowed the winger to cross towards Adrian Sporle, whose volley ricocheted and fell to Pawlett to stab home. Stewart again missed another glorious chance, this time heading a Harry Paton corner into the ground and over the bar, before Paton himself went close after the break. United, though, were well in the game. Bolton dragged an effort just past the far post after he was played in behind the County backline before Clark's introduction sparked the visitors. Just five minutes after his arrival, some neat build-up play on the edge of the County box allowed Cammy Smith to slip through Clark to finish back across Laidlaw from close range. Two wins from two away from home for United, but just one point from their opening two home games. It's obviously small sample size but is the new manager's high-pressing and counter-attacking style better suited to playing away from home? As for County, Stuart Kettlewell will feel hard done by, given striker Stewart could have had a hat-trick. The manager will take huge positives from the confidence with which his side played and the way they moved the ball, even if defensive sloppiness will be a concern. Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell: "We should have been a couple of goals up before their equaliser. It's a lesson learned for us that if we switch off you can find yourselves behind. "It's a penalty [on Harry Paton in the first half]. To instantly book the player is incredible. The referee guaranteed some of my staff that it wasn't and that he would apologise if he was wrong, so there's probably an apology needed." Dundee United manager Micky Mellon: "The youth in the team is fantastic to work with. The effort, the endeavour and the talent they showed today was terrific. We came up here with a lot of experienced players missing but we just got on with it. "We expect to come to Premiership clubs now and be involved, because that's the size of the club and the ask of the fans and the history."
Ross County
Manager	Stuart (Ketts) Kettlewell
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 2: Connor Randall, 6: Ross Draper, 7: Michael Gardyne, 9: Billy Mckay, 11: Iain Vigurs, 16: Alexander Iacovitti, 24: Harrison Paton, 25: Coll Donaldson 1 1, 27: Ross Stewart, 43: Josh Reid
Bench	21: Ross Doohan, 3: Carl Tremarco, 8: Oliver Shaw, 10: Lee Erwin, 14: Joshua Mullin, 15: Keith Watson, 18: Stephen Kelly, 17: Regan Charles-Cook, 22: Jordon Tillson
Dundee United
Manager	Micky Mellon
Starting 11	Benjamin Siegrist, Adrian Sporle, Mark Connolly, Mark Reynolds, Peter Pawlett 1, Logan Chalmers, Calum Butcher, Luke Bolton, Kieran Freeman, Ian Harkes, Louis Appere 1
Bench	Deniz Mehmet, Dillon Powers, Nicky Clark 1, Cammy Smith, Adam King, Declan Glass, Chris Mochrie, Ross Graham, Lewis Neilson