Date	Monday, 03 November 2014
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 0:1 Aberdeen
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	3,745
Referee	Willie Collum
Comments	Match Report Report by Roddie McVake for the BBC. Ross County 0 Aberdeen 1 Paul Quinn's own goal gave Aberdeen victory over Ross County, who missed the chance to move off the foot of the Premiership table. The Dons had the best of a poor first half with Adam Rooney going close. Derek McInnes' side bossed the second period, and the crucial goal arrived when Quinn diverted into his own net from Shay Logan's delivery. The win takes Aberdeen up to fifth in the table and they are now just three points off top spot. A victory would have taken County above Motherwell but the Highlanders remain in bottom spot with five points from their 12 outings. The game started in driving rain and Dons defender Mark Reynolds made an unorthodox acrobatic clearance in front of his own goal in the opening seconds, with Yoann Arquin waiting to pounce on Graham Carey's deep cross. At the other end Adam Rooney drew a decent save from Staggies keeper Mark Brown with a near-post header from Logan's centre. And Brown was called into action again when Niall McGinn's floated free-kick picked out Ash Taylor at the back post. His header back across goal took a touch off County defender Scott Boyd but Brown reacted well to palm the ball away. On a rare foray into the visitors' box, County's Quinn rose brilliantly but nodded just wide of keeper Scott Brown's right-hand post from Michael Gardyne's excellent delivery. Rooney flashed a header narrowly wide from McGinn's cross late in the half and the sides went in all square at the break, no doubt delighted to escape the deluge in Dingwall for 15 minutes. County looked sharper at the start of the second period with Gardyne the main architect of their good play going forward. They still had to be alert at the back though and Darren Barr brilliantly headed clear from under his own bar after Jonny Hayes broke down the left and whipped a great ball into the box. Minutes later the home side fell behind in calamitous fashion. Boyd's poor pass was pounced on by McGinn, who raced down the right and sent a ball into the box that Quinn fired into his own net from a few yards out. Andrew Considine fired over the bar from 12 yards as Aberdeen chased a quickfire second, and the excellent Hayes continued to cause County problems down the left during a period of intense Dons pressure. The second almost came following a superb move. Logan drove a ball into the area and Peter Pawlett took a glorious first touch to escape the attentions of Boyd, but his right-footed shot crashed off the angle of bar and post. And the hosts almost cashed in on that piece of good fortune when Carey's dig from distance was palmed out by Brown, but substitute Liam Boyce could only lash the rebound well over the bar. That was as close as the Staggies came to a leveller and the visitors could have increased their lead as Hayes and Willo Flood passed up good chances, but Quinn's horror moment was enough to secure the Dons' first competitive win over County in Dingwall. Jim McIntyre felt his Ross County players lacked conviction in their 1-0 defeat by Aberdeen, which keeps them at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership. "I don't think we did enough to score a goal," the manager told BBC Scotland. "I think that was the most disappointing thing for me. We haven't created anything. Tonight we didn't show enough belief in the final third. "We restricted Aberdeen but we've got to do the other side of it as well and I've not had to say that often." Aberdeen were worthy winners in the wet conditions in Dingwall, despite the narrow scoreline, yet the Staggies could have snatched an equaliser when substitute Liam Boyce, on for Michael Gardyne, blazed over the bar after Aberdeen keeper Scott Brown had parried a Graham Carey dipping shot into his path. "If you wanted a chance to fall to anybody it would be Boycey," said McIntyre. "He's probably our most natural finisher at the club. He was just on the park and maybe he was caught out by the pace (of the ball) off the surface. "It went a-begging. That would have given us a shot in the arm but we didn't do enough to win the game tonight." McIntyre and assistant Billy Dodds took over at Victoria Park on 9 September following the sacking of Derek Adams. Since then, the team have lost five of their eight matches, including a League Cup game against Hibs. However, the five points that has them pegged at the bottom of the table have all been gathered in the new duo's time in Dingwall. Ross County manager Jim McIntyre "We've got a run of games coming up and we need to make an impact and pick up points. We've got to make sure that we bounce back." A win over the Dons would have lifted them off the foot of the Premiership but they remain only two points behind Motherwell and three adrift of 10th-placed St Mirren. Aberdeen's winner was scored by County defender Paul Quinn in 56 minutes when he diverted Shay Logan's cross past his own goalkeeper, Mark Brown. "It's a ball into a great area and Paul Quinn's got to try and deal with it and, unfortunately for him, with the skiddy surface, it's deflected into the net," explained McIntyre. "It was preventable, but these things happen." Defender Darren Barr struggled on for the last few minutes of the match after twisting his left knee and the manager is hopeful there is no lasting damage to the player as he looks to guide the team up the table. He said: "We'll assess that in the next couple of days. We had made the three subs and, typical Darren Barr, he didn't want to come off, but he was very limited in his movement. "We've got a run of games coming up and we need to make an impact and pick up points. We've got to make sure that we bounce back."
Ross County
Manager	Jim McIntyre
Starting 11	21: Mark Brown, 5: Scott Boyd, 10: Filip Kiss, 13: Darren Barr, 15: Yoann Arquin, 23: Graham Carey, 25: Lewis Toshney, 26: Martin Woods, 36: Jackson Irvine, 40: Michael Gardyne 1, 43: Paul Quinn 1
Bench	1: Antonio Reguero Chapinal, 7: Joseph Cardle, 9: Jake Jervis, 12: Jamie Reckord, 16: Liam Boyce, 18: Benedict Frempah, 30: Tony Dingwall
Aberdeen
Manager	Derek McInnes
Starting 11	Scott Brown, Shay Logan, Ash Taylor, Mark Reynolds, Andrew Considine, Jonny Hayes, Willo Flood, Ryan Jack, Niall McGinn, Adam Rooney, Peter Pawlett
Bench	Jamie Langfield, Scott McKenna, Barry Robson, Jeff Monakana 1, Cammy Smith, Lawrence Shankland, David Goodwillie