Date	Saturday, 22 November 2014
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Saint Johnstone 2:1 Ross County
Venue	McDiarmid Park
Attendance	2,776
Referee	Steven McLean
Comments	Match Report Report by Andrew Southwick for the BBC. James McFadden grabbed his first goal for St Johnstone as they beat bottom club Ross County to earn just their third home win of the season. Brian Graham and Michael O'Halloran both went close before McFadden finally broke the Dingwall men's resistance. O'Halloran headed against a post before making it two with a turn and shot. County responded through Jake Jervis and continued to press for an equaliser, but despite going close they could not salvage a point. Wins have been hard to come by for St Johnstone this season and manager Tommy Wright will have been frustrated at his side's failure to kill the game off. County, meanwhile, were left to rue a first half performance that lacked the invention and creativity they demonstrated in the second 45 minutes. Graham could have put Saints ahead inside the opening minutes when he found himself free in front of goal, but his header was off target. Chris Millar and O'Halloran then both tested Mark Brown before McFadden - who had almost scored direct from a corner - broke the deadlock with a clever bit of play. The former Scotland striker helped win a corner with delightful skill on the left and, when the set piece was swung in, he turned and fired through a ruck of bodies and into the net. There were early signs that the visitors were going to be more of a threat in the second half, with County moving the ball about at pace. But both sides had great chances. First Lee Croft's cross found O'Halloran unmarked at the back post, but somehow he headed off a post with the goal gaping. Then, while the Saints players looked at each other in disbelief, Jervis raced through only for Alan Mannus to deflect his shot wide. County thought they should have had a penalty when Filip Kiss hit the deck, but play raged on and O'Halloran held off a defender before turning and lashing a shot into the net. The deficit was halved just minutes later though as Jervis bundled the ball over the line. County were growing in confidence and Kiss ended a sweeping move by firing over. But, despite continuing to press, they could not find a second. Ross County manager Jim McIntyre: "We didn't do enough in the first half and St Johnstone went in deservedly in the lead. "We never done the ugly side of the game well, but second half we were far more like ourselves, we were at it, we passed the ball better, we showed real quality. "Just the bit in the final third was missing today but we created plenty of opportunities and are disappointed to not go home with anything. "Players reactions tell you what the story was and every one of our players was chasing the referee, and Filip's [Kiss] adamant it was a stonewall penalty. "Of course it's game changing, it also gave them the second goal, but we've got to defend that better."
Ross County
Manager	Jim McIntyre
Starting 11	21: Mark Brown, 5: Scott Boyd, 8: Richard Brittain 1, 9: Jake Jervis 1, 12: Jamie Reckord, 23: Graham Carey 1, 26: Martin Woods, 30: Tony Dingwall, 36: Jackson Irvine 1, 40: Michael Gardyne, 43: Paul Quinn
Bench	1: Antonio Reguero Chapinal, 7: Joseph Cardle, 10: Filip Kiss, 15: Yoann Arquin, 16: Liam Boyce, 18: Benedict Frempah, 25: Lewis Toshney
Saint Johnstone
Manager	Tommy Wright
Starting 11	Alan Mannus, Dave Mackay, Steven Anderson, Frazer Wright, Brian Easton 1, Lee Croft, Simon Lappin 1, Chris Millar, Michael O'Halloran 1, James McFadden 1 1, Brian Graham
Bench	Steve Banks, Adam Morgan, Liam Caddis, Murray Davidson, Gary Miller, Steven Brown, Dylan Easton