Date	Saturday, 16 May 2015
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 2:1 Hamilton Academical
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	3,887
Referee	Bobby Madden
Comments	Match Report Report by Martin Dowden for the BBC. Premiership Bottom Six Ross County 2 Hamilton Academical 1 Liam Boyce's goal gave Ross County victory over Hamilton Academical and sealed the Dingwall side's Scottish Premiership safety. Lucas Tagliapietra headed in Ali Crawford's corner to give Hamilton a first-half lead. County recovered in the second period with Michael Gardyne equalising. And, despite losing Filip Kiss to a red card, the hosts moved ahead when Boyce struck and that ensured they will not face a relegation play-off. The victory, coupled with Motherwell's defeat by St Mirren, means County will finish above second bottom. At one stage in this campaign Jim McIntyre's side seemed favourites for relegation but a sequence of positive results, including a nine-game unbeaten run has ensured top-flight status. The afternoon started brightly for County in terrible early conditions. Raffaele De Vita's low cross was met powerfully by Craig Curran only for McGovern to palm away. As the weather improved, County started to offer more offensively with Gardyne wriggling away from defenders before firing narrowly wide. But Hamilton went ahead when Lucas rose to meet Crawford's delivery and powered a header past Antonio Reguero. The momentum was clearly with the visitors but Jamie Reckord's delivery almost provided an equaliser, Curran somehow missing the target when he slid in at the back post. Gardyne then went down in the box after a Kieran MacDonald challenge, but referee Bobby Madden waved his claims away. Half-time seemed to give Ross County time to regroup and they started the second period on the front foot. Tony Dingwall replaced Curran and his energy helped McIntyre's side trouble Hamilton more directly. Martin Woods fired in a deflected effort which McGovern tipped over the bar. From the resulting corner the ball found its way to Gardyne, who smashed a sweet left-foot effort past McGovern. Scores from Motherwell's game and fellow strugglers Kilmarnock's march towards victory over Partick Thistle were filtering through to Victoria Park and tension increased with each passing minute. Eamonn Brophy shot narrowly over and Darian Mackinnon had a header easily gathered as the visitors tried to regain supremacy. And the ensuing drama that unfolded was extraordinary. Filip Kiss, playing at right-back, was inexplicably sent off leaving County a man down as they chased a vital winner. McIntyre could clearly be heard asking "what happened?" as Kiss left the field. As home supporters looked on through cracked fingers, County scored what proved to be the goal that secured their Premiership status. A corner broke into the path of Boyce and the Northern Irishman seized on his opportunity to drill home. The stadium erupted and all ears turned to what was happening elsewhere. Premature celebrations began with many inside the stadium believing Motherwell had drawn with St Mirren. Crawford fired against the bar for Hamilton in the last bit of drama before the final whistle. And when news arrived that Motherwell had lost, there was unrestrained joy for the home crowd as they danced on the pitch, delighted that their side had finally seen off the threat of relegation. Manager Jim McIntyre paid tribute to his chairman Roy MacGregor after Ross County clinched Premiership safety. Victory over Hamilton Academical ensured County avoided finishing second bottom and a relegation play-off. "I'm really pleased for him," McIntyre told BBC Radio Scotland. "He's been tremendous, absolutely fabulous. "We need the tools at our disposal and it was quite clear that we needed investment and he's backed us in everything we've asked for." McIntyre, whose side were bottom when he took over early in the season, admitted Hamilton had been the better side and said he felt "drained" after watching his men come from behind to win, despite losing Filip Kiss to a red card. "Great credit goes to the players," he said. "Without a shadow of a doubt, this is up there with anything I've ever done in my management career. "The fans have backed us to the hilt. I'm delighted for them. "It's important for me as a manager that we progress and we're not in fighting around the bottom of the league next season. That's got to be the aim. "We've got to aim to be better than that and be higher. We know it's going to be difficult, it always is. "Your first thought is always safety. Hopefully, we can make additions to the squad, help the good players that we'll retain and hopefully go forward as a group." MacGregor reflected on a dramatic end of the season by saying: "To take it this near to the wire is a great thing today but there's also lessons to be learned from it and we look forward to starting thinking about that on Monday."
Ross County
Manager	Jim McIntyre
Starting 11	1: Antonio Reguero Chapinal, 10: Filip Kiss 1, 11: Craig Curran, 12: Jamie Reckord 1, 16: Liam Boyce 1, 24: Raffaele De Vita, 26: Martin Woods, 36: Jackson Irvine, 40: Michael Gardyne 1, 43: Paul Quinn, 44: Marcus Fraser
Bench	33: Peter Tait, 4: Rocco Quinn, 8: Richard Brittain, 20: Darvydas Sernas, 25: Liam Boyce, 30: Tony Dingwall, 38: Cameron Burgess
Hamilton Academical
Manager	Martin Canning
Starting 11	Michael McGovern, Grant Gillespie, Dougie Imrie, Ali Crawford, Darren Lyon, Kieran MacDonald, Louis Longridge, Darian MacKinnon 1, Eamonn Brophy, Jesus Garcia Tena, Lucan Tagliapietra 1 1
Bench	Darren Hill, Martin Canning, Jason Scotland, Nigel Hasselbaink, Craig Watson, Greg Docherty, Scott McMann