Date	Saturday, 10 August 2013
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:3 Partick Thistle
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	3,331
Referee	Alan Muir
Comments	Match Report Report from the BBC. Ross County 1 Partick Thistle 3 Partick Thistle notched up their first win since returning to the top flight with a comprehensive victory against Ross County. Thistle's Kris Doolan found the net after Conrad Balatoni's header had been saved. Steven Lawless fired in a second-half double in a seven-minute period to extend the Jags' lead further. A Graham Carey strike pulled one back for the hosts, but it was scant consolation for Derek Adams' men. The result means County are without a point after two Scottish Premiership matches while Thistle continue their unbeaten start to the campaign following the opening-day 0-0 draw with Dundee United. County made just one change for the game in Dingwall, with Orhan Mustafi replacing Kevin Luckassen in the starting line-up, while Partick Thistle were unchanged from the side which held Dundee United to a goalless draw at Firhill last Friday night. The breakthrough came when Balatoni's header from a corner was saved and Doolan knocked in at the back post to give the Jags their first league goal of the season. County's Rocco Quinn sent in a shot that edged wide of Scott Fox's left-hand upright as the hosts pushed for a leveller. A shot by Lawless drifted over the County crossbar with 10 minutes remaining of the first half at Dingwall. Sean Welsh headed across the face of the County goal from an Aaron Muirhead corner, almost giving the Jags their second of the match immediately after the restart. Kris Doolan almost made it two for Partick Thistle when he rolled the ball towards the County goal, but keeper Mark Brown made the block. But with 53 minutes expired, Lawless doubled the Jags' lead when he pounced on a poor Grant Munro clearance to fire home. The visitors further extended their lead when Stuart Bannigan beat the offside trap and cut the ball along the six yard line for Lawless to net his second of the day. Carey drove home a left-footed effort after good work by Mihael Kovacevic. Five minutes later, Carey could have doubled his tally when he fired in a shot from a free-kick, but Fox managed to contain it. With only injury time remaining, new signing Kallum Higginbotham had the ball in the back of the net for Thistle, but referee Alan Muir sided with his assistant and ruled it out for offside. Ross County manager Derek Adams labelled his side's defeat by Partick Thistle in the Scottish Premiership the lowest point since he took over at Dingwall. County lost 3-1 to the top-flight new boys in a match Partick Thistle dominated from start to finish. "We didn't do well enough," Adams told BBC Radio Scotland. "I think it's probably the worst performance I've had since I became Ross County manager." Kris Doolan and a double from Steven Lawless in the second half gave the Jags a comfortable 3-0 lead over their Highland hosts, and not even a Graham Carey was consolation for Adams' men, who finished in fifth place last season. Adams was unrelenting in his criticism and insisted his players need to find a return to the form they displayed last term. "The players who came in didn't do well enough and the players we had last year didn't perform," said Adams. "I didn't see us forcing a way back into the match. We should have pushed forward a bit more, but it was a bit of anxiousness in our play after we lost a couple of goals. "When we got into good areas, we didn't pick out the right option, but defensively, we didn't look solid - there was gaps all over the pitch and from that point of view, we need to get back to what we were doing well. "We didn't pass the ball well enough, we didn't get close enough to the Partick Thistle players - we have to do that better. Individually, the players have to look at themselves and perform better next week." Despite the dispiriting result, Adams is confident he can make the required changes to restore confidence in the squad and was quick to point out that the season is only two weeks old. "We'll make changes for next week - we can't go with the same team that we played this week," said Adams. "There's no doubt about that. "The players who don't go out will have no complaints, because they didn't do well enough. "I thought Thistle played well, they closed us down, passed the ball well and they were energetic. "They played with a freedom that you get when you win the First Division. "But it's only two games in to a season, and from my point of view, it's too early to predict anything."
Ross County
Manager	Derek Adams
Starting 11	1: Mark Brown, 2: Mihael Kovacevic, 3: Benjamin Gordon, 4: Stuart Kettlewell, 6: Branislav Micic, 9: Orhan Mustafi, 10: Rocco Quinn, 12: Grant Munro, 14: Darren Maatsen, 21: Brian McLean, 23: Graham Carey 1
Bench	20: Michael Fraser, 11: Melvin De Leeuw 1, 15: Gary Glen, 16: Alex Cooper, 17: Steven Ross, 18: Mark Klok, 22: Steven Saunders
Partick Thistle
Manager	Alan Archibald
Starting 11	Scott Fox, Stephen O'Donnell, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Aaron Muirhead, Conrad Balatoni, James Craigen, Stuart Bannigan, Sean Welsh, Steven Lawless 2, Gary Fraser, Kris Doolan 1
Bench	Paul Gallacher, Isaac Osbourne, Ross Forbes, Mark Kerr, Kallum Higginbotham, Christie Elliott, John Baird