| Date | Saturday, 01 March 2014 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Premiership |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 1:1 Partick Thistle |
| Venue | Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 3,441 |
| Referee | Craig Thomson |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Andrew Thomson for the BBC. Ross County 1 Partick Thistle 1 Ross County and Partick Thistle slipped below St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership after drawing in Dingwall. Kallum Higginbotham fired a free-kick under the defensive wall and into the net to give Thistle the lead. However, a set piece at the other end drew the sides level as County's Richie Brittain fired home. In a tense second half, neither side was willing to commit many players forward and a winner never looked on the cards. And, with St Mirren winning against Kilmarnock, Thistle and County now occupy the tenth and eleventh places, respectively, in the table. The game started briskly with a couple of chances at both ends but the deadlock was broken by Partick Thistle. Prolific striker Lyle Taylor was impeded by County's Scott Boyd on the edge of the box and the defending picked up a yellow card. Higginbotham fired the resulting free-kick hard and low into the right hand corner beyond the reach of Mark Brown. But the Jags only held on to their lead for a matter minutes. Slovak midfielder Filip Kiss was brought down by Lee Mair just outside the penalty box and County captain Richie Brittain curled the free-kick perfectly round the wall and just inside the right-hand post. Prince Bauben had a good chance to restore Thistle's lead but he hit Chris Erskine's cross over the bar. It was County who then had opportunities to go ahead later in the first half. Yoann Arquin failed to keep a header on target while Kiss managed to cut through the Jags defence a couple of times without delivering the end product. County manager Derek Adams brought Melvin de Leeuw on for Jordan Slew for the second half in an attempt to make a breakthrough but it was Partick Thistle who looked livelier just after the break. Erskine came close after a pass from Higginbottam, sending his shot just wide. At the other end, De Leeuw's shot was well saved by Paul Gallacher. The energy began to sap out of the game towards the end with neither side willing to risk a defeat and the consequences that would bring at the bottom end of the table. Derek Adams was left frustrated by missed chances following Ross County's 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle. Richie Brittain drew County level after Kallum Higginbotham had fired Thistle ahead. "I thought we had the better chances in the game," Staggies manager Adams told BBC Radio Scotland. "Paul Gallacher made a number of very good saves for Partick Thistle. We're probably unfortunate not to have won the game on chances created." With St Mirren winning, both Adams' side and the Jags slipped down the Scottish Premiership table. County now sit 11th. "It was a better result for Partick Thistle, coming away from home and getting a point," said Adams. "They'll be happier than we are. "[Melvin] de Leeuw's had two really good chances and we probably should have scored. "Both sides got a wee bit edgy in the end and when you get near the end, you're going to take a point. We still looked like we could've snatched it at the death but it wasn't to be. "The backline performed well. We probably could've done more middle-to-front and really scored more goals." Ross County are now without a game until 15 March, when they travel to take on St Johnstone. "They're all must-wins for us," added Adams. "We want to win every game. "We've probably done better against the teams in the top six this season and that's where we're going next. From our point of view, every game's winnable." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Derek Adams |
| Starting 11 | 1: Mark Brown, 2: Erik Cikos, 4: Stuart Kettlewell, 5: Scott Boyd 1, 7: Filip Kiss, 8: Richard Brittain 1 1, 12: Michael Tidser, 25: Jordan Slew, 26: Evangelos Oikonomou, 27: Yoann Arquin, 28: Yann Songo'o |
| Bench | 42: Sean McCarthy, 3: Benjamin Gordon, 10: Rocco Quinn, 11: Melvin De Leeuw, 15: Gary Glen, 21: Brian McLean, 23: Graham Carey |
| Partick Thistle | |
| Manager | Alan Archibald |
| Starting 11 | Paul Gallacher, Stephen O'Donnell 1, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Conrad Balatoni, Stuart Bannigan, Prince Bauben 1, Lee Mair, Lyle Taylor 1, Gary Fraser, Kallum Higginbotham 1, Chris Erskine 1 |
| Bench | Scott Fox, James Craigen, Kris Doolan, Steven Lawless, Gabriel Piccolo, Christie Elliott, George Moncur |