'Paisley wait goes on as final ball fails County' published at 11:05 12 December 2023
Image source, BBC SportRoss Morren, The County Corner , external
Ross County fans travelled down the A9 on Saturday optimistic they’d see their side pick up their first win in Paisley since April 2015.
Ahead of the St Mirren game, The Staggies looked like a side who would be full of confidence having picked up seven points from a possible nine since Derek Adams returned to the club, coming off the back of a dominant 3-0 win against Motherwell where they created numerous chances going forward and looked solid defensively.
Fans of both sides didn’t have to cast their minds back too far for the last match between the two, where Jordan White’s late winner handed County victory at the end of November.
Same again on Saturday, right? Unfortunately not.
St Mirren looked like a completely different team to the one which struggled to compete in Dingwall. They pressed County at every opportunity and limited the supply to key players Yan Dhanda and Simon Murray, while creating several chances at the other end.
Going into the second half, there was hope that County weathered the St Mirren storm and could grow into the match. Those hopes evaporated after an unfortunate Ryan Leak own goal and a quickfire second from Jonah Ayunga gave the hosts a 2-0 lead, leaving County with a mountain to climb.
It was the first time Adams has seen his side go behind since his return to the club. It allowed the manager to see how his players would respond when they find themselves trailing to tough opposition at a difficult venue.
Would they go into their shell? Would they stand up for the fight? Would they stay calm and keep trying to do the right things on the ball?
The response after going two goals down was positive overall. The players didn’t let their heads drop and they kept trying to play through the lines and move the ball into dangerous positions.
As the second half wore on, James Brown and George Harmon were playing more as wingers rather than wing-backs as County tried to work the ball wide and cause the home side problems late on with the deliveries into the box.
Alex Samuel forced a fantastic save from Zach Hemming, but apart from that, it was one of those days where the final ball wasn’t up to scratch in the moments that mattered.
