The 98th-minute Aberdeen goal that consigned Ross County to defeat in Saturday night’s VAR-laden match felt like a real sucker punch.
There were a lot of questions about how Don Cowie’s side would react after their poor performance in the 6-0 defeat by Rangers at Hampden the week prior.
Cowie switched to a 3-5-2 and his side looked far more compact and confident in their defending to nullify Aberdeen’s attacking threat for the majority of the match.
Kacper Lopata, who was making his debut at the heart of the defence, was very impressive and marshalled the backline really well. Australia international Josh Nisbet was also making his first start in Dingwall and impressed the home fans with his energy and quality in the middle of the park.
Last season, County nearly went the entire Premiership season without being awarded a penalty before Angus MacDonald’s foul on Jordan White handed the Staggies a spot-kick against Aberdeen on the final day. This term, County have been awarded penalties in successive home matches but have failed to score on both occasions.
Ronan Hale struck his penalty with power and accuracy which nine times out of 10 would find the back of the net. Huge credit has to go to Dimitar Mitov for making one of the best penalty saves I’ve seen in a long time.
The Staggies are quite unfortunate to be going into the international break with only two points from four league matches. In the key moments so far, such as the two penalties and conceding such a late winner on Saturday, luck really hasn’t been on our side.
With back-to-back home matches against Dundee and St Johnstone coming up followed by a trip to face struggling Hearts, Cowie will hope to use the international break to build on the positives he’s seen from his side and turn the encouraging signs into points.
Ross Morren can be found at The County Corner