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ST Mirren denied Ross County a significant victory in their bid for Scottish Premiership survival by snatching a late equaliser after a scrappy game in Dingwall.
There were precious few opportunities as players toiled with the ball, but defensive mistakes helped both sides find the net.
County were gifted the opening goal by St Mirren defender Alex Gogic. The defender’s under hit back pass was picked off by Jordan White, who nipped round goalkeeper Zach Hemming before sliding his side into the lead.
That came after only 11 minutes and it looked as though the only real source of intrigue afterwards was going to be the decision not to award St Mirren a penalty before the break when Ryan Leak clearly handled the ball while holding his arm above his head.
County also had a claim for a spot-kick before when Hyeok-kyu Kwon clipped the heel of Loick Ayina, but the controversy was set to centre on the lack of intervention from the video assistant when the ball brushed Leak’s outstretched arm.
But in the end St Mirren came up with a precious equaliser when Keanu Baccus knocked the ball in behind and Toyosi Olusanya took advantage of Ayina’s hesitation to run through and score.
Stephen Robinson’s side could have won it, too, as Olusanya turned provider for James Scott, only for the striker to slice his effort horribly wide when through on goal.
The late leveller was a sucker punch for County, who were heading above St Johnstone into 10th and nine points clear of bottom side Livingston, but instead stay in the relegation play-off spot, with their relegation rivals in action on Wednesday.
St Mirren missed the opportunity to overtake Kilmarnock in fourth, but are now just a point behind the Ayrshire side, who face Rangers on Wednesday.
Player of the match – Toyosi Olusanya (St Mirren)
County’s defensive frailty costs them – analysis
This was not a game for the purists and Ross County would not have cared one bit had they held on for a precious win.
However, the same old defensive issues that have plagued them all season ended up costing them. It was a simple ball through that should have been dealt with but Ayina delayed and was punished.
Players like White, Eamonn Brophy and Simon Murray plus the injured Yan Dhanda mean they will pose a threat to teams but they have the worst defensive record in the Premiership. Until they fix that, the threat of relegation will remain until the end of the season.
St Mirren probably put in one of their worst performances of the season – but still got a point. Their delivery into the box was poor all night, although they would have been aggrieved had they lost given they were denied a penalty for that Leak handball.
It’s credit to the squad Robinson has built, though, that they had players like Baccus and Olusanya on the bench to inject a bit of life to the final stages.
They combined for the equaliser and Olusanya should have had an assist had Scott stayed calm when clean through.
Although it was disappointing for St Mirren, they are still on course for back-to-back top-six finishes.
What they said
Ross County interim manager Don Cowie: “I’m disappointed for them because I thought they defended extremely well. It just highlights how you need to be switched on for the full game. It’s something we need to learn from.
“Jordan [White] was very ruthless for the goal to sniff out the opportunity. That’s good for the team and something we need to build on.
“I would’ve loved three points, but overall I felt a draw was probably a fair result.”
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: “I think we showed a lot of character. We certainly weren’t at our best. It’s probably their only chance of the game, an individual error.
“Alex Gogic has been brilliant for me, so we owed him that to get back into the game.
“We should have had a penalty. I’m being told they didn’t check it. There’s no point me crying about it. They’re not going to change the game.
“We had enough to win the game without a decision we should have had. I can’t control VAR. We can only worry about what we can control.”
What’s next?
Ross County travel to Edinburgh to face Hibernian on Saturday (15:00 GMT) while St Mirren host Aberdeen at the same time.
BBC
28th February, 2024.
C.E.
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