Ross County clawed back a two-goal deficit to stretch their unbeaten run to five games, moving four points clear of bottom of the table St Mirren with a spirited 2-2 draw against Hamilton Accies.
The early signs were ominous after goals from Jason Scotland and Dougie Imrie put Accies 2-0 up after just 18 minutes. However, Craig Curran pulled one back before half-time, with Michael Gardyne’s second-half equaliser proving crucial on a weekend in which both St Mirren and Motherwell lost.
County’s winning streak ahead of this match coincided with manager Jim McIntyre selecting the same team in all four matches. However, McIntyre made two changes for the trip to Lanarkshire, with Jackson Irvine and Liam Boyce dropping out for Filip Kiss and Jake Jervis.
Accies were still searching for their first win under new manager Martin Canning, having not win in nine games prior to this encounter, with the hosts making four changes to the side defeated 1-0 by bottom-placed St Mirren in their last match a fortnight ago. Jesus Garcia Tena, Darren Lyon, Danny Redmond and Grant Gillespie came in, with player-manager Canning, Nigel Hasselbaink, Jon Routledge and Darian MacKinnon making way.
County got off to the worst possible start, going behind after just two minutes. Goalkeeper Mark Brown had done well to palm Ali Crawford’s shot wide, but from the resulting corner, Jesus Garcia Tena was left untracked to nod across goal, with Jason Scotland steering home from point-blank range.
The visitors could have levelled from a corner of their own moments later when Kiss’ free header was well saved by former County keeper Michael McGovern, who stood tall to block the follow-up from Jervis before defender Scott Boyd lashed over.
However Accies doubled their lead on 18 minutes, exposing the Dingwall side on the counter attack as Danny Redmond played an angled ball into the path of Dougie Imrie, and the former Caley Thistle attacker sidefooting past Brown from 15 yards.
County grabbed a lifeline just 10 minutes after falling two goals behind, as Raffale De Vita floated a cross in from the left, with Craig Curran rising to nod home his third goal in four games from close-range.
The Staggies were boosted by their strong finish to the first-half after the break, and Marcus Fraser dragged a shot wide from a promising position, while at the other end Scotland and Gillespie came close from long-range.
However County grabbed the equaliser on 72 minutes, and it came courtesy of another De Vita cross, with his tempting ball from the left hooked home by Michael Gardyne at the far post to earn the visitors a crucial point.