Ross County carried on an excellent week with an impressive 2-0 triumph over Hibernian at Easter Road.
For the second successive match left back George Harmon came up with the goods in front of goal, with his effort on the stroke of half-time followed up by an Alex Iacovitti strike to secure a priceless victory for Malky Mackay’s men.
Following on from Saturday’s 3-2 triumph over St Mirren, it is the Dingwall outfit’s first back-to-back league victories since March.
In the space of just three days, County have moved from the foot of the Premiership into 10th place. They are now just five points adrift of the top-half, which is a point less than separates them from basement side Dundee United.
Although they face a difficult trip to Celtic on Saturday, the results already in the bag will ensure spirits remain high at Victoria Park throughout the winter break.
The match came too soon for Jack Baldwin, who was unable to shake off a knock he suffered in the early stages against the Buddies.
He was replaced by club captain Keith Watson in the heart of defence, with David Cancola brought in for attacker Jordy Hiwula in a switch to a more rigid midfield structure.
Hibs were aiming to bounce back from a 4-1 loss to Aberdeen on Friday, with Watson doing well to block a Mykola Kuharevich effort amidst an early spell of probing by the hosts.
Another opportunity fell the way of Demetri Mitchell on 10 minutes, however he was unable to keep his header down after meeting a Ryan Porteous cross.
The Staggies found themselves regularly pinned back in the opening stages but largely stood firm to Hibs’ threats, with Alex Iacovitti taking a sore one in blocking a powerful Porteous free-kick on 23 minutes.
Another headed opportunity presented itself for Kuharevich three minutes later, with the Ukrainian forward glancing his near post effort over following Mitchell’s delivery.
County looked content to ease their way into the match however when they did work their way into threatening positions, all too often their final delivery let them down.
A potential breakaway looked on the cards when a ball over by the top by Jordan Tillson put Owura Edwards in the clear, however he checked back before attempting to beat Rocky Bushiri for pace, and the opportunity fizzled out.
The Staggies eventually carved out their first meaningful chance four minutes before the break however. The ball fell to the feet of Jordan White in the box following another Edwards delivery, with the forward looking destined to find the net before Paul Hanlon got in to make a last-ditch block over the bar.
Hibs also threatened, with Iacovitti doing well to block Rocky Bushiri’s close-range effort, prompting a VAR check to conclude no hand was used.
Deep into first half stoppage time the Staggies made the breakthrough however. The ball was returned to Yan Dhanda wide on the right after his initial cross had been cleared, with his delivery met by man of the moment Harmon to guide his effort past David Marshall.
It was a perfect boost to take into the second period, although the Staggies survived a scare on 51 minutes when Ross Laidlaw’s punch from a corner fell straight to Bushiri, although the goalkeeper did well to stand tall to collect the follow up effort.
County looked in the mood for a second though, with Dhanda failing to hit the target from the edge of the box following a neat lay-off by White.
Hibs continued to search for a way back into the game, with Melkersen nodding over, while Watson made a brave block to thwart an effort by substitute Jair Tavares.
Lee Johnson’s men kept up the pressure, with Laidlaw parrying a long-range strike by Porteous, however the home crowd grew increasingly frustrated by their side’s wastefulness.
County inflicted a decisive blow on 78 minutes though, with Harmon this time the provider with a cutback for Iacovitti, who showed the composure of a striker to tuck home.
HIBERNIAN (3-4-1-2) – Marshall 6; Porteous 6, Bushiri 6, Hanlon 6; Cadden 6, Kenneh 5 (Campbell 46), Newell 6, Mitchell 4 (Stevenson 39); Henderson 5 (Tavares 58); Kuharevich 5 (Youan 46), Melkersen 6. Subs not used – Dabrowski, Cabraja, McGregor, Fish, Aiken.
ROSS COUNTY (4-2-3-1) – Laidlaw 6; Johnson 7, Watson 7, Iacovitti 7, Harmon 8; Cancola 6 (Smith 88), Loturi 7; Edwards 6 (Sims 63), Tillson 8, Dhanda 7 (Akio 72); White 7 (Hiwula 88). Subs not used – Eastwood, Munro, D Samuel, Olaigbe.
Referee – Alan Muir
Attendance – 13,930
Man of the match: George Harmon
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