Shoot-out hero Ross Laidlaw revealed Ross County’s penalty preparations were so thorough he even practised taking one himself.
The Staggies triumphed 5-4 on penalties against Partick Thistle to secure Premiership safety, after netting three goals in the final 19 minutes to haul themselves back from a three-goal deficit.
Goalkeeper Laidlaw had faced seven penalties throughout the league campaign, along with a shoot-out in a Scottish Cup tie against Hamilton Accies in January – and failed to save any of them.
When it mattered most on Sunday, though, Laidlaw saved two of Thistle’s penalties – from Kevin Holt and Ross Docherty – allowing Josh Sims to net County’s decisive spot-kick.
County boss Malky Mackay and his staff organised a penalty shoot-out in training on Saturday, in order to prepare for the possibility of the tie going all the way.
Although Laidlaw dispatched his practise spot-kick, the Staggies goalkeeper was pleased he was not called upon to take one in the real event.
Laidlaw said: “I’ve not saved a penalty all season, so the goalkeeping coach Scott Thomson has been on at me about it.
“I think he couldn’t believe his eyes when I saved a couple.
“But we practised them on Saturday and I saved three, so I was confident going into it.
“I thought I might save a few.
“I banged the bar a few times to put them off a bit – I don’t think you’re actually allowed to do that any more and I thought the referee might book me.
“But you want any little advantage you can get, and in those situations, the emotions take over and you do mad little things.
“Everyone hit a penalty in the practice, even me. And I scored it.
“But when they were ticking through the players, I was hoping it wouldn’t get as far as the goalkeepers – I didn’t fancy taking one for real.
“It was just great to save them and see the fans celebrating like that at the end.”
Keeping belief was key to Staggies’ great escape
Laidlaw says County’s fightback from such a precarious position typifies the character within Mackay’s squad.
The 30-year-old added: “That just shows the team spirit we have in this dressing-room.
“We could have given up and just accepted our fate, but we didn’t – we kept going and we got through it in the end.
“The manager always goes on about it and recently we were 2-0 down to St Johnstone then got back to 3-2 before they equalised.
“We knew if we could get one goal, we’d possibly go on to score a few more.
“It’s all about having that belief in yourself.
“We were written off after the first leg, but we believed we could get the result and we believed we could stay up.
“We’re delighted with how it panned out.
“It was sheer relief, and we don’t want to go through that again.”
Goalkeeper eager to kick on next term
Laidlaw is under contract at Victoria Park for a further three years, having signed an extension earlier this season.
The former Hibernian goalkeeper is thrilled he and his team-mates will continue to play among Scotland’s elite.
Laidlaw added: “There would have been easier ways to do it, but that just seems to be the way at Ross County sometimes.
“Going into the game everyone knows what’s at stake, how the club could lose a lot of money going into the Championship and what the knock-on from that would be.
“Players are out of contract as well, so there was so much at stake for everyone.
“We’re delighted to do it for the chairman, the manager and all the supporters, because this is a great club and I’ve loved being here.
“Hopefully we can recruit well in the summer and get a bit more luck on the injury front so we’re not down there again.”
Conversation