Ross County opened their Premiership campaign with a hard-fought point after a goalless afternoon against Motherwell at Fir Park.
County were searching for their first opening day victory since 2020, when now Well boss Stuart Kettlewell guided the Staggies to victory over the Lanarkshire outfit at Victoria Park.
Both sides had intermittent chances on a largely uneventful opening fixture, with Jordan White and Will Nightingale coming closest for the Dingwall men.
Earlier in the week, Staggies boss Don Cowie spoke of his aim to improve his side’s away form this season, following a return of just one victory from 19 league matches on the road last term.
Although he will be looking for better performances as the season progresses, starting with a point and a clean sheet on the road gives Cowie something to build on.
Cowie said: “I thought it was a really hard-fought point for us. Going into the season, I spoke about how we needed to be harder to beat away from home.
“I’m delighted to get a point and a clean sheet.
“It’s something we have not done enough historically, especially last season. It’s about trying to improve that aspect, and this was a clear sign of everyone putting their body on the line to make sure we got that clean sheet and a point.
“I thought it had the feel of the first game. It was a bit frantic, and erratic at times.
“Can we play better? Absolutely. We are all on the same page and agree with that, but we are a new group and it’s about trying to build on what we have done.
“Our away form was really poor last season. We only won one game away from home, we didn’t get enough clean sheets and we conceded too many sloppy goals at important times in games.
“This was a real positive step in the right direction, in terms of looking forward to this new season.
“We expect a hard-working team, and we have to try and make it as difficult as possible for the opposition, but also implement our quality.
“We didn’t quite manage to do that, but I’m still very happy with the group.”
Nightingale provided Staggies with welcome boost
The Staggies were without Ricki Lamie who was unable to shake off an Achilles injury from the previous weekend’s Premier Sports Cup tie against Stirling Albion. His place in the heart of defence was taken by Nightingale, who was included for the first time since returning on loan from AFC Wimbledon.
It was a cagey start to the campaign for both sides, with little by way of goalmouth action in the early exchanges.
Jordan White was first to threaten for the Staggies, when he saw a glancing header easily gathered by Aston Oxborough.
The Dingwall men survived a let-off on 20 minutes, however, when Nightingale was caught in possession by Zach Robinson on the halfway line, with the striker going clean through on goal before sidefooting wide from an excellent position.
That glimpse of goal appeared to give Motherwell impetus to carry the stronger threat. Another fine chance presented itself eight minutes later when Ewan Wilson cut the ball across goal, with Moses Ebiye denied by a superb near-post save from Ross Laidlaw, before Wilson blazed over on the follow-up.
County registered their first attempt on target just before the interval when Connor Randall’s long-range strike was gathered by Oxborough, however, the visitors went into the second period knowing they needed to find a greater spark in the final third.
It was the home side who started brighter, though, with Laidlaw doing well to palm over a Dan Casey delivery which threatened to dip under the crossbar just seconds after the restart.
Well continued to pressure from set-pieces, but Hale was denied at the other end when he saw a free-kick met by a strong save around the post from Oxborough.
Cowie shook up his side, with Jack Grieves and Hale making way for Aidan Denholm and Alex Samuel.
A glorious chance fell the way of White on 75 minutes when he was picked out unmarked by Victor Loturi’s floated delivery, but he nodded narrowly over the bar.
Well teenager Wilson nearly came up with the game’s decisive moment with five minutes remaining when he took aim with a strike from the edge of the box, which Laidlaw met with a superb clawed save to force it behind.
The big late chance fell to County in stoppage time when George Harmon’s corner fell for Nightingale, who was unable to find the target as he prodded over the bar from close-range.
Player Ratings
MOTHERWELL (3-4-1-2): Oxborough 7; Casey 6, Gordon 6, Blaney 6 (McGinn 86); O’Donnell 6, Halliday 6, Zdravkovski 6, Wilson 7; Miller 6 (Callachan 73); Ebiye 6 (Wells 87), Robinson 6 (Stamatelopoulos 67).
Subs not used: Hegyi, Seddon, Balmer, Sparrow, Kaleta.
ROSS COUNTY (3-4-1-2): Laidlaw 7; Wright 6, Nightingale 6, Leak 7; Brown 6 (Efete 87), Randall 6, Grieves 6 (Denholm 62), Harmon 6; Loturi 6; White 6 (Chilvers 87), Hale 6 (Samuel 72).
Subs not used: Hamilton, Telfer, Brophy, Macleod, Reid.
Referee: John Beaton
Attendance: 4,353
Man of the Match: Ewan Wilson
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