Ross County beat Dundee 2-0 for their first Premiership victory of the season – and boss Don Cowie felt the defence laid the foundations for the win.
Amid some windy conditions, the Staggies soared into the lead early on when defender Akil Wright scored his first goal for the club with a bullet header.
Noah Chilvers whipped in a returned corner and Wright rose to cleanly power the ball beyond goalkeeper Jon McCracken.
County’s George Harmon suffered an ankle injury on 15 minutes and was replaced by Ryan Leak following a decent Dundee response to falling a goal behind.
Ex-County striker Simon Murray thought he had levelled with a smart finish on 31 minutes after a great Billy Koumetio pass, but the offside flag cut short his celebrations.
On the cusp of half-time, County took their golden chance to double their lead from the spot, albeit no one seemed to know why it came to that.
Referee Grant Irvine went to the VAR screen, after pausing a County corner, and the decision, for a harsh foul by Ethan Ingram on Jordan White in the box, was a spot-kick.
After two successive home penalties saved from Eamonn Brophy and Ronan Hale, this time White lashed the ball low into the net, sending McCracken the wrong way.
In the second half, Dundee used the substitutes freely as they sought a way back, but White was not far away from adding a third on the hour mark.
The well-earned win for County lifts them from 10th spot to ninth and moves them on to five points from five fixtures.
Cowie hails ‘collective’ performance
Cowie felt his men responded well to the enforced switch when Harmon went off to go on and earn the win.
He said: “It was a good three points and a good team performance.
“We were really solid and clinical when we got our opportunities to score, and I’m absolutely delighted with how we defended our box.
“It was built upon a good collective performance, but within that people maybe played even better.
“We had to make a change in our backline early on, but Ryan (Leak) came in and did really well as did Eli (Campbell) playing out of position. I thought they were rock solid throughout the whole game.”
The manager said the extent of the injury to Harmon, who was on crutches after the game, will be known in the coming days.
Confidence rose after taking lead
And Cowie was pleased with the way they started the match, which set the tone.
He added: “It was challenging conditions with the wind, so it was a case of thinking we had been good at home, so trying to play on the front foot even against a very good team.
“It was important to start quickly, and Jordan had a chance really early on which we built on.
“We need to be a better threat at set plays, and it was delightful to see Akil pop up with that goal.
“That gave the whole team confidence, and we looked in control after that.
“The penalty was a massive boost just before half-time too, and I thought we saw the game out really well in the second half.”
Front-foot start rewarded with goal
Even this early in the season, a match against an unbeaten Dundee side was never going to be anything other then challenging. The Taysiders were on a 10-match run with loss going back to the final game of last term.
Cowie had spoken about County being competitive in all games so far – bar the 6-0 off-day against Rangers.
No question they began with the bit between their teeth. Even before Wright’s fine goal, White went close.
They had to dig deep to keep Dundee out and survived the offside scare.
White’s goal put the Dingwall side in the box seat and gave Dundee too much to do.
Third time lucky from the spot
The penalty back-story has been a fascinating one for County.
It took until the final league game of last season for them to be awarded one (which they scored in a 2-2 draw with Aberdeen).
This term, they had already suffered penalty pain twice. Goalkeepers denied them from the spot in the 1-1 draw against Dundee United and the 1-0 loss to Aberdeen.
On Saturday, White slotted the ball into the net in first half stoppage-time to put County in control. It was a big moment – gratefully accepted by the Highlanders.
Dundee boss Tony Docherty, who felt his team needed to test County more overall, said of the spot-kick drama: “The referee is on the pitch, and he sees it, and doesn’t think it’s a penalty. There’s not one reaction from a Ross County player, so there is no need for VAR to get involved.”
Home chance against Perth Saints
Back-to-back league fixtures at the Global Energy Stadium against Dundee and St Johnstone were seen as crucial to really get County’s campaign off and running before a trip to Tynecastle this month.
County are strong on home soil and will go into Saturday’s clash with 10th-placed Perth Saints with added belief they can emerge with another victory, which could push them near, or into, the top six after six games.
In 2023-24, County banked 26 of their 35 points at home, and results in Dingwall will go a long way again to determining how it will go this time.
Player ratings
ROSS COUNTY (3-5-2): Laidlaw 6, Campbell 6, Lopata 7, Wright 7, Harmon 3 (Leak 15), Randall 7, Chilvers 6 (Denholm 71), Nisbet 6 (Grieves 79), Brown 6, White 7, Hale 6 (Loturi 79).
Subs not used: Hamilton (GK), Allardice, Efete, Samuel, Brophy.
DUNDEE (4-2-3-1): McCracken 6, Larkeche 6 (Braybrooke 65), Koumetio 6, Portales 6, Ingram 5 (McGhee 46), Mulligan 7 (Robertson 65), Sylla 6, Cameron 6, Tiffoney 6 (Main 65), Palmer-Houlden 5 (Adewumi 46), Murray 7.
Subs not used: Carson (GK), Astley, Graham, Vetro.
Referee: Grant Irvine.
Attendance: 4,068.
Man of the match: Kacper Lopata.
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