Don Cowie felt the loss of a second goal so soon before half-time proved a killer blow in Ross County’s 3-0 defeat at St Johnstone.
The Staggies had an afternoon to forget at McDiarmid Park, in a game which saw them finish with nine men.
The first half could hardly have panned out much worse for the Staggies, with Saints taking an early grip of the game through Benji Kimpioka’s goal on 16 minutes.
County’s task in responding was made even harder when Eli Campbell was shown a second yellow card just over half an hour into the match.
Kimpioka netted an untimely second just before the interval, which gave the Staggies an uphill second half task.
It was a case of damage limitation for the Staggies after the break, with Charlie Telfer’s dismissal just four minutes after being brought on as a substitute reducing Don Cowie’s side further.
County looked like holding out for the 2-0 defeat, however Makenzie Kirk’s stoppage time effort proved enough for Saints to leapfrog County on goal difference – with the Dingwall men now ninth in the table.
Cowie felt the timing of Kimpioka’s second goal made his efforts to convince County’s players to believe in a comeback much harder in his half-time team talk.
He said: “We’re really disappointed, especially with the result.
“Not many things went our way – we went down to 10 men early on, which made it a challenge.
“It’s one of those where we’ve let ourselves down and let the fans down.
“We brought a big support down today and we need to respond now.
“I thought we started brightly. We were the team in the ascendency.
“Out of nothing, we went 1-0 down and then down to 10 men.
“I was disappointed at that point. It was important to get into the break at 1-0 to get that opportunity to regroup and go again.
“To concede the second right at half-time was a big blow. That was the biggest part of the match for us.
“Even down 1-0 with 10 men, you still feel you can have a spell in the game and get an opportunity.
“Once it goes to two, it changes the perspective of it.
“Then it was about the second half and making sure we kept our discipline.
“That got even harder when Charlie got sent off and we went down to nine.
“Once again, I was really disappointed we then conceded right on the final whistle.”
Red card gave Staggies uphill battle
It was an afternoon in which everything that could have gone wrong seemed to do so for the Staggies.
The tone was set by Saints’ opener on 16 minutes when Nicky Clark got the better of Ryan Leak in a duel – legally according to a lengthy VAR check – before playing in Adama Sidibeh, who squared for Kimpioka to tap home.
Campbell could count himself unlucky to be booked for his first foul of the game just seven minutes in, when he brought down Clark.
Given that early warning sign, it made Campbell’s next challenge on Drey Wright just after the half-hour mark a rash error of judgment, with the on-loan Everton defender clumsily hauling the Saints player down.
There was no protest from Campbell at John Beaton’s decision to brandish the second yellow which in itself was telling, before he gingerly made his way past his manager and down the tunnel in the knowledge he had left his team-mates with an almighty task.
That task heightened on the stroke of half-time when Michee Efete failed to track the run of Kimpioka at the far post, with the striker tapping home to convert Matt Smith’s cross.
If it wasn’t difficult enough, Telfer’s straight dismissal just minutes after being introduced for a crunching tackle on Sven Spragler reduced them to nine men.
Although the Staggies had held out well throughout the second period given their numerical disadvantage, they could not prevent Kirk adding stoppage time third from Graham Carey’s cutback.
Little chance for Allardice and Brophy to impress
Cowie gave Eamonn Brophy and Scott Allardice rare starting opportunities at McDiarmid Park.
It was forward Brophy’s first start since the 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen on August 31, while midfielder Allardice was last among the starting 11 in the 1-1 draw with Dundee United on August 10.
Given the tactical switches necessitated by Campbell’s dismissal, Brophy was sacrificed at half-time in one of three changes made by Cowie – having had little opportunity to get into the game.
Allardice brought physicality to County’s midfield, but his role became far more of a containing job than planned given how the game unfolded, before he made way for Telfer on 75 minutes.
Both players will desperately hope for another chance when County return to action at home to Kilmarnock next Saturday.
Back-to-back home games crucial for Staggies
The visit of Killie is quickly followed by another midweek home fixture against Hibernian, who now prop up the Premiership table.
With both teams below the ninth-placed Staggies, County will be eager to return a strong points haul from the double header in order to revive their momentum.
A return of four points from six earlier in the campaign, in home matches against Dundee and St Johnstone, provided the Staggies with a quick lift up the Premiership table.
With Saints having pulled level on seven points, County will aim for a similar haul in order to regain daylight between them and the foot of the table.
Player ratings
ST JOHNSTONE (4-3-1-2): Sinclair 6; Wright 6, Sanders 6, Raymond 6; Holt 7, Sprangler 6 (Essel 80), Smith 7 (Carey 83); Clark 7; Kimpioka 8, Sidibeh 6 (Kirk 77).
Subs not used: Rae, Cameron, Kucheriavyi, McPake, Keltjens, Franczak.
ROSS COUNTY (3-4-1-2): Laidlaw 6; Wright 6, Lopata 5 (White 65), Leak 6; Efete 5 (Brown 46), Randall 6, Allardice 6 (Telfer 75), Campbell 4; Nisbet 5 (Reid 46); Hale 6, Brophy 5 (Denholm 46).
Subs not used: Hamilton, Chilvers, Grieves, Telfer, Samuel.
Referee: John Beaton
Attendance: 3,688
Man of the match: Benji Kimpioka
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