Ross County boss Don Cowie hailed goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw for saving a penalty to help his side to a 0-0 Premiership draw at St Mirren.
It was a second successive goalless draw for the Staggies on the back of their midweek home stalemate with Hibs and it keeps County eighth, just behind the Buddies on goal difference after 12 fixtures.
The wait for an away league win for County stretches back to September 2023 when they defeated Kilmarnock 1-0 at Rugby Park.
However, this was just their fifth away Premiership match this season – and their third draw on the road.
The first half an hour offered very little in the way of chances, with County captain Connor Randall stopped in his tracks by goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe and Elvis Bwomowo’s shot deflected wide for the Buddies.
On 33 minutes, the hosts had a golden chance to get in front when, after a VAR check for Eli Campbell’s shirt pull on ex-County skipper Marcus Fraser, a penalty was awarded.
Up stepped Greg Kiltie and his low spot-kick was saved by Laidlaw’s feet and cleared to safety.
Teams pressed for a late clincher
In the second half, a fine Laidlaw save from sub Jonah Ayunga’s header was followed by Randall shooting wide for County as the sides pressed for a breakthrough.
County sub Ronan Hale drew a fine save from Balcombe and then saw a shot blocked for a corner late on.
Home sub Mikael Mandron almost won it late on but lashed an effort over the top.
In stoppage-time, County had a chance cleared off the line, but the game ended level.
Laidlaw ‘came up trumps’ twice
Cowie was quick to praise Laidlaw for coming to the rescue to seal the point in Paisley with his spot-kick heroics and point-blank stop.
He said: “The two big moments for St Mirren were the penalty and the header at the start of the second half. Ross came up trumps with two great saves.
“He commanded his box really well. They make you defend, so there were a lot of balls coming in. He took a lot of pressure off to collect those.”
The County manager admitted he was thrown by the decision to award the spot-kick, which could have decided the contest.
He said: “I just knew there was a check happening. I didn’t know in what box it was.
“It didn’t seem like there were any claims from St Mirren players on the pitch. When something like that happens, it takes you by surprise.
“When (referee) Don Robertson gets sent to the VAR monitor, you expect a penalty to be given. Credit to Ross for standing up to make a great save.”
Cowie: Side put ‘bodies on the line’
When asked about the tight contest, Cowie added: “I wouldn’t expect anything less.
“St Mirren are a team that puts you under a lot of pressure and makes you defend your box really well and that’s exactly what we did.
“Getting clean sheets is something we have worked hard to improve on.
“In the last two games, as much as we’re frustrated that we have not scored a goal, we have two clean sheets against two dangerous opponents in Hibs and St Mirren. Boys are putting their bodies on the line.
“As the second half went on, we grew into the game and we had a couple of really good opportunities. I thought we might have got the goal and ended the away run that we keep getting reminded about.”
County arrived at the SMiSA Stadium after collecting four points over the past week from two home fixtures as a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock was followed by Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Hibs.
Cowie made three changes to his line-up. Reid came in for Ryan Leak, who was out through illness, while Jack Grieves and Josh Nisbet got the nod ahead of benched Aidan Denholm and Hale, although the latter two came on at the start of the second half.
St Mirren stopped a four-match losing slide in midweek when they hit back from a goal down to defeat improving visitors St Johnstone 3-1.
Two well matched teams draw blanks
With these teams locked level in the table, it was no surprise that they went toe-to-toe for the entire afternoon.
It wasn’t a quality encounter, but it was engaging.
That was especially so in the last half an hour as the rain drove down in Paisley.
An away victory would have taken the Dingwall side into sixth position – at least until Sunday’s fixtures.
Penalty save offered hope to County
Laidlaw’s penalty save was helped by the weak and straight Kiltie strike from the spot, but it nonetheless offered County a chance to build from it.
White came close to putting the Highlanders ahead just before the interval when he met a James Brown cut-back, but his shot had too much height.
Experienced Laidlaw continues to be a key point-earning figure in Cowie’s side.
The 32-year-old proved that further early in the second period with that diving save from Ayunga.
Trip to Tannadice is next away test
Next Saturday, County are on their travels once more, this time to Dundee United.
Since a real off-day with two red cards amid a 3-0 defeat at St Johnstone last month, County look well-drilled, hard to break down, with their back three of Campbell, Kacper Lopata and Akil Wright getting better all the time.
They have creativity in their team, but as pleased as Cowie will be with their clean sheets, he wants to see more bite up top.
Crack that, most likely guided and finished by White, and County could well end that winless away league run on Tayside.
St Mirren v Ross County ratings
ST MIRREN (3-4-3): Balcombe 6, Taylor 6, Gogic 7, Fraser 7, Tanser 6, O’Hara 6, Phillips 6 (Boyd-Munce 77), Bwomono 5 (McMenamin 46), Kiltie 6 (Idowu 59), Olusanya 7 (Mandron 59), Scott 5 (Ayunga 46).
Subs not used: Urminsky (GK), Penman, Smyth, Adeniran.
ROSS COUNTY (3-4-1-2): Laidlaw 8, Campbell 6, Lopata 6, Wright 6, Reid 6 (Efete 75), Nisbet 6, Randall 6 (Allardice 74), Brown 6, Chilvers 5 (Denholm 46), Grieves 5 (Hale 46), White 7.
Subs not used: Hamilton (GK), Lamie, Loturi, Samuel, Brophy.
Referee: Don Robertson.
Attendance: 6,142.
Man-of-the-match: Ross Laidlaw.
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