Ross County boss Don Cowie is urging his team to dig deep to reverse a slide after a 2-1 loss against 10-men St Mirren made if four defeats on the spin.
Former Staggies man Alex Iacovitti fired the Buddies in front, stabbing home from a first half free-kick.
Michee Efete’s first County goal early in the second half drew the contest level.
Scott Tanser was sent off for a second bookable offence soon after and, with both sides going for it, Oisin Smyth crashed home a late winner.
It means sixth-placed Saints open up a five-point lead over Dundee, while County could drop to 11th depending on the result between bottom two St Johnstone and Hearts tomorrow (Sunday).
‘Gifting teams the opportunity’
Defeats and Celtic, Rangers, Hibernian and now this one, allied with just four goals scored in eight games – leave County dropping closer to danger.
Cowie, speaking ahead of the Boxing Day trip to Dundee, said: “It’s my responsibility.
“Results have not been good enough over the last six weeks, but the only thing you can do is get together and work hard to make it difficult for the opposition.
“Right now we are gifting teams the opportunity to beat us. Today we made a rash decision to give them a free-kick on the edge of the box, and we get punished for it.
“There’s no point feeling sorry for ourselves, because it’s only us who can change it.”
County ‘didn’t make advantage count’
Cowie stressed that his team should have asked more questions when it became 11 v 10.
He added: “First of all it’s a massive opportunity missed.
“I was really frustrated at half-time with the group, and I thought they reacted really well to score so early.
“When St Mirren go down to 10 men, it’s perfectly poised for us, but we did nowhere near enough to go on and win the game.
“We did not test them enough considering they were down to 10 men.
“The weather was challenging, but you’ve still got to do more.
“At no stage did we make our advantage count. We created one really good opportunity at 1-1, but barring that we didn’t ask anywhere near enough questions.
“St Mirren played the conditions really well, and dealt with going down to 10 men really well.”
Injuries and illness lead to changes
From the side which lost 3-1 at Hibernian last week, Efete, Ronan Hale and Jordan White came in for James Brown, who was ill, and injured pair Eli Campbell and Alex Samuel.
The shake-up led to a new-look back-line where skipper Connor Randall lined up at left-back, with Scott Allardice retaining his midfield berth.
The wind was whipping around the stadium, but the players were doing their best to put their feet on the ball and move it.
St Mirren’s Killian Phillips was first to have a pop when he rifled a low shot goalwards, but goalkeeper Jack Hamilton clutched it with ease.
Pouring rain was on and off, but Noah Chilvers controlled a dipping shot which flashed just beyond the right post as County showed intent.
On 27 minutes, Saints took the lead and it was gift-wrapped four days before Christmas.
Oisin Smyth drove a telling free-kick into the box, Hamilton pushed it away, but ex-County defender Iacovitti was on hand to slam the ball into the net from close range.
Efete’s cool moment drew game level
Just 27 seconds into the second half, County squared the scoreline when, from Chilvers’ cross, Efete got a second bite after a blocked header then guided a low drive past Ellery Balcombe into the net.
On 55 minutes, Tanser was sent off by referee Iain Snedden for a second bookable offence – both were for sliding challenges which caught County players.
Penalty appeals for both teams were checked and dismissed by VAR, causing anger from the respective benches. St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson was booked for disputing his case too strongly.
In the final minute of regulation time, Smyth stepped up to guide a high free-kick out of the reach of Hamilton to seal maximum points for the Buddies.
Hamilton responded well after goal
Whether the finger of blame should be pointed at Hamilton for Saints’ opener is open for debate.
A misjudgment was costly as Rangers cashed in to score here a few weeks ago in a 3-0 result, although Cowie was quick to defender the stopper, who has just come into the first-team fold due to Ross Laidlaw’s knee injury, which keeps him out until February.
County have added German keeper Jordan Amissah as back-up and could be an option, although that might be a harsh call.
Aside for that moment, he looked assured and stood up to Saints’ threats and looked assured. He could do nothing about the clinching strike.
Numbers must improve at both ends
At the time of writing, County currently the division’s lowest scorers with just 14 goals in 18 outings, while their concession of 35 goals is the league’s equal highest tally with Kilmarnock.
There were times here where they had the spark and ability to open St Mirren up, but a lack of composure let them down.
The drought of goals is a real concern and it means any slack moment at the back is costing them points.
Credit to them though for battling back, but the late winner was punishing.
County must regain winning formula
It’s a quick turnaround for County as they travel to Dundee on Thursday, looking for their first away league victory since September 2023.
Then, on Sunday, December 29, Hearts are the visitors to Dingwall.
It represents an important 180 minutes for County, who will be doing all they can to prevent slipping bottom going into the New Year.
Ross County v St Mirren ratings
ROSS COUNTY (3-5-2): Hamilton 6, Randall 7, Lopata 6, Wright 6, Harmon 6 (Reid 68), Chilvers 7, Nisbet 6 (Brophy 68), Allardice 5 (Denholm 46), Efete 6, Hale 6, White 5.
Subs not used: Amissah (GK), Leak, Loturi, Sheaf, Grieves, Telfer.
ST MIRREN (3-4-3): Balcombe 6, Taylor 6, Iacovitti 7, Fraser 6, Tanser 6, Phillips 7, Smyth 7 (Adeniran,90), Bwomono 6, Kiltie 6 (Boyd-Munce 90), Mandron 6 (Ayunga 77), Idowu 6 (Gogic 77).
Subs not used: Urminsky (GK), Scott, Kenny, Penman, Mooney.
Referee: Iain Snedden
Attendance: 3271.
Man of the match: Connor Randall.
For more Ross County news and updates visit our dedicated page and join our Facebook group.
Conversation