Ross County fell to a 3-1 home defeat against Dundee in the opening match of the Premiership season.
A first-half double by Dundee forward Rory Loy put the Dark Blues firmly in command, with Paul McGowan adding a third midway through the second-half, meaning Craig Curran’s goal was a mere consolation for Jim McIntyre’s side.
County made only one change from the side that defeated Cove Rangers 7-0 in the Betfred Cup last weekend, with goalkeeper Scott Fox returning in place of Aaron McCarey.
The Staggies nearly took the lead in bizarre circumstances on nine minutes when Jay McEveley’s low delivery from the left picked out Brian Graham’s near post run, and despite initially mis-hitting his effort he reacted quickly to squeeze a follow up shot towards goal, with Dundee skipper Darren O’Dea clearing off the line.
The visitors had offered little threat in the early stages but they took the lead on 13 minutes, when Mark O’Hara broke down the right before pulling the ball back for Loy to thump home from close-range.
County looked to respond quickly, with Graham sending another McEveley cross high over the bar, however the hosts were dealt another blow on 26 minutes when midfielder Martin Woods was forced off after suffering two head knocks. He was replaced by Ian McShane, and he came close with a long-range effort before Liam Boyce struck a similar shot over the bar moments later.
Dundee doubled their lead from the spot on 41 minutes when McEveley was adjudged to have fouled O’Hara at a corner, with Loy stepping up to calmly increase his side’s lead.
O’Hara missed a glorious chance to make it 3-0 on the stroke of half-time when he went clean through on goal, but lashed his low attempt into the side-netting.
The visitors did grab a third goal on the counter attack, with Loy releasing Michael Duffy, who in turn squared for McGowan to slot underneath the body of Fox
It was quickly turning into a nightmare afternoon for the home side, but they showed a bright reaction, with Michael Gardyne unfortunate to see his low shot superbly tipped wide by Bain. From the resulting corner they did find the net however, with Curran showing good instincts to divert Boyce’s low shot into the net.