Ross County vs Hearts. Scottish Premiership.
Global Energy StadiumAttendance4,994.
Ross County 2
- J Nisbet (97th minute)
- J White (99th minute)
Hearts 2
- J Wilson (2nd minute, 48th minute)
Ross County 2-2 Hearts: Staggies net twice in stoppage time to remain above Jambos in Premiership
Report as Ross County and Hearts draw 2-2 in Dingwall; James Wilson scored in each half to put the visitors two up; Liam Boyce had a goal disallowed; Josh Nisbet and Jordan White rescued a point to leave the Jambos 11th in the Premiership
Sunday 29 December 2024 20:50, UK
Ross County scored two goals deep into stoppage time to claim a valuable 2-2 draw against fellow Premiership strugglers Hearts in Dingwall.
Goals early in both halves from 17-year-old James Wilson had seemingly set the second-bottom Jambos on course for a comfortable victory, with VAR getting involved on three separate occasions afterwards to the detriment of both sides.
However, those delays meant eight minutes of stoppage time were added on, and the Staggies took full advantage with goals from Josh Nisbet and Jordan White giving them something to show for their efforts.
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The visitors wasted no time in going on the front foot, taking the lead with just 80 seconds on the clock.
Former Staggie Liam Boyce picked out a wonderful ball through to Wilson, who had space to bear down on goal and finish past Jordan Amissah.
At the other end, Craig Gordon was called into action for the first time just as the half-hour mark ticked by, with Connor Randall taking aim from outside the box and drilling a low shot across the wet surface towards goal - only for the Scotland goalkeeper to make a solid stop.
However, it was Hearts who struck next, scoring two minutes after the restart when James Penrice's cross was headed into the net by Wilson.
Hearts thought they had a penalty to make it 3-0 in the 53rd minute when Michee Efete clattered into Penrice but video assistant referee Gavin Duncan suggested that on-field referee Ross Hardie should take another look at it, and it was decided the incident began outside the box and therefore a free-kick was awarded instead.
County had hope of being awarded a spot-kick themselves when Hardie was sent to the monitor for a seemingly innocuous handball but it was instead adjudged that White was offside.
Hearts thought they finally had a third in the final 10 minutes when Boyce tapped in after Blair Spittal's free-kick crashed back off the bar, but again VAR intervened to confirm the ex-County player was in an offside position.
Instead, County pulled one back in stoppage time when Nisbet fired in through a crowd of bodies at a corner.
With only minutes left on the clock it gave the Staggies hope, and White claimed a last-ditch equaliser when a high ball towards Efete fell at his feet, and he forced the ball over the line to earn a dramatic point for Ross County.
What the managers said
Ross County boss Don Cowie:
"It feels good in terms of the manner of scoring two goals as late as we did.
"Did we deserve it? Probably not, but it shows that we keep going to the end and anything can happen.
"Psychologically it's a massive point for us. I'm always proud of the players because I know they give 100 per cent every single time.
"It was a difficult day in challenging conditions, and we don't help ourselves by giving Hearts a goal in the first minute of the game which gives them belief and confidence.
"We did exactly the same in the second half, so I'm disappointed with that but I'm delighted that we kept going.
"It's not the first time we've done something like that, and it could prove very valuable."
Hearts head coach Neil Critchley:
"We were comfortable at 2-0, and the game was over really. They hadn't really threatened our goal, so we should have seen the game out.
"It's just two crazy moments that we don't defend well enough in the penalty area, and two crosses that we don't stop from coming in, that cost us three points.
"It was really like a war of attrition. You're relying on moments, and we had two really good moments for our goals.
"Those were two moments of quality that put us in front, and those were the difference between the teams at that moment in time, and we should have seen the game out to take all three points.
"The extra time comes from the VAR fiasco. There were eight minutes, which there should not have been, but we still need to see the game out."
