Ross County vs St Mirren. Scottish Premiership.
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Report and highlights as Derek Adams picked up his first three points since returning to Ross County courtesy of an 84th-minute Jordan White goal in a 1-0 win against St Mirren; It was County's first win in almost three months, moving them above Aberdeen and Motherwell in the table
Wednesday 29 November 2023 08:18, UK
Derek Adams picked up his first three points since returning to Ross County courtesy of an 84th-minute Jordan White goal in a 1-0 win against St Mirren.
It was County's first win in almost three months, moving them above Aberdeen and Motherwell in the Premiership table.
Adams continued to implement his new-look style, with the Staggies showing strong intent to play at a higher tempo than they had earlier in the campaign.
Most notable was the different approach Yan Dhanda took - instead of primarily looking to pass with his renowned technique, upon receiving the ball he was determined to run at St Mirren defenders and carry County into the final third.
Still, the first chance of the game came from a defensive error, as Marcus Fraser attempted to head the ball back towards his goalkeeper just a few minutes into the match, only for White to intercept and bear down on goal.
He looked well-placed to hit the target, but the shot wound up being a simple stop for Zach Hemming to make.
The visitors would settle into the affair, earning more possession as the half went on, and Alex Gogic went close with a header at a corner late in the first half, only just missing the target as he was falling backwards.
Still, the second half would begin in much the same way as the first did, with Connor Randall very nearly putting the finishing touch on a well-worked passing move, only for his shot from the edge of the box to bounce back off the face of the post before being cleared.
Randall was guilty of missing what to that point was the best chance of the game on the hour mark, picking up a clever flick into space by White and going through one-on-one only to send the ball a long way over the bar.
Going into the final 10 minutes, all three results still seemed possible.
Conor McMenamin would test the glovework of Ross Laidlaw by cutting inside from the right channel and taking aim, but the Staggies stopper was able to dive to his right and push the ball safe.
There would be a goal, White converting from close range at a James Brown corner to score the first goal of Adams' third stint in charge of Ross County - and seal the first win.
Ross County manager Derek Adams felt his side were good value for three points against St Mirren due to the number of chances they created.
"We've created three or four big opportunities in the game, and we could have been two or three-nil up," Adams explained.
"St Mirren had their first chance in the 80th minute, and I think that overall we were the team in the ascendancy.
"We created some really good opportunities and started well - just like we did on Saturday against Kilmarnock. We didn't get the fortune on Saturday, but our balls into the box caused St Mirren trouble and that's how we got the winning goal.
"Connor Randall also hit the post, and I don't know how he missed the one-on-one, but overall I'm delighted for the players and the supporters.
"The way we passed the ball and got into the final third, we put St Mirren on the back foot right from the start of the game.
"We created openings and got corner kicks, and they didn't really trouble us tonight. St Mirren have done really well this season to be third in the league, but we're now six points behind them."
St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson, meanwhile, was of the opinion that a draw would have been a fairer result.
He said: "I don't think either team really deserved to win. There wasn't a huge amount of quality on show.
"We didn't start brightly enough, they started better than us and in the last 20 minutes, then we had the better of the rest of the half.
"The second half was a lot of nothing but at the end we didn't do the basics right, so we didn't deserve to win the game. Unfortunately we switched off and we got punished for it.
"It had 0-0 written all over it. There weren't too many clear-cut chances before that. County hit the post and their keeper had a really good save, but it was a game of few chances.
"On a night like this, a point would have been a good result, but we didn't get the basics right when it mattered."
Ross County's next Scottish Premiership match is away to Livingston on Saturday. Kick-off 3pm.
St Mirren travel to face Rangers on Sunday at 3pm.
