BOTTOMS UP
County send Thistle to foot of table:
ALEX SCHALK’S inspirational hat-trick handed Ross County a game-changing victory in the relegation battle as Partick Thistle sank to the bottom of the table.
And in among his goals the deadly Dutchman – who took his campaign tally to a lucky 13 – also set up Ross Draper for County’s second of the night.
It was a transformative evening for the energised Dingwall men, with the four strikes creating a big goals-difference cushion on the Maryhill team.
After the toil and misery of Owen Coyle’s time in charge County’s verve and confidence was eye-catching.
It was only a second win in 19 games for the Staggies as they moved off the foot of the table for the first time in 2018. It also ended a two-year wait for a victory against Alan Archibald’s side.
For Thistle, without a win in nine games – including seven defeats – these are worrying times.
There was a palpable mix of hope and desperation hanging in the Dingwall air as the teams limbered up in driving rain.
The magnitude of the occasion persuaded 247 hardy Jags fans to make the long trek north from Glasgow while the Staggies support also rallied on a miserable night.
Both teams had influential performers missing, with County captain Andrew Davies suspended after his red card for the stamp on Celtic captain Scott Brown on Saturday which caused an outcry.
County’s co-managers Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson brought back wideman Michael Gardyne while keeper Aaron McCarey, after suffering a back spasm at Celtic Park, stepped down to the bench for Scott Fox.
With wing-back Jason Naismith injured, young West Brom loanee Max Melbourne earned a start while Jamie Lindsay was able to start again after his enforced absence from the defeat to parent club Celtic in Glasgow.
Thistle, though, were also without a defensive mainstay after Danny Devine’s late sending off in the defeat by Hibs at Easter Road at the weekend. Niall Keown was chosen to fill the breach.
With Tomas Cerny out, Ryan Scully started in goal while benched Andrew McCarthy made way for ex-County playmaker Martin Woods.
Given the stakes, it was always going to be a ferocious battle of wills with measured football at a premium on a sodden surface.
Thistle settled first and passed up two chances in the same move inside seven minutes.
From Woods’s corner from the right, defender Baily Cargill was sharp to a front-post header but Fox parried strongly before recovering to block Conor Sammon’s close-range attempt on the rebound.
Thistle’s challenges were meaty and sometimes illegal. From one free-kick after 17 minutes County’s first real threat saw Gardyne’s free-kick pick out Draper for a header wide of target.
Five minutes later it was Adam Barton who was late and cynical in flattening County striker Billy Mckay 30 yards out but Schalk’s free-kick attempt soared well over the bar.
As rain turned to snow midway through the first half it was Thistle pressing patiently but County defending resolutely.
But it was the hosts who made a dramatic breakthrough after 35 minutes as the game swung firmly in their favour.
Melbourne and Lindsay combined and the County midfielder’s ball into the box was only half cleared, dropping a couple of yards outside the penalty area.
Schalk, lively from the off, reacted like lightening and fired a brilliant low right-foot shot past keeper Scully’s dive and just inside the left-hand post.
County immediately began to find greater space as Thistle looked for an equaliser and the home side won a 42nd-minute corner.
From Schalk’s powerful, dipping delivery the Jags defence was posted missing as Draper strode in to thump a five-yard header past Scully for County’s vital second.
Archibald’s unhappiness was underscored by two half-time substitutions, with Blair Spittal and Chris Erskine replacing Ryan Edwards and Miles Storey.
But within a couple of minutes of the restart County threatened twice with Schalk firing over the bar on both occasions.
Schalk then sped on to a Mckay backheel after 50 minutes and fired home only for the offside flag to terminate celebrations.
There was no such frustration after 55 minutes. Again it was the tireless Dutchman who raced through on to keeper Fox’s long clearance and, with great poise and calm, threaded a low strike past the outcoming Scully for the third.
Spittal’s powerful drive on the hour was tipped over the bar by Fox as a reminder the Dingwall team still had work to do.
But it was all over bar the shouting after 72 minutes as Schalk struck again.
A Marcus Fraser strike was parried by Scully but Schalk completed his hat-trick by bundling the rebound in off the underside of the bar.
Sub Ryan Dow might have made it worse for Thistle but fired just over the bar as all energy and spirit was sapped from the away ranks.
And for County, treble hero Schalk’s late substitution brought the house down.