Sims hopes victory sent out a message to rivals

THE shockwaves from Ross County’s historic victory over Rangers were felt way beyond the Highlands. With Philippe Clement’s side locked in the tightest of title races, they rippled all the way back to Glasgow. The denizens of Perth would have felt them just as acutely. They will also have reached Aberdeen, Motherwell and even Leith. While Rangers’ spectacular stumble in the title race was always going to grab the headlines, the change in dynamic at the foot of the table was just as pronounced. Although still occupying 11th place ahead of the split, County are now just one point behind St Johnstone. Despite being five, seven and nine points ahead of the Staggies respectively, neither Aberdeen, Motherwell nor Hibs can yet relax and consider themselves absolutely safe. Each may currently be better off than Don Cowie’s side. Yet none had an injection of belief quite like the Highlanders enjoyed on Sunday. ‘It’s a massive win against a team like Rangers,’ said forward Josh Sims, who scored the crucial third goal in a 3-2 victory. ‘To beat them here is really big. It was almost a free-hit type of game. Nobody expected us to take anything — and to take three points was massive. ‘Other teams will be gutted. It should do us some good. St Johnstone and the teams above us will be thinking we’re on the up. They wouldn’t have expected us to take anything from this game.’ A first win over Rangers in 25 attempts was achieved by playing brave, front-foot football. ‘We took the game to them,’ added 27-year-old Sims. ‘They’re a brilliant team, but it took them by surprise. ‘Even in the first half, we had the better chances. We gave them their goal but we had two or three big chances. ‘The way we scored and the timing of our goals kind of took them by surprise. ‘It felt like they were rattled. They got the penalty late on and it was always going to be a bombardment at the end. To hold on was brilliant.’