Schalk sparks the fightback as Coyle Schalk sparks the fightback as Coyle
DUTCHMAN Alex Schalk sprung off the bench to fire Ross County to their first home Premiership win for five months and consigned Hamilton to a sixth straight defeat.
Schalk levelled for the hosts and then set fellow sub Thomas Mikkelsen up for a late winner at the Global Energy Stadium on an afternoon when the beautiful game took a bit of a beating.
But regardless of the lack of quality in the match, the Staggies fully deserved their success as they recorded their third win of the season to move up two places in the Premiership to eighth.
Owen Coyle, in his third match in charge since succeeding Jim McIntyre as manager last month, will also feel a sense of relief that he has a home victory under his belt.
But while County have arrested their slump, Hamilton, the last team to lose in the league at Dingwall in mid-May, were left to reflect on the fact that they have lost their last four matches after taking the lead in each of them.
On this occasion it was Greg Docherty who headed them in front early in the second half before it all went wrong for Martin Canning’s side in the wake of the club falling victim to a six-figure scam.
‘It seems to be the story of the last five or six weeks — how we seem to find a way to lose games, and it’s a poor place to be in,’ said Canning. ‘That’s bugging me. We are a little bit naive and green.
‘We’ve got a lot of young players just making their way in the game and every time they switch off and make a mistake, we seem to be punished for it.
‘The last goal was just criminal. To be pushing for a winner and then leave ourselves that exposed is scary. There’s no organisation, no communication and no one taking charge.
‘We’ve scored in every game bar the Aberdeen one at the start of the season — and the only two we’ve won, we scored three and two in the draw with Killie, so that tells you something; we need to shut the back door.
‘But the main thing for me just now is the leadership and organisation. Xavier Tomas has come in and maybe needs to lend more of a hand than he has done.
‘Ryan Fulton had a good game and young Scott McMann and Alex Gogic did well, but they are just at the stage of their careers where they’re making wee errors and we are getting punished for them.
‘It’s not as if we’re getting battered from pillar to post. We’re comfortable in games, then that bit of naivety costs us.
‘But the only way they’re going to learn is to keep playing for us and, hopefully, we can start picking up some wins.’
Promising Staggies teenager Davis KeillorDunn was denied by a post early on and Fulton made an outstanding save from a Billy Mckay header.
But despite showing far greater attacking flair and a much more positive attitude, County found themselves trailing after 52 minutes.
Slipshod defending allowed Docherty to make contact with Steven Boyd’s corner from the left and head past County keeper Scott Fox virtually unchallenged.
But the introduction of Schalk in place of Craig Curran in the 66th minute proved instrumental in redressing the balance.
Schalk was quick to make his presence felt, scoring within four minutes of his introduction into the proceedings.
Although he was surrounded by defenders when he rose to head Jason Naismith’s cross, none challenged him for the ball.
And there was no cover whatsoever when Schalk and Mikkelsen broke free in the 86th minute, with the result that the latter was able to steady himself before shooting past of Fulton from the edge of the penalty area.
Coyle reflected: ‘I thought the result was thoroughly deserved and it was important to win that first league match at home.
‘The character we showed after going behind, when we should have been in front in the first half, was excellent.
‘We took control and had some great chances and their keeper made a wonder save from Mckay’s header.
‘We looked a real threat but lost the goal from a set-play. I also felt there was a ten-minute spell when we were like rabbits in the headlights and we have to understand it can happen when you’re controlling the game and don’t score.
‘But we scored two wonderful goals and could have had a few more.
‘It’s also important psychologically to get that first home win because, the longer it goes, the more pressure comes on you.
‘Going a goal behind it would have been easy for the players to have felt sorry for themselves, but they showed character.’