Killie delirious after Toon teen’s winner
It was a case of first and last that gave Kilmarnock their first win in eight matches.
Kris Boyd scored the fastest goal in Premiership history and on-loan Newcastle United kid Sean Longstaff hit a dramatic winner in the 90th minute.
It was a remarkable rollercoaster of an afternoon for both sets of fans.
The small band of Ross County supporters must have been supremely confident of taking three points back to Dingwall as half-time approached.
Their favourites were well in control of the match and looked sure to increase their onegoal advantage.
They got a little sloppy as the break approached and completely collapsed during the second period.
Kilmarnock fans who had been berating their team ended up dancing with joy as Longstaff slammed home his late goal.
The teenager said: “To score in the last minute is brilliant but getting the win is the most important thing.
“We all dug deep and stuck together after having a dodgy first 25 minutes.
“I’ve scored late goals in Under-18s football but to do it in the Scottish Premiership is unbelievable.
“It’s the first time I’ve experience the crowd cheering like that and now we want to move forward.
“if we can put a run together there’s no reason why we can’t finish in the top six.”
Killie fielded all three of their Newcastle loan signings — Freddie Woodman, Longstaff and Callum Roberts.
Karleigh Osborne, signed from Plymouth Argyle, was hauled off after just half an hour,
The centre-back was having a real stinker and was replaced when referee Barry Cook indicated he was close to receiving a second yellow card for a rash aerial challenge on Ryan Dow.
A critic in the stand shouted “don’t soldier on” as he lay on the pitch after the challenge.
It’s fair to say Osborne, who conceded a last-minute penalty against Hamilton last weekend, is some way from convincing the Killie fans of his worth.
Teenage midfielder Iain Wilson replaced the defender and Gary Dicker took a step back into defence.
It was a move that transformed the Kilmarnock side. They’d got off to a dream start when Boyd ran through to hit the ball past Scott Fox after just 10.4 seconds.
Ross County’s Christopher Routis then took advantage of slack marking to equalise from close range and Alex Schalk did likewise after a Van der Weg header came back off the bar.
Killie were really struggling at this point, but slowly clawed their way back into the game and Dicker levelled just after the hour mark before Longstaff pounced at the death.
Rugby Park assistant boss Lee McCulloch was a happy man afterwards.
He said: “The second half is the best we’ve played all season. We got off to a great start but then we were all over the place for a spell. The players got their composure back and we were brilliant after the break.”
Ross County boss Jim McIntyre could offer no defence for his team’s collapse.
He said: “We got what we deserved in the second half.
“I felt we were guilty of making some really poor decisions and our passing was erratic.
“We gave Kilmarnock the impetus to break on us and put us under pressure.
“I was really disappointed that we didn’t mix our game up.
“If our passing isn’t as accurate as it should be, then we should look to play the game in their half.
“We never recognised that, which was disappointing.”
McIntyre felt Killie’s Osbourne should really have been sent off before being replaced.
He went on: “It’s 100% a booking, but the referee has chosen not to send him off.
“His reason to me was that he didn’t think it was aggressive. Well. He nearly took the back of his head off.
“Killie dodged a bullet – they know they did.
“They immediately subbed him. Fair play to them, I’d have done the exact same.”