Staggies boss McIntyre’s fury at penalty decision
BOTH teams extended their winless runs here ( Thistle to nine and County to seven) but it was the Highlanders who left feeling as though they’d been cheated out of a win.
Staggies boss Jim McIntyre is convinced his side would have won if they’d been awarded a penalty with eight minutes left on the clock.
“The key moment in the game was when the referee should have given us a penalty,” he said.
“It was a stonewaller, every bit as much as theirs was.
“We’ve been punished lately with red cards and rightly so because they were the right decisions but we need to get them in our favour as well.
“I spoke to the referee afterwards but the bottom line is that he hasn’t given it.
“I’m not here to criticise referees but he’s made a mistake and ultimately that could have cost us three points.”
It took a long time for this game to heat up.
However, the home side were first to rouse themselves and they took the lead when Ryan Dow foolishly shoved Kris Doolan off the ball as the latter attempted to reach a Sean Welsh corner.
There were no arguments when referee Don Robertson pointed to the spot.
Welsh confidently drove the resulting penalty straight down the middle while
keeper Scott Fox dived to his left.
Ryan Edwards and Adam Barton both went close for the hosts with long-range efforts which beat Fox but cleared Ross County’s crossbar.
Craig Curran should have equalised 11 minutes after the break when a ricochet found him with enough time and space to pick his spot.
However, from 15 yards, he sidefooted against the far post.
At the other end, Ade Azeez was shown a yellow card for diving in an attempt to win a second spot-kick.
“That’s not me – that’s not in my game,” said the striker.
Thistle defender Liam Lindsay was taken off on a stretcher in the 75th minute after receiving medical treatment on the turf for six minutes.
He had been caught in the middle of a sandwich between goalkeeper Ryan Scully and County’s Andrew Davies as all three went for a high ball.
He was taken to hospital as a precaution.
In total, there were nine minutes of added time played at the end and County needed just five of them to salvage a point.
Substitute Chris Burke had already been denied a penalty when Azeez brought him down (“I’ve seen them given for a lot less,” he admitted) but he later latched on to a header from Adam Barton and burst into the 18-yard box before beating Scully with an absolutely venomous drive.
In the dying seconds of the game, the Highlanders could actually have taken all three points. However, Scully produced a magnificent reflex save to deny Dow.