COUNTY SET BREATHE SIGH OF RELIEF
Boyce will sign a new deal after relegation fear ends
TERRIBLE first half. Shrewd switch of personnel. Rousing revival and nerveshredding ending. This Ross County victory was nothing if not a microcosm of a season that has taken the Highland club’s faithful from the pits of despair to the heights of delight.
The Dingwall men can finally plan for a fourth top-flight campaign after flirting perilously with relegation as recently as mid-February and then confounding all expectations with their run of eight victories and a draw.
Roy MacGregor, the club’s generous and — possibly — long- suffering chairman has vowed to bring an end to County suffering seasons like this.
The Global Energy owner wants stability i n personnel through longer-term contracts and more careful and co-ordinated recruitment.
Yet those fans who deliriously invaded the pitch at full-time to mob the players and management might just miss the sheer drama of such escape acts.
It seems a lifetime ago, rather than seven or eight months, that names such as Uros Celcer, Tim Dreesen and Melvin de Leeuw were filling the jerseys for County.
Manager Jim McIntyre was the first to admit in the afterglow of securing safety that MacGregor’s support had been unwavering and lavish in funding 12 new signings since September.
Equally, County are now planning for next season with extended contracts. Liam Boyce, who scored the winner with five minutes left on Saturday, will be among the first to win a new two-year deal.
The Northern Ireland cap admitted l ater that he feared he had blown Ross County’s chance of automatic safety the previous week against St Mirren after squandering a number of chances. The scrambled winner — his 10th of the campaign — sparked wild scenes of joy around the ground as news of Motherwell’s shock collapse in Paisley filtered through.
‘It meant even more to me to score the winner after missing a l ot of chances l ast week,’ said Boyce. ‘We could have put it to bed last week, but just to get that half- chance was great as I don’t think I’d had one the whole game. It’s an unbelievable feeling to score the goal that keeps us safe.’
Approaching the February 14 match against Motherwell in Dingwall, County had t oiled through 12 games without a win, managing only four draws.
A 4-0 thrashing in Aberdeen left them six points adrift at the foot of the table.
And Boyce now admits McIntyre’s side would almost certainly have been relegated had they lost the next match against Motherwell and fallen nine points adrift. Instead, they won 3-2.
‘When we lost 2-1 at home to St Mirren in January, there were things said,’ revealed the striker.
‘We then did well in a close defeat to Celtic, drew against Inverness Caley and were unlucky in the beating at Pittodrie.
‘So when we played Motherwell and were six points adrift at the bottom, winning that game was the biggest three points of the season.
‘To finally get that victory gave us the belief. Had we lost, I honestly think it would have been too much to retrieve.’
County have rarely done things the easy way this season and with nerves clearly jangling against Accies, danger beckoned.
The seventh-placed club held all the threat in the first half and took a deserved lead after 27 minutes.
Ali Crawford’s corners had already been causing havoc repeatedly and Brazilian Lucas Tagliapietra, a replacement for injured Michael Devlin, used his imposing frame to good effect to head in from close range.
Michael Gardyne sparked the County recovery with a brilliant left-foot strike from outside the box that left the excellent Michael McGovern rooted to the spot.
From there, the crowd and team seemed to become as one in noise and energy — and Accies struggled to cope.
However, entering the final 10 minutes, Filip Kiss was sent off to general bemusement after jostling at a County corner.
Motherwell were leading 1-0 and it seemed County were heading to a final- day tussle at Rugby Park where they would have to win.
Almost in unison, though, St Mirren equalised against Motherwell and Boyce forced the ball over the line from Martin Woods’ corner.
Referee Bobby Madden added what were an agonising f our minutes’ stoppage time for County fans who saw Crawford hit the corner of bar and post with the last kick of the game.
As fans invaded the pitch at full-time, there was confusion after a County official wrongly signalled that Motherwell had drawn.
The revelry died down f or a fraught couple of minutes before news came through of another goal at St Mirren Park — and the party started all over again.
Acc ie s keeper McGovern expressed disappointment at his side’s second-half collapse, but was optimistic about next season.
‘ If you ask what we need to improve on for next season, then I’d say we don’t have too much to do,’ said the Northern Irishman.
‘We have a good team. We just need to develop more consistency.
‘With the previous manager (Alex Neil) leaving in January, that had an effect on our form.
‘It took longer than we would have expected to adjust but, over the last few weeks, we’ve got back to our normal selves.
‘We can approach next season with optimism and look to build on what we have done this year.’