THE GREAT ESCAPE
Three-down with 19 minutes left and relegated, County won’t forget the day they performed...
NEVER in its long existence has the Jail End at Victoria Park witnessed a great escape quite like this one. It was 7.28pm by the time Josh Sims took the 14th penalty of the night and wheeled away in joyous celebration. By then, the details of what had gone before had long been forgotten.
All that mattered when the Ross County player smashed the ball past David Mitchell was that his side had secured Premiership football for yet another season — and Partick Thistle had somehow fallen short at the last.
Even by the high standards of the play-offs, this was drama on a whole new level.
Leading 2-0 from the first leg, Thistle looked to be back in the Premiership when Aidan Fitzpatrick put them further in front late in the first half.
They were coasting to victory with 20 minutes to go before a turn of events that defied belief.
When Yan Dhanda scored a VARawarded penalty on 71 minutes, County had a sliver of hope. When Simon Murray struck again within 60 seconds, it was game on.
As the board signalling nine minutes of added time was raised, Thistle fans believed they’d finally inched over the line. George Harmon’s thundering volley to square the tie stopped them in their tracks.
With both sides out on their feet in extra-time, it felt certain to go the distance. Thistle’s Kevin Holt and County’s Jack Baldwin had their penalties saved.
When Stuart Bannigan hit the upright, Keith Watson had a chance to win it for County but fired over.
An immediate reprieve for Malky Mackay’s side came when Ross Laidlaw got a hand to Jags skipper Ross Docherty’s effort. Sims rifled home to finally settle the issue.
Tears of joy at one end, tears of despair at the other.
It was a truly extraordinary affair. Referee Nick Walsh had three visits to the pitchside monitor, during which he opted against awarding Thistle a penalty, gave County one and rescinded a red card for Watson.
Mackay and his players simply refused to accept defeat. Four points adrift at the foot of the table going into the split and three goals down here with 19 minutes to play, this was an escape of Houdini proportions.
How will Thistle recover from this, though? By far the better team in the first leg, they should have had more than two goals to show for their troubles. How costly that proved for boss Kris Doolan.
Without a win in four matches and with Dylan Smith and Owura Edwards suspended, County’s Mackay was only able to name six of the nine allotted subs.
There was a nervousness to the visitors, though, as County hunted the early goal that would have changed the dynamic of this tie.
Mitchell could have done with making a couple of simple stops. Instead, he flapped at David Cancola’s cross. Ben Purrington sent a header looping towards goal. Only Kyle Turner’s presence on the line denied County the opener.
The home side’s hearts were in their mouths ten minutes from the interval, though.
Nohan Kenneh’s attempt at stopping Docherty in the box was ignored by referee Walsh only for VAR Greg Aitken to suggest a second look. After a lengthy delay, Walsh stood by his original view — presumably because he felt Docherty had instigated contact.
Yet, two minutes from the break, Thistle were ahead. Graham played in Tiffoney and, when Fitzpatrick received the ball from his team-mate, he still had plenty to do. Feigning to shoot twice, he bought himself a sight of the target. A brilliant reverse finish left Laidlaw with no chance.
County’s hopes were dashed early in the second half when Muirhead kicked Alex Samuel’s shot off the line following Darren Brownlie’s untimely slip.
Thistle also had chances, Stevie Lawless’ strike only kept out by a goal line clearance by Connor Randall.
County needed something to happen quickly. Graham provided it when using his raised arm to clear Dhanda’s cross while challenged by Samuel. This time, Walsh pointed to the spot after consulting the monitor. Dhanda tucked away the spot-kick.
Within a minute, the Staggies turned the game on its head. Jordan White’s flick-on allowed Samuel to cross and sub Murray drilled home from six yards. Thistle were panicking.
When Watson scythed through Tiffoney with ten minutes left, Walsh reached for the red card and it seemed County’s hopes were over. But another review of the footage saw him rescind the red and produce a yellow instead.
The board had only gone up to signal nine minutes of added on time when Dhanda took control of a loose ball. His cross was perfect — as was Harmon’s volley which went in off the far post.
County might even have won it before extra-time, Murray slashing a fine chance over the top.
Samuel grazed the bar with a header at the start of extra-time and sub Danny Mullen should have won it for Partick at the start of the second period but smashed his shot into the stand. The same applied to Bannigan at the start of the second period.
A gripping struggle was going the distance with County eventually emerging with Premiership status intact.
ROSS COUNTY (4-3-2-1): Laidlaw 6; Randall 6, Baldwin 6, Watson 6, Purrington 5 (Harmon 60); Cancola 6 (Tillson 87), Loturi 6 (Sims 87), Kenneh 5 (Murray 57); Dhanda 6, Samuel 6 (Williamson 101); White 6. Subs not used: Munro. Booked: Randall, Watson, Murray. PARTICK TH (4-2-3-1): Mitchell 5; McMillan 6, Muirhead 6, Brownlie 6, Holt 6; Docherty 6, Turner 6; Lawless 5 (Mullen 105), Tiffoney 6, Fitzpatrick 7 (Bannigan 72); Graham 6. Subs not used: Sneddon, Dowds, Smith, McKinnon, Hodson, Owens, Mackenzie. Booked: Docherty, Holt, Graham. Man of the match: Yan Dhanda. Referee: Nick Walsh. Attendance: 4,533.