Malky’ s men more than deserved Pittodrie point

Ross County came so close to keeping Aberdeen at bay, but their late setback at Pittodrie will not diminish Malky Mackay’s encouragement at his side’s display.

The Staggies’ defensive mettle was put to the test following Regan CharlesCook’s first-half breakthrough, and it looked for much of the game like they would hold on to claim a first league victory under Mackay.

Although Christian Ramirez netted late on to secure a point for the Dons, the Dingwall men will consider it a major step in the right direction.

The Staggies’ difficult run of early season fixtures has been clear to see, with the trip to the Granite City continuing a sequence of five successive opening matches against last term’s top five.

Despite the fact they were once again firm underdogs, there was a clear need for County to show they could make life more difficult for their opponents after conceding seven in their last two games against Hibernian and Rangers.

There is no question they succeeded in doing that, while also posing a considerable threat of their own.

That was particularly evident in the first half when the Staggies stood tall to the Dons’ early pressure, much of which came through the Reds’ pacy new attacker Austin Samuels, with the visitors doing enough to ensure their probing did not amount to any clear-cut chances until the on-loan Wolves player struck just past the post shortly before half-time.

By contrast, County were organised and threatening on the break. They forced Joe Lewis into an early save from Ross Callachan, which they could have been left to rue had it served as an early wake-up call for the home side.

Instead it only seemed to fuel the Staggies’ belief they could cause the home side problems.

Lewis made a second save to deny Harry Paton in the build up to CharlesCook’s opener, which was two more shots on target than his Staggies counterpart Ross Laidlaw had to field throughout the first half.

On that basis it was difficult to dispute the Staggies deserved to be ahead at the break, and Charles-Cook could have doubled his tally when he struck straight at Joe Lewis with the first opportunity of the second period.

It was understandable County were unable to maintain as much threat in attack as the second half progressed given the home support’s unrelenting demand for attacking intent from the Dons.

A long-range strike by Matty Longstaff caused problems for Laidlaw, Ramirez had an effort cleared off the line and the impressive Alex Iacovitti did just enough to divert a Lewis Ferguson header off target.

County were putting bodies on the line in their numbers, and they were able to handle some of the game’s more feisty moments as the second half wore on.

The Staggies’ resolve was all the more impressive given the injury disruption they had to encounter throughout the game, with David Cancola having to be withdrawn early on before Charles-Cook and Connor Randall went off later in the game.

Among those introduced was defender Jack Baldwin who made his debut, and with fellow summer additions Dominic Samuel, Joseph Hungbo and Alex Robertson also on the bench the Staggies side will clearly need time to take shape.

County’s difficult run of early season fixtures shows no sign of letting up, with a trip to face Celtic next up after this weekend’s international break.

Although it could so easily have been more, the point at Pittodrie still goes down as a feather in the cap of the new-look Staggies.

BLOW: Ross County’s Connor Randall receives treatment for an injury which eventually saw the Dingwall defender substituted against Aberdeen.