Staggies late show to salvage vital point Vigurs to the rescue but County fall from top spot

Iain Vigurs’s heroics spared Ross County’s blushes as they drew 1-1 with Falkirk. County dominated huge swathes of proceedings but it was the basement club who looked like clinging on for just their second win of the season, thanks to Don Cowie’s own-goal with 25 minutes on the clock.

David Mitchell in the Falkirk goal had done his best to keep a clean sheet and relieve some pressure on the Bairns at the foot of the Championship, however Vigurs crafted a masterful response for the Staggies that had been a long time in coming.

With Ayr United winning at home to Alloa, Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson’s men will head into Saturday’s Highland derby in second place.

County were unchanged

FALKIRK ROSSCOUNTY 1 1

from the 5-0 win over Morton at the weekend, while Ray McKinnon dropped Marcus Haber, Ruben Sammut, Prince Buaben and Tom Dallison for Falkirk. Lewis Kidd, Thomas Robson, Joe McKee and Andrew Irving were drafted in for the bottom-placed side.

McKinnon’s side were in desperate need of the points, following a dire start to the season that had seen them accumulate just three points. They took the unusual step before the game of announcing McKinnon would receive improved finance in January to strengthen the squad, with a further clearout of previous manager Paul Hartley’s summer recruits likely before any new faces arrive.

By contrast, sailing has been relatively smooth in Dingwall given their summer of upheaval following relegation. Despite managerial duo Steven Ferguson and Stuart Kettlewell being thrown in at the deep end somewhat following demotion to the second tier, they have retained a squad packed with Premiership experience and crucially, got a regular goalscorer in the revitalised Billy Mckay.

The Staggies had won their four previous games and started with the intent of making that five, with Josh Mullin finishing a probing move by dragging a shot wide of David Mitchell in the Falkirk goal.

The first half resembled a training exercise at times for the visitors, with their fluid midfield five regularly interchanging positions in a high-tempo game of keepball. Falkirk’s narrow 5-3-2 allowed Davis Keillor-Dunn and Mullin to drift in-field and create space for fullbacks Stelios Demetriou and Sean Kelly to overlap. Keillor-Dunn in particular was given great license to wreak havoc, with a pirouette on the edge of the box to beat a defender the mark of a player with confidence.

The first goal came hugely against the run of play, with a rare Falkirk break forward seeing Deimantus Petravicius cross into the middle and Don Cowie plant a header past his own goalkeeper.

There had been little indication of Falkirk providing such a threat and after the breakthrough, the natural flow of the game was restored once again as the Staggies pressed forward and hemmed their opponents in.

The visitors continued to