County use their heads to capitalise on free gifts from Saints

THIS was a deserved and desperately needed win for Ross County, particularly notable for four goals from four headers and two very different reactions from the rival managers.

From Jim McIntyre’s point of view, it did not matter whether the ball went into the net off boots, backsides or the back of the head. When you are stuck at the bottom of the table with no wins from 10 games, you can hardly afford to be pernickety.

As far as Tommy Wright is concerned, though, failing to prevent, far less failing to deal with, crosses is a requirement that his St Johnstone team simply appear incapable of coming to terms with right now.

Jay McEveley, Christopher Routis and Craig Curran had County 3-0 ahead with just over an hour played in this one. A Danny Swanson penalty and a goal from Steven MacLean made it interesting for a little while, but Saints shot themselves in the foot again when allowing Liam Boyce to finish it late on.

Wright had what he described as ‘a good chat’ in the dressing-room after the final whistle. His players, though, are unlikely to have heard the last of it.

Saints have a proud record of top-six finishes in recent years and a victory would have put them in a good position to achieve that again, but this kind of slackness can easily have a corrosive effect.

‘If you don’t do the basics, stop crosses, defend crosses — whether it is from a set-play or open play — you lose football matches,’ said Wright.

‘All four goals were far too easy for them and individuals have got to accept responsibility.

‘As a manager, you wouldn’t like to see those goals over a three- or four-month period. I have had to endure them over 90 minutes and that is not acceptable.

‘It has crept in. It is going back to the start of last season when we conceded a lot of goals off individual errors.’

The opener came when Chris Burke delivered a dangerous corner in from the left and McEveley was allowed to send a downward header bouncing through a ruck of bodies and into the net from just outside the six-yard box.

County’s second, eight minutes from the interval, was similarly straightforward.

Curran, having had a shot blocked by Zander Clark, fed the ball out to Burke on the right flank and his outswinging cross into the heart of the danger area was powered home by an untracked Routis.

Joe Shaughnessy seemed to be made the scapegoat for his side’s questionable defending when making way for Tam Scobbie at the interval.

Ross County were also forced to take off goalkeeper Scott Fox with a foot injury at half-time — putting on Aaron McCarey — and we had the rare situation of his opposite number Clark making way for Alan Mannus on 52 minutes after suffering concussion and then picking up an injury.

It was not long before the Northern Irishman was picking the ball out of the net. His international team-mate Boyce sent in a good cross, helped by the slightest of deflections off Brian Easton, and Curran glanced a neat header into the corner.

Swanson’s penalty a couple of minutes later, sending McCarey the By Gary Keown

wrong way after a Blair Alston shot had been handled in the area by McEveley, did spark a brief revival.

Wright was upset, though, that referee John Beaton settled for issuing no more than a yellow card to McEveley for the offence.

‘I do believe the player should have been sent off and I have told the referee that,’ said Wright.

‘He disagrees and said he will look at it and ring me. The ball is clearly going into the net and there are no players in the frame of the goal who are going to influence the ball.

‘He didn’t think the ball was going in and that is why he only gave a yellow, which is a strange decision.’

Even so, with 10 minutes to play, it threatened to get really interesting. Easton powered up the left flank and delivered a searching low cross into the area. MacLean got the run on the visiting defence and stuck out his right foot to divert the ball into the roof of the net from close-range.

However, Boyce, capped by Northern Ireland against Croatia in midweek, gave the scoreline a more appropriate look when his header from a Kenny van der Weg cross hit off Scobbie and crept in at Mannus’ left-hand post.

‘You can see what a pivotal player Liam is and I thought he was unplayable at times,’ said McIntyre.

‘We knew we needed wins to get off the bottom and we have now got to try to build the consistency that can see us keep climbing.’