Dingwall duo earn spotlight
LIAM BOYCE held his nerve under pressure to earn Ross County a point and extend their unbeaten run to four matches. But the real home hero was goalkeeper Scott Fox, who saved Jamie Walker’s penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to deny Hearts a post-Robbie Neilson victory.
It would have been have been something of a travesty had the visitors sneaked a fourth consecutive victory in Dingwall.
But they nearly did in a dramatic finale. Having led through Jay McEveley’s first-half goal, County had chances to secure their first home win since August.
However, a combination of profligacy and inspired goalkeeping by Jack Hamilton left their back door open.
And Hearts took full advantage when Bjorn Johnsen’s shot took a deflection off Arnaud Djoum to beat Fox in the 66th minute followed by a second goal from Callum Paterson a minute later.
Hearts hardly deserved to lead but after Boyce had squandered a chance to equalise, Johnsen contrived to miss from eight yards after picking the goalkeeper’s pocket. A goal then would surely have secured victory.
The ramifications of Johnsen’s wastefulness were highlighted when Faycal Rherras’ handball in the 86th minute presented Boyce with an opportunity to atone for his miss.
In the event, the striker showed remarkable composure to send Hamilton the wrong way from the penalty spot — before then wasting another chance to score when he blazed the ball over the crossbar.
It appeared that fate had conspired against County when skipper Andrew Davie brought down Walker in stoppage time.
Walker took the resultant penalty but Fox guessed correctly, throwing himself to his right to make a spectacular save. So Jim McIntyre’s men — without a home victory in four months and winless in 11 of their previous 12 games — at least avoided defeat.
But for the County manager, this felt like two points lost rather than one gained. He said: ‘There’s a fair bit of disappointment. When we were on top for 20 minutes after half-time we needed to capitalise on the chances we created.
‘When you don’t, you know Hearts are a good side and they will come back at you. They are very strong, with flair in the wider areas.
‘While it was disappointing to be pegged back, I thought we kept at it and didn’t feel sorry for ourselves.
‘Foxy also came up with a brilliant save, although it would have been really harsh on us had we lost.
‘Jack Hamilton made a couple of great saves from Liam Boyce and some of the quality of our play was excellent.
‘We have been striving for consistency and we want to put more wins together, but this is a tough league.’
County have now failed to beat Hearts in nine games going back to September 2013. And they could not have been overly optimistic about their chances, given that Hearts were fresh form an impressive midweek victory over Rangers.
Hearts were lively enough once they got into their stride and Paterson nearly gave them the lead after 12 minutes, the defender’s header being blocked on the goal-line.
However, Boyce went even closer to scoring in the 32nd minute but the Northern Ireland striker was thwarted by the impressive Hamilton.
County also proved themselves adept at making the most of a set-play in the 43rd minute.
Chris Routis found Davies at the back post with his free-kick and the big defender directed the ball into the path of McEveley, who scored.
County should have doubled their lead within five minutes of the restart but Hamilton somehow blocked shots from Michael Gardyne in quick succession.
Having survived those anxious moments, Hearts equalised when Johnsen’s effort was deflected by Djoum into the net.
Paterson converted from Walker’s free-kick to give the Edinburgh club the lead.
But the real drama was to come in the closing stages.