This must be one of the worst results of the last few seasons. There have been heavier defeats, but usually to Celtic. Aberdeen destroyed us 4-1 earlier this season but they were going well at the time. This was at home to one of the few teams below us and we gifted them victory - live on TV to boot. An absolute shambles and we must do better at Hampden next week.
Just about everyone had a poor game - the few that were decent still made too many errors and aside from a brief spell after our equaliser we never really got going. The fans were, rightly, far from impressed by the end and a few made their feelings on the performance and the management perfectly clear.
The team selection was perhaps the start of the problems. Sam Parkin joined Steven Thompson up front as Lewis Guy dropped to the bench but the big problem was in midfield as Conor Newton came in for John McGinn. Not having a go at Newton - it was his first game and I've no idea what he is like - but it left us bereft of any width on the left of the pitch, all the attacks coming down the right. The other change saw Graham Carey take over the leftback role from the departed Paul Dummett. The pacey Ivan Sproule was handed his first start for Ross County and it looked as if he would partner Gary Glen up front, with the likes of Richard Brittain, Rocco Quinn and Iain Vigurs getting forward from midfield. Greek defender Evangelos Ikonomou also made his first appearance for the Staggies.
Newton could have got himself a goal inside the first five minutes, beating the offside trap to get on the end of a fine pass from Teale. He should have shot across goal but instead opted to go wide and was eventually forced to pass the ball to Steven Thompson, whose shot was kept out by goalie Mark Brown's legs. Craig Samson's legs were also needed to keep out Sproule's shot after we gifted possession away and and Brittain's pass let him burst past the defence. Having Carey up against Sproule was always going to be a bit of a challenge and it got even more difficult after less than a quarter of an hour when the winger went down as he tried to get away from him. It looked a soft foul - and ridiculously harsh booking - and could have been even more costly had Samson not managed to turn away Vigurs' impressive free-kick.
David Barron had gone close to scoring in our last game against Kilmarnock and had another go at ending his goal drought today, shooting just off target after running in from the right. Parkin then had a header easily saved by Brown before County went in front. When the ball bounced up and off Marc McAusland's arms referee Euan Norris decided it was a free-kick. It was perhaps harsh but Britain wasn't complaining as he perfectly pinged it into the net, with Samson stranded as the ball flew into the top corner. A terrific hit as one of our former players hurt us once again. It just wasn't happening for us either through poor decision making or not getting the break of the ball and Sproule almost got County's second as he let fly from the right of the box, seeing his shot go just past the far post.
That was about it for the first half, aside from some incompetent officiating. We were so obvious in attack with everything coming down the right, so we made the predictable change for the second half by bringing on Dougie Imrie on for Newton. Every time it's not working, he comes on. Why not put John McGinn on? The Staggies had a half decent penalty shout when McAusland looked to bundle Quinn down to the ground inside the box but Euan Norris decided against pointing to the spot. It was perhaps a lucky break but it didn't matter, especially as a few minutes later Barron slid the ball into the box for Thompson, who turned before firing home the equaliser.
The second predictable substitution arrived a few minutes later as Guy replaced Parkin. A bad tackle on Barron got Vigurs a booking before Gary Glen was replaced by Sam Morrow. We then had a comedy of errors as Samson and Carey got in each others way before the latter calmly cleared the danger - only for him to knock a cross straight to Mihael Kovacevic a minute later. The defender played it to Sproule and he should have scored but sent his shot the wrong side of the post. We hadn't stopped with the generosity though and soon after Barron claimed his second assist of the day - his header back to Samson woefully short and Morrow gleefully nipped in to put his side back in front.
But still we weren't finished and within a few minutes we were even further behind. From our own throw in Vigurs was able to nick possession and when the ball fell for Sproule he rattled it past Samson. And just to rub salt into the wounds we were embarrassed even further a few minutes later when the ball fell to Quinn outside the box. Samson failed to hold his shot but Sproule reacted quickest to poke home the rebound.
It was farcical and the only positive was Sproule didn't get a hat-trick after Steven Ross replaced him, while McGinn came on for McGowan. He almost got a goal after a good run by Teale but his shot was turned behind. And to sum things up we had a soft penalty in final minute when Guy went down - only for him to get up and miss the spot-kick.
Still, not to worry - it's only Celtic next week.
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