Ross County will contest the Scottish Premiership relegation play-off after drawing 2-2 with Aberdeen.
St Johnstone’s win at Motherwell meant the Staggies wanted all three factors in opposition to the Dons to safe security.
And regardless of enjoying the final 26 minutes in opposition to 10 males and hitting the woodwork in stoppage time, the hosts couldn’t discover a winner which might have moved them as much as tenth.
How Ross County drew with Aberdeen
Ross County had made a high-quality begin as Simon Murray gave them a fifth-minute lead.
Connor Randall’s cross was solely half-cleared by the Dons defence and County’s prime scorer Murray flicked the ball over his head earlier than firing previous Dons goalkeeper Kelle Roos and into the underside nook.
The guests responded nicely in Dingwall and equalised simply after the half-hour mark.
Connor Barron dribbled previous a number of County defenders and into the field, the place he floated a cross in the direction of the again submit for Ester Sokler to energy a header previous County keeper Ross Laidlaw from shut vary.
Aberdeen’s Ester Sokler celebrates after scoring to make it 1-1
County tried to come back out swinging within the second half, with Randall hitting the surface of the submit after receiving the ball inside Aberdeen’s field from Yan Dhanda.
Nevertheless, within the fiftieth minute Aberdeen took the lead, with Junior Hoilett attending to the byline earlier than reducing the ball again for Jamie McGrath to faucet in.
The Dons thought that they had made it 3-1 shortly afterwards, with Sokler tapping in after Hoilett had hit the submit, however the offside flag was raised.
Aberdeen’s Jamie McGrath celebrates with Ester Sokler after scoring to make it 2-1
However the complexion of the match was modified within the sixty fourth minute.
A wayward header from Nicky Devlin seemed to ship Jordan White by way of on aim, however when he was pulled down by Angus MacDonald the referee pointed to the penalty spot and despatched the Aberdeen defender off.
Dhanda stepped as much as take it, and he despatched Roos the unsuitable solution to degree the scores as soon as once more.
Ross County’s Yan Dhanda celebrates after scoring to make it 2-2
Needing a winner, the hosts pushed ahead and Murray compelled Roos into a very good save simply moments earlier than Will Nightingale’s long-range volley was deflected on to the crossbar.
Nightingale hit the submit once more in damage time, heading Dhanda’s free-kick on to the body of the aim, earlier than White blazed over the bar from six yards out.
Simon Murray acquired Ross County off to th good begin in opposition to Aberdeen
Attempt as they could, although, they might not discover a successful aim and must beat Raith Rovers in a play-off to stay within the Premiership subsequent season.
Ross County interim supervisor Don Cowie: “Firstly, credit to St Johnstone and Craig Levein for getting the result they
needed. Then it was up to us to match that, and we came up short but it wasn’t through a lack of effort.
“The sending off helped us get actual momentum, and we hit the submit a few occasions. It simply wasn’t to be. We nonetheless managed to create a few actually good alternatives, and we simply weren’t scientific sufficient.
“Aberdeen are a really good team, but we showed good character to get back into the game.
“I am actually pleased with the group, they stored going, and we’ll do the identical on Thursday. You are not going to get any fitter presently of the yr, so it is a case of doing the naked minimal in coaching and ensuring you are mentally prepared.
“We’ll look at Raith Rovers and study what they will bring to the game, then come up with a gameplan that will give us the best opportunity to get through the two legs.”
Aberdeen caretaker boss Peter Leven: “I want to thank the fans, because the bottom six is not where we want to be
but they turned up in their numbers again.
“Hopefully they’ve loved watching us over these final seven or eight video games, however I’ve to credit score the gamers as nicely as a result of they’ve purchased into what I needed to do and performed some nice soccer.
“I would have liked more time to work with them, but there are good players there. You can see from the split, we’ve played some really good football. There’s a great core there, and a good squad of players. Hopefully we can
take that momentum into next season.”
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