Ross County vs Hibernian. Scottish Premiership.
Global Energy Stadium.
Match report as Connor Randall sees red for hosts
Saturday 17 October 2020 21:25, UK
Ross County saw out the final stages of their match against Hibernian with 10 men to earn a valuable point in a goalless draw at Dingwall.
Connor Randall was sent off in the 79th minute, but Hibs could not find a way through despite creating the better chances.
The Staggies made six changes, including handing a debut to on-loan Celtic goalkeeper Ross Doohan, while Hibernian rang the changes after their Betfred Cup victory at Forfar last Tuesday, swapping out nine of their starting line-up.
Hibs were inches away from opening the scoring with just five minutes on the clock when Kyle Magennis hit a post.
Martin Boyle then got in behind the defence - as he regularly would throughout the afternoon - to find himself one-on-one with Doohan, only to drag his shot wide of the mark.
It was a dominant spell for the visitors, who then saw Kevin Nisbet denied by a goal-line clearance by Alex Iacovitti.
County began to grow into the game from there as proceedings settled down, but although there were some nice passing exchanges, clear-cut chances remained few and far between.
Michael Gardyne looked to be the most likely to find the net, first shooting wide and then electing to tee-up Charlie Lakin when it looked like he had time and space to pick his spot.
With most of the shots on goal being off target, it took until the 67th minute before either goalkeeper was seriously tested when Doohan denied both Christian Doidge and Nisbet.
Doohan was forced into action again shortly afterwards from Stevie Mallan's shot on goal, but going into the latter stages of the match it was anyone's game to win.
The Staggies were reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute, though, when Randall was shown a red card.
Hibs were attempting to counter-attack and launched the ball over the top for Boyle to run onto, but Randall misjudged the flight of the ball and instead took the Hibs player down.
Referee Nick Walsh deemed him to be the last man, and with Randall having made no attempt to play the ball, he was left with no option but to send the right-back off.
Ross County then naturally went defensive to try and see out the point, and without too much time to make the most of their man advantage they returned down the A9 with only a point to show for their efforts.
Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell said: "I think it's a good result for us in the end. Obviously being down to 10 men, we were delighted with the clean sheet and delighted with the point.
"We knew we were playing against a potent attack with the two strikers, we spoke about that all week and the threat that they have down the right hand side with Boyle.
"I think Hibs are a team that probably strike a bit of fear into the opposition with the attacking options that they have, so from that point of view the clean sheet is a big tick for me. We were clinging on a bit towards the end, so that's when you take your point and move on."
Hibernian manager Jack Ross said: "I was disappointed we didn't win the game, but I was pleased with large aspects of the performance. We came away from home and kept a clean sheet and did that comfortably.
"You will very rarely play well for 90 minutes but for 70 minutes of this game we were good. Even in the other 20 minutes we were solid and didn't look like we were going to concede, and that's what you need.
"Defensively we were good and creatively we were good, we just didn't put the ball in the back of the net."
Ross County will travel to Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership next Saturday. Hibernian will play a third successive away game in all competitions when they visit Kilmarnock on the same day. Both games kick off at 3pm.
