Goals from Yan Dhanda and Jack Baldwin give Ross County a first-leg victory over Raith Rovers in Premiership play-off final
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It is advantage Ross County in the Premiership play-off after Don Cowie’s men picked up a victory in the first leg away at Raith Rovers.
The club had gone 17 matches without winning away from home, but that streak was broken in Kirkcaldy.
Yan Dhanda broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute from the penalty spot to give the Staggies an advantage.
Club captain Jack Baldwin would then get their second with a little under 20 minutes left in the match to put County in a strong position, but Sam Stanton would pull one back before the end to keep the Rovers in contention going into Sunday’s second leg.
Both sides had spells of pressure in the first half without really creating a clear-cut chance to score.
Staggies skipper Jack Baldwin had arguably the chance of the opening 45 minutes right on the cusp of the interval, weaving his way through three defenders at a set-piece to find space to shoot.
At a tight angle, he was denied by Raith goalkeeper Kevin Dubrowski to keep the match goalless at half time.
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Five minutes after the restart though, referee John Beaton was advised by VAR to go over to the monitor to judge whether Rovers defender Euan Murray had handballed inside his own box, and gave County a penalty.
Yan Dhanda stepped up to take it, and found the back of the net with a little help from the inside of the post, sending Dubrowski the wrong way.
With around 20 minutes to go, Eli King then turned inside from the left flank and forced a good save out of the home goalkeeper.
From the resultant corner though, Dhanda picked out Jack Baldwin on the edge of the six-yard box, with County’s captain heading into the net to make it 2-0.
The tie was not over yet though, as Remi Matthews cut back for Sam Stanton to cut the deficit in half with just under 10 minutes to go.
With no further goals on the evening, it is advantage Ross County going into the second leg, which kicks off at noon on Sunday in Dingwall.
