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Super-subs strike as Ross County steal point from Hibernian


By Andrew Henderson

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Hibernian 2 (Horgan, Allan)

Ross County 2 (Graham, Chalmers)

A last-gasp salvo rescued a point for Ross County in a match that looked long gone with an hour played.

Daryl Horgan's introduction at half time gave Hibernian a massive lift, and they eased into a two-goal lead.

But Brian Graham and an injury-time strike from Joe Chalmers made sure that County would not be coming back up the A9 with nothing for the second week running.

Picture - Ken Macpherson, Inverness. Ross County(2) v St.Johnstone(2). 05.10.19. Ross County's Joe Chalmers celebrates his goal.
Picture - Ken Macpherson, Inverness. Ross County(2) v St.Johnstone(2). 05.10.19. Ross County's Joe Chalmers celebrates his goal.

Staggies goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw could have been forgiven for having early flashbacks to last week's mauling at Celtic when Melker Hallberg hit the cross bar from a free kick just four minutes into the game.

But from there County started to settle, getting control of the ball and passing it about, albeit in the middle of the park.

Former County full back Jason Naismith has a chance when he got on the end of a cross at the back post but could only blaze over, and from there the Easter Road crowd started to get restless.

Billy Mckay and Michael Gardyne only added to the frustration in the stands with miscued efforts after both men were left unmarked.

But Laidlaw was again called into action – first to make a good stop from Florian Kamberi from close range, and then to make an easy save from a speculative effort from Stevie Mallan.

County suffered in the first half from a lack of numbers going forward, as too often attacking midfield players were able to get the ball and turn towards goal, to have just Mckay ahead of them against several Hibs defenders.

Josh Vela might feel like he should have given Hibernian the lead five minutes before half time when he directed the ball goalwards from six yards out, but Laidlaw again was there to force it wide.

But the Hibees would take the lead five minutes into the second half through substitute Daryl Horgan.

He broke the off-side trap and latched on to a ball over the top, making no mistake when one-on-one with Laidlaw to find the net.

Scott Allan would then double the advantage in the 55th minute, taking full advantage of Lewis Spence selling a teammate short to find the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the box.

It could easily have been three just after the hour mark when Swiss striker Florian Kamberi hit the post.

Another substitute would provide the third goal of the match, but this time it was a lifeline rather than a killer blow for County.

Sean Kelly played a ball into sub Brian Graham's feet, and the target man did very well to turn his man and find the bottom corner with 15 minutes of the match remaining.

Within the next minute he had another chance to level the scores, again linking up with Kelly as Graham's header from the full back's cross went wide.

There was a lot of frustration coming from the stands as Hibs' fans grew nervous, and the home side were still a threat on the counter attack.

But just into added time another substitute – Joe Chalmers – picked up a loose ball around 25 yards from goal and drilled a shot into the bottom corner to claim a point for the Staggies.


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