Ross County knocked out of Betfred Cup at Partick Thistle
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Partick Thistle 3 (Miller, Penrice, Saunders)
Ross County 2 (Spittal, Paton)
Ross County were knocked out of the Betfred Cup after extra time against Partick Thistle at Firhill.
County had come from 2-1 behind to level in the added 30 minutes, but it was the Jags who pushed on to find a winner through James Penrice.
Neither side were at the races in the first half, as the ball was given away aplenty in the middle of the par by both teams.
So it was appropriate that Partick came closest to scoring from an own-goal, when Joe Chalmers turned a Thistle corner on to his own crossbar.
There were hints just as the interval approached that County were showing signs of life though, with Ross Draper seeing a header cleared off the line from a County corner.
Blair Spittal will have been wondering how he did not score against his former side after he was put clean through on goal by Billy Mckay.
With just Scott Fox in the Jags goal to beat though, his shot was blazed over the bar.
Both teams had chances at the start of the second period without really looking like scoring.
Mckay shot high and wide for County, while Kenny Miller forced a save and Alex Jones shot wide after taking the ball down from a corner.
The Staggies would go in front around the hour mark though, and as though it was scripted it was Partick old-boy Spittal who found the net.
A long ball forward was only headed back out as far as Spittal on the edge of the box, in plenty of space, and he sweetly struck a volley that beat Fox.
Michael Gardyne nearly doubled the advantage in the 74th minute when he cut inside and shot towards the top corner, but Fox was there to tip it over.
Liam Fontaine went close with a header from the resultant corner.
Partick were not out of the match though, and grew back into the game with more possession as it approached it's final stages, pushing further up the park.
They would get their rewards with around 10 minutes left on the clock, when Jones squared the ball for Miller to fire into the net.
It would be the hosts pushing for a winner as the match reached it's conclusion, but that meant County had the chance to counter.
Keith Watson hit a volley straight at Fox from a corner, but it took some last-ditch defending from Liam Fontaine to keep the Staggies in the Betfred Cup.
Jones thought he had won it for Partick right before the whistle went for the end of 90 minutes, but the ball went mere inches past the post.
The Partick man picked right up where he left off in extra time, just missing within a minute of the restart.
Thistle had another opportunity when Fontaine fouled Miller as the Jags were on the counter attack.
Miller and James Penrice were over it, and the latter beautifully struck the dead ball past Laidlaw with some help from the post and into the net.
But the Staggies would level before half time in extra time through their fourth substitute, Harry Paton.
It was a well-worked move from Gardyne to Vigurs, who backheeled the ball into the path of a charging Paton.
On first glance the Canadian midfielder had taken too many touches, but he still found a way past Fox to level things up at 2-2.
Ross Laidlaw was called into action in the second half of extra time, producing a great save from Miller's goal-bound drive.
But it still was not over, as Steven Saunders rose highest from Penrice's corner to direct the ball past a diving Laidlaw and into the bottom corner.
