Alan Forrest's header earns three points for Hearts in Dingwall as Ross County slip to second bottom of the Premiership table

Ross County 0

Hearts 1 (Forrest)

Hearts had their substitutes to thank for picking up three points against Ross County in Dingwall, with two of the combining for the only goal of the game.

Alex Lowry, fresh off the back of a late winner midweek, turned provider for Alan Forrest to score the decisive goal.

Given that the previous meeting between the two teams ended with seven goals, fans from both sides could have been forgiven for expecting a more entertaining affair than they were treated to in the first half.

The Jambos had made two changes, with Aidan Denholm and Odel Offiah replacing Cammy Devlin and Alan Forrest in the starting line-up, while Malky Mackay brought Ben Purrington, Kyle Turner, Alex Samuel and Jordan White into his 11 from Wednesday night's League Cup defeat to Aberdeen.

Keeping in with the theme of Hearts' domestic matches so far this season, they had plenty of possession, but really struggled to test Ross Laidlaw in the home goal.

Lawrence Shankland did come close towards the end of the first half, twisting and turning in a bid to forge a shooting opportunity and then only just sending the ball wide, but otherwise the most eye-catching man on the park was the referee, who booked three players in the first 45 minutes.

The second half threatened to pick up where the first left off, with Tony Sibbick and Offiah each having shots that reached the back of the stand after flying over the bar.

Hearts continued to probe for an opening goal, though, and came close to one when substitute Alan Forrest slid in to connect with Stephen Kingsley's low cross – only for the ball to spin wide of the mark.

Just as County looked like they were growing into the game, the visitors finally took the lead with 20 minutes remaining.

Forrest again was the dangerman, expertly placing his header into the corner of the net from Alex Lowry's cross, leaving Laidlaw rooted to the spot.

While Ross County did try to push for an equaliser, it was Laidlaw who was called into action again as the clock ticked down, needed to push a shot wide from Lowry that looked like it was destined for the bottom corner.

The Staggies, then, could not find a way through to a leveller, consigning them to their third consecutive defeat in all competitions – and with results elsewhere, dropping them to 11th in the Premiership table while Hearts moved up to fourth.

Ross County: Laidlaw, Randall, Purrington, Brown (Henderson 85), Baldwin, Turner (Allardice 65), Dhanda (Loturi 65), Samuel (Murray 46), White (Brophy 46), Nightingale, Leak.

Subs not used: Munro, Harmon, High, Smith.

Hearts: Clark, Kent, Kingsley, Grant (Halliday 73), Nieuwenhof, Shankland, Rowles, Sibbick, Denholm (Lowry 56), Offiah (Forrest 56), Vargas (Boyce 84).

Pictures: McGovern, Haring, Baningime, Tait, Kirk.

Referee: David Dickinson

VAR: Gavin Duncan

Attendance: 4744

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