Ross County’s win over Raith Rovers only the start, insists top scorer Ronan Hale after Northern Ireland forward helped end Staggies winless streak
Ronan Hale admitted it was a relief for Ross County’s players to end their winless run – but insists it is only the start of what the squad want to achieve this season.
The Staggies recorded their first league victory since March 1 at the weekend as they defeated Raith Rovers 2-0.
Hale put the cherry on top of the performance after Miller Thomson had opened the scoring on his debut in the 73rd minute, with results elsewhere going County’s way as Tony Docherty’s side closed the gap on practically the entire Championship.
Club top scorer Hale, though, stressed that nobody would be getting carried away despite the elation around Saturday’s triumph.
“The last few weeks have been nowhere good enough, and everyone knows it after the game,” he said.
“Obviously it’s tough, but we can only go out there and try to make it right. I think it was a relief for everyone (to get a win).
“We’re down there at the minute, and that’s a tough place to get out of, but this is a starting point. It was all about getting that run off our back, and luckily we’ve done that.
“It’s great to bring a bit of momentum ahead of a tough few games coming up.”
On a personal note, Hale has still been scoring goals despite County’s poor start to the season.
Saturday’s strike against Raith was his ninth of the season in all competitions and his fifth in the league, putting him joint-second in the Championship scoring charts after a quarter of the campaign.
Even for him, though, scoring becomes all the sweeter when it helps the team pick up all three points, and he is optimistic that County can capitalise on that in the coming weeks.
“It’s brilliant, because we scored early on (the previous week against Morton) but we didn’t hold on to it,” Hale added.
“Scoring in a win is probably the best feeling in the world, so massive congratulations to all the boys for getting the win.
“The only way is up. We’ve been down at the bottom at our lowest, and after getting relegated last season it couldn’t have got any lower.
“That first win is obviously going to put us in good stead, and all the boys know how much it meant to everyone. You could see that at the end with everyone celebrating.
“The fans pay their money to come and watch us, and it’s been nowhere near good enough so far.
“We’ve owned up to that, and the only thing we could do is put it right. We’ve done that, but it’s only a step in the right direction.”