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Ross County move out of Premiership relegation places with three points over Dundee United


By Andrew Henderson

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Dundee United 0

Ross County 2 (White, Iacovitti)

Ross County are back up to 10th in the Scottish Premiership after beating Dundee United, while Kilmarnock lost at Motherwell.

Hamilton's own win keeps the bottom three close together, but goals form Jordan White and Alex Iacovitti gives County the advantage over their relegation rivals going into the final two matches.

The game took some time to burst into life, but when it did it was the visitors who appeared to be on the front foot.

What could have been called a cautious start soon became apparent that United were playing well-below par, and balls into the box began to look like a source of joy for the Staggies.

Jordan White had already missed with one header six minutes in when Blair Spittal's cross from the right nearly snuck in at the far post.

Jordan White scored the opening goal for Ross County at Tannadice. Picture: Ken Macpherson
Jordan White scored the opening goal for Ross County at Tannadice. Picture: Ken Macpherson

Michael Gardyne then dragged an effort wide after a brilliant piece of control from Stephen Kelly, who himself hit the side netting a couple of minutes later.

County would finally take the lead midway through the first half, when Gardyne and Spittal linked up for the latter to send the ball in for White to head into the corner.

Four minutes later, it was 2–0, with some of the same names again contributing.

Spittal's corner was flicked on towards the back post by White, where Alex Iacovitti was waiting to convert.

There seemed to be some confusion as to whether the ball crossed the line before Deniz Mehmet clawed it away from goal, but Iacovitti was immediately convinced and the assistant referee agreed.

The hosts did have one attempt at goal, with Nicky Clark's free kick going high and wide, but it was still the Staggies who were pushing most going into the interval as Gardyne missed a header just before the break.

A scrappy start to the second half saw sights of goal become few and far between, but a triple substitution from United raised the game's intensity level.

Just minutes after coming on, Logan Chalmers went close to pulling one back as his shot clipped the top of the crossbar.

Really, County did well to fend off the pressure their hosts were putting them under without Ross Laidlaw being worked more often.

By the time the final 15 minutes came around in fact, it was County who were back on the front foot, having multiple chances to put the result to bed.

Stephen Kelly did well to control a volley from just outside the box which Mehmet managed to tip on to the crossbar.

Regan Charles-Cook tried to follow it up with a header from close range, albeit at a tight angle, only to see the ball bounce back off the foot of the post.

White then came close to adding to his tally, turning and shooting from the edge of the box which was parried behind by United's goalkeeper.

Those misses did not matter one bit though, as the Staggies held on to seal an important three points.


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