Ross County move off bottom of Premiership with big win over Aberdeen
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Ross County 4
Aberdeen 1
Scorers - County: Shaw (1, 84) Lakin (20) Hylton (90) Aberdeen: Iacovitti: (45og)
Ross County moved off the bottom of the Premiership as Oli Shaw scored twice to give them victory over Aberdeen in Dingwall.
Shaw gave the Staggies the lead after 35 seconds with Charlie Lakin doubling their advantage after 20 minutes.
An Alex Iacovitti own goal on the stroke of half time gave the Dons hope. But Shaw’s second goal six minutes from time followed by Jermaine Hylton’s injury time strike gave County all three points.
The Staggies stampeded into the lead after 35 seconds when Iain Vigurs found Jermaine Hylton to the left of the 18-yard box.
He then sent the ball back into the centre of the box to find an unchallenged Shaw who fired a low drive into the bottom left corner leaving goalkeeper Joe Lewis flatfooted.
Ross County dominated the opening period of the match and managed to double their advantage in the 20th minute.
Harry Paton's cross from the right wing found Charlie Lakin in the box unchallenged and he fired a low drive past Joe Lewis 10-yards out from a tight angle to score his second goal in two games.
Ross County almost made it three immediately afterwards when Regan Charles-Cook was given free reign down the right wing and sent a pass across the face of the six-yard box which was unable to find any takers.
Aberdeen’s problems went from bad to worse when Ashley Taylor was forced off injured on the half-hour mark and was replaced by Shae Logan.
The Dons should have pulled one back when Jonny Hayes’ cross from the left wing found Matty Kennedy unchallenged in the six-yard box.
But his point-blank shot was well saved by Ross Laidlaw as the ball was cleared from danger to preserve County’s two-goal lead.
Scott Wright also should have pulled one back before half time when he was allowed a chance from 12-yards out but Laidlaw pulled off another great save.
But the Dons did reduce the deficit to one on the stroke of half time when defender Alex Iacovitti diverted Tommy Hoban’s header into his own net from close range.
The second half proved to be a drab affair with neither team able to create many chances.
But the Staggies could have made it 3-1 midway through the second half when Shaw beat the offside trap to run on to Paton’s long ball but saw his shot go inches over the bar.
However, County killed the game off six minutes from time when Ross Draper sent Vigurs’ corner back into the box and Shaw fired a low drive into the back of the net from eight yards to restore their two-goal lead.
Hylton then capitalised on a mix-up in the Aberdeen defence in injury time as he managed to catch Lewis out of his box to fire the ball into an empty net to make it 4-1.
Ross County: Laidlaw, Randall, Morris, Shaw (McKay 88),Vigurs, Hylton, Iacovitti, Charles-Cook, (Draper 65) Lakin, Naismith, Paton.
Subs: Munro, Gardyne, Watson, Kely, Tillson, Andreu, Reid.
Aberdeen: Lewis, Hoban, Considine, Main (Anderson 75) Taylor (Logan 30), Cosgrove, Hayes (Ngwenya 64), Ferguson, Wright, Kennedy, McCrorie.
Subs: Woods, Ojo, McGinn, Mclennan, Campbell Virtanen.
Referee: Bobby Madden
