Ross County were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Hamilton Accies despite a dominant performance at Victoria Park.
The Staggies had taken a deserved lead six minutes from the end of a completely one-sided first-half, through Liam Boyce’s eighth goal of the season.
The Dingwall side looked to be on course to follow up last weekend’s 4-2 win against St Johnstone with another victory, however Ali Crawford’s late free-kick ensured the Lanarkshire side picked up a point.
County made one enforced change from the side that won at Perth, with Chris Burke dropping out through illness, meaning he was replaced by Ryan Dow, however goalkeeper Scott Fox provided the Staggies a boost by recovering from the foot injury which forced him to be substituted halfway through last week’s match.
County got off to a fine start and skipper Andrew Davies was unfortunate to see his header from Michael Gardyne’s free-kick beaten away by former Staggies goalkeeper Gary Woods just two minutes in.
Boyce was presented with a fine chance to give the hosts the lead on 14 minutes when Kenny van der Weg’s cross from the left picked him out unmarked, but he steered his effort well wide of target.
Davies came even closer midway through the first-half when his flick from Christopher Routis’ corner was hacked off the line by Accies midfielder Grant Gillespie.
Accies’ closest first-half attempt came when a shot from Rakish Bingham forced a decent block from Scott Fox, however a Staggies breakthrough looked inevitable and it finally arrived on 39 minutes. Gardyne showed fine footwork down the left flank before crossing for Boyce, who was well placed to angle a header across Woods and into the far corner.
County were forced to make a half-time change when Alex Schalk replaced the injured Craig Curran, and the Dutch attacker came close when he dragged a low effort just wide of the right-hand post.
Schalk had the ball in the net moments later, only to be thwarted by an offside flag, however missed opportunities came back to haunt the hosts as Accies levelled on 77 minutes. It was a spectacular strike from Crawford, who stepped up to plant his 25-yard free-kick over the wall and into Fox’s right-hand corner.
Having squandered their winning position, County went desperately in search of a winner, and Schalk dragged another effort wide after cutting in from the left, while at the other end Crawford saw another long-range attempt flash inches over the bar.
Schalk’s best opportunity came in stoppage time, when he once again bore down on goal only to be denied by the feet of Woods, with County being left to rue their numerous missed chances.