Ross County shared a 1-1 draw with Motherwell at Victoria Park, with the Staggies holding on for a point after being reduced to 10 men midway through the second-half.
County had taken the lead just after the hour mark through Liam Boyce’s sixth goal of the campaign, however Well substitute Louis Moult rescued a point for his side with a penalty, with Staggies defender Jay McEveley sent off for a second booking with 20 minutes left.
County were back in action for the first time in a fortnight following last weekend’s international break, and Jim McIntyre made just one change from the side defeated 1-0 by Hamilton Accies in their last outing, with Alex Schalk replacing Craig Curran up front.
Both sides struggled to create chances in the opening stages, with Staggies goalkeeper Scott Fox forced to come off his line to thwart debutant Ryan Bowman, while Schalk was close to robbing Well goalkeeper Craig Samson of the ball as he made a clearance upfield.
Motherwell had the best early chance on 18 minutes when Fox was forced to stoop low to get a hand on Chris Cadden’s header from Scott McDonald’s delivery from the left, with Andrew Davies getting across to clear as the ball rolled across the goal-line.
County began to apply pressure at the other end however, with Chris Routis getting on the end of Martin Woods’ outswinging corner before thumping a first-time volley just wide of target.
Motherwell remained a threat, with Erik Cikos forced to block from McDonald, however the Staggies came the closest to breaking the deadlock in the first-half when Gardyne smacked a shot off the bar from the edge of the area, with Schalk nodding over from close-range from Jonathan Franks’ follow-up cross.
County began the second-half brightly with Boyce header over from Franks’ delivery, however the home side had to be alert in defence when Davies was forced to clear from McDonald at the far post, before Bowman saw his headed rebound thwarted by Fox.
The Dingwall side increased the pressure however, with Franks firing a low shot wide from long-range, before providing a delivery which Boyce prodded wide at the far post.
County’s breakthrough came on 61 minutes however, when Jay McEveley’s cross from the right picked out Schalk who in turn played in Boyce, and he supplied a neat low finish into Samson’s bottom left-hand corner.
The home side had the ball in the net once again moments later when Schalk tucked home the rebound after Boyce’s low effort had been spilled by Samson, only to be thwarted by an offside flag.
Motherwell were handed the perfect chance to level the scoring on 66 minutes when McDonald’s run was halted by goalkeeper Fox, with Alan Muir awarding a spot-kick to the Steelmen which substitute Louis Moult hammered low into the bottom corner.
Momentum swung firmly in Motherwell’s favour on 70 minutes, when McEveley was shown a red card for a second booking, shown for his challenge on McDonald.
It was the Steelmen who came closest to finding a late winner, with Ainsworth heading straight at Fox, who also did well to beat away McDonald’s shot in the dying stages, however the teams could not be separated.
