Ross County came within six minutes of a smash-and-grab victory at McDiarmid Park, but were ultimately forced to settle for a point against St Johnstone.
The Staggies were on the backfoot for much of this Perth encounter, prompting jubilation when Iain Vigurs marked his comeback from a foot operation with a 73rd-minute breakthrough.
There were few complaints about the home side salvaging a point through Callum Hendry’s header six minutes from time however, with the result leaving Tommy Wright’s men a point behind the eighth-placed Staggies.
It was an honest assessment from Staggies co-manager Stuart Kettlewell, who said: “I have to be honest. We feel as if sometimes we can spin stories, but we feel as if we probably got more than we deserved. There’s no doubt St Johnstone were the better side throughout.
“Our levels never really got going if truth be told, but obviously there is a sense of disappointment when you get your nose in front.
“We knew the threat St Johnstone have in wide areas, and that resulted in the equaliser. There was a frantic spell afterwards where we were clinging on a bit, so we take our point.”
The trip to McDiarmid Park rounded off a memorable decade for the Dingwall men, with two Championship title triumphs, a League Cup win and Scottish Cup final appearance to show for it.
County’s start to the season gives them a decent basis to retain their top-flight status, although they undoubtedly still have some way to go to finish the job off.
The Staggies’ campaign has been riddled with inconsistency, with impressive victories over top-half sides Motherwell, Hibernian and Kilmarnock, but equally two bruising four-goal losses to Livingston.
County will now break from league action for three weeks, with Staggies co-managers Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson refusing to rule out the possibility of January adjustments to their squad.
County made one enforced change from the side which went down to a late 2-1 defeat to Motherwell on Boxing Day, with Lewis Spence’s suspension paving the way for Vigurs to come back into the starting line-up for the first time since September.
It was the Staggies who offered the first attempt on target on 20 minutes, with a neat link-up involving Harry Paton and Billy Mckay setting up Ross Stewart, whose curling strike from the edge of the box was held by Zander Clark.
It proved Stewart’s final act however, with County’s leading scorer pulling up injured near the halfway line seven minutes later, and replaced by Brian Graham.
Former Saints attacker Graham was nearly presented with an opening moments later when Jason Kerr failed to cut out a Josh Mullin cross, however Graham was unable to direct the ball goalwards.
The Perth men posed danger early in the second half, with McCann curling wide from the edge of the area, while on 51 minutes Drey Wright’s free kick was headed across goal by Kerr, rapidly falling for Kennedy who was unable to keep his header down from point-blank range.
Saints came closest to a breakthrough on the hour mark when Kennedy was gifted possession by Harry Paton, with the winger’s thundering effort from the edge of the box appearing to be helped on to the crossbar by the faintest of fingertip touches from Baxter.
The missed opportunities came back to haunt the home side though. After Blair Spittal’s cross was cleared out to Mullin on the right, the winger pulled back for Mckay, who in turn waited for Vigurs to collect the ball and mark his comeback with a finish in off Clark’s left-hand post.
It was all the harder for Saints to take given they had earlier protested Vigurs should have been shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Jason Holt.
County were unable to hold firm however, with the hosts salvaging an equaliser six minutes from time when substitute Hendry rose to nod home Kennedy’s cross at the near post.
Hendry saw his pursuit of a second goal thwarted by the wall when Saints were awarded a late indirect free-kick for Baxter holding on to the ball too long, with the Staggies ending the game with 10 men after Graham was shown a second yellow card for connecting with Kerr in an aerial tussle.
