Ross County rounded off a thoroughly successful week with a single-goal victory over St Mirren.
For the second successive match a Joseph Hungbo penalty proved the difference, this time seeing off an uninspiring Buddies side at Victoria Park.
The Staggies scrapped it out to record their first back-to-back clean sheets this season, building on wins against St Johnstone and Motherwell in the prior seven days.
The last time County won three games on the trot was the final stages of last season, in a sequence of results which secured their Premiership survival.
This time around the trio of victories has pushed County into the top-six, where they have rapidly moved themselves into contention for a European place.
It is a remarkable turnaround from a side which found itself rock-bottom of the table without a win from their opening 10 games.
With nine wins from the 20 matches that followed, Malky Mackay’s men have set themselves up for a tilt at making their campaign a memorable one.
Malky Mackay named the same side for the second successive match, in what was County’s final game for a fortnight before their next match against Celtic.
On the strength of their first back-to-back wins of the season, the Staggies’ confidence was clear to see in the early stages of the game. County had accumulated 20 passes in the build up to Regan Charles-Cook’s first goal against St Johnstone the previous weekend, and once again they immediately looked assured in possession.
There were precious few goalscoring opportunities in the early stages however, with Ross Callachan failing to seriously test Dean Lyness with a snapshot on six minutes.
Charles-Cook showed a promising burst of speed on 25 minutes to drift past Richard Tait before unleashing a cross to the near post, which was beaten away from the advances of Jordan White by Lyness.
It became an increasingly scrappy first half. County were next to fashion an attempt which did not arrive until the 36th minute, with Charles-Cook’s free-kick cut out only as far Jordan Tillson on the edge of the box, with the midfielder sending a scissors kick narrowly over the bar.
St Mirren threatened to create an opening on the breakaway on 41 minutes when Alex Gogic robbed Callachan of possession on the halfway line before striding forward and feeding Alan Power, however his heavy touch put paid to the opportunity.
It had been a far from eventful opening 45 minutes, however the Staggies took the lead just two minutes into the second half. The spot-kick stemmed from a Jack Baldwin throw-in from the right, which Hungbo attempted to take down before being felled by Gogic.
For the second successive game Hungbo took on the duties from 12 yards, with his effort clipping the underside of the crossbar before dropping into the net.
The Buddies had offered precious little attacking threat but they looked for an early response, with substitute Eamonn Brophy seeing a powerful strike whistle just over from a wide angle.
The game began to open up, with Ross Laidlaw called upon to tip Curtis Main’s shot around his near post following Jordan Jones’ cutback.
County had a chance to double their lead on 62 minutes, with Kayne Ramsay nodding wide from a Hungbo corner.
The visitors continued to push however, with Jones seeing a low strike deflected wide after he had been played into a dangerous position by Main.
As the game reached its latter stages the Staggies knew a second goal would secure the points, with White narrowly failing to connect with a Callachan delivery.
St Mirren mounted late pressure but their efforts failed to amount to an equaliser, with Jones hooking an effort over from the edge of the box in the final stages.
ROSS COUNTY (4-2-3-1) – Laidlaw 6; Ramsay 7, Baldwin 7, Iacovitti 7, Randall 7; Callachan 6, Tillson 8; Hungbo 7 (Spittal 75), H Paton 7 (D Samuel 90), Charles-Cook 6 (Drysdale 83); White 7. Subs not used – Munro, Vokins, Burroughs, B Paton, Wright, Mackinnon.
ST MIRREN (3-4-3) – Lyness 6; McCarthy 5 (Brophy 52), Shaughnessy 6, Dunne 6; Tait 6, Power 6 (Henderson 87), Gogic 5, Tanser 6; Kiltie 5 (Erhahon 46), Greive 5 (Main 46), Jones 7. Subs not used – Urminsky, Flynn, Fraser, Smyth.
Referee – David Dickinson
Attendance – 3,229
Man of the match: Jordan Tillson
