This task was never going to be easy, especially when facing a wounded animal in Celtic, who were fresh off the back of a derby defeat.
Malky Mackay’s Staggies gave a fairly decent account of themselves, although County supporters would have been hoping for a repeat of Matty Wright’s heroics the last time one of the ‘big two’ travelled north.
The two goals which sealed three points for Ange Postecoglou’s side came at either end of the match, with Kyogo Furuhashi and Jota netting early and late respectively to kill any hopes of a Ross County equaliser.
For a spell in the early second half, County did look the more likely to score the second of the match, with a flurry of corners and chances.
Harry Paton had the best of the bunch when the ball dropped perfectly for him to fire one beyond a helpless Joe Hart but he unfortunately miscued his strike as it dragged wayward of the post.
A mere hint of congratulations must be handed to the Celtic supporters who shamelessly perched in the home end.
They surprisingly managed to keep their celebrations a little more subdued for once – excluding those in the west stand who seemed to have created a pop-up away allocation.
Away supporters purchasing tickets in the home end when Celtic or Rangers come to town has been an issue for several years but it seems to be getting worse not better.
Some fans took to social media comments to express their concern of feeling “unsafe” surrounded by large numbers of Celtic fans.
Despite a postcode blocker already being in use on the ticket website, it is time that more is done by Ross County to protect the matchday experience for genuine fans who turn up week in week out.
