Ross County’s creditable goalless draw against Hearts at Tynecastle does no harm to their hopes of clinching a European place.
Both sides were forced to settle for a point from a far from eventful encounter in the capital.
Although little was riding on the game for the Jambos, who were sluggish in the opening hour, County had to weather some late pressure to secure the draw.
Malky Mackay’s men had showed the strongest goal threat prior to the latter stages, and were denied a first half breakthrough when Jordan White had a goal ruled out for offside.
Motherwell’s 1-0 loss to Dundee United means the Staggies are now a point clear in fifth place, with three points separating them from the fourth-placed Tannadice outfit.
With Well making the trip to Dingwall next weekend, County know a victory in that encounter would put them within touching distance of a debut European appearance.
County made one change from the side which went down 2-0 to Celtic the previous weekend, with David Cancola handed a first start since January in place of Harry Paton. Defender Jack Baldwin was also sidelined, as he served the second and final match of a suspension.
The Jambos went into the game with third-placed already long sewn-up, but with spots in Robbie Neilson’s Scottish Cup final against Rangers up for grabs.
There was little to separate the sides in their head-to-head record, with six of the last seven encounters ending in draws. The only exception to that sequence came on the Staggies’ last trip to Tynecastle on Boxing Day, when the Jambos ran out 2-1 winners in a closed-doors match.
Although Hearts enjoyed plenty of the ball in the opening stages, it was County who offered the first meaningful goal threat on 13 minutes. Former Jambos defender Connor Randall found himself in an advanced position outside the box, before carving out a fizzing low strike which forced a fine parried save by Craig Gordon.
Randall was proving a menacing presence for the Staggies in the hosts’ half, and a neat link up with Ross Callachan led to a delivery being cleared to the feet of Blair Spittal, whose goalbound effort was blocked by the home defence.
Hearts began to show flashes of danger, with Barrie McKay going on a weaving run past two County defenders before seeing his powerful low cross cleared to safety by Keith Watson.
County had the ball in the net on 34 minutes, however Jordan White was ruled to be offside after converting Spittal’s low delivery to cut short the visiting fans’ celebrations.
The Staggies had done well to limit Hearts’ clear-cut openings, with McKay the first to unleash a serious attempt two minutes before the break, but his strike from the edge of the area drifted well over.
Hearts made a lively start to the second period though, with Nathanial Atkinson cutting the ball back for Josh Ginnelly who failed to keep his shot down from an excellent position inside the box.
The Staggies were not on the backfoot for long however, with Spittal slipping in Callachan for a glimpse of goal, before his powerful low effort was blocked by the legs of Scotland goalkeeper Gordon.
Staggies goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw was tested for the first time on 55 minutes, when he comfortably held on to a Taylor Moore header from a McKay corner.
County’s pressing led to them dispossessing Hearts in their own half on a handful of occasions, with Callachan seeing another low drive from distance harmlessly roll into the arms of Gordon.
Jordan Tillson was next to try his luck on 73 minutes, with a long-range strike which drifted harmlessly over Gordon’s crossbar.
Hearts had a big chance to take the lead four minutes when County were caught on the counter attack, with McKay playing through Liam Boyce, however Laidlaw came to the rescue to block the former Staggies striker’s effort.
Mackay turned to his bench for the first time with just over 10 minutes remaining, with Joseph Hungbo and Dominic Samuel brought on to replace Callachan and Regan Charles-Cook.
The home side were closest to a winner however, with McKay coming within inches of securing it for the hosts with a strike which brushed the side-netting on its way past.
Boyce spurned an even better chance in stoppage time when he was picked out by substitute Andy Halliday but rushed his effort wide with the goal gaping.
HEARTS (4-2-3-1) – Gordon 6; Atkinson 7, Moore 6, Sibbick 6, Cochrane 6; Woodburn 6 (Halliday 70), Haring 6; Ginnelly 6, McKay 7, Mackay-Steven 5 (Simms (70); Boyce 6. Subs not used – Stewart, Kingsley, Thomas, Tait.
ROSS COUNTY (4-2-3-1) – Laidlaw 6; Randall 7, Watson 6, Iacovitti 6, Vokins 6; Tillson 6, Cancola 6; Spittal 7, Callachan 6 (D Samuel 78), Charles-Cook 6 (Hungbo 78); White 6 (H Paton 89). Subs not used – Munro, Sims, Burroughs, Ramsay, Drysdale, B Paton.
Referee – Steven McLean
Attendance – 16,699
Man of the match: Connor Randall
