Ross County had endured a prolonged hangover following their League Cup semi-final win over Celtic but they were far more like themselves at Rugby Park this evening.
Goals from Alex Schalk and substitute Brian Graham were enough to help Ross County move up to fourth in the Scottish Premiership with a well-deserved 2-0 win against Kilmarnock.
The Staggies had lost three of their four league matches since beating Celtic 3-1 in the semi-finals of the League Cup.
With their Hampden outing with Hibernian fast approaching, this was a pleasing return to form for the Dingwall men.
The result was enough to move the Staggies above St Johnstone, who host Partick Thistle this evening and the performance would have delighted manager Jim McIntyre.
As for Killie, they remain eight points ahead of Dundee United, who take on Aberdeen at Tannadice this evening, but have played two games more.
The Staggies were dominating play and were unfortunate not to double their lead with Jackson Irvine going close before Paul Quinn’s looping header was clawed away by MacDonald.
Kilmarnock were forced into an early change when Obadeyi limped off after 31 minutes and was replaced by Kallum Higginbotham.
The home side had the ball in the net 10 minutes before the break when Julien Faubert volleyed home but the goal was correctly ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper Woods by Higginbotham.
Kilmarnock looked more up for the fight in the second half and went close to an early equaliser within four minutes of the restart with Rory McKenzie’s curling effort well gathered by Woods.
The Killie pressure intensified with a Kevin McHattie header denied by Woods before Magennis’ claims for a penalty after he fell under pressure from Andrew Davies were waved away by referee Stephen Finnie.
The County defence were getting deeper and deeper but the pace of Schalk and Goodwillie proved to be a useful outlet to relieve the onslaught.
The Staggies made a change after 59 minutes with Boyce replacing Schalk, who had County’s best performer.
It was a surprise substitution but undoubtedly made with a view to keep the attacker fresh for this weekend’s Scottish Cup quarter-final against Dundee United.
County went painfully close to putting the result beyond doubt with 13 minutes remaining when another substitute Brian Graham, brought on for the tiring Goodwillie, crossed for Martin Woods, whose downward header struck the post.
With the visitors struggling to find the second goal to kill off the match, Kilmarnock continued to look capable of salvaging a late share of the spoils.
But in the final minute, a long punt upfield from goalkeeper Woods was headed over MacDonald by substitute Graham to finally end any hopes of a Killie comeback.