Scottish Premiership
St JohnstoneSt Johnstone1Ross CountyRoss County1

St Johnstone 1-1 Ross County

By Martin DowdenBBC Scotland

Ross County were relegated from the Scottish Premiership as they drew at St Johnstone.

Craig Curran scored an early goal that for an hour looked like saving the Staggies from automatic demotion.

But Kris Doolan netted a second-half winner for Partick Thistle at Dundee to secure a Premiership play-off and send County into the Championship.

David Wotherspoon's late goal for Saints proved irrelevant for County as victory would not have been enough.

As County's six-year top-flight stint ends, Partick Thistle finish 11th and will face Livingston in a two-legged play-off.

The visitors came to Perth knowing victory was essential with no room for any other result if they were to survive in the Premiership.

Craig Curran goal
Craig Curran's back-post finish was the perfect start for Ross County

Despite the pressure, the Staggies started purposefully and were rewarded early on.

Jason Naismith broke down the right and, after his cross took a deflection and fell perfectly for Curran, he made no mistake at the back post.

It was exactly the kind of fortune that County believe they have been missing, and Curran's positional instinct was fully rewarded.

The visitors continued to push forward ensuring they were the side generating pressure rather than coping with it.

Michael Gardyne profited from a neat exchange on the right and fired towards goal but it was comfortable for goalkeeper Alan Mannus in his last St Johnstone appearance before departing for Ireland.

St Johnstone began to respond and Scott Tanser was the first to really trouble County's goal with a floated, angled effort that flew narrowly over the bar.

The visitors nearly got the second when a diagonal from Marcus Fraser found Curran. His header fell to Matthias Kait on the edge of the box and at the second attempt he crashed a shot off the bar.

Curran's chipped effort from 25 yards drew a fine stop from Mannus.

David Wotherspoon celebrates
David Wotherspoon scored a late goal to earn St Johnstone a point

St Johnstone opened the second half brightly but County's Billy Mckay broke away and cut back for Naismith, whose fierce, low shot flew across the six yard area with Curran unable to get there for another tap in.

The home side did have the ball in the net midway through the second half but the offside flag halted any celebration.

County should have had a second when Curran found space but somehow pulled it wide from a great position.

As news filtered through that Partick Thistle has taken the lead, the sting came out of this contest.

County's fate was sealed when Wotherspoon fired a wonderful effort home with the last kick of the match.

For St Johnstone, it was a day of goodbyes, with Mannus, Chris Millar and Steven MacLean departing.

Saints boss Tommy Wright
Saints boss Tommy Wright was less than impressed with his side's display against Ross County

POST-MATCH REACTION

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright: "The performance was typical of what we've been at home this season, I don't know what it is. We can go to Motherwell and play the way we did last week, we go to Celtic, Rangers, Hibs, in front of bigger crowds and, with all due respect, better teams and play well, but at home we've struggled all season.

"For 80 minutes today we weren't at the races in any aspect of the game, other than we've stayed in it. It was brutal at times for me to watch.

"The last 10 minutes was the only period of the game that we showed any energy or quality, and we could've scored two goals - that really would've been a mugging job because we didn't deserve three points.

"It was a nice way to end the game to get a late goal."

Line-ups

St Johnstone

Formation 4-4-2

  • 1Mannus
  • 5Shaughnessy
  • 15KerrBooked at 85mins
  • 23Gordon
  • 3Tanser
  • 14Comrie Substituted forScougallat 45'minutes
  • 8DavidsonBooked at 34mins
  • 37McCann Substituted forMillarat 58'minutes
  • 10Wotherspoon
  • 11Williams Substituted forHendryat 74'minutes
  • 16McMillan

Substitutes

  • 6Anderson
  • 7Millar
  • 12Clark
  • 19Foster
  • 21Scougall
  • 26Craig
  • 50Hendry

Ross County

Formation 4-4-2

  • 1Fox
  • 3Naismith
  • 15Davies Substituted forSouttarat 14'minutes
  • 32Fontaine
  • 2FraserBooked at 40mins
  • 7Gardyne
  • 17Draper
  • 18Lindsay
  • 47KaitBooked at 61mins Substituted forO'Brienat 85'minutes
  • 22Mckay Substituted forSchalkat 74'minutes
  • 11Curran

Substitutes

  • 5Souttar
  • 10Schalk
  • 14N'Gog
  • 25O'Brien
  • 31McCarey
  • 35Melbourne
  • 40Keillor-Dunn
Referee:
Nick Walsh
Attendance:
3,279

Match Stats

Home TeamSt JohnstoneAway TeamRoss County
Possession
Home44%
Away56%
Shots
Home6
Away10
Shots on Target
Home2
Away4
Corners
Home4
Away4
Fouls
Home14
Away12

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, St. Johnstone 1, Ross County 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, St. Johnstone 1, Ross County 1.

  3. Goal!

    Goal! St. Johnstone 1, Ross County 1. David Wotherspoon (St. Johnstone) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top left corner.

  4. Post update

    Attempt blocked. David Wotherspoon (St. Johnstone) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.

  5. Post update

    Corner, St. Johnstone. Conceded by Harry Souttar.

  6. Post update

    Corner, St. Johnstone. Conceded by Scott Fox.

  7. Post update

    Attempt saved. David Wotherspoon (St. Johnstone) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

  8. Post update

    Foul by Jamie Lindsay (Ross County).

  9. Post update

    Stefan Scougall (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  10. Substitution

    Substitution, Ross County. Jim O'Brien replaces Mattias Kait because of an injury.

  11. Post update

    Michael Gardyne (Ross County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  12. Booking

    Jason Kerr (St. Johnstone) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  13. Post update

    Foul by Jason Kerr (St. Johnstone).

  14. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Liam Fontaine (Ross County) header from the centre of the box is blocked.

  15. Post update

    Alex Schalk (Ross County) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  16. Post update

    Foul by Liam Gordon (St. Johnstone).

  17. Post update

    Foul by Craig Curran (Ross County).

  18. Post update

    David McMillan (St. Johnstone) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  19. Post update

    Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Stefan Scougall.

  20. Post update

    Attempt missed. Alex Schalk (Ross County) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.

As It Stood

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Celtic 37 24 10 3 73 24 49 82
2 Aberdeen 37 21 7 9 55 37 18 70
3 Rangers 37 21 6 10 71 45 26 69
4 Hibernian 37 18 12 7 57 41 16 66
5 Kilmarnock 37 15 11 11 48 47 1 56
6 Hearts 37 12 13 12 39 38 1 49
7 Motherwell 38 13 9 16 43 49 -6 48
8 St Johnstone 38 12 10 16 42 53 -11 46
9 Dundee 38 11 6 21 36 57 -21 39
10 Hamilton 38 9 6 23 47 68 -21 33
11 Partick Thistle 38 8 9 21 31 61 -30 33
12 Ross County 38 6 11 21 40 62 -22 29
View full Scottish Premiership table