Match Report | St Mirren 0-0 RCFC

Ross County and St Mirren played out a frustrating 0-0 draw at the SMISA stadium in the cinch Premiership this evening.

It took just 5 minutes for County to have their first sight of goal. Ross Callachan sprayed the ball to his left-hand side to pick out Blair Spittal who chopped inside of his marker, but the Staggies’ top scorer could only watch his sliced left-footed attempt whistle over Jak Alnwick’s crossbar.

4 minutes later, Dominic Samuel must have thought he had secured his first league goal after he pounced on Charles Dunne’s defensive error. A County clearance was shot into orbit before finding Dunne on the half-way line, but the defender misjudged the flight of the ball, allowing Samuel to bring it down and drive towards goal. The striker then chopped back onto his stronger right foot and forced an excellent save out of Jak Alnwick to deny his curling effort from nestling in the far-right corner.

In the 27^th minute, the hosts had their first clear chance of the match, but what looked to be a certain goal was saved by a heroic goal line clearance from Jack Baldwin. Former Scotland international Eamonn Brophy done well to spin his marker on the right-hand side of the penalty area before fizzing a shot back across goal, which looked destined to nestle in the bottom far-left corner. However, out of nowhere, a fantastic recovery sliding effort from skipper Jack Baldwin diverted the ball away from danger to keep the tie at 0-0.

An evenly matched first half ended goalless with neither side being successful in capitalising on their respective early chances. Malky Mackay would have been pleased that his side were competitive and were creating chances, but it was clear that the Staggies still had a few higher gears to find if they were to match their impressive form of late.

6 minutes after the restart, St Mirren passed up their first opportunity of the match to find an opening goal. A swinging cross from the left of the box from Connor Ronan troubled the County defence but Kristian Dennis’s attempted glancing header at the back post failed to redirect the ball goalward.

Shortly after, County had their first chance of the half when Joseph Hungbo enticing whipped right-footed delivery met the shin of Dominic Samuel inside the penalty area. Unfortunately, Samuel saw the cross late and could not adjust his feet in time to apply a finish with accuracy as the ball trickled into the arms of Jak Alnwick.

The Buddies really turned the screw in the second half and stepped up their pursuit of an elusive first goal. With 25 minutes left to play, St Mirren squandered the best chance of the half thus far when Connor Ronnan’s deep free kick met the swinging left boot of Marcus Fraser inside the penalty area. However, the ex-Staggie was denied of another goal against his former club by an outstanding instant reaction stop from Ashley Maynard-Brewer, who left out a strong left arm to beat away Fraser’s attempt on the line.

With 8 minutes remaining the hosts were dealt another great opportunity to run away with 3 points when Curtis Main found himself through on goal. Greg Kiltie retrieved the ball on the halfway line from a skewed David Cancola hook before sliding in Main for a one-on-one. Main rushed towards goal, but his lack of pace let him down as the charging Jack Baldwin got back in time to take the sting out of Main’s goalbound effort, allowing Keith Watson plenty of time to knock the ball behind for a corner before it crossed the line.

2 minutes before the end of regulation time, Jak Alnwick pulled off a double save to prevent a Staggies winner. A smart counterattacking move left Blair Spittal and then David Cancola with clear sights of goal inside the area, but two equally as smart saves from the St Mirren stopper kept out their firm attempts at goal.

The Staggies remain at the foot of the cinch Premiership, but are now just 2 points behind Livingston in 11^th and are unbeaten in their last 3 league matches.