Kilmarnock made their move for William Hill Premiership safety with a 2-0 win over Ross County in their first post-split fixture at Rugby Park.
It was a dire encounter in the first half, lit up in the 37th minute when striker Bruce Anderson broke the deadlock with a back-post header.
The second half brought improvement and in the 69th minute midfielder Liam Donnelly doubled that lead with a close-range strike to register Killie’s first win in four meetings with the Staggies this campaign.
Derek McInnes’ side are in ninth place, three points ahead of Ross County who, with their fifth successive defeat, dropped into the relegation spot.
And with four fixtures remaining, Killie are nine points ahead of bottom side St Johnstone – who look doomed – but the bid to evade the relegation play-off spot continues and the Ayrshire side took a big step to ensuring they will not be involved by garnering a much-needed win.
There was a pre-match blow for Killie when stand-in captain Brad Lyons sustained an injury and was replaced by fellow midfielder David Watson, with defender Stuart Findlay taking over the armband.
Neither side was able to take control amid a seemingly endless stream of free-kicks and throw-ins.
In the 21st minute there was a half-hearted County penalty claim when striker Ronan Hale went down under challenge from Killie’s Corrie Ndaba inside the home box but referee Nick Walsh immediately waved it away.
Killie wide-man Danny Armstrong’s drive from the edge of the box in the 32nd minute which flew past the far post at least got the home fans excited and they were jubilant just minutes later when his cross from the right was met at the back post by Anderson, who leapt to head past County goalkeeper Jordan Amissah.
Hale flashed a drive from 20 yards just past the Kilmarnock post before the break but County’s response was weak.
There was more zip to Killie’s play at the start of the second half with Armstrong causing more problems, although it was from Fraser Murray’s corner that Donnelly came close with a header.
Armstrong and Murray drove efforts from distance over the bar and Amissah made a fine block from Ndaba’s close-range strike.
However, amid another spell of Killie pressure, when the ball fell to Donnelly 12 yards from goal he took a touch and fired a left-footed drive low into the far corner for his first goal since April 2023.
Ross County boss Don Cowie kept bringing on the substitutes and in the 82nd minute Hale’s header from 14 yards brought a first real save from Killie keeper Kieran O’Hara but there was no real threat of a comeback as the hosts ran out deserved winners.
What the managers said…
Assistant Kilmarnock manager Paul Sheerin:
“I think it was pretty professional and disciplined. I thought as a unit we were relatively solid. Probably at times it wasn’t overly pretty.
“I thought we stood up to their physicality, certainly in the early part of the game, and once it settled, I thought we deserved the three points.
“The incentive has to just be safety for us as quickly as we can and then from that you go and you build and try and stay away from that play-off spot as well.
“There’s no getting away from that. I think everybody – maybe Motherwell with their win today should be okay – but everybody else is probably looking over their shoulder and we’ll have to be ready for that battle and do everything we can to get through that.
“And like we say, it’s been a good start today, a good three points to set us on our way and we just need to try and keep on now.”
Ross County boss Don Cowie:
“The fact of the matter is we can get away from it. It’s in our own hands.
“We’ve got four games to go. There’s still got to be an honesty in terms of the run of form that we’re in and we’ve got to rectify that and put it to a stop. We’re at home next week against Hearts.
“We’ve got a long journey up the road now tonight. Time to feel sorry for ourselves in terms of where we are, with the results, then come Monday morning we need to have that clear mindset that we’re ready to perform next week.
“I think the fundamentals of being a Ross County player is that we have to earn everything and scrap for everything we get.
“We have done it plenty of times this year so we have references we can go back to when we know we can win games of football in this very competitive league.
“It’s not happening for us right now but prior to that we won three out of four games which shows we are capable when we do things right collectively and that will be my message.”
