Ross County were once again quick to secure a result against Hibernian as they drew 1-1 in the Premiership.
The Hibees took the lead shortly before half-time through Dylan Levitt shortly after Jordan White missed from the penalty spot for the hosts, but Ronan Hale’s 86th-minute penalty leveled the scores.
After Storm Eowyn, it was not a game for the purists as the weather took its toll on the Global Energy Stadium pitch.
This was reflected in the lack of chances early on, with only Dwight Gayle’s wild volley flying wide for Hibs and Noah Chilvers’ tame effort from the edge of the box registering on the stroke count.
However, just before the half-hour mark, Chilvers’ seemingly innocuous cross was cleared, only for referee David Dickinson’s VAR Matthew MacDermid to be sent to the monitor.
Hibs winger Nicky Cadden was adjudged to have been handballed and White was given a chance to score from the penalty spot – a chance he missed as goalkeeper Jordan Smith made a good save.
And five minutes before going to the break, the visitors took the lead after the County failed to deal with a corner kick.
The ball fell to Levitt on the edge of the box and he slotted past Jordan Amissah into the bottom corner to give Hibs the lead.
Nicky Cadden could have doubled Hibs’ lead on the brink of half-time when he collected a cross from his twin brother Chris in acres of space, but Amissah was quick to turn the shot behind for a corner instead.
Immediately after the restart, Josh Campbell scored for the visitors, but although it was a good shot, it was always over the bar.
The game remained tied at 1-0 with neither goalkeeper having much to do until Amissah had to clear Martin Boyle’s shot from danger in the 74th minute.
However, the game came alive again in the 85th minute when County were awarded another penalty as substitute Kieran Phillips was brought down inside the Hibs box.
With White off the field, Hale stepped in and sent Smith the wrong way to equalize for County.
Although both teams tried to cause chaos in the opponent’s penalty area, neither was able to find a further breakthrough to all three points.
What the manager said…
Hibernian manager David Gray he felt both penalties awarded against his side were questionable as it was a 1-1 draw at Ross County.
“No one complains about the first one at all, and I actually think it’s a really bad save for us because Nicky went off at the back post early on,” he said.
“No one gets behind him, the ball will just go out of play and clear the field. The letter of the law is that his arm is further away from his body, but you have to take these factors into account.
“The penalty in the second half, again, I think it’s soft. I asked the referee about it and he felt that the goalkeeper came out in a reckless way and didn’t win the ball, so as soon as he does it and has a little contact, VAR will not intervene.
“I’m not going to sit here and make excuses because there are other things we can do to make it better, but it’s a little bit more frustrating that we only got a point when, if we go through that moment, it’s three points and in the end, job done.”
For Ross County safe Don Cowie, Hale’s penalty was further proof of the message he is determined to continue to press into his players: that the complexion of games can change in the blink of an eye.
“It underscores the importance of the message that the game can change at any time,” he said.
“At certain stages this season we’ve let ourselves down by letting games get away from us. It would have been easy to snap in the second half and let a very good Hibs side take advantage of us, but we made sure that wasn’t the case.
“The game changes in a moment of quality from first Andrew MacLeod, then George Robesten’s cross to Kieran Phillips going over the front post which gives us a penalty.”
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