SCOTTISH football has wasted very little time in finding its groove since it returned.
While most would argue the Aberdeen eight’s novel way of celebrating a defeat to rivals Rangers was our game’s flair for the unbelievable in full swing, those a little further north would happily point you in the direction of David De Gea, who, if his Monday night Tweet is anything to go by, is a closet Premiership fan.
Five days on from Ross County’s impressive win over Motherwell, Staggies fans will surely like to think the Manchester United goalkeeper had forked out his £15, logged onto Accies TV, and toasted the Highlanders’ second win of the week on Saturday night.
Billy McKay’s intuitive second-half finish was the difference in a game which only ever flared up in sporadic bursts; not that Stuart Kettlewell was caring.
“It's a brilliant win on the road,” the County manager said. “We just have to build on it. We got two away wins last year and now we've already got one this season.
“What I don't want to do is be sitting here in months' time sitting here looking for my next one.
“I've just said that to the players about trying to push boundaries and see where that will take us.”
There was an air of authority in Ross County ranks for most of the game which defied their relatively recent return to the Premiership. So impressive in Monday’s win, the Staggies’ front-four floated across the Lanarkshire pitch in the opening half, stretching Brian Rice’s hosts from one side to the other whenever they picked up the ball in midfield.
Harry Paton, a League Two player just two years ago, was particularly devilish in his ability to drop into pockets of space. The little Canadian should have been celebrating a first assist of the season when his ball across the box set up the game’s first real chance, but Ryan Fulton denied the onrushing Lee Erwin with a fine block just seven minutes in.
It was helter-skelter stuff in the opening 45, which only ever really settled down when County captain Iain Vigurs got his foot on the ball and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.
Hamilton, for their part, struggled to exert their own control on the match, but did look bright when they were able to get the ball out to the lively Callum Smith. The former Dunfermline player forced the hosts’ first clear cut opportunity when he glided inside Connor Randall and forced Ross Laidlaw to make a smart save at his near post.
Smith, David Moyo, and Lewis Smith all looked threatening, so it was surprising when Rice split up the band at half-time by taking off Callum in place of Charlie Trafford.
The home side’s grip on the game undoubtedly improved with his introduction at the base of the midfield for the second 45, but there was nothing the former Inverness Caley Thistle player could do when McKay pounced on a mistake to fire home in the 76th minute.
The warning signs were there for the hosts when Fulton flapped at an earlier cross and nearly teed up a County goal and while the keeper was lucky on that occasion he didn’t heed the warning. He failed to collect Vigurs’ ball from deep, instead clattering into Moyo to leave McKay with the easy job of stroking home the winner.
County just about deserved the lead on the balance of play and while Rice threw caution to the wind by calling up the cavalry from the bench, the Staggies never looked like heading home with anything other than the three points. A happy day for the Highlanders and, you’d assume, the De Gea family as well.
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“I don’t think we did enough to win the game but I’m not sure Ross County did either,” said Rice. “There was not much between the two teams and it was pretty even throughout.
“But, I’m not sure that we can feel too aggrieved at not getting anything from the game. We just didn’t do enough in the final third to put enough pressure on them.
“What disappointed me most was our reaction after they went ahead.”
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