Don Cowie delighted as Ross County defeat Dundee to move five points clear of relegation zone
MANAGER Don Cowie praised his Ross County team for coming from a goal down to seal a 3-1 victory against Dundee in Dingwall on Saturday.
The Staggies are now five points clear of the relegation zone as they move up to seventh and only two points off sixth.
Dundee broke the deadlock after four minutes when Simon Murray, fired a spectacular effort from the left wing from 20-yards out which sailed straight into top right corner which left Jordan Amissah with no chance of stopping.
Ross County pushed for an equaliser and their perseverance was rewarded in the 18th minute when a cross from the right wing found Ronan Hale and he put the ball into the box to find Kieran Phillips unchallenged in the six-yard box to tap home.
Ross County came out of the traps flying in the second half when a corner from George Harmon found Akil Wright who fired a spectacular bicycle kick into the net from six yards.
A minute later, County made it 3-1 in a counter attack when Phillips sent a ball into the box to find Noah Chilvers who fired home from eight yards.
Cowie was delighted with the performance from Ross County as they kept within touching distance of the top six.
He said: “Probably what I’m most delighted about is how we responded after going a goal down so early in such an important game.
“Simon Murray scored a great goal to give Dundee the advantage but we never got spooked by that. I thought we deservedly got back in the game at 1-1, given how we played.
“And I’m really happy in terms of the way we came out at the start of the second half, to get those two goals.
“I believe we had 20 shots on goal, 10 on target, which is probably a reflection of how good a performance it was.
“That composure is something we’ve spoken about and collectively we knew we had to improve on it.
“When you concede a goal, there’s no drama - it can happen.
“Murray’s a quality player who has the capability of doing what he did, but it is about remaining calm in that moment and not letting the game get away from you.
“The boys stuck to the gameplan really well in that moment.
“We got the reward of it in the second half.”
Dundee manager Tony Docherty blasted the state of the pitch at the Global Energy Stadium but had no complaints of the final result.
He said: "I have to say that I think the pitch is awful. But we prepared for that all week that the game wasn't going to be fancy or pretty and that it was going to be all about first contact and maintain possession in the final third.
"Ross County did all those things better than us. That is hard for me to say as that is something I need my players to do better and that is the reason we had a poor performance and a poor result."
