Source: FOOTYMAD
Ross County v Dundee
On form dees Ross County 0-3 Dundee (Griffiths 18,75) (Riley 51 Saturday 13th November Victoria Park, Dingwall, 3pm Attendance: 2331 Referee: Steven O'Reilly By: Fraser Craig Dundee went into the long journey north undefeated in their last five league matches, although still looking for their first away win of the season. Ross County had failed to find any sort of form this season and were still coming to terms with the loss of Derek Adams to Hibernian only 48 hours previously. The Dark Blues had one enforced change with Craig Forsyth replacing Jamie Adams, who had been recalled by St Johnstone in midweek. Dundee were looking really fired up in the opening stages and took the game to County without finding any end product. Ross County went closest however when Paul Lawson tried a similar strike to Bryan Hodge last weekend, this time the ball sailing well over the cross bar. The Dark Blues set pieces began to cause problems for the home defence, Gary Harkins header hitting the bar and going wide shortly before Leigh Griffiths sent Dundee into a 1-0 lead minutes later. Forsyth sent a teasing ball inswinging from the right hand side of the pitch which Griffiths, with the faintest of touches, heading beyond McGovern in the Ross County goal. County tried to hit back straight away, Lawson again coming close but in all honesty there was very little action remaining in the first half. Griffiths free kick from 25 yards the closest Dundee came to extending the lead before the break. Dundee were even quicker out the traps to begin the second half, Craig McKeown fired a header over the bar just a few minutes in. in 51 minutes Leigh Griffiths charged down an attempted clearance, and kept the ball from crossing the line for a goal kick. He looked up and crossed the ball in for Nicky Riley passed the ball into the net. In stark contrast this goal had come seconds after County were unlucky not to be level in the game, which shows how important it is to take your chances at any stage of the game. As expected County began to come back at Dundee, a lot of the play was coming from Michael Gardyne and he saw a fine shot saved from Bobby Douglas. Iain Vigurs also had a chance, his shot hitting the side netting. Dundee played on the counter, a 3rd for the away side would surely kill the game and with memories of Falkirk 2 weeks ago still in the mind the Dee made sure to kill this game off in style. Once again Leigh Griffith's got on the scoresheet after he controlled a ball over the top from O'Donnell and was able to side foot the ball past McGovern, sending the fans that travelled along with the fans in the Penman lounge no doubt into wild celebrations. Surely a first away win of the season was now in sight. Ross County heads went down after the killer goal and the game was basically just played out in the final 15 minutes. Griffiths had a chance to make it 4 before being replaced by David Wittenveen with 2 minutes to go. A great decision by Barry Smith to give Leigh a well deserved ovation from the vocal support. As the whistle blew for full time fans and players looked as ecstatic as each other and the tremendous spirit shown by both right now must be a kick in the teeth to the SFL. No doubting the man of the match, Super Leigh Griffiths secured the award with a brace and an assist and on another day could have scored more. To sum up this was Dundee's first away win since April and biggest away win since a 6-1 rout at Stirling in February 2008. There have not been a lot of happy travels for the fans since that day but I am extremely confident we can carry this form to Starks Park in 2 weeks.
