County break away duck
A stunning first-half performance by Ross County secured their first away win of the Premiership season at Kilmarnock, meaning they are now only bottom of the league table by virtue of goal difference.
The Staggies move level on points with second-bottom St Mirren, whilst Kilmarnock just remain in the top six despite conceding three goals at home for the second game in a row.
Strikes by Graham Carey - via a rebound off keeper Craig Samson - Michael Gardyne and Paul Quinn incredibly gave the Staggies a 3-0 lead at the break and shell-shocked Killie could find no way back into the game.
The visitors came into the match in desperate need of a victory to avoid becoming marooned at the bottom of the Premiership table, and they started brightly enough with some good possession and Carey getting a shot on target from the edge of the area that Samson dealt with comfortably.
Kilmarnock, on the other hand, were slow to get out of the traps, though they had a couple of good chances midway through the half. Josh Magennis forced a good save from Mark Brown after some smart set-up play by Alexei Eremenko, and from the resulting corner Eremenko's delivery was headed just wide by Mark Connolly.
The game was becoming mired in the midfield area but Carey abruptly lifted the crowd from their slumber after 32 minutes with a fierce strike that resulted in the opening goal and kicked off a crazy 15 minutes in which his side took complete control.
The midfielder picked the ball up on the right wing and cut inside before unleashing a left-foot rocket that struck the bar, came out and hit the luckless Samson on the head and rebounded into the top corner of the net.
The Staggies should have doubled their lead just two minutes later and again Carey was instrumental, picking up a loose ball and seeing his side-footed effort palmed out by Samson. Jake Jervis really should have scored from the rebound, but took too long to reach the ball and Manuel Pascali made a diving block.
Killie had a great chance to equalise when a clever through-ball by Chris Johnston sent Rory McKenzie free in the box, but the right-sided midfielder skewed his effort into the side-netting on his weaker left side.
He was made to pay for that miss moments later as County got their second after 40 minutes. Connolly slipped on the rain-sodden artificial pitch, allowing Gardyne the freedom of the Kilmarnock box to take his time, pick his spot and slot past Samson with a cool side-foot finish.
Remarkably, the visitors were not finished there and grabbed their third goal on the stroke of half-time much to the disbelief of the startled home crowd.
A corner by Gardyne was floated to the back post and with the home defence missing, Quinn arrived to volley an effort just over the line despite the best efforts of Samson.
If Kilmarnock had been given the proverbial hair-dryer treatment by manager Allan Johnston after a shocking first half it certainly was not apparent at the restart, and in fact it was County who threatened first with a bending effort by Martin Woods from just outside the box whistling past the post.
McKenzie had a decent chance to get a goal back for the beleaguered home side after an hour, but did not get enough on his volley from the centre of the area to trouble Brown.
Jackson Irvine then almost rubbed salt in his former club's wounds by finding space in the area, but he just could not get up high enough to put any power on his header after being found by Woods' cross.
A free kick from the right almost allowed Kilmarnock a consolation goal, the ball finding its way through to Connolly at the back post, but his effort on the half-volley was well saved by Brown.
In truth though, Kilmarnock never really looked like finding a way back into the game, with Quinn and Scott Boyd in the centre of the visitors defence dealing comfortably with the meagre threats that did come their way, and County played out a crucial win in their battle for Premiership survival.
Source: PA
