Partick Thistle 1-3 Ross County

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Ross County's revival continued, with a second successive victory for Jim McIntyre's side.

The result lifts them off the bottom of the table and drags Partick Thistle a little closer to involvement in a relegation battle.

Craig Curran opened the scoring and missed a second-half penalty before Raffaele De Vita did add a second.

Lyle Taylor pulled a goal back but Marcus Fraser put the result beyond doubt.

The visitors looked hungrier throughout, with the battle for survival perhaps ensuring they played with an added edge.

Thistle have now lost five in a row though and find themselves just seven points above the bottom three.

A failure to stem that run could yet lead to a four-way fight to avoid the drop or at least a play-off, while County currently look the form team in that dogfight.

Image source, SNS
Image caption,

County's form has improved while Thistle's has dipped in recent weeks

Their opening goal owed less to fabulous attacking than it did to defensive ineptitude and a bit of good fortune, as Michael Gardyne's cross cannoned off Daniel Seaborne from Frederic Frans' attempted clearance, falling kindly for Curran to tap into the net.

Paul Quinn should have added to the lead, but volleyed wide from 12 yards out and Curran's penalty miss after Liam Boyce was brought down by Seaborne hinted that County could yet rue missed opportunities.

But any such concerns were eased as Gardyne's perfectly-weighted pass allowed De Vita to slide the ball beyond keeper Paul Gallacher.

The home support were less than impressed by what they were seeing - Ryan Stevenson's header late in the first half the only real threat to Mark Brown's goal, an effort the keeper did well to keep out.

But they were given some hope as Taylor leapt to head past Brown from a Kallum Higginbotham corner.

County refused to buckle though and assured themselves of all three points courtesy of Fraser's superb individual goal.

It capped a team performance typified by stout defending and swift counter-attacking, a blend that could carry County to safety.

Image source, SNS
Image caption,

Fraser sealed the points for County

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