Ronan Hale's 96th-minute penalty gave Ross County an unlikely lifeline in the Scottish Premiership play-off final as they snatched a dramatic draw against second tier Livingston.

The striker smashed in a brilliant penalty under pressure after Danny Wilson, Livingston's earlier hero when he forced in from close range, was spotted pulling Jordan White's jersey by the video assistant referee Andrew Dallas.

When the final whistle went, tempers flared as County coaching staff were pulled into a confrontation when a home fan was seen gesturing and shouting at them from behind the dugout, with the Highland club's chief executive Steven Ferguson claiming one of the staff was spat at.

But in the end the overriding emotion for the Premiership side was relief, having snatched a draw despite being outplayed for most of the game.

Wilson had emerged from a stramash in the box with enough space to smash a left-footed strike past Jordan Amissah in first-half stoppage time to give Livi the lead.

David Martindale's side had the better of the chances and showed the same toughness, intensity, and clever play which kept them in the top flight against the odds for five years before last season's relegation.

Robbie Muirhead missed two good opportunities to make the night more comfortable before the return leg in Dingwall on Monday.

The best of them was a cross to the back post which he ought to have headed on target, but opted to control with his body before slicing a shot into the stands.

County, the lowest scorers in the Premiership this season, again struggled to create quality scoring chances.

However, it did take a brilliant save from Livingston goalkeeper Jerome Prior to stop Will Nightingale heading them in front after just eight minutes.

But some late pressure paid off as Wilson was spied holding White as the ball came into the box, and Hale smashed home to claim a vital draw.

Martindale built a reputation as a clever coach and shrewd squad builder while keeping Livingston in the Premiership comfortably for so long, before last season caught up with them.

But he has managed to reset and work his magic again in the Championship, taking the title race to the final day, and negotiating the play-offs to this stage.

Recruits such as Wilson and Ryan McGowan are experienced operators in defence, while others like Stevie May bring more Premiership know-how.

Add to that loan players such as Macaulay Tait from Hearts, Robbie Fraser from Rangers, and some of the team who performed well in the top-flight, and it has made a strong unit in Martindale's image.

Livingston over-ran County for large spells to get into crossing positions and grab opportunities from set-pieces.

And despite their height disadvantage it was a Stephen Kelly corner which lead to Wilson's opener.

The defender will have plenty of regrets about grabbing White's shirt, though. It was hardly the most egregious hold of the season, but with VAR in operation it was a risky move he did not need to make.

However, having already won in Dingwall in the Scottish Cup this season, the Lions will hold no fear about the second leg in the Highlands.

The looked comfortably the better team in the first leg and, if they finish the job, nobody will enjoy playing them in the Premiership next season.

County's problem this season has been scoring goals.

The loss of top scorer Simon Murray - who went on to score 16 in the Premiership for Dundee - and assist king Yan Dhanda last summer was always going to be tough to overcome.

However, Cowie's use of three centre-backs plus two wing-backs who are defenders rather than wide players means they struggle to get into decent crossing positions.

Without the injured Noah Chilvers, they also seriously lack a creative and scoring threat from midfield, with much of the burden falling to striker Hale.

They work hard and get stuck in, but it has not proven enough as a 10-game winless run - with seven defeats - at the wrong time of the season illustrates.

And while they have the memories of surviving in Dingwall in the last two campaigns, this feels different.

One, they face a Livingston side with lots of top-flight experience, who have already beaten them this season and who last conceded more than once in a game in March.

And two, it is hard to see who is going to step up to and provide the goals they need, given they have only scored more than once in a game twice since February.

Livingston manager David Martindale: "I've not missed VAR, put it that way. It was a wee bit soft. With VAR you're going to give the referee a decision. I'll take it on the chin. The boys gave it everything. The game was very direct at times. They came and pressed us and I thought we could've been braver in their press. The final third, I think we've got to take a wee bit more care."

Ross County manager Don Cowie: "We certainly competed in the game. We started the game well, put them under pressure. We could've done more in the second half. We didn't test them enough.

"It's evenly poised now. What I expect is a very good Livingston to come up to Dingwall. They pushed us tonight and they'll push us all the way."