Ronan Hale celebrates his second goal with his teammatesSNS

Ronan Hale, second right, and Connor Randall, right, got County's goals

Jack Herrall
BBC Sport Scotland

Ross County moved out of the relegation zone as they eased past managerless Motherwell at Fir Park to record a first Scottish Premiership win in four attempts.

Ronan Hale netted either side of the interval with composed finishes before Connor Randall's low shot crept past the outstretched Ellery Balcombe late on to put the game beyond the struggling hosts.

"It was a really good team performance, we've built on our really good away form - it is four wins out of five away from home," said County manager Don Cowie.

"It was a real collective effort, so delighted for the boys, an important three points and we move on to Dundee next week."

Stephen Frail remained in interim charge of Motherwell and confirmed pre-match that a new boss is expected to be appointed at "the start of next week".

However, Frail's side failed to impress the incoming manager, whoever he may be, as they went through large spells without creating any clear-cut chances and dropped out of the top six for the first time since August.

County's first-half pressure paid off when Hale blasted past Balcombe after some smart play from the visitors through the middle of the park.

Motherwell's Lennon Miller, making his first appearance this year after injury, lashed over the bar but his side's deficit was doubled just shy of the hour.

Hale was slipped in on the edge of the area by Noah Chilvers after the visitors broke forward at pace, with the Belfast-born striker remaining calm to sweep in his side's second.

Motherwell showed some signs of life, with Tony Watt and Luke Plange forcing goalkeeper Jordan Amissah into smart stops, before Randall's low strike nestled in the bottom corner.

New manager will have work cut out

A new era is set to begin next week at Fir Park with the arrival of a yet-to-be-revealed manager but there is plenty of work to be done after this performance.

From 18 shots and 69% possession, Motherwell seldom troubled Amissah in the County goal, only registering three efforts on target, and have now lost their past four top-flight games.

Miller returned to the starting line-up, a welcome sliver of good news, and the midfielder showed in glimpses how important he is to his side.

If the new manager can bring a badly-needed bounce then this crisis may be averted. If not, though, the play-off spot is a mere four points away now.

Staggies looking up after impressive away win

Four wins in five away from home, out of the play-off spot and a clean sheet on the road. A tremendous day's work for the Staggies.

Hale now has eight goals in the top flight this season, an impressive haul for a striker in a side who have been struggling for much of the campaign.

Their creative players shone, with Chilvers in particular looking comfortable on the transition and often picking out a smart pass or offering an outlet for his team-mates.

He created three chances - the most in the game after Miller - and now has five league assists, the most in the County side.

Despite Motherwell having most of the ball, County used the ball effectively in the final third.

What they said

Motherwell interim manager Stephen Frail: "[I am] extremely disappointed, angry is an emotion as well.

"It was just a poor performance. The sessions have been good, the players have been alive, they've been bright, they've been desperate to get back on the pitch.

"We start the game reasonably well, we concede a cheap goal and you can just see the confidence getting drained from them."

Ross County manager Don Cowie: "We know how tight the league is, it's very compact and it's just important that we look after ourselves and try and accumulate as many points as possible until the split."

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