Ross County 1
Arbroath 2
Scottish League (Championship)

Match Report

Arbroath’s impressive start to the season on their return to the Championship continued after a late Aaron Muirhead penalty secured a statement win over Ross County.

Nikolay Todorov’s first half header had the Lichties ahead before the hosts levelled through a dubious Kieran Phillips penalty, but centre half Muirhead fired home a spot kick of his own to make it 2-1 and send the travelling fans home delighted.

After being forced off injured in the first half against Airdrieonians, both Ross Callachan and Gavin Reilly missed out on the trip North, with the returning Scott Stewart and match winner Todorov taking their place.

It was a bright start from the Lichties as they looked to get a foot on the ball in the opening minutes, with Findlay Marshall going close just seven minutes in with a powerful drive that had to be turned behind by Ross Laidlaw.

Ryan Dow also went close early on with a low effort past the post after Harry Cochrane had reacted well to win the ball back high up the park.

County took the best part of 20 minutes to really threaten the Arbroath goal, through a flurry of corners with the last of those resulting in an Alex Lacovitti header that Aidan McAdams had to claw away from danger.

McAdams almost cost his side a goal when he was caught underneath a cross from the left, the ball rebounding goalwards off Phillips, with Tam O’Brien alert to hook it away from danger, while at the other end, Marshall reacted well to get on the end of a Craig Watson cross before drilling a shot towards goal which was well blocked by Laidlaw.

You could sense that a goal was coming though and that’s exactly what happened just after the half hour mark, as Arbroath took a deserved lead. Watson was again involved as he sent an inch perfect cross into the middle, where Todorov was on hand to slam a header beyond Laidlaw.

The Staggies made exactly the fast start that was expected of them after the break, with Conor Randall forcing McAdams to turn his effort behind for a corner. From the resulting set piece, Akil Wright reacted first to power a header goalwards that came crashing off the upright.

Just as it looked as though Arbroath would make it to the hour mark in the lead, the hosts were awarded what looked like a very soft penalty. Ross Docherty’s shot into a crowded box appeared to strike the shoulder of Watson, but the referee showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot, with Phillips stepping up to send McAdams the wrong way.

Numerous bookings seemed to stop the flow off the game for a few minutes before Arbroath went close once more as a fingertip save from Laidlaw denied Taylor Steven a first Lichties goal.

Ross County thought they’d taken the lead when Jay Henderson picked out fellow substitute James Scott to find the back of the net, but he was denied by the offside flag. They then had a second goal disallowed, this time due to the corner kick leaving the field of play before reaching the box.

The home side were throwing everything at Arbroath as they looked for their first win of the season, but it was the Lichties who would have the last say. A blistering counterattack involving Steven and debutant Jacob MacIntyre ended when the Hibs loanee was sent flying in the box by Declan Gallagher.

It was Muirhead who stepped up, and the former Partick Thistle man made no mistake from 12 yards as he powered a strike beyond the reach of Laidlaw to send the away support into raptures as Arbroath moved level on points at the top of the table, ahead of next week’s clash with Dunfermline Athletic.

Match report written by Arbroath FC Official Website