It might only take an instant of luck to transform a season.

Graham Carey's strike, on a dark, wild and wet Ayrshire afternoon, sent Ross County on their way to a victory that puts them right on the tails of their rivals at the bottom of the SPFL Premiership.

It was a freak goal, but it sent them on their way to a first away win of the season. Carey lined one up from long range and it dipped and swerved on to the corner of crossbar and post. Perhaps Craig Samson, springing high to his left, managed a touch. He certainly did get another as the ball smacked off the back of his head and went in.

Unlucky for the hosts? "Aye, but we said before the game, if Carey gets the ball within shooting distance, get to it quickly," said Kilmarnock manager Allan Johnston. "I don't think there can be any excuses. We were poor throughout the whole team, from start to finish. It wasn't good enough."

Still, when the opener was scored, Kilmarnock were on top, and probably should have had the lead. Alexei Eremenko played in Josh Magennis, but his shot was well saved by Mark Brown. Then from the resulting corner Mark Connolly missed a free header when he had to score.

By the time the deadlock was broken, Jamie Hamill had already been booked and when Carey came running through looking for a second goal, Hamill knew he could not bring him down. The County midfielder darted past and should have scored.

Kilmarnock were rattled. Hamill was hooked, but his departure left the home side unbalanced, too flimsy in midfield. They tried to fight back - Chris Johnston jinked his way past three players and lifted a lovely through ball for Rory McKenzie, who fired wide.

That miss quickly proved costly as County went 2-0 up within seconds. Michael Gardyne was released down the left and was probably winning the race with Connolly when the defender bizarrely tried to tackle him with his head, diving flat across the artificial turf instead of sliding in. He might have slipped, but Gardyne was left clean through and finished calmly.

Minutes later, from a corner on the stroke of half-time, Paul Quinn fired a weak shot. Samson fumbled, but clung on to the ball. The linesman was certain it had crossed the line and awarded the goal. Boos rang down from the stands. At the start of the second half County's Martin Woods fired a long-range effort just wide. McKenzie shot straight at Brown for the hosts. Connolly missed a half-chance. Magennis hit a long-range shot just over. So did Sammy Clingan. The game had long since died.

Kilmarnock's announcer said there would be no added time. Wishful thinking? The referee played three, but the visitors' rearguard remained untroubled. The home side had looked a little lost against the team at the bottom of the league. If County keep playing like this, they might not be there long.

"It was a fantastic team performance," said manager Jim McIntyre. "Our front four caused real problems, interchanging, good movement. We played it at a good tempo."