YOANN Arquin was scripted to hog the spotlight in Dingwall, lining up against the club that chose to jettison him just a fortnight before.

But the controversial Frenchman took centre stage in a fashion less likely than that predicted.

An apparent stamp on County's Lewis Toshney had the Martinique international departing this relegation-zone contest after only 37 minutes, though both managers later questioned the red card.

What followed justified the "heroic" tags and any measure of hyperbole from a St Mirren perspective.

Leading 1-0 through Sean Kelly's early strike, Gary Teale's men fought tooth and nail, often using the ball with keen intelligence against the inevitable blue surge.

County let slip a golden opportunity when new boy Craig Curran shot straight into keeper Mark Ridgers' arms before Liam Boyce levelled with eight minutes left.

But the Dingwall side's frailties - they have recorded just one win in 11 this season at home - resurfaced disastrously with a defensive lapse that saw young Stevie Mallan send 250 travelling fans wild with delight.

Teale, who will appeal Arquin's red, was reluctant to dwell too much on the furore at the expense of praising his team's courage, but just couldn't contain himself in the end. "The boys were tremendous - their shape, organisation and togetherness," he said. "That's what we really needed to come to the fore.

"I don't want to talk about it too much, but a refereeing decision, again, has nearly cost us.

"To be sending people off like that in Scottish football, where the margins are so fine, they are huge calls - and they are affecting us.

"It nearly did again today, but I'm loathe to talk about it because all the credit should go to the players. To come up here, with the pressure on, after how everyone built the game up, and then go down to 10 men and get a winner so late in the game, it speaks volumes for the players."

Given the stakes, with both teams staring at the trapdoor in their rear mirrors, it was an occasion that called for big hearts and strong minds - and it was St Mirren who held them.

The home side gave the ball away needlessly in the first half and St Mirren scented blood.

The away side's breakthrough came after 16 minutes. John McGinn breezed past Paul Quinn and cut through the middle of County's defence like a hot knife through butter.

His strike was parried by County keeper Toni Reguero, but Kelly was sharply onto the rebound.

Then, tussling for the ball, Arquin seemed to bring his foot down on Toshney, and referee Brian Colvin flashed a straight red.

County - eight minutes from the end - seemed destined to take a point from a vital encounter as Liam Boyce delicately glanced in a close-range header from Jake Jervis's flick-on.

But with three minutes left, Sean Kelly's fine cross from the left was met a gleeful diving header close in by Mallan. For County boss Jim McIntyre, it was an all-too-familiar ending.

"Psychologically, it's a sore one without a doubt," he said. "We've just handed our nearest rivals to staying in the league the impetus, but there's a reason why ourselves, St Mirren and Motherwell are down there - the inconsistency."