S TUART Kettlewell, for all his qualities, is the first to admit finishes of the kind he produced yesterday come around about as often as blue moon.
The Ross County midfielder's choice of afternoon to fire home a screamer was fairly fitting, then, even if he was a few days out.
His timing was, however, also slightly unfortunate in that his goal arrived at exactly the time County's fans had planned a tribute to the captain and wearer of the No 8 jersey, Richard Brittain, after this week's revelations about why he pulled out of a planned move to St Johnstone this summer. "I thought I'd get them cheering for something else. I didn't want the fans cheering for Richie," Kettlewell dead-panned, although Brittain's was not to be denied his moment, given that he scored both of his side's other goals.
"I know Richie well and he's a great character," Kettlewell went on. "He gave a captain's performance today by scoring two goals and playing so well. He is going to have to go some to get goal of the season again this year, though."
The faint soothing effect St Mirren fans would have felt from a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock last week will have been short-lived. This was a pretty bloodless away display in which the visitors briefly flared with purpose but soon fizzled out in the face of a powerful County performance.
After four games, the Paisley side languish second-bottom of the SPFL Premiership, above only points-deducted Hearts. However, manager Danny Lennon was keen to pick out points of optimism from the wreckage of a very poor defeat.
"Football is a game of mistakes from start to finish," he said. "The best players in the world will make those same mistakes, but just not with the same regularity. We have to learn from ours.
"Apart from Celtic, Ross County had the best home record in the league last season, so we knew the challenge awaiting us and we were ready for it.
"My over-riding emotion just now is that I'm very frustrated. The players are doing a lot of things that we are asking them to do. We have a lot of quality and great character in that dressing room.
"We have a lot of players who ate potential match-winners, who can go and turn a game with the creativity they have. But there are moments that are costing us with lack of concentration. We have to resolve it collectively."
Brittain had already tested visiting goalkeeper David Cornell twice before the eighth-minute breakthrough when Kettlewell picked up the ball in midfield and unleashed a stunning 20-yard strike.
County already looked well on their way, but St Mirren's troubles grew when Marc McAusland downed Rocco Quinn for a penalty after 24 minutes. Brittain's initial effort from the spot was saved but he kept his cool to net with the rebound.
Brittain struck again in the second half, finishing a training ground-crafted corner with low-drilled venom.
For home manager Derek Adams, it was a very satisfying day. "We have a lot of good players at the football club and the way we passed and created chances today showed that," he said.
After losing their first three games of the season County are back. And St Mirren must go back to the drawing board.
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