SHOULD Davis Keillor-Dunn ultimately fail to fulfil the promise showcased at the Global Energy Stadium on Saturday, one thing is certain. It won’t be down to timidity or shyness.
Ross County’s Sunderland-born youth academy graduate displayed a refreshing confidence both on and off the park after turning in a sparkling performance on his home debut and first senior start.
The 19-year-old wide midfielder, a Premiership title-winner with County’s ground-breaking development league squad last season, has only one full 90 minutes under his belt but was already talking up his Scotland under 21 ambitions after earning the man of the match award.
None of this should be taken as a sign of unsavoury arrogance. The youngster’s enthusiasm and honest outlook was infectious.
As Sunderland as Steve Cram in accent, he feels his future lies in Scotland’s dark blue, as well as County’s, courtesy of Dundonian grandad Marshall Keillor.
“As a young boy playing in front of the home crowd, I just wanted to get on the ball as much as I could to impress the fans and the gaffer,” Keillor-Dunn said. “One thing I’ve never had a problem with is confidence. Every time I get the ball I look to do something – score or create for others.
“If you’re nervous, it’s just going to affect your game. There’s no point. Just put it to the back of your mind and go and make the fans happy. Get them off their seats.
“I just want to get points on the board and get Ross County up the table. The only target for me is first team football at this club and, hopefully, as my grandad is Scottish, to play for the Scotland under 21s.
“I just want to do whatever I can to succeed. My grandad came to Sunderland for work. He’d love to see me play for Scotland. It would be a massive achievement and I’d love to do it sometime in the future.”
Crucially, Keillor-Dunn’s performance justified a level of swagger and confidence unusual in one so young.
The touch was sharp and every movement and delivery intelligent and menacing. Equally, he was never shy in barking out demands to more seasoned team-mates.
Keillor-Dunn’s luck was out with a header cleared off the line in the first half and a missed header in the second, while also creating a number of chances that County’s strikers squandered. But that was just the story of the Dingwall club’s day.
The Maryhill men, against the run of early play, led from the 22nd minute after Blair Spittal’s breakaway strike. For all County’s overall dominance thereafter, the points seemed to be heading to Glasgow before Alex Schalk won and tucked away an equalising penalty after 86 minutes.
It was a deserved reply for the hosts, who passed up an eye-watering number of goalscoring opportunities throughout the 90 minutes.
For Partick, the consolation after the late lapse was a first point of the season to lift them off the foot of the table and break a run of eight league defeats dating back to last season.
For the Glasgow side, it was ultimately frustrating, but defender Devine admitted: “A draw was probably fair in the end, but we feel the win is coming. It's been documented the tough start we have had. We just have to stick together through it and it will turn.
"Getting the point is one positive we can take away from it. We're obviously bitterly disappointed that we couldn't hang on but they were pushing hard in the second half and I don't think we were great after the break.
“There is no hiding from the fact it has been a tough start.”
ROSS COUNTY: (4-4-2) – McCarey 7; Naismith 6, Fraser 6, Davies 6 (van der Weg 82), Kelly 6; Gardyne 7, Draper 6, Routis 6, Keillor-Dunn 8; Mikkelsen 6 (Mckay 68), Curran 6 (Schalk 65). Subs: Fox, Lindsay, Dow, Mckay, Chow.
Booked: Kelly 57, Routis 60, Davies 79
PARTICK THISTLE (4-2-3-1) – Cerny 3 (Scully 31, 8); Nitriansky 6, Devine 7, Turnbull 7, Elliot 6; Bannigan 7 (Erskine 84), Barton 7; Spittal 8, Edwards 7, Sammon 6; Doolan 6 (Storey 76). Subs: Lawless, Nisbet, McCarthy.
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