Paul Quinn exemplifies Ross County grit in win over Aberdeen

Paul Quinn is delighted to be involved with Ross County again. Picture: SNS.

Quinn, who missed County’s previous five outings with a hamstring injury, put in an inspired performance at the heart of the defence.

Liam Boyce opened the scoring as County shaded the first half. But the Dons dominated after the break and substitute Niall McGinn levelled before the dismissal of Kenny van der Weg for a reckless challenge on Johnny Hayes left County a man short.

But the home side grabbed a dramatic late winner when substitute Ryan Dow headed home from close range.

Quinn, who re-joined County from Aberdeen at the start of the season, was delighted to be involved again. He said: “I’m just glad to get back and the result against one of the best teams in the league makes it sweeter. We’ve had indifferent performances during the season. We’ve lost a lot of points where we’ve felt we deserved more. So we’ve changed a few things and we’ve worked really hard. We give everything we’ve got.”

Although admitting the match could have gone either way, Quinn added: “It isn’t a surprise to us we end up getting a victory against one of the best teams in the league. We showed courage and determination to go on and win it.”

Looking ahead to County’s busy festive schedule, which includes home fixtures against Partick Thistle and Inverness, either side of a trip to Glasgow to play Celtic, he said: “We have a busy schedule but we know we have a good squad that when players are rested or injured can all come in and mingle.

“We all know what is required. I’m sure it will leave us in good stead for this busy period. We are looking to go into the break with as many points as we can get.”

Aberdeen fell seven points behind second-placed Rangers in the table after the defeat. Dons manager Derek McInnes said: “We wanted to stay at least unbeaten at a difficult venue but we haven’t managed to do that. We start again from next week and we aim to address one or two things we can do better.

“But it is always important we remind the players of a lot of the good things they did. Ultimately, it’s the result that matters but the performance from a lot of the players was more than decent.”

He added: “I’m looking for a wee bit more from one or two others but it’s important we knuckle down and do our work. We have a game in hand and we are the only team in the top six who’ve played Celtic twice. We’ve still got opportunities to win enough points.”