Kettlewell bemoans ‘bittersweet’ result at Hamilton
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Ross County co-manager Stuart Kettlewell was frustrated that his side had to fight for a draw having taken the lead against Hamilton after just 36 seconds.
County had chances to extend their advantage but were then pegged back when goals from Lewis Smith and George Oakley put Hamilton in front.
In the end the visitors were grateful to substitute Brian Graham for salvaging a 2-2 draw with just two minutes left to play.
Kettlewell said: “It’s a bittersweet one for us. I felt that we should have managed the game better here after scoring early on.
“There’s a little bit of disappointment there. We’re heartened by scoring another late goal but we can’t keep putting ourselves in positions like this. There are easier ways to see yourself through games.
“In the second half you could see quite clearly that Hamilton threw everything at us. They used two physical strikers and tried to play off knockdowns and that tested us.
“I just feel we could have passed the ball better at times, especially when I look at our second goal – you won’t see a better one this weekend in terms of the number of passes and the quality of the finish.
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“We found it difficult to speak to the players afterwards. We’re happy about coming away with a point given the predicament we found ourselves in but we didn’t play at all in the second half until we scored.”
Brian Rice was equally frustrated that Hamilton had not held on for the win.
He said: “I thought we deserved more from the match full stop, not just from the second half. We had a poor start and conceded a goal we never concede at the kick-off.
“But from then on in it was total domination until the last five or six minutes when Ross County needed to chase the game. We had enough possession and chances to see it through.”
Rice had no complaints about Scott Martin’s late red card for an attempted head butt.
He said: “The ref said it was a red card and if he says it is, then it is. I don’t talk about referees. There’s no point.
“I heard two or three things about the sending-off but I haven’t seen it. But two or three said he deserved to get sent off. The ref makes his decision very quickly so something must have happened.”
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