Steven MacLean said his St Johnstone team would play their last two games as if they meant as much to them as the sides still in the relegation battle and the players proved him right.
Saints had a two-goal lead, earned by a Stevie May double, wiped out.
And they then fell behind in the 90th minute to what looked like a certain Ross County winner.
But the McDiarmid Park men came up with a dramatic equaliser five minutes into stoppage time through Ryan McGowan after an Andy Considine header had come back off the bar.
Key moments
It was a big night for Ross Sinclair, making his Saints debut in place of Remi Matthews.
The former Scotland under-21 international got some early involvement when he was forced into coming out of his six-yard box to punch away a mistimed Andy Considine header.
Sinclair only got it as far as the 18-yard line from where Jordan White sent a shot straight back at him, which he dealt with comfortably.
Saints’ best chance in the opening stages came on 14 minutes when May was put through by a ball over the top. He took too long to pull the trigger, though, allowing Keith Watson the chance to slide in and block.
He certainly didn’t allow anyone the opportunity to block on 10 minutes later.
The visitors switched the play nicely from right to left and at the end of the move, May curled a low shot into the far corner beyond Ross Laidlaw.
It was 1-0 and you wouldn’t have known that County were the team supposed to be fighting for their Premiership lives.
The Staggies should actually already have been a goal down after Graham Carey picked out Drey Wright in the box but the Perth player of the year couldn’t sort his feet out to get a convincing shot away.
Saints started the second half the better side as well and they doubled their advantage on 51 minutes.
Not long after hitting the woodwork with a 25-yarder, May worked a nice one-two with Adam Montgomery before the latter was brought down for a clear penalty.
May took the spot-kick, giving Laidlaw no chance once more.
Three minutes later, County had a foothold in the game when they were awarded a penalty themselves.
Referee Nick Walsh spotted a handball and Yan Dhanda was every bit as clinical as May.
The hosts started building some momentum at this point and Sinclair made his first big save, foiling substitute Alex Samuel from close range.
It wasn’t long until they were on level terms, with Jordan White pouncing on a mishit Nohan Kenneh shot.
County weren’t content with what they’d got though.
And in the 90th minute Jack Baldwin lashed a long-range shot past Sinclair from the corner of the box.
You’d have thought that would have been that but five minutes later the County support was silenced by the dramatic late twist.
Saints’ star man – Stevie May
Even when not scoring goals this season May has been a key player, getting Saints up the pitch and covering every blade of grass.
He led from the front once more in Dingwall and had his second double of the season to show for it.
A class act who has a few good seasons left in him yet.
Player ratings
Sinclair 7, Brown 6, Gordon 7, Considine 6, Montgomery 7, McGowan 7, MacPherson 6 (Wotherspoon 4), Ballantyne 6 (Phillips 5), Carey 6, Wright 7 (McLennan 3), May 8 (Rudden 3).
Manager under the microscope
Sinclair getting the opportunity to start his first game was expected, as was the fact that Steven MacLean stuck with the same 10 outfield players who won at Kilmarnock on Saturday.
MacLean made his two midfield substitutions at the right time and, even though the result doesn’t matter to Saints in the big picture, he would be unhappy that his team couldn’t manage the game better in the last 20 minutes.
Man in the middle
Two penalty awards and both backed up by VAR represents an evening’s work Walsh will be quite happy with.
The Saints one was a stonewaller and there didn’t seem to be any complaints about the County one either.
The hosts didn’t think he should have awarded the late corner to Saints from which they scored their equaliser, however.
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