Ross County's Ronan Hale scores a penalty to make it 1-1 during a William Hill Premiership match between Ross County and Hibernian at the Global Energy StadiumSNS

Ronan Hale's penalty earned Ross County a late point

Thomas Duncan
BBC Sport Scotland

Ronan Hale's 88th-minute penalty rescued a draw for Ross County at home to Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership on a difficult pitch in Dingwall.

Dylan Levitt stroked in the opening goal three minutes before half-time after brilliant work from Nectarios Triantis to set him up inside the box.

Ross County struggled to create chances in response, and it looked as though they would rue Jordan White's missed penalty when the game was goalless.

The striker's tame effort was saved by Hibs goalkeeper Jordan Smith, after Nicky Cadden was penalised when the video assistant referee spotted a handball from Noah Chilvers' cross.

But they were given a second chance from the spot when Kieran Phillips was felled by Smith, and this time Hale smashed the ball low and hard past the Hibs goalkeeper.

There was a frantic finish as both sides flung the ball into the respective boxes from set pieces in stoppage-time, but there was no late winner.

Hibs extended their unbeaten league run to eight matches and stay sixth, while Ross County are 10th, eight points clear of bottom side St Johnstone.

More late drama in Dingwall

No ground has seen more goals after the 76th minute this season than the Global Energy Stadium.

County have scored seven of them and conceded 10, and manager Don Cowie will be relieved this time it was not late heartbreak as it was last time out against Celtic.

Hale took no chances when driving his penalty straight down the middle with real ferocity, with White having fluffed his effort in the first half.

Cowie will also be pleased at the impact of 19-year-old Robesten as he delivered a dangerous low cross which lead to the penalty, having played the first half of this season in the Highland League on loan at Brora Rangers.

Both he and fellow 19-year-old Andrew MacLeod were crucial in the move which lead to the equaliser.

Having been solid at home under Cowie's management they are now without a win in five in Dingwall while their away form has picked up.

The soft, muddy, and bumpy pitch which has been damaged by brutal weather conditions cannot be helping their cause, but they kept going and got their reward.

Frustration for in-form Hibs

Hibs have let 18 points slip from winning positions this season, the most in the league.

The bulk of those were before November when they were bottom of the league and struggling, so the frustrating thing for Gray and his rejuvenated team will be the relapse into old habits.

They looked as though they had the perfect balance of grit, determination and quality on a horrible surface after Levitt got them in front.

It was a classy finish from a player whose Hibs career was petering out until recently, and Triantis showed his growing influence with another assist.

The way the Australian plucked the ball out of the sky from a corner, held off a defender and flicked it to Levitt demonstrated his quality.

They looked more likely to add to their lead than concede, but the tempo dropped in the second half and poor play from Smith to react late to a cross cost them.

The Hibs goalkeeper did well to save White's penalty in the first half and has been part of their turnaround, but there is still a sense it is a position of weakness.

What they said

Ross County manager Don Cowie: "It's an important point. We kept going right to the end and I'm delighted in terms of three academy products having a big impact in the last 15 minutes for us, so it's a big pat on the back to them."

Hibernian head coach David Gray "A point away from home is not a bad result especially given the pitch and the conditions.

"But once we got ourselves in front we were in total control and managed the conditions well. We played in the right areas and restricted Ross County to no chances bar the two penalties they got."