Whilst a late win always goes down with all Celtic fans, there is one supporter at Ross County who was still gutted at the Dingwall result.
Brendan Rodgers kept his unbeaten Scottish Premier League record intact with a tough Celtic win at Ross County yesterday afternoon.
A late comeback sent the Celtic support who made the trip to Ross County home jubilant and tees up a big top-of-the-table clash with Aberdeen after the international break.
And whilst every Celtic supporter will have been delighted with the result, Ross County’s Ronan Hale shares why he was so disappointed at the Hoops taking all three points back to Glasgow.
Ronan Hale’s Celtic supporting family will rib Ross County hero
Hale must have thought his first-half penalty was going to seal a famous win over Celtic until Alistair Johnston’s deflected equaliser for the Bhoys levelled the scores and then Nicolas Kuhn popped up for the Hoops with the 87th-minute Ross County winner.
And speaking about his penalty, Hale admits that when he took the second chance to bury the spot kick to put County 1-0 up, he will be in for ‘a bit of grief’ back in Ireland.
Hale said, “It was one of them where I was I felt confident going up for the penalty. Obviously, I missed my last one, but I thought I was confident enough to go for it.
“And then, luckily, he was off his line and I just thought, listen, there’s no better way to put it to bed and chance go again. And luckily, I did.
“I didn’t want to give him a chance. And, you know, my first one wasn’t in the corner enough, and the second one was right in it. So it was one of them where I just needed to get a good connection on it, and it’s gone in.”
A self-confessed Celtic fan, the Ross County striker was asked how his goal would have gone down back home and Hale admitted, “I’m sure I’ll get a bit of grief, but I’m sure they would have been happy for me.
“You know, everyone knows that I’m a fan, but listen, on the pitch, it’s nothing. And I showed that today where I just wanted to win, and I believe I did that.”
Ross County striker Hale admits Celtic ‘blow’
Celtic’s last defeat to Ross County was back in 2021. In fact, in 43 meetings between the clubs, The Staggies have won just five and to get so close to the sixth has left the former Republic of Ireland U21 forward and his Ross County teammates disappointed.
Hale continued, “I think it was a blow coming at the end there. You know, we hung on, Celtic are a great team.
“At 1-0 up it’s never going to be easy. But once we conceded the first, it was just more, ‘Listen, can we hold on for the draw?’
“And it turned out not to be on the day. But I thought the boys were brilliant from minute one. And it’s just one of them days.”
For the Celtic fans, they can sit back and relax knowing that their top spot in the Scottish Premiership table is safe until Aberdeen visits on the 19th of October.
Should Celtic win that game then it will be the first time this season that a points gap has separated Brendan Rodgers’ side from The Dons.
With Celtic’s fixtures coming thick and fast and Rodgers fighting on four competition fronts, any lead that can be gained at the top of the table will be welcomed to open up a bit of breathing space between the rest of the opposition.
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