A couple of super strikes from John Rankin helped Ross County to all three points in a comfortable victory over Brechin City.
Rankin brought his tally for the season to 12 with a fantastic first half double as County climbed into third spot in the table.
County forced the first corner kick off the match in the 10th minute when a Rankin effort was deflected past the post by David White. White came to his side's rescue again when he blocked a Kevin McKinlay header as County pressed for an early opener.
The home side kept up the momentum and Rankin was not far away with a 20-yard drive that dipped over the crossbar. At the other end Gerry Britton set up Steve Hampshire, who headed just past Stuart Garden's left hand post.
But it was mostly County, and Don Cowie sent one over the bar after a sustained spell of pressure on the Brechin goal.
County did take the lead in the 28th minute when McKinlay's short corner fell nicely for Rankin, who sent a bullet shot into the top corner of the net. City hit back and Hampshire had a shot cleared off the line by Rankin, then Craig Winter's close-range header was smothered by Garden.
County almost made it 2-0 in the 37th minute when Rankin played in Sean Higgins, but his shot slid narrowly past Craig Nelson's left hand post.
But County did double their lead in first half injury time when Rankin curled a free-kick high into the net after Steve Ferguson committed a foul 22 yards out.
There were chances at either end at the start of the second half. Rankin came close to completing his hat-trick in the 54th minute but his close-range shot was blocked by Nelson.
Then Garden pulled off a couple of fine point-blank saves from Britton and Hampshire in quick succession as Brechin tried hard to get back into the game.
Alex Burke came close with a long-range effort that Neilson did well to tip over the bar for County's 12th corner of the game.