| Date | Tuesday, 02 January 2001 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3:3 Ross County |
| Venue | Caledonian Stadium |
| Attendance | 5,291 |
| Referee | Stuart Dougal |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Dave Edwards for the Press & Journal. Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 Ross County 3 Two late goals from Dennis Wyness, his second coming with the last kick of the game, earned Caley Thistle a share of the spoils in a pulsating First Division derby at Caledonian Stadium yesterday. Ross County appeared to be cruising through first half goals from Owen Coyle, Steve Ferguson and Brian Irvine, despite Paul Sheerin giving the home side an early lead. However, with time running out, Wyness took charge with two quick-fire strikes to send the home fans in the 5,291 crowd home happy. County were dealt a major blow before the kick-off when former Aberdeen goalkeeper Nicky Walker failed a late fitness test on a calf injury. County fans had an early fright when former Aberdeen defender Mark Perry swept a cross-ball only inches over his own cross-bar. However, in the 12th minute, the home fans went wild when Jags opened the scoring. Sheerin picked up the ball 30 yards out and his curling drive sailed high over Gary Hamilton, hit the post and dropped into the net. Three minutes later the Dingwall men drew level when Mark McCormick picked up the ball and fed Coyle and the on-loan Dunfermline striker fired home from 12 yards. County keeper Hamilton was then almost caught out when he delayed a clearance with Wyness closing in. But Hamilton was relieved to see the ball cannon off the striker and drop narrowly past the post. In the 34th minute, County surprised the home support when they took the lead against the run of play. Karim Boukraa delivered a back-post cross and Ferguson sent a header high over Fridge and into the net from six yards. County went further ahead in 39 minutes when Irvine bulleted a Darren Henderson corner from eight yards into the net with Fridge frozen to his line. Three minutes after the break, County should have made it four when a sweet-flowing move involving Boukraa and Coyle left McCormick with only Fridge to beat, but the Jags keeper brilliantly blocked the ball with his legs. With only 60 seconds remaining, Wyness gave the home side a glimmer of hope when he fastened on to a Roy McBain back-post cross to volley the ball home from two yards. With the last kick of the ball, Caley Thistle grabbed a sensational equaliser when Barry Robson's diving header came back off the post and Wyness was on hand to tuck the ball away from virtually on the goal-line. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Garry Hamilton, 2: Mark Perry, 3: Ian Maxwell, 4: Brian Irvine 1 1, 5: David MacKay, 6: Craig Taggart, 7: Darren Henderson, 8: Steven Ferguson 1 1, 9: Owen Coyle 1, 10: Mark McCormick, 11: Karim Boukraa |
| Bench | 0: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 0: John Fraser, 0: Derek Holmes, 0: John McQuade, 0: Landy Zahani-Oni |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | |
| Manager | Steve Paterson |
| Starting 11 | Les Fridge, Robert Mann, Stuart McCaffrey, Ross Tokely 1, Michael Teasdale, Paul Sheerin 1, Roy McBain, Charlie Christie, David Bagan, Dennis Wyness 2, Martin Bavidge |
| Bench | Ally Ridgers, Stuart Golabek, Barry Robson 1, Bryan Gilfillan, David Craig |