Date	Sunday, 18 February 2001
Competition	Scottish Cup
Fixture/Score	Ross County 2:3 Rangers
Venue	Victoria Park
Attendance	5,972
Referee	Michael McCurry
Comments	Match Report Report by Paul Third for the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Rangers 3 Steven Ferguson may have finished on the losing side as Ross County went down to Rangers in the Tennents Scottish Cup on Sunday, but manager Neale Cooper hailed the midfielder's performance as one of the finest in the Dingwall club's history. Cooper believed the former Hearts ball boy outshone established Rangers internationals Tugay and Barry Ferguson in the midfield, but the 23-year-old, who joined County from Dunfermline in November, 1996, revealed professional pride spurred him and his teammates on. He said: "It was a huge game for me, not just because it was a sell-out crowd, but also because it was on live TV. Rangers are used to playing in front of big crowds, but we were determined not to let ourselves down in front of the country. "If you can't motivate yourself when playing the cup holders then there's something wrong. I relished the opportunity to get stuck in and think I held my own in the midfield. While I've been flattered by all the praise, it was a team effort." Ferguson also took time out to praise the Dingwall fans, who roared on their side from the first minute to the last. He said: "It was a great atmosphere and the fans were very vocal. The supporters really got behind us and it would have been great if we could have got a draw and given them a day out at Ibrox." Cooper believes his side missed that little piece of good fortune which could have made a cup upset a real possibility. He said: "I thought we had a real chance and we kept going at them. It was a fantastic feeling to see that second goal and the place was buzzing. It's a shame we didn't get the rub of the green which could have made all the difference." Following their efforts against Rangers on Sunday, County have declined to play their rearranged First Division match at Morton tomorrow. The match will now be played a week today. Cooper said: "We talked about this and felt that after our cup tie and with our lads having the day off today it was a bit much for us to travel to play on Wednesday and then again at Airdrie on Saturday.
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Mark Perry, 3: Ian Maxwell, 4: Hugh Robertson, 5: Brian Irvine, 6: Darren Henderson, 7: Steven Ferguson 1, 8: Owen Coyle, 9: Alexander Bone 2, 10: Mark McCormick, 11: Karim Boukraa
Bench	0: Garry Hamilton, 0: Edward Cunnington, 0: David MacKay, 0: John Fraser, 0: Derek Holmes
Rangers
Manager	Dick Advocaat
Starting 11	Stefan Klos, Bert Konterman, Scott Wilson, Fernando Ricksen, Robert Malcolm, Barry Ferguson 1, Neil McCann, Tugay Kerimoğlu, Claudio Reyna, Tore-Andre Flo 2, Kenny Miller
Bench	Jesper Christiansen, Allan Johnston, Craig Moore, Paul McHale, Steven Carson