Date	Saturday, 04 September 1999
Competition	Scottish League Division 2
Fixture/Score	Stirling Albion 2:1 Ross County
Venue	Forthbank
Attendance	1,016
Referee	Colin Hardie
Comments	Match Report Report by David McCarthy for the Daily Record. Stirling Albion 2 Ross County 1 The giant striker might be in the twilight of his career and he has played with bigger clubs than the one he is playing with at the moment. But his enthusiasm is undiminished and he showed on Saturday that he still has something to offer. Yes, Ally Graham did well at the weekend. The striker bagged a goal with a deliciously delicate chip that didn't belong in the Second Division. And all Mark Hately could do was stand and admire it from the other end of the park. Hateley's return to Scotland in the colours of Ross County attracted double Stirling Albion's average attendance--1016--and the big man's first match in 10 months ended in defeat. It was kind of bizarre to see a man who has scored for his country in Rio's Maracana Stadium, and who was such a warrior for so long with Rangers, turn out in surroundings such as these. Maybe one day the striker who partnered McCoist for so long will smile at being upstaged by a Super Ally on his comeback. But not on Saturday night. His rustiness was obvious but the longer the match went on, the more influential he became as County tried to salvage something from a game that seemed beyond them at the interval. By that time John McQuade had extended Stirling's lead with another top quality strike--an18-yard curler into Nicky Walker's postage stamp corner-- and the previously unbeaten Dingwall side were all over the place. It was as if the inclusion of such a high-profile player in their ranks had thrown the other 10 players out of their stride. County play the temptation to lump it long for Hateley proved irresistible. Stirling lapped it up. They had big Brian Martin and Graeme Donald at the heart of their defence and both have come up against Hateley before. They stood strong and the big man, despite linking play well in the second half, got only one real chance. Hateley threw himself at a Kevin Finlayson cross late on but his header flashed over the bar. County got one goal back, a 66th-minute header from John McGlashan that exploded behind Jason Gardiner, but despite their late pressure, the equaliser would not come. Hateley's disappointment at the end was obvious. He might be wealthier than the rest of his teammates put together--he is certainly better off in terms of experience and medals--and he's getting paid plenty to turn out for Ross County, but he wants to give them their money's worth. He even talks like a Ross county player, despite only having joined them on Thursday. He said: I'm disappointed with the result but not with the way we played in the second half. "Other results went our way as well, so we haven't lost ground despite defeat. I was pleased to last the 90 minutes but it will take six or seven games to get my match fitness right after being out of the game for 10 months. "I am serious about this. I don't want to let down myself or the club. "I just enjoy playing--I love the game and the physical contact." Albion stopper Martin also enjoyed rekindling the tussles the pair used to have in Rangers-Motherwell matches. He believes all the hype surrounding the former AC Milan and Monaco striker worked in Stirling's favour and they were certainly fired up for the clash. Martin said: "A name like Hateley coming to the Second Division would fire anybody up and we went at them right from the start. "You can tell that it was his first game for a while--it was a false Mark Hateley out there. "But you can see that he has looked after himself and when he gets a couple of games under his belt he will be a threat, there's no doubt about it." Names like Hateley, Martin, Walker, Graham, Brian Irvine, George Shaw and Paul McGrillen have all played in the Premier League in the recent past and their likes have lent a quality to this division that has not always been there in the past. Albion player-boss John Philliben, who managed to get himself booked dissent while warming up on the touchline, was understandably delighted with the result. He said: "This shows we should have no fear of anyone in this division. "There was a lot of talk about Hateley beforehand but Brian and Graeme handled him really well. "They are experienced boys and have played against him when they were at Motherwell and Hibernian. "Hateley gave them no surprises but when he gets match fit he will cause defences problems in this division." County manager Neale Cooper was raging at his team's first-half performance, describing it as "shambolic". He said: "Just because we have brought in Mark doesn't mean that we have to hit the ball long to him all day. That's not how we play but the players have to get used to him and him to them. "We didn't think he'd get through 90 minutes but he did and he did well in the second half. "But this is about Ross County, not Mark Hateley. We've had a wee stumble--our first league defeat--but we'll bounce back."
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Craig Tully 1, 3: Ian Maxwell, 4: Brian Irvine, 5: Roy McBain, 6: Kenneth Gilbert, 7: Franck Escalon, 8: Mark Hateley, 9: Steven Ferguson 1, 10: George Shaw, 11: David Ross
Bench	0: John McGlashan 1, 0: John Fraser, 0: Kevin Finlayson
Stirling Albion
Manager	John Philliben
Starting 11	Jason Gardiner, Andy Paterson, Joe Tortolano 1, Graeme Donald, Brian Martin, Chris Wood, John McQuade 1, Craig Taggart 1, Jim Gardner 1, Ally Graham, Paul McGrillen 1
Bench	Alan Aitken, John Philliben 1, Paul Mortimer