Date	Saturday, 09 October 1999
Competition	Scottish League Division 2
Fixture/Score	Hamilton Academical 1:0 Ross County
Venue	Douglas Park
Attendance	392
Referee	Brian McGarry
Comments	Match Report Report by Anthony Haggerty for the Daily Record. Hamilton Academical 1 Ross County 0 Super-sub David McFarlane bagged his first goal of the season to leave County boss Neale Cooper raging, Gutted Cooper blew his top and kept his side locked in the dressing-room for a full 45 minutes after his side threw away a golden chance to go clear at the top of Division Two. It took an opportunist strike from McFarlane to separate the teams after 26 minutes. The striker, who replaced the injured Steve McCormick six minutes into the game, latched on to on-loan Ian Ferguson's header knockdown and showed some neat trickery to shoot past Nicky Walker. McFarlane, 20, revealed afterwards that he was relieved to finally get off the mark after being dogged by imjury all season. He said: "It was a great feeling to score my first goal of the season and the winner against a team like Ross County. "Tat was a great boost not only for myself but for the team as well, and to beat one of the favourites for the league is very pleasing. "I've been plagued by injury and I've had tonsillitis and continuing problems with my groin since I came here." McFarlane is now looking forward to striking up a lucrative partnership with former Hearts, St Johnstone, Ayr United and Livingston hitman Ferguson. He said: "Fergie gave us an added option and bonus in attack. He held the ball up very well for us and adds an extra dimension to the team." Ferguson, who has signed a loan deal from Morton Which ties him until the end of the current campaign, was unlucky not too add a debut goal in the second half. He skinned Irvine for pace down the left but Nicky Walker was equal to his low shot from an acute angle. He said: "It is great to be back playing first-team football and to beat Ross County. "They turned Morton over 3-0 in the League Cup and I didn't kick a ball against them that day, so it was nice to get revenge. "I'm delighted to be here as the club has ambition and it is a fresh challenge for me. "I'm lacking match sharpness but that will come with a few more games." Accies boss Ally Dawson was delighted with the win that lifted his side up one spot to fourth bottom of the table. He said; "The game could have gone either way but we got the goal and Ian Ferguson made a big, big difference for us. "That is the best that David McFarlane has looked for a while too. We were always worried that we might get caught out and lose a stupid goal but we feel that we have a good balance in the side now." Cooper said: "We got what we deserved and if you play that badly you get nothing. "I'm very upset and they know how much it has hurt me. "That is two games in a row where we have not performed and certain players have to start taking responsibility. "I want to apologise to all the fans who travelled down here from up north. "But the players have been told and they know they let themselves down by blowing a great chance to go top."
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Craig Tully 1, 3: Ian Maxwell, 4: Brian Irvine 1, 5: John Fraser 1, 6: Roy McBain, 7: Danny Lennon, 8: Kenneth Gilbert 1, 9: John McGlashan, 10: George Shaw 1, 11: Garry Wood
Bench	0: Paul Kinnaird, 0: Michael Geraghty, 0: David Ross
Hamilton Academical
Manager	Ally Dawson
Starting 11	Chris Reid, Eddie Cunnington, Ross MacLaren 1, Michael Martin, Steven McCormick, Stevie Thompson, Martin Bonnar, Nicky Henderson, Darren Henderson, Ian Ferguson, William Davidson
Bench	Gordon Hunter, Steven Renicks, David McFarlane 1