| Date | Tuesday, 07 March 2000 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 2 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:2 Clyde |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 2,002 |
| Referee | Ian Elmslie |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Dave Edwards for the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Clyde 2 Ross County put up a battling display to claim a point against Second Division leaders Clyde in a thrilling match at Victoria Park, Dingwall, last night. Clyde, who have now stretched their unbeaten fun 14 games, looked to have secured all three points when Mark McGraw scored in 84 minutes to give them a 2-1 lead but, two minutes later, County's George Shaw equalised from the penalty spot. Clyde duo McGraw and Darren Murray were sent off for disputing the award. County had the best of the early exchanges and it took a brave save from Clyde keeper Wylie at the feet of Kenny Gilbert to deny the homesters the opener. Indecision in the County ranks between Nicky Walker and Ian Maxwell resulted in the home keeper having to make a desperate dive at Brian Carrigan's feet to avert a certain goal. In the 25th minute Carrigan rifled in a free kick from 35 yards and Walker was relieved to see the effort land on the roof of the net. It took a brilliant save by Wylie in 30 minutes to stop a Steve Ferguson 15-yarder. Steve Ferguson missed a gilt-edged chances to open the scoring for Ross County when he miskicked with the goal gaping and Wylie gathered easily. County opened the scoring in 56 minutes when Wylie could only parry Craig Feroz's 25-yard angular drive and Steve Ferguson had the simplest of tasks to slide the ball home from six yards. Clyde equalised 10 minutes later when McCusker's hanging cross was dropped by the under-pressure Walker and Pat Keogh was on hand to ram the ball home from close range. Walker redeemed himself when he got down well to block another fierce effort from Carrigan. The County defence was again at fault for Clyde's second goal in 84 minutes by failing to clear the lines and McGraw pounced to score from six yards. The game erupted two minutes later when Ross sub Roy McBain was brought down in the box and referee Elmslie pointed to the spot. Clyde scorer McGraw disputed the decision and was shown the red card and, seconds later, teammate Murray continued to protest and was shown his second yellow card and, as a result, headed for an early bath. Amidst all the confusion Shaw kept his cool and stepped up to hammer the penalty kick past Wylie for the equaliser. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Ian Maxwell, 3: Brian Irvine 1, 4: Mark Duthie, 5: John Fraser 1, 6: Steven Ferguson 1 1, 7: Franck Escalon, 8: Kenneth Gilbert, 9: Craig Feroz, 10: Derek Ferguson, 11: George Shaw 1 (1 pen) |
| Bench | 0: Barry Thompson, 0: Roy McBain, 0: Derek Holmes |
| Clyde | |
| Manager | Allan Maitland |
| Starting 11 | David Wylie, Brian Smith 1, Darren Murray 2 1, Mark McLaughlin, Ritchie McCusker 1, Andy McClay, Ross Jack, Jamie Mitchell, Alan Grant, Brian Carrigan, Pat Keogh 1 |
| Bench | Paul Hay, David Dunn, Mark McGraw 1 1 |