| Date | Saturday, 25 March 2000 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 2 |
| Fixture/Score | Arbroath 1:2 Ross County |
| Venue | Gayfield Park |
| Attendance | 804 |
| Referee | John Underhill |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & journal. Arbroath 1 Ross County 2 Striker Derek Holmes has had his critics this season but in a 2-1 win at Arbroath he showed why manager Neale Cooper paid out a club record fee for the former Hearts striker. Cooper and sections of the County support have questioned his work rate and commitment in recent months but his Gayfield performance proved he could be invaluable in their quest for First Division football. He led the line well with George Shaw, Scored the opener and then when County were reduced to 10 men he switched back to a midfield role as the Highlanders looked to close up shop. Paul Kinnaird's corner from the right was flicked by Ian Maxwell to Brian Irvine and the County captain forced keeper Craig Hinchcliffe into an out-standing close range block but Holmes fired in the rebound from close range in the 25th minute. Holmes said: "The bottom line is that if we keep winning games we will go up." His strike partner, Shaw, came close to doubling their advantage but his shot hit the post. He made amends in the 35th minute with a curling cross come shot from the right wing which landed in the top corner. County continued to look solid at the back as Arbroath pushed forward until defender Craig Tully was red carded for a rash tackle on Barry Sellars late in the second half. The County management team were left biting their nails for the final seconds when Arbroath's Colin McGlashan scored in injury time but they managed to hold out for what come the end of the season could be three invaluable points. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Garry Hamilton, 2: Ian Maxwell 1, 3: Craig Tully 1, 4: Brian Irvine, 5: David MacKay, 6: Craig Taggart, 7: Mark Duthie, 8: Paul Kinnaird, 9: John Fraser 1, 10: Derek Holmes 1, 11: George Shaw 1 |
| Bench | 0: Roy McBain, 0: John McGlashan, 0: Steven Boyle |
| Arbroath | |
| Manager | Dave Baikie |
| Starting 11 | Craig Hinchcliffe, Andy Webster, John McAulay, Robbie Raeside 1, Jim Thomson, Barry Sellars, Jim Mercer, Craig Cooper, Kevin Tindal 1, Tommy Bryce, Colin McGlashan 1 |
| Bench | Steve Florence, Paul Brownlie, Chris Devine |