| Date | Saturday, 15 April 2000 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 2 |
| Fixture/Score | Queen of the South 0:3 Ross County |
| Venue | Palmerston Park |
| Attendance | 1,010 |
| Referee | J. Douglas Smith |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Scott Macnab for the Press & Journal. Queen of the South 0 Ross County 3 Ross County skipper Brian Irvine is set to miss the Highlanders promotion-clinching end to the season. The inspirational former Aberdeen and Dundee star suffered a gash above his eye in Saturday's victory at Queen of the South after a clash of heads with team-mate Kenny Gilbert. Gilbert was able to continue after having a cut stitched up, but the concussed Irvine was immediately rushed to hospital for treatment. Although the 34-year-old's condition was not as bad as County officials initially feared, team manager Neale Cooper confirmed that Irvine is almost certainly out of the club's last three matches. Cooper said: "Brian has a really serious gash above his eye, but it could have been a lot worse. "Kenny wanted to continue and was able to play on after we stitched him up, but Brian was really groggy and it was far too serious to take any chances. "He was taken to hospital and when we collected him afterwards we found out it was just a severe gaxh above his eye. The first thing he wanted to know was how the match finished, because he hadn't heard the score in the hospital. "He'll certainly be struggling for the next few games, which is a blow for us and a real shame for him." The breakthrough against Queen of the South came seven minutes before the inyerval, when Irvine headed home a Paul Kinnaird corner. County increased their lead 17 minutes into the second half. Alex Bone shot home after Queens keeper David Mathieson could only parry a Craig Taggart shot. With 20 minutes to go Kinnaird's angled drive made it 3-0. County need one point from their final three matches to win promotion to Division 1 and they can clinch it next week at Hamilton Accies. However, Cooper warned: "It's not a formality. Accies have already beaten us twice this season and it will be difficult going to Firhill and trying to get anything." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Ian Maxwell, 3: Brian Irvine 1, 4: David MacKay, 5: John McGlashan, 6: Mark Duthie, 7: Paul Kinnaird 1, 8: Kenneth Gilbert 1, 9: Craig Taggart, 10: George Shaw, 11: Alexander Bone 1 |
| Bench | 0: Roy McBain, 0: John Fraser, 0: Derek Holmes |
| Queen of the South | |
| Manager | Rowan Alexander |
| Starting 11 | David Mathieson, Ally McMillan 1, Sandy Hodge, Andrew Aitken, Kevin Robison, George Rowe, Graham Duncan, Denis Boyle, Mark Weir, Warren Hawke, John Dickson |
| Bench | John Gallagher, Alan Kerr, Charlie Adams |