| Date | Saturday, 25 February 1995 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 3 |
| Fixture/Score | Queen's Park 1:2 Ross County |
| Venue | Hampden Park |
| Attendance | 803 |
| Referee | Jim McCluskey |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Jock MacKay for the North Star. Queen's Park 1 Ross County 2 After the previous week's hiccup at home County got back on the promotion rails with excellent 2-1 result on a day which also saw them benefit from favourable result elsewhere. While it was a great result at Hampden for County I have to by Honest that it was not matched by a similar performance, particularly in the first half. Atrocious was an adjective used by one fan. But really they did not play that well!! Had it not been for some Steve Hutchison heroics County could have been four down by the interval. The second half, however, did bring an improvement and a bit of luck in that a Queen's Park players was sent off, and goals at either end of the second period produced three valuable, if slightly fortuitous, points. In that dreadful first 45 minutes County were sloppy, careless, totally devoid of rhythm and strangely lethargic. All the near things were at Hutchsion's end as three times he saved the bacon with remarkable stops. Ironically, however, the goal which gave the home side the lead stemmed from the keeper's mistake, a bizarre effort which saw his attempted clearance rebounded from McGoldrick and float gently into the net with Steve a horrified spectator. County started the second half with more purpose and within two minutes were back on level terms. Keeper Chalmers palmed out a Ferries cross into the path of Brian Grant whose net-bound shot was handled by defender Matchett. The defender was red cared and JO rattled home the spot kick. The exit of Matchett should have seen County press home the advantage of the extra man but apart from several penetrating Billy Ferries runs, County created nothing of note. The most I could see them getting was a point as time gradually ran out. But in the 89th minute, joy and relief among the County far travelled faithful as the winner came out of the blue. A Brian Grant cut-back was palmed out by Chalmers right to Robbie Williamson and he gleefully volleyed it home. It is easier to criticise than praise any of County's less than inspiring performances, but the end product was, nevertheless, delivered. Few players could have left the field content with their contribution. My generosity can stretch only to awarding pass mark to Steve Hutchison, Billy Herd, Johnston Bellshaw and Gordon Connelly with second half better shows by Billy Ferries and Brian Grant. My final thought is perhaps now is the time to add a new face to the player pool, not only to increase the options, particularly up front, but also to freshen things up and possibly provide for some players a kick up the appropriate part of their anatomy! |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Robert (Bobby) Wilson |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stephen Hutchison, 2: William Furphy, 3: Christopher (Chris) Somerville, 4: Robert (Robbie) Williamson 1, 5: William (Billy) Herd, 6: Craig Reid, 7: Johnston Bellshaw, 8: Gordon Connelly, 9: Keith (Billy) Ferries, 10: Andrew (Andy) MacLeod, 11: Brian Grant 1 (1 pen) |
| Bench | 0: Donald (Don) MacMillan, 0: David MacKay, 0: Alan Duff |
| Queen's Park | |
| Manager | David Hunter |
| Starting 11 | James Chalmers, James Orr, Ferguson, Gary Kerr, Ian Maxwell, John Matchett 1, Dom Callan, David Graham, Gary Orr, Kevin McGoldrick 1, Stephen McCormick |
| Bench | Brian McPhee, Robert Bradley, Hill |