| Date | Saturday, 05 August 2000 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ayr United 1:0 Ross County |
| Venue | Somerset Park |
| Attendance | 2,740 |
| Referee | George Clyde |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Dave Edwards for the Press & Journal. Ayr United 1 Ross County 0 Ross County, despite finishing the game with only nine players, showed enough against a star-studded Ayr United side to suggest that they will hold their own in the First Division this season. County boss Neale Cooper was full of praise for the men who battled bravely for 70 minutes after former Don Brian Irvine was red-carded for giving away the penalty which led to the only goal of the game. Cooper said: "The fact that we created more chances than Ayr United in the first half, even after Brian was ordered off, shows just how much the fest of the lads dug in. "We were punished twice in effect as not only was Brian shown the red-card for what the referee adjudged as a last-man challenge, but they also scored from the resultant penalty kick. "Our whole pre-match preparation was thrown out of the window with that early sending-off and it was even more disappointing because no one even claimed for a penalty-kick at the time. "John Fraser was also red-carded for supposedly aiming a kick at an Ayr player. "I was in the stand and didn't see anything, but I'll be watching the TV on Sunday and if that was the case he will be disciplined internally. "This game proves that if you do create chances in this league you really have to take them. "Once again, Kenny Gilbert did really well for us and to lose by the only goal away to one of the favorites to take the title was not too hard a result, especially with 10 men for most of the match." Referee Clyde penalised Irvine for a 20th minute tackle on former Dundee winger James Grady and Eddie Annand stepped up to send Nicky Walker the wrong way from the spot. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Ian Maxwell 1, 3: Brian Irvine 1, 4: Kenneth Gilbert, 5: Craig Taggart, 6: Mark Millar 1, 7: Steven MacKay, 8: Darren Henderson, 9: John Fraser 1, 10: Alexander Bone 1, 11: George Shaw |
| Bench | 0: Garry Hamilton, 0: Paul Kinnaird, 0: Franck Escalon, 0: David Ross, 0: Derek Holmes |
| Ayr United | |
| Manager | Gordon Dalziel |
| Starting 11 | Neil Duffy 1, Marius Rovde, Paul Lovering, Michael Renwick, John Hughes, Marvyn Wilson, Gary Teale, Pat McGinlay, Eddie Annand 1 (1 pen), Glynn Hurst, James Grady |
| Bench | Craig Nelson, Gordon Burns, Neil Scally, Mark Crilly, Michael Reynolds |