| Date | Saturday, 10 March 2001 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 4:1 Falkirk |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 2,620 |
| Referee | David Somers |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Paul Third for the Press & Journal. Ross County 4 Falkirk 1 Ross County manager Neale Cooper believes this First Division victory over Falkirk to be the best of his tenure as manager. Cooper said: "That was the best we have played all season--in fact it was probably the best team performance I have seen since becoming manager. Every player was fantastic. "We went with three at the back and I thought Mark Perry was immense. McCormick also did well. He has played on the right for us while Owen Coyle was here, but he showed today he wants to play through the middle all the time. "I was worried that the players would be tired late on due to our recent inactivity, but there were no signs of tiredness at all." County go to Brockville this week to play Falkirk again. Falkirk boss Alex Totten said: "Ross County will say it was a convincing win but we gave away goals. I felt in the second half we were the better side like we did and expect to win a game." County opened the scoring in the seventh minute through former Don Perry. The defender met McCormack's low corner on the edge of the box and drilled the ball low past Hogarth. County were well on top in the first half and doubled their lead in 21 minutes through Darren Henderson. The big midfielder lost his marker and rose unchallenged on the penalty spot to head the ball low past the Falkirk keeper. The Dingwall side deservedly added a third just before half-time. Alex Bone beat a static Bairns defence, latching on to Boukraa's through ball and had time and space to pick his spot. Totten's side were much better in the second half, hitting the post twice, but it was County who scored again. Steven Ferguson intercepted Hogarth's poor pass to Christie and rounded the keeper before rolling the ball into the back of the empty net. Falkirk's better second half showing did bring some reward, with Kevin Christie netting from the penalty spot after substitute Craig was brought down by Ferguson. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Mark Perry 1, 3: Ian Maxwell, 4: Hugh Robertson, 5: Brian Irvine, 6: Steven Ferguson 1, 7: Darren Henderson 1, 8: Franck Escalon, 9: Karim Boukraa, 10: Alexander Bone 1, 11: Mark McCormick 1 |
| Bench | 0: Garry Hamilton, 0: Edward Cunnington, 0: David MacKay, 0: John Fraser, 0: Derek Holmes |
| Falkirk | |
| Manager | Alex Totten |
| Starting 11 | Myles Hogarth, Kevin Christie 1 (1 pen) 1, Greig Denham 1, Andy Lawrie, Jamie McQuilken, Garry McStay, Mark Kerr, Davie Nicholls, Gareth Hutchison, Kevin McAllister, Steven Craig |
| Bench | Darren Hill, Andy Seaton 1, Ian Morris, Kenny Deuchar, Mark Roberts |