Date	Saturday, 02 October 1999
Competition	Scottish League Division 2
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:1 Queen of the South
Venue	Victoria Park
Attendance	2,293
Referee	Alan Gemmill
Comments	Marct Report Report from the Daily Record. Ross County 1 Queen of the South 1 Brian Irvine reckons tormented teenager Martin Canning will bounce back from a nightmare defensive display. The Ross County skipper watched his 17-year-old team-mate's inexperience being cruelly exposed by Queen of the South in a torrid first 45 minutes. Canning was hauled off at half-time--but former Scotland star Irvine comforted him by insisting that even the world's greatest young players suffer the same fate. Irvine accepted a captain's share of the blame for his side's first-half shambles. Three times the Palmerston men carved his defence wide open but all they had to suow for was a 17th minute goal by Denis Boyle, the Northern Ireland Under-21 star nicknamed the Donegal Diamond. A rout looked on the card but Gary Wood equalised with a 20-yarder in 39 minutes. Irvine said: Martin had a very difficult game, but then he has also had some brilliant performances. "At any level of football, you know there is a good chance of something like that happening to such a young player. It is impossible at that stage in your career, with so little experience, to play well for a whole season, and it was for a whole season, and it was only a matter of time before it happened to Martin. "He's a very level-headed youngster and his reaction suggested to me he will shrug it off and not let it get to him. "We were exposed as a result. Maybe it was a ripple effect because Ian Maxwell and I were also to blame. "Martin will learn from it. I've got no doubts about his ability and potential. He is a special young player with a very bright future." Results elsewhere favoured County, who are two points off the pace in fourth place. Boss Neale Cooper was full of praise for Queens but had some harsh words of criticism for his flops and warned he was losing patience with some squad members. Cooper said: "that was the worst I've seen us play in ages. The defending was dire and the midfield couldn't control the game. "The only bright points for me were the performances of Roy McBain and the movement of Gary Wood. "There are players here who will have to start taking more responsibility for our performances. "If they can't produce the goods I will find someone else who can." Queen's George Rowe lamented missed chances. He said: "Maybe a draw could be seen as a fair result, given the way County came back in the second half. "But we should have destroyed them before halt-time."
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Martin Canning, 3: Ian Maxwell, 4: Brian Irvine, 5: Paul Kinnaird, 6: Kenneth Gilbert 1, 7: Roy McBain, 8: Danny Lennon, 9: John McGlashan, 10: Garry Wood 1 1, 11: George Shaw
Bench	0: Steven MacKay, 0: John Fraser, 0: Michael Geraghty
Queen of the South
Manager	Rowan Alexander
Starting 11	John Hillcoat, Sandy Hodge, Andrew Aitken, George Rowe 1, Paul Stewart, Steve Leslie, Marc Cleeland, Denis Boyle 1 1, Paul Harvey 1, Charlie Adams, Stevie Mallan
Bench	Alan Kerr, Chris Strain, Lee Bailey