| Date | Tuesday, 28 March 2000 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 2 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:0 Stenhousemuir |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,771 |
| Referee | Ian Frickleton |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Dave Edwards for the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Stemhousemuir 0 Ross County turned up the heat on both Second Division leaders Clyde and third-place Alloa Athletic with a comfortable 2-0 victory against Stenhousemuir last night. With Alloa losing to Arbroath, the Dingwall men are now six points ahead of the Wasps, although Alloa have two games in hand. County now trail Clyde by only six points as a result of the Bully Wee's 1-1 draw with Stranraer. New County signing Craig Taggart had an early chance to test Stenhousemuir's trialist junior keeper but blazed high over from 12 yards. At the other end, Mark McLaughlan's deceiving back-post cross was palmed away by Garry Hamilton. In the 26th minute, Stenhousemuir full back Michael Hall, making his first start of the season, fouled John McGlashan in the box and referee Frickleton pointed to the spot. Although George Shaw's penalty landed in the net, he was ordered to retake the kick and on the second occasion he sent the keeper the wrong way. Minutes later, Mark Duthie's 35-yard drive was gathered by Stenhousemuir keeper at the second attempt. Former Clyde striker McLaughlan rifled in a 20-yarder which County keeper Hamilton knocked into the air and held on to with one hand. County gave themselves a cushion in the 37th minute when John Fraser set up Paul Kinnaird and his 10-yarder went in off the inside of a post. Two minutes from the break County had the ball in the net again when McGlashan nodded home, but this time the referee disallowed it for pushing. On the hour mark it took a fabulous flying save from the Stenny keeper to stop a Kinnaird 20-yard free kick from putting County further ahead. In the 75th minute, Brian Irvine thought he had scored County's third with a powerful header but again the referee chalked it off for pushing. The Stenhousemuir keeper made two stunning saves within 30 seconds firstly to deny Taggart and then Irvine from point-blank range. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Garry Hamilton, 2: Ian Maxwell, 3: Brian Irvine, 4: David MacKay, 5: Paul Kinnaird 1, 6: Craig Taggart, 7: John Fraser, 8: John McGlashan, 9: Mark Duthie, 10: Derek Holmes, 11: George Shaw 1 (1 pen) |
| Bench | 0: Roy McBain, 0: Michael Geraghty, 0: Steven Boyle |
| Stenhousemuir | |
| Manager | Graeme Armstrong |
| Starting 11 | Jon Connolly, Alan Lawrence, Michael Hall 1, Gregg Watson, Tom Graham, Brian Welsh, Ross Hamilton, Colin McKinnon 1, Martin McLauchlan, David Lorimer, Martin Mooney |
| Bench | Alan Banks, Scott Murphy, Graeme Armstrong |