| Date | Saturday, 21 November 1992 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Highland League |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 4:1 Caledonian FC |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Referee | Ian Elmslie |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Robert (Bobby) Wilson |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stephen Hutchison, 2: Christopher (Chris) Somerville, 3: Gary Campbell, 4: Robert (Robbie) Williamson, 5: Johnston Bellshaw, 6: Cameron Robertson, 7: Tommy Drummond 1, 8: Brian Grant 1, 9: Alan Duff 2, 10: Gordon Connelly, 11: Gary Ross |
| Bench | 0: Alexander (Sandy) MacLeod, 0: Craig Reid |
| Attendance | |
| Match Report | Match Report Report by Mike Tremlett for the Press & Journal. Ross County 4 Caledonian FC 1 Ross County midfielder Tom Drummond, who joined the Dingwall club just a fortnight ago from Fort William, looks a cast-iron certainty to miss out on a Press and Journal Highland League championship medal. If the 21-year-old's performance in the 4-1 hiding dished out to Caley at Victoria Park is anything to go by County are on their way to a title hat-trick and the the fair-haired Lochaber lad will be long gone. The highlight of only his third appearance with the defending champions in a top-drawer team performance was a superb goal. It was the former Fort lad's first strike in County colours, his cool finish rounding off a sweeping six-man move which started from the edge of the champions' 18-yard box. County manager Bobby Wilson said that Drummond's first goal was the pinnacle of a performance which has throughly underlined the Ross chief's faith in his own judgment. He said: "I was delighted with Tommy after his first game, but his performance out there against Caley in the biggest game he has faced since he joined us was everything I could have asked from any player. "He has slotted into our midfield as if he was born for the job and he is shouldering a lot of the workload Gordon Connelly has been asked to cope with alone in the past. "If he keeps playing like that I could have a job on my hands hanging on to him." The opening 10 minutes of a cracking game saw Caley set out to silence a near 1,500 crowd and they nearly succeeded with Mike Noble and Martin Lisle both very close to opening the scoring. Alan DUFF stood the game on its head when he powered through from the halfway line to slot goal No. 1 under McRitchie in 10 minutes and then County keeper Steve Hutchison pulled off the save of the season to palm away a swerving Charlie Christie volley. DUFF thrashed in County's second in 27 minutes and Martin LISLE responded with a superb volleyed finish from a Jimmy Gilmour corner a minute later to keep Caley's hopes alive. But after half-time Connelly and Drummond's taunting and teasing combined with skipper Cammy Robertson's drive to overrun the Blues midfield and County simply ripped the Caley defence apart, adding DRUMMOND's superb counter and a Brian GRANT header. County's second-half superiority was so emphatic that even the superb Johnston Bellshaw found the time to abandon his defensive duties to take down a corner with all the aplomb of a born striker at the back post and send a tremendous volley whistling just wide. On a roll, the Dingwall club have now rattled four goals past each of the three Inverness clubs in the last 10 days and are beginning to look unstoppable. For Caley manager John Docherty, Saturday's defeat posed a host of questions and left him reflecting on what can be done with a Caley defence leaking like a rusty bucket. |