Date	Saturday, 13 March 1993
Competition	Highland League
Fixture/Score	Cove Rangers 3:1 Ross County
Venue	Allan Park
Referee	Alan Freeland
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: Alexander (Sandy) MacLeod, 7: Tommy Drummond, 8: Gary Ross, 9: Alan Duff, 10: Gordon Connelly, 11: Barry Wilson 1
Bench	0: Brian Grant, 0: Robbie Stewart
Attendance
Match Report	Match Report Report by Mike Tremlett for the Press & Journal. Cove Rangers 3 Ross County 1 Cove Rangers' inspirational skipper Dave Morland faces an anxious wait this week to find out how many games he will miss in the run-in to what looks like the Aberdeen club's first Press and Journal Highland League title. Sweeper Morland collected a booking as Cove swept to an impressive 3-1 win which ended defending champions Ross County's interest in the championship race and could now be facing a four or five-game ban. But, after virtually brushing County aside with a powerful second-half performance, manager Dave Watson has no doubts his side can cope with the temporary absence of the player generally rated to be the league's best in his position. He said: "Dave's impending suspension is a blow but it shouldn't be a factor in the long run because winning and losing titles has more to do with squad strength than individual players. "I reckon we have a squad at Allan Park which allows us to cope with loss of any of our regulars." For the cynics waiting for Cove to self-destruct the way they did last season there was no satisfaction at all because there was no hint of any onset of title jitters. County enjoyed a 15-minute purple patch towards the end of the first half which saw Barry WILSON level after Mike MEGGINSON had side-footed a Ray Yule cross home on the half-hour to put Cove ahead. But the second half saw Mark MURPHY bullet home a great header to restore Cove's lead in 49 minutes, leaving MEGGINSON to lash in a 29-yard half-volley to notch up his 30th goal of the season midway through the second half to kill County off. Murphy's goal--one of the best headers I've seen at any level this season--and the way he hemmed in County's Chris Somerville, robbing County of his creation in midfield, under-lined his status as the best new-comer to the league this season. Saturday's defeat left County, who have played two games more than Cove's 24 matches, nine points adrift of the Allan Park outfit in the title race and almost certainly spelled the end of their chances of a rare title treble. Their misery was summed up by the expression on Barry Wilson's face after he was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence--the first yellow card was a touch harsh--nine minutes from time. The Dingwall side plainly missed skipper Cammy Robertson's drive and fight in midfield and the authority and calming defensive influence of Scott Lemmon, who couldn't travel due to work commitments.