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| 11/12 | Forfar Athletic | Home | Drew 2-2 | Shaw and Irvine |
| 3/1 | Forfar Athletic | Away | Lost 2-4 on penalties (0-0 after 90 mins and extra time) | |
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 | Brian Irvine celebrates his late equaliser against Forfar. (Photo: The Sunday Post |
Ross County's hi-tech facilities include a pitch covering which ensures that matches go ahead in the chilliest of conditions. Last week it brought three points against Partick Thistle but today it almost led to defeat for the home side as they entered the dying stages of the match 2-1 down to Forfar.
However, veteran defender Brian Irvine came to the rescue in the last minute to rescue County and deny Forfar their victory. The former Scotland and Aberdeen defender came off the bench and rose above everyone else to head home County's equaliser.
County could hardly have made a better start with George Shaw finding the net after only four minutes. Some heavy County pressure followed, with Roy McBain forcing a corner and Michael Geraghty seeing a goal-bound header cleared.
Forfar were defending well and were soon growing in confidence. Their chances were few and far between but they did score their first goal in the 38th minute whenMilne beat the County off side trap and Dave McKay hauled the striker down in the box. McKay was booked and Donaldson struck a sweet penalty high into the roof of the net and well out of Nicky Walker's reach.
Forfar dominated for large sections of the second half and they deservedly took the lead in the 81st minute when Robson finished a mazy run by beating Walker from a tight angle.
Defeat looked certain for County until Irvine saved their blushes with a looping far post header into the corner of the net from a Mark Duthie cross.
ROSS COUNTY: Walker; Duthie, Maxwell, McKay, D, Gilbert, Geraghty (Irvine, 70), McBain, Wood, Fraser (Finlayson, 56), Kinnaird and Shaw. Unused Sub: Ross.
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Ross County boss Neale Cooper was a disappointed and angry man as his team tumbled out of the Scottish Cup after a penalty shoot-out drama at Forfar yesterday.
The Dingwall side's cup dreams were left in tatters by a fine display from Station Park goalkeeper Stuart Garden.
A clearly upset Cooper said after his team's first-round replay exit: "I have told some of my players that they must pull up their socks or they won't be playing for County again.
"Some of the performances were totally unacceptable. I'm not going to name names but the players in question know who they are.
"To be fair, the two penalties our players missed were well hit and it took two good saves to stop them so I can't really blame the players for the shoot-out defeat.
"The bottom line is that we had chances during the game and we failed to take them and that seems to be our main problem this season.
"If anything can be taken out of this defeat then it means we can concentrate solely on the league but it is now up to the players to do their talking on the pitch.
"Hopefully, being out of it at an early stage might help us win promotion."
Cooper revealed he had made an unsuccessful approach to Motherwell to get former County star Derek Adams back on loan at Victoria Park.
The County boss hopes to sign a striker this week.
Meanwhile, Forfar keeper Garden played psychic to save two spot kicks in the penalty shoot-out to make Loons manager Ian McPhee's cup forecast come true.
The former Brechin goalkeeper was told by his boss that if the tie against County went to penalty kicks he would be the hero by scoring the winning penalty.
Garden said: "I had volunteered to take the final kick and the manager had said that would be the one that would win us the tie. I told him that we'd win it before then so I wouldn't have the pressure of taking the last kick.
"Both penalties were well hit but I managed to go the right way and keep them out.
"The players are absolutely delighted because I think after the two games we were the better team and we thoroughly deserved to go through.
"We are now looking to go on a bit of a run in the cup but we will have a hard match when we play Peterhead in the next round."
County had the better of the first half but Forfar finished the first period strongly.
Forfar's other penalty heroes were Dougie Craig, Euan Donaldson, Ralph Brand and Andy Cargill, with Steven Ferguson and George Shaw converting for Ross.
Only the alertness of Forfar defender Alan Rattray saved his side from going behind in the first half, clearing goalline efforts from Ferguson and Derek Holmes.
Forfar seemed to be fired up by their half-time pep talk.
County goalkeeper Nicky Walker had to be on his toes several occasions and he was also helped by a post when a Cargill 25-yard effort went flying past him midway through the half.
Both sides had chances to win the match in extra time but the tie went to every manager's nightmare – the lottery of a penalty shoot-out.
Ross County: Walker; Duthie, McKay, Maxwell, Irvine, Gilbert, Shaw, Geraghty, Holmes (Wood 64), Ferguson, Kinnaird (McBain 58). Unused Sub: Tully.
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