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Inverness CT 0; ROSS COUNTY 1 |
Ross County committed the ultimate smash 'n' grab on Saturday when the defeated Inverness Caledonian Thistle by one goal to nil in the Highland derby. This was the first league match between the two sides for three seasons and County manager Neale Cooper was anxious to lose his 100% loss record against his Inverness rivals.
County had to withstand a first half barrage from a lively Inverness attack and relied heavily on the agility of ex-Scotland 'keeper Nicky Walker and the woodwork to keep them in the game.
Within six minutes of the start David Xausa broke clear of his marker Ian Maxwell and his early cross forced Dave McKay to make a last ditch block to prevent Ian Stewart from opening the scoring.
Shortly afterwards, Barry Robson set up Xausa who had two bites at the cherry only to be denied by two brilliant stops from Walker in the County goal.
It was all Caley Thistle throughout the half and perhaps their best chances fell late in the half. First Xausa out-paced the defence and swung a cross into the middle only for Eddie Cunnington to clear off the line form Stewart.
A minute later, Walker was called upon again to make an excellent block from a good strike from Sheerin.
Immediately after that, ex-County star Roy McBain made one of his surging runs to find Tokely on the right. Tokely cross found the unmarked Stewart and the Inverness striker was again denied, this time by the woodwork.
At the start of the second half, County made a change replacing the ineffective Derek Holmes with Paul Kinnaird and with that change County started to play with width and a little more effectively.
Against the run of play County forced a penalty with their first real attack. Alex Bone found Kinnaird wide on the left and his accurate cross found the head of John Fraser. His header was blocked by Jim Calder but Darren Henderson following up was felled by the 'keeper as he tried to retrieve his fumbled stop. Referee Rowbotham pointed to the spot and Alex Bone stepped up to sweep the ball past Calder in front of the ecstatic Dingwall fans.
County were thriving on the extra width offered by Kinnaird and were now looking like a side that could cause some damage. However, the home side rallied and inthe 75th minute the woodwork came to County's rescue when both Robson and Tokely struch the post in quick succession.
In the 77th minute County were reduced to ten men when Cunnington was dismissed for his second bookable offence. Robson drove the ball over from the resulting free kick.
With ten minutes to go it was all hands to the pumps as County fought to hold on to their lead and when the full time whistle sounded a little over two thousand County fans left the ground and went back over the Firth with a long-awaited win over their Inverness rivals to celebrate.
Ross County: Walker; Gilbert, Cunnington, Maxwell, D McKay, Ferguson (Escalon, 78), Holmes (Kinnaird, 46), Bone, Millar and Henderson. Unused Subs: Irvine, McQuade and Gonet (gk).
ROSS COUNTY 0; Inverness CT 3 |
Off the field the statistics were sweet for Ross County; on it, they left a bitter taste in the mouth. Yet for neutrals, this First Division clash provided an incident-packed ninety minutes.
The all-ticket crowd of 5,721 that streamed into Victoria Park was unparalleled since the visit of Glasgow Rangers in 1966 when 8,000 filled the ground one Thursday afternoon.
Unfortunately for County it was Inverness, their great rivals, who ran up a healthy margin in the only area that counted - the score line.
To cap their dismay, the Dingwall side ended the game with only nine men after Darren Henderson and then Alex Bone, after a violent exchange, both saw red.
There was a huge let-off for Neale Cooper's men in the 11th minute when a corner by ex-County favourite Roy McBain was met by Bobby Mann. Fortunately for the home side Eddie Cunnington headed the ball off the line and to safety.
The Dingwall side could have taken the lead when Henderson struck the inside of the post in the 36th minute, but a minute later the visitors took the lead. Charlie Christie supplied a low cross from the rignt wing and with the County defence wrong-footed, Dennis Wyness swept the ball home off Nicky Walker's right hand post from 10 yards.
After the break, Caley grabbed a goal out of nothing when Mike Teasdale collected the ball o the far left and unleashed a shot into the top corner of the net from 25 yards.
It was allo over in 71 minutes when Wyness beat two men inside the area and cut a low shot into the net beyond the diving Walker's grasp.
Ross County: Walker; Escalon (Fraser, 12), D McKay, Irvine, Cunnington, McQuade (O'Neill, 53), Taggart, Ferguson, Henderson, Holmes (Zahana-Oni, 79) and Bone. Unused Subs: Hamilton (gk) and Trialist.
Inverness CT 3; ROSS COUNTY 3 |
Two late goals from Dennis Wyness, his second coming with the last kick of the game, earned Caley Thistle a share of the spoils in a pulsating First Division derby at Caledonian Stadium yesterday.
Ross County appeared to be cruising through first half goals from Owen Coyle, Steve Ferguson and Brian Irvine, despite Paul Sheerin giving the home side an early lead.
However, with time running out, Wyness took charge with two quick-fire strikes to send the home fans in the 5,291 crowd home happy.
County were dealt a major blow before the kick-off when former Aberdeen goalkeeper Nicky Walker failed a late fitness test on a calf injury.
Former St Mirren and Scotland youth team keeper Gary Hamilton came in and had an excellent debut.
Caley Thistle were without Canadian pairing Richard Hastings, who was suspended, and flu-victim Davide Xausa.
County fans had an early fright when former Aberdeen defender Mark Perry swept a cross-ball only inches over his own crossbar.
However, in the 12th minute, the home fans went wild when Jags opened the scoring.
Sheerin picked up the ball 30 yards out and his curling drive sailed high over Hamilton, hit the post and dropped into the net.
Three minutes later the Dingwall men drew level when Mark McCormick picked up the ball and fed COYLE and the on-loan Dunfermline striker fired home from 12 yards.
County keeper Hamilton was then almost caught out when he delayed a clearance with Wyness closing in. But Hamilton was relieved to see the ball cannon off the striker and drop narrowly past the post.
In the 34th minute, County surprised the home support when they took the lead against the run of play.
Karim Boukraa delivered a back-post cross and FERGUSON sent a header high over Fridge and into the net from six yards.
County went further ahead in 39 minutes when IRVINE bulleted a Darren Henderson corner from eight yards into the net with Fridge frozen to his line.
Three minutes after the break, County should have made it four when a sweet-flowing move involving Boukraa and Coyle left McCormick with only Fridge to beat, but the Jags keeper brilliantly blocked the ball with his legs.
With five minutes to go, David Bagan fired the ball low across the goalmouth but there were no takers and, seconds later, Bobby Mann's back-post header hit the side netting with the home fans on their feet.
However, with only 60 seconds remaining, Wyness gave the home side a glimmer of hope when he fastened on to a Roy McBain back-post cross to volley the ball home from two yards.
With the last kick of the ball, Caley Thistle grabbed a sensational equaliser when Barry Robson's diving header came back off the post and Wyness was on hand to tuck the ball away from virtually on the goalline.
Ross County: Hamilton; Perry, D McKay, Maxwell, Irvine, Taggart (Fraser, 67), McCormick (McQuade, 84), Ferguson, Coyle, Boukraa (Zahana-Oni 86) and Henderson.
ROSS COUNTY 0; Inverness CT 1 |
A Roy McBain goal just before half-time was enough to clinch a victory for Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a disappointing Highland derby.
Striker McBain returned to haunt his former club as Caley Thistle continued their impressive string of results and halted County's recent revival.
With no fears of relegation and no title hopes, there was little at stake except historic rivalries and it showed.
County left their new signing, former Airdrie striker Martin Prest, on the bench and were without influential Frank Escalon through injury. But Ian Maxwell returned to defence, while Darren Henderson and Brian Irvine were passed fit.
McBain fired home the winner for unchanged Inverness from the edge of the penalty area after 39 minutes following a Paul Sheerin corner.
A strong wind spoiled the match as a spectacle and it was very much a game of two halves with County unlucky not to earn at least a point.
The home side had their chances to draw level as they dominated the second period. Alex Bone, Brian Irvine and Ian Maxwell all went close for the home side.
Darren Henderson should have equalised two minutes before the end. But his shot from six yards was blocked by Inverness goalkeeper Jim Calder's feet.
Ross County: Walker; Perry, Robertson, Maxwell, Irvine, D McKay (Prest, 56), McCormick (Canning, 80), Ferguson, Bone, Boukraa (Holmes, 76) and Henderson. Unused Subs: Hamilton (gk) and Taggart.
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