Date	Saturday, 19 September 2026
Competition	Scottish League Division 1
Fixture/Score	Cove Rangers 0:2 Ross County
Venue	Barmoral Stadium
Referee	Gary Hanvidge
Ross County
Manager	Stuart (Ketts) Kettlewell
Starting 11	1: Bradley Foster, 3: Lewis Strapp, 4: Akil Wright, 5: Lewis Reid, 6: Connor Randall 1, 9: Brian Graham, 11: Kieran Phillips, 16: Chris Hamilton, 19: Luke McCarvel, 22: Adam Emslie, 23: Ross Docherty
Bench	31: Bradley Wade, 2: Adam Forrester, 7: Richard Chin, 10: Jamie Lindsay 1, 15: Dylan Smith, 17: Ricco Diack 1 (1 pen) 1, 20: Jack Turner, 28: Jamie Williamson, 43: Josh Reid
Cove Rangers
Manager	Paul Hartley
Starting 11	Robbie Mutch, Joe Chalmers, Afonso Lindo 1, Liam Parker, Jamie Mercer, Ryan Harrington, Arron Darge, Max Barry, Chris Maguire, Miller Keir, Jordan White 1
Bench	Layton Bisland, Joseph Teasdale, Dylan Ross, Destiny Oladipo, Edimondo Oppong, Aaron Fraser, Tristan Stephen, Ackeme Francis-Burrell, Balint Demus
Attendance	586
Match Report	Ross County Goal Scorers: Connor Randall (15') Ricco Diack (88' Pen.) Ross County Substitutions: Jamie Lindsay for Kieran Phillips (60') Richard Chin for Luke McCarvel (70') Jack Turner for Ross Docherty (70') Ricco Diack for Brian Graham (84') Josh Reid for Adam Emslie (84') Ross County Cautions: Jamie Lindsay (69') Ricco Diack (87') Cove Rangers Substitutions: Edimondo Oppong for Miller Keir (46') Layton Bisland for Afonso Lindo (46') Joseph Teasdale for Liam Parker (67') Dylan Ross for Ryan Harrington (67') Destiny Oladipo for Max Barry (67') Cove Rangers Cautions: Afonso Lindo (8') Jordan White (61') Report by Andy Skinner for the Press & Journal. Cove Rangers 0 Ross County 2 Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell feels his League One leading side are displaying a healthy variety of characteristics. The Staggies maintained their unbeaten start to the league campaign, with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Cove Rangers on Saturday. County netted a goal in each half at Balmoral Stadium, with Connor Randall’s stunning early goal followed up by Ricco Diack’s first for the club from the penalty spot in the closing stages. The Dingwall outfit made the trip to Aberdeen fresh from an emphatic 8-0 triumph over Queen of the South on Tuesday. Kettlewell insists the Staggies showed a different side to their game in order to remain above Hamilton Accies on goal difference. The County boss said: “In spells in the first half I felt we played a lot of similar stuff to how we did the other night. “We got our wide players into the game, got crosses into the box, and more or less had control until the last five minutes of the first half. “It’s a bit stop-start when there is no multi-ball, and there were blustery conditions to contend with. “It wasn’t pitch perfect by any stretch of the imagination – the second half didn’t play out as we wanted it to, and we didn’t see the quality. “But once again we saw our togetherness, and we were able to stand strong. “We knew the game would play out different to how it did on Tuesday. “There are days when conditions are a bit calmer, and you are able to get the ball down and dominate games from start to finish. “Those days will be there, but there are also times when we have to be pragmatic and do the right things against the ball. We didn’t deal with that particularly well against East Fife a couple of weeks ago, so what pleases me is that we did so on Saturday.” It came as little surprise that Kettlewell elected to stick with the same 11 which put eight goals past the Doonhamers on Tuesday night to take the Staggies top of the table. There was little to separate the sides amidst blustery conditions in the opening stages, however the Staggies produced a moment of brilliance to take the lead on 15 minutes. The ball broke loose to Randall at the edge of the box, with the Englishman taking a touch before rifling a strike beyond the reach of Robbie Mutch into the far left corner. The home side had Mutch to thank for preventing a second goal just four minutes later, when former Cove loanee Adam Emslie cut inside Arron Darge before firing across goal, with the goalkeeper making a fine fingertip save. Cove responded well to the setback but initially struggled to fashion clear-cut chances, although their threat increased towards the end of the half when Ryan Harrington saw an effort blocked, and former Staggie Jordan Whiten glanced a header over. The home side’s attacking impetus grew after the break however, with two gilt-edged chances falling their way towards the end of the second half. Half-time substitute Edimond Oppong was unfortunate when a fizzing low drive towards the far corner was blocked by Connor Randall, while another opportunity fell to Destiny Oladipo, who was unable to get a shot away after unselfishly being played in by Dylan Ross. County wrapped up the points from the spot two minutes from time however, when Richard Chin showed tenacity to get on the wrong side of Jamie Mercer, who was penalised for hauling the winger down by referee Gary Hanvidge. Diack stepped up to thump home his first goal since joining on loan from Partick Thistle, with Kettlewell thrilled with the response of his side to their busy recent schedule. Kettlewell, whose side travel to Clachnacuddin in the KDM Evolution Trophy on Tuesday, added: “There are a lot of guys who have poured an awful lot into the last few games, and an awful lot of quality on the bench. “It may well be an opportunity for us to keep as fresh and sharp as we possibly can – but we want to be successful in the KDM Evolution Trophy for sure.”