| Date | Tuesday, 09 October 2001 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:1 Dundee |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 3,250 |
| Referee | David Somers |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Dave Edwards for the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Dundee 1 A Moment of magic from Frenchman Karim Boukraa only two minutes after he came on to the field fired Ross County into the quarter-finals of the CIS League Cup at Victoria Park, Dingwall, last night. County have now taken two Premier League scalps in the competition, having beaten Hearts in the last round. Like Hearts, Dundee's flashy foreigners were humbled by a battling County who had no failures and were brilliantly marshalled at the back by Brian Irvine. County's first goal came when Hugh Robertson sent over an enticing corner for Irvine to bullet a header past Langfield. Caballero levelled for Dundee but then super-sub Boukraa took charge to fire home one of the best goal seen at Victoria Park. County defender Richard Hastings failed a late fitness test, with John Fraser taking his place in the home line-up. A searching through ball from Robertson in the ninth minute left Bone one on one with Romano but the big Italian won the race to clear for a corner. County took the lead in 10 minutes when Robertson sent over a corner and Irvine sent a powerful header past the helpless Langfield. Excellent defending by Irvine denied Caballero just as he was about to shoot in 23 minutes. County should have made it 2-0 in 25 minutes when Perry's high ball was nodded on by Bone to Hislop but the big striker's lob sailed inches over the top. Slack play by Romano almost presented Bone with a chance but the visitors defence closed him down to avert the danger. Ferguson sent in a superb 25-yard drive in 33 minutes but again Langfield got down well to hold. Bone was presented with a great chance to extend County's lead when he ran through on his own but, with only Langfield to beat, his shot was smothered by the Dundee keeper. Dundee almost grabbed the equaliser just before the break but Gatti's angular drive hit the side-netting. Early in the second period, Rae had an opportunity but snatched at the ball and it flew high over. A great through ball from McCormick set Bone free on the left but Langfield held his low cross before Hislop could pounce. Dundee drew level in 54 minutes when Caballero nodded the ball past Bullock from six yards after County failed to clear a free kick from the left. County regained the lead in 66 minutes with a magnificent goal from Boukraa two minutes later after he had come on for Fraser. Perry sent in a hanging cross which Langfield punched strongly to Boukraa fully 30 yards out. The Frechman hooked the ball high over the keeper's shoulder and into the net to the delight of the County fans. Super sub Boukraa almost netted twice within the next five minutes. He fired a shot inches wide from 45 yards before sending in a tremendous volly which skimmed the crossbar with Langfield clawing thin air. Dundee almost equalised with a superb Caballero overhead kick which grazed Bullock's upright. Bone was denied by a fabulous Langfield flying save. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Ian Maxwell, 3: Hugh Robertson, 4: Sean Webb, 5: Mark Perry 1, 6: Brian Irvine 1, 7: Steven Ferguson 1, 8: John Fraser, 9: Steven Hislop 1, 10: Alexander Bone, 11: Mark McCormick 1 |
| Bench | 0: Andrew Shearer, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: Karim Boukraa 1, 0: Martin Prest |
| Dundee | |
| Manager | Ivano Bonetti |
| Starting 11 | Jamie Langfield, Zurab Khizanishvili 1, Barry Smith, Beto Garrido, Walter Del Rio, Lucas Gatti, Mark Robertson, Gavin Rae, Alessandro Romano 1, Steven Milne, Fabian Caballero 1 1 |
| Bench | Paul Mathers, Colin Boylan, Steven Robb, Beta Naveda, Barry Forbes |