| Date | Saturday, 10 November 2001 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 0:1 Saint Mirren |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 3,518 |
| Referee | Tom Brown |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Paul Third for the Press & Journal. Ross County 0 Saint Mirren 1 Ross County boss Neale Cooper believes luck deserted his side at Victoria Park after Barry McLaughlin's headed goal pinched it for the Buddies. Cooper said: "One bit of slackness has cost us three points. I've been saving lately how good we have been doing at set plays and corners and St Mirren have a good aerial threat. But Steven Hislop lost his man for the corner and it cost us dearly, but I can't fault my players otherwise. "We had a lot of chances in the game and I thought we had the better chances in the first half. People can't say we didn't have a go as we finished the game with five attackers. We had three centre forwards and two wingers at the end but we just couldn't get a goal." The County boss thought his side were very unlucky not to get an equaliser in the second half. Cooper added: "We were unfortunate with Alex Bone's effort. We played well in spells but St Mirren are showing signs of getting back to their best. It must be the tightest league in Britain. If you win two games in a row you lose two then you are relegation candidates. We have to get over this result and look ahead to the big derby game here next week." Saints Boss Tom Hendrie said: "I didn't think there was anything between the sides until we scored. If anything, they had the better chances in the first half. But once we got the goal the game opened up and I thought we were unlucky not to add a second goal. The last five minutes were very nervy but I think we defended well and Ross County didn't get a clear chance in the second half." St Mirren started well, with Ian Ross's vicious corners testing County keeper Tony Bullock and his defence. Bullock was called into action in the 16th minute when he parried Ross's 25-yard drive after Brian Irvine had lost possession to Jose Quitongo. Hislop had County's best chance in the first half when he headed Irvine's flick against the bar. Hislop had another chance just before half-time when clean through on goal but Ludovic Roy did well to parry the County striker's shot. The Buddies took the lead two minutes into second half. Brian McGinty's in swinging header was met by McLaughlin, whose header bounced off Hislop and past Bullock. The home side's best chance to equalise came in 50 minutes. Mark Perry's through ball released Alex Bone but his shot was blocked by Roy and, with the goal gaping, the striker failed to get his second effort on target. St Mirren went in search of a second goal, with Quitongo, Steven McGarry and Sergei Baltacha all going close. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Mark Perry, 3: Richard Hastings, 4: Hugh Robertson, 5: Ian Maxwell, 6: Sean Webb, 7: Brian Irvine, 8: Don (JNR) Cowie, 9: Alexander Bone, 10: Steven Hislop, 11: Karim Boukraa |
| Bench | 0: Stefan Gonet, 0: A Trialist, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Neil Tarrant, 0: Mark McCormick |
| Saint Mirren | |
| Manager | Tom Hendrie |
| Starting 11 | Ludovic Roy, Barry McLaughlin 1, Jamie McGowan, Scott Walker, Sergei Baltacha, Hugh Murray, Scott McKenzie, Ian Ross, Alex Burns, Brian McGinty, Jose Quitongo |
| Bench | Kris Robertson, Gary Bowman, Iain Nicolson, Mark Yardley 1, Steven McGarry |