| Date | Saturday, 13 April 2002 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Arbroath 1:1 Ross County |
| Venue | Gayfield Park |
| Attendance | 826 |
| Referee | Brian McGarry |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Arbroath 1 Ross County 1 Ross County extended their unbeaten run to 13 games when they took their first point of the season against the First Division's surprise package this season, Arbroath. However, the Dingwall men, despite taking the lead, had to fight for that point and, having lost the previous three meetings to the Gayfield men, they must have been happy to leave the seaside town with a share of the spoils. Things looked bright for the visitors who took the lead in 20 minutes. Steve Hislop, returning to the side after injury, picked the ball up on the right side and showed a mean turn of pace to get away from George Rowe before coolly slotting a low shot past Craig Hinchcliffe. County keeper Tony Bullock made a fine save from George Rowe three minutes after the restart, but he was helpless in 58 minutes when Don Cowie pulled down Steve Mallan in the box and the veteran striker picked himself up to slot home the spot kick. Arbroath were then on the ascendancy and Bullock saved well again, this time from John Cusick before lady luck smiled on them four minutes from time when substitute John McAulay struck the post after a flowing Lichties move down the flank. County boss Neale Cooper was unhappy with his side's performance, but was pleased that they manager to extend their unbeaten run. "That has to be one of the worst games I've seen for a long time--the ball must be black and blue," said Cooper. "There must have been 65 minutes played before we managed to put passes together I think the only thing we can take out of today's game is that we are still unbeaten after 13 games. "As for the performance it was utterly rubbish. Too many of our players had off days today, al-through Steve Hislop took his goal well and I though big Brian (Irvine) and Tony Bullock did well," he continued. "Tony has been outstanding for us all season and he showed again today what a good keeper he is. "Full credit to Arbroath, through, for what they have achieved this season." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Mark Perry 1, 3: Richard Hastings, 4: Hugh Robertson, 5: Ian Maxwell, 6: Brian Irvine, 7: Don (JNR) Cowie 1, 8: Kenneth Gilbert, 9: Alexander Bone, 10: Conor Gethins, 11: Steven Hislop 1 |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Sean Webb, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Bryan Dlugonski, 0: Craig Campbell |
| Arbroath | |
| Manager | John Brownlie |
| Starting 11 | Craig Hinchcliffe, Innes Ritchie, George Rowe, John Cusick, Jordan Tait, Andy Roddie, Steve Florence 1, John McGlashan, Paul Brownlie, Graham Bayne, Stevie Mallan 1 |
| Bench | Craig Wight, Steve Moffat, John McAulay, Colin McKinnon, Kevin Heenan |