| Date | Saturday, 07 April 2001 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 0:1 Livingston |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 2,549 |
| Referee | Hugh Dallas |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Mike Tremlett for the Press & Journal. Ross County 0 Livingston 1 Neale Cooper refused to be downbeat after home-town boy Barry Wilson sank his old club at Victoria Park to keep Livingston's First Division title challenge on track. Former County flier Wilson grabbed the slightly fortuitous 53rd minute goal which left County without a win in their last five games, coming hard on the heels of a defeat by Alloa, a draw with Clyde and setbacks against Caley Thistle and Airdrie. But Cooper insisted he saw cause for optimism in his side's performance against Livingston ahead of tomorrow night's return clash with Airdrie at New Broomfield. He said: "Last Tuesday night, we were terrible against Airdrie and I asked the players to give me appetite and commitment against Livingston and they responded extremely well. "The lads who had to come into the side--John Fraser and Eddie Cunnington, in particular that they've both been desperately short of competitive games. "We were probably worth a point on our second-half display and I was pleased with the way we denied Livvy, a side who like to get the ball down and knock it around, time and space. "They got a break for the goal but that's the sort of thing that happens when you're at the top of the table but, all in all, I'm encouraged by our performance, especially with Nicky Walker, Franck Escalon, Darren Henderson, Kenny Gilbert, Marc Millar, Mark McCormack and Craig Taggart all out injured. "Nicky will struggle to snake off his calf injury in time for Tuesday night, Steve Ferguson is playing through a shin problem and Ian Maxwell starts a suspension on Saturday but I'm confident we can go to Airdrie on Tuesday night and win." In a game where Livingston always looked the more likely winners despite County's efforts, the unlucky Maxwell turned out to be Wilson's unwitting accomplice for the winner which was sparked by clever play. The impressive David Fernandez held the ball up on the left. He knocked it across the 18 yard line for Xausa and Wilson took his setup first time, sending it low past Garry Hamilton, who was stranded when the ball took a deflection off the back of the unfortunate Maxwell's legs. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Garry Hamilton, 2: Hugh Robertson, 3: Edward Cunnington, 4: Mark Perry, 5: Ian Maxwell, 6: Brian Irvine, 7: John Fraser, 8: Karim Boukraa, 9: John McQuade, 10: Alexander Bone, 11: Derek Holmes |
| Bench | 0: Stefan Gonet, 0: Martin Canning, 0: David MacKay, 0: Steven Ferguson, 0: Martin Prest |
| Livingston | |
| Manager | Jim Leishman |
| Starting 11 | Ian McCaldon, Paul Deas, Phillipe Brinquin, John Anderson, Mark McCulloch, Barry Wilson 1, David Fernandez 1, Derek Fleming, Steve Tosh, David Bingham, Davide Xausa |
| Bench | Javier Sanchez Broto, Michael Hart, Darren Jackson, Alex Burns, David Hagen |