Date	Saturday, 20 March 1999
Competition	Scottish League Division 3
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:2 Dumbarton
Venue	Victoria Park
Attendance	2,372
Referee	George Simpson
Comments	Match Report Report from the Daily Record. Ross County 1 Dumbarton 2 Ross County manager Neale Cooper was about the only person in Dingwall not to get caught up in the promotion hype which threatened to swamp Victoria Park on Friday. Most people believed that all his side had to do was turn up against visiting Dumbarton the following day and collect the three points which would ensure Division Two football next season. Cooper thought differently and was proved right when manager-less Dumbarton proved unwilling collaborators in the plot. The County boss said: "It was a classic case of being built up and then knocked down. "Everyone was talking about promotion except me. I knew this would be perhaps our toughest test of the season given the added attention. "But people were saying that all we had to do was step out and win on Saturday. "I have seen it happen too many times in football to be taken in by it, but perhaps the players were caught up in the excitement and lost their concentration. "We were lucky to get away with just 2-1. Too many of my players under-performed. "But I am not going to rant and rave. I have seen this happen too many times before when a goal you have been aiming for all season suddenly beckons. "We now have a short break and then two away games. "I'll be telling the players to go out and play their normal game." County hotshot Neil Tarrant, whose first-half spot-kick took him one goal Derek Adams's club record of 23 for the season, said the players felt they'd let themselves down. He said: "I think we are all very disappointed. We knew taking nothing for granted but it just didn't click for us. "We know we still have work to do in this division, despite our lead." Dumbarton, under caretaker manager Jimmy Brown, gave County early notice of their intentions when former Morton striker Paddy Flannery tested County keeper Nicky Walker after just 40 seconds. County's best spell came towards the end of the first half when Tarrant swept home a penalty, awarded after Joe Robertson fouled Dave Ross. But it was Dumbarton who enjoyed most of the pressure after the break and it finally paid off with two goals in quick succession. John Bradford levelled in 55th minute and two minutes later Craig Tully felled Flennery in the box and sinner-turned-saint Robertson made up for his earlier indiscretion by scoring from the spot.
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Stuart Golabek, 3: Ian Maxwell, 4: Mark Haro, 5: Craig Tully 1, 6: Alexander Taylor, 7: Kenneth Gilbert, 8: John McGlashan, 9: Paul Kinnaird, 10: David Ross, 11: Neil Tarrant 1
Bench	0: David MacKay, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Garry Wood
Dumbarton
Manager	Ian Wallace/Jimmy Brown
Starting 11	Kenny Meechan, William Wilson, Craig Brittain, Jamie Bruce, Stephen Jack, Toby King 1, Billy Melvin, Alex Grace, Paddy Flannery, John Bradford 1, Joe Robertson 1 (1 pen)
Bench	Paul Finnigan, Keith Millar, Martin Melvin