| Date | Saturday, 09 May 1998 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 3 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 5:2 East Stirlingshire |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,978 |
| Referee | Tom Brown |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Charlie Higgins for the Scotsman. Ross County 5 East Stirlingshire 2 When Ross County were named as Third Division favourites at the start of the season you sensed there was a deep intake of breath and collective tightening of the Buttocks at Victoria Park. All season, wins have been greeted with relief and some seven defeats with increasing angst. Draws, though, have been the real enemy in a tension-packed season. How ironic, then, that County's curtain call proved to be a relaxed affair full of flowing and carefree football. For the second season running, a single goal--or the absence of it--denied County a place in division two. This time, the goal that didn't happen was required at Queen's Park, where Arbroath held on for a draw. This was an all too familiar scenario for County. In four seasons in the Scottish League County have finished third three times. Veteran Alex Taylor, who struck twice and almost claimed a hat-trick, was surely man-of-the-match in a mid-field that has lacked creativity on vital occasions. A bad start for the Dingwall outfit saw David Paterson smash a low-driven shot under Nicky Walker after the ball broke at the edge of the box. County settled into better play and the breakthrough came, ironically, from a man called Ross. Roy McBain sent in a low cross which Brian Ross side-footed into his own net. Two goals in first-half injury time eased the pressure on Cooper's men. First, Kenny Gilbert forced a corner and Billy Herd blasted in an angled volley. Disarray in the Shire defence then saw Adams scoop the ball away from the keeper and from a Neil Tarrant pass Taylor slotted it into the bottom corner. Neil Tarrant drove in the fourth in 67 minutes but two minutes later a neat one-two set up Anthony Barr to make it 4-2. But in the move of the match, Alex Taylor met a Neil Tarrant knock down with the perfect finish to round off a memorable win. In the 82nd minute, news filtered through of the Hampden men's equaliser against Arbroath. That sparked chants of 'County, County' from the Jail End and as skipper Kenny Gilbert revealed later, the County players believed promotion was their. That was just a wee bit too cruel a deception, at the close of a season of tireless but fruitless endeavour. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Mark Haro, 3: William (Billy) Herd 1, 4: David MacKay, 5: Franck Escalon, 6: Roy McBain, 7: Kenneth Gilbert, 8: Alexander Taylor 2, 9: Neil Tarrant 1, 10: Derek Adams, 11: David Ross |
| Bench | 0: Stuart Golabek, 0: Richard Hart, 0: Connor Campbell |
| East Stirlingshire | |
| Manager | John Brownlie |
| Starting 11 | Gordon McDougall, Scott Walker, Colin Campbell, Brian Ross 1, David Muirhead, Davie Watt, Tony Barr 1, Murray Hunter, Paul Patterson 1, Martin McBride, Kenneth Kennedy 1 |
| Bench | Andy Storrar, Gordon Parks, Stephen McPeake |