| Date | Saturday, 12 October 1996 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 3 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 3:2 Albion Rovers |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,111 |
| Referee | Kenny Clark |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Alasdair Fraser for the Daily Record. Ross County 3 Albion Rovers 2 Bomber Billy Herd blasted the craziest goal of his life as County took the High road route to victory. Things were looking grim for his side as they trailed 2-1 with 20 minutes left. Then up popped Herd. He hoisted a clearance from outside the centre circle in his Own half and watched it bounce past hapless Rovers keeper Steve Ross for a goal that sparked fresh life into County. And two minutes into injury time Derek Adams grabbed his second of the game to leave Albion shell shocked. There was no hiding Herd's delight when he said: "O course I meant it. I was actually annoyed I didn't find the top corner. "That's what I'll do next time an open goal presents itself from seventy yards!" "I've never scored one quite like that before but, who knows, maybe its the start of something. It's good to keep the strikers on their toes." Ironically it was a huge change of tactics that brought County their reward. They abandoned their attractive passing game of the first half and launched an aerial bombardment which had Rovers' defence in all sorts of trouble. It wasn't pretty but, boy, was it exciting. County hadn't won at home since March but could easily have been three up in the opening 15 minutes. Sandy Ross and Billy ferries hit the bar either side of Adams' ninth minute opener. Yet for all their domination, County were left stunned by a quick-fire double after 24 minutes. A punched half-clearance by keeper Steve Hutchison fell to Martin Clark, who drove home a defected shot from 20 yards through a ruck of defenders. Then, virtually from the restart, Rovers rolled the ball out wide to John Dickson who scored with a scorching 20-yarder. County looked to have blown it until Herd struck. Then, with Rovers reduced to 10 men after Clark was sent off for a second bookable offence, Adams pounced with an opportunist strike inside the box. Relieved County boss Neale Cooper said: "Every game here so far has been like a cup-tie. "But what a marvellous backing we got from the fans even when we were trailing. It kept our heads up right until the end and was absolutely priceless to the players. "Finally, we've given the fans the win they deserve and, suddenly, were back in contention in the promotion race. "The most important thing is that we have regained our confidence which was really in tatters." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stephen Hutchison, 2: Christopher (Chris) Somerville, 3: Robert (Robbie) Williamson 1, 4: David MacKay, 5: Johnston Bellshaw, 6: Gerard Farrell, 7: Julian Broddle, 8: Gordon Connelly, 9: Alexander (Sandy) Ross, 10: Derek Adams 2, 11: Keith (Billy) Ferries |
| Bench | 0: William (Billy) Herd 1, 0: Kevin Fotheringham, 0: Andrew (Andy) MacLeod |
| Albion Rovers | |
| Manager | Vinnie Moore |
| Starting 11 | Stephen Ross, Neil McKilligan, Angus, Trialist, Paul Martin, Anthony McNally, Martin Clark 1 1, Vincent Moore, Thomas Walker, David McKenzie, John Dickson 1 |
| Bench | Douglas McGuire, Reilly, John Gallagher |