| Date | Saturday, 19 October 1996 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 3 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:0 Arbroath |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,327 |
| Referee | William Crombie |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Alasdair Fraser for the Daily Record. Ross County 2 Arbroath 0 Neale Cooper reckons Steve Hutchison is just too good to play second fiddle. The County keeper was understudy to Gordon Marshall when he and the Celtic stopper were at Falkirk. Two seasons ago he suffered on the side lines as Don MacMillan made the No.1 jersey his own and this term he was squeezed out of the Dingwall line-up by ex-Hamilton keeper Dave Cormack. But Hutch has bounced back every time and on Saturday he put the stoppers on Arbroath with a string of superb saves. County gaffer Cooper beamed: "Stevie showed just how brilliant he really is." Hutchison's best effort came in a blank first half--long before Sandy Ross and Gerry Farrell sealed victory--when he brilliantly denied striker Mark McWalter. The former St Mirren and Partick ace launched himself full force at a powerful cross only to see the keeper swoop low to turn the ball high and wide. Cooper admitted: "I was very disappointed with our first-half display, and I have to say Hutch kept us in the game with some brilliant saves. "I also thought young David MacKay was fantastic in defence. "We sat the lads down at half-time and told them they were capable of playing a lot better than they were. "We made it clear a repeat of the first half would not be tolerated and in the second period they bucked up their ideas and fought very hard. "In the end they were a great credit to the club and I couldn't have asked for much more in terms of work-rate and effort. "But I still feel we can play far better. I put Gordon Connelly on at half-time to try to create some better distribution in midfield and it seemed to work." Ross bagged his fourth goal in six games for County when he thrashed a Farrell cross into the roof of the net just a minute after the break. Johnston Bellshaw had two efforts scrambled clear within seconds and sub Andy McLeod cracked a powerful shot off a post. Ex-Ranger Kevin Fotheringham cane off the bench and tried an overhead kick--then County had to soak up late pressure themselves. But they held out and Farrell clinched Cooper's fifth win in six games when he shook off two tackles and fired the ball past Craig Hinchcliffe. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stephen Hutchison, 2: Robert (Robbie) Williamson 1, 3: William (Billy) Herd, 4: David MacKay, 5: Johnston Bellshaw, 6: Julian Broddle, 7: Gerard Farrell 1, 8: Roy McBain, 9: Alexander (Sandy) Ross 1, 10: Derek Adams, 11: Keith (Billy) Ferries |
| Bench | 0: Kevin Fotheringham, 0: Gordon Connelly, 0: Andrew (Andy) MacLeod |
| Arbroath | |
| Manager | John Brogan |
| Starting 11 | Craig Hinchcliffe, Scott Peters, Steve Florence, Jon Crawford 1, John Ward, John McAuley, David Pew, Michael Waters, Willie Watters, Mark McWalter, Lee Gardner |
| Bench | Paul Roberts, Pat Clark, Gordon Dunn |