| Date | Tuesday, 11 March 1997 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 3 |
| Fixture/Score | Montrose 0:0 Ross County |
| Venue | Links Park |
| Attendance | 412 |
| Referee | George Simpson |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Dundee Courier. Montrose 0 Ross County 0 A Dour struggle burst into life in the dying minutes when Montrose had three chances to score the winner. In the 87th minute Scott Taylor chased a loose ball out on the right and sent it across the face of the County goal for Kevin Tindal to meet with a powerful drive that the keeper did well to block. The rebound fell to Davie Fisher only yards out but he hit the post. Two minutes later Tindal curled in a free kick to the far post for Mark Haro to head into the side netting. County centre-half Johnstone Bellshaw thought Steve Hutchison should have cut out the ball before it reached Haro and the argument with his own keeper earned a booking. The visitors already had Gilbert and Alex Ross in the book along with Billy Herd, who was sent off in the 89th minute for his second bookable offence, and Montrose had Stefan Winiarski booked. The home goal had a couple of panicky moments in the first half when keeper Jim Butter recovered from a fumble to block a Sandy Ross shot but the Gable Endies responded with a Tindal header that Taylor just failed to turn in at the post. In the second half Butter did well to tip a Derek Adams shot over and was relieved when a dipping volley went over. It was not a great performance from Montrose but it was still a remarkable improvement by virtually the same side that plummeted to one of its worst displays of the season against East Stirling only last Saturday. "We worked hard but the lack of aerial presence in attack is causing us bother," said manager Dave Smith. "It is two points dropped in race for the second spot. Tonight was not great but it was better and I feel if we had got a goal we would have won handsomely. "It keeps it reasonably close and if we put in a show against Forfar on Saturday we are back into it. What we need is a bit of self-belief." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stephen Hutchison, 2: William (Billy) Herd 2 1, 3: Johnston Bellshaw, 4: Kenneth Gilbert, 5: Steven Ferguson, 6: Julian Broddle, 7: Roy McBain, 8: Gerard Farrell, 9: Derek Adams, 10: Keith (Billy) Ferries, 11: Alexander (Sandy) Ross |
| Bench | 0: Stuart Golabek, 0: Robert (Robbie) Williamson, 0: Gordon Connelly |
| Montrose | |
| Manager | Dave Smith |
| Starting 11 | Jim Butters, Thomson, Purves, Innes MacDonald, Paul Masson, Mark Haro, Dave Fisher, Stefan Winiarski, Colin McGlashan, Scott Taylor, Kevin Tindal |
| Bench | Mike Smith, Tosh, Nicholas Ingram |