| Date | Saturday, 01 September 2018 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Championship |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:0 Falkirk |
| Venue | Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 3,564 |
| Referee | Nick Walsh |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Eilidh Davies for the BBC. Ross County 2 Falkirk 0 Ross County returned to the top of the Scottish Championship table as new Falkirk manager Ray McKinnon watched the Bairns slump to a fourth defeat. McKinnon left Morton on Friday to replace Paul Hartley and the bottom side almost went in front when Dimitris Froxylias forced a save from Scott Fox. Jamie Lindsay netted from close range midway through the second half to put County in front. And fellow substitute Declan McManus struck from six yards to seal victory. The hosts had earlier threatened with Ross Draper's header and Michael Gardyne, Iain Vigurs and Sean Mullin also going close and Brian Graham had a late goal ruled out for offside. McKinnon had said before the match he would be "a bystander", with Gordon Young setting up the first team after being in interim charge this week. McKinnon's first real test as Falkirk boss will be next week's Challenge Cup meeting at home to Connah's Quay Nomads. Ross County co-manger Stuart Kettlewell: "For us it was come home after a month and put on a good performance. It was a difficult scenario. "It was hard for Falkirk with the upheaval during the week and even in the last 24 hours the different information that's come out. It's a hard one for us to prepare for knowing how they are going to play and set up personnel-wise and sometimes there's a bounce from a team that loses their manager and I thought Falkirk were really well organised. "All credit to our players I thought we probed throughout the 90 minutes. We were on top for a large majority, created a lot of chances and it was everything we asked for and we have the added bonus of a clean sheet, which can be massive over the course of the season and that builds real confidence for the centre-backs and the goalkeeper as well." Falkirk interim manager Gordon Young: "The effort and approach was there. They showed a bit of heart. "They are a decent group of players. They need a wee rub of the green but I can't fault their effort. Their attitude in training is first class. I hope they will get some success." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Steven Ferguson Stuart Kettlewell |
| Starting 11 | 1: Scott Fox, 4: Liam Fontaine, 5: Callum Morris 1, 6: Ross Draper, 7: Michael Gardyne, 9: Billy Mckay, 11: Iain Vigurs 1, 14: Joshua Mullin, 15: Keith Watson, 19: Brian Graham, 26: Don Cowie (SNR) |
| Bench | 21: Ross Munro, 8: Jamie Lindsay 1, 10: Declan Mcmanus 1, 12: Stelios Demetriou, 17: Davis Keillor-Dunn, 22: Tony Dingwall, 27: Ross Stewart |
| Falkirk | |
| Manager | Gordon Young |
| Starting 11 | Leonardo Fasan, Lewis Kidd 1, Aaron Muirhead 1, Tom Dallison, Ruben Sammut, Dennon Lewis, Dimitris Froxylias, Scott Harrison 1, Patrick Brough, Marcus Haber, Mark Russell |
| Bench | Robbie Mutch, Deimantas Petravicius, Tom Owen Evans, Thomas Robson, Dylan Mackin, Rees Greenwood, Andrew Irving |