| Date | Friday, 08 August 2025 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Championship |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 0:1 Saint Johnstone |
| Venue | Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 3,185 |
| Referee | Dan McFarlane |
| Comments | Match Report Report by The BBC. Ross County 0 Saint Johnstone 1 Substitute Uche Ikpeazu's late header gave St Johnstone a narrow but deserved win away to fellow promotion favourites Ross County in the Scottish Championship. Until then, the two relegated sides had cancelled one another out, but it is the visitors who start the league season with two consecutive wins. The Perth side dominated possession for most of the first half, but it was County who forced the first save of note, with midfielder Jay Henderson stinging goalkeeper Toby Steward's palms with a powerful drive after the break. Ikpeazu headed wide from only six yards with the goal at his mercy, while rival striker James Scott, who was handed his debut along with centre-half Alex Iacovitti after moves from St Mirren earlier in the day, glanced an opportunity just wide. However, when home goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw failed to meet a free-kick lofted to the back post, Ikpeazu rose to head home his third goal in five games this season. Fellow striker Adama Sidibeh looked to be through for a second and, although Laidlaw did well to touch wide this time, the goalkeeper's error was enough to hand Saints a sixth consecutive win as they continue their League Cup form in the league. For County, it is a third game without a win and they are already five points adrift of their prospective title rivals. Ross County manager Don Cowie: "St Johnstone were definitely slicker than us in possession, especially first half, but still I thought we defended really well. "We tried to change things at half time and we had bits of encouragement in the second half and has the best chance when it was 0-0. Ultimately, the game is lost by a mistake and to lose it in the manner we did was really frustrating." St Johnstone head coach Simo Valakari: "I think we all saw it was a tough battle between two good teams. "I have to say that how our players showed themselves tonight, it was very good. It's not easy to come here and control the game. Yes, we maybe did not create that many chances, but we dominated with the ball." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Don Cowie |
| Starting 11 | 1: Ross Laidlaw, 3: Len O'Sullivan, 4: Akil Wright, 6: Connor Randall 1, 7: Jay Henderson 1, 8: Dean Cornelius, 9: Ronan Hale 1, 16: Alexander Iacovitti 1, 17: Gary MacKay-Steven, 31: Declan Gallagher, 38: Jamie Lindsay |
| Bench | 21: Bradley Foster, 2: Ben Crompton, 14: Nicholas (Nicky) Clark, 15: Dylan Smith, 19: Arron Lyall, 20: George Robesten, 22: Adam Emslie, 26: Jordan White, 44: James Scott |
| Saint Johnstone | |
| Manager | Simo Valakari |
| Starting 11 | Toby Steward, Sven Sprangler 1, Matty Foulds, Cheick Diabate, Jack Baird, Reece McAlear 1, Jamie Gullan, Stevie Mallan, Jason Holt 1, Josh McPake, Adama Sidibeh |
| Bench | Uche Ikpeazu 1, Makenzie Kirk, Scott Bright, Sam Stanton, Fran Franczak, Jonathan Svedberg, Ross Sinclair, Taylor Steven, Reghan Tumilty |