| Date | Saturday, 11 April 2026 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Championship |
| Fixture/Score | Queen's Park 1:0 Ross County |
| Venue | The City Stadium |
| Attendance | 846 |
| Referee | Colin Steven |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Andrew Henderson for the Ross-shire Journal. Queen's Park 1 Ross County 0 Ross County face an even steeper uphill battle to remain in the Championship next season after being defeated 1-0 by Queen’s Park. A first half headed goal by Aiden Connolly proved to be all that separated the sides in a match that did not have much quality on show. Having suggested after last week’s defeat to Airdrieonians that he would make changes, Stuart Kettlewell appeared to be forced into a new-look starting line-up to some extent. He reverted to a back three, with Alex Iacovitti, Len O’Sullivan, Ryan Duncan and Jayden Carbon in from the start; with Sean Mackie, Connor Randall, Jay Henderson and Jordan White all dropping out – with the first two being named as injury doubts by Kettlewell during the week. It was the hosts who had the upper hand early on though in what was a scrappy start to the game, with Akil Wright having to clear one cross off his own line and Henry Fieldson missing the target with a header at a set-piece. Queen’s Park’s pressure would then pay off with the opening goal in the 16th minute, as Aiden Connolly was allowed a free header on the edge of the six-yard box to convert past Trevor Carson. County created their first clear sight of goal in the 38th minute as Len O’Sullivan playing a curling ball through for Kieran Phillips, who found himself through to try and beat Calum Ferrie, only for the Queen’s Park goalkeeper to make an important save with his feet. The second half was just as stop-start as the first, but Michael Ruth had a golden chance to double Queen’s Park’s lead just after the hour mark. Breaking clear on a counter attack, he nudged the ball past a couple of defender to at one point be one-on-one with Trevor Carson, but two County defenders did enough to put Ruth off as his shot ended up going over the bar. Stuart Kettlewell did throw about as much as he had on the bench at the game to try and find an equaliser, including handing a senior competitive County debut to young forward Calum Brown. Noah Chilvers was also thrown on as the attacking midfielder steps up his return from a long-term ACL injury, but he could not conjure up the moment of magic that County needed to get themselves back into the game. Relegation rivals Airdrieonians now have two games in hand over the Staggies, but the first of those come against Championship title favourites St Johnstone tomorrow afternoon. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Stuart (Ketts) Kettlewell |
| Starting 11 | 30: Trevor Carson, 3: Len O'Sullivan, 4: Akil Wright, 11: Kieran Phillips, 12: Jayden Carbon 1, 15: Dylan Smith, 16: Alexander Iacovitti 1, 23: Ross Docherty, 27: Ryan Duncan, 31: Declan Gallagher 1, 38: Jamie Lindsay |
| Bench | 21: Bradley Foster, 5: Levis Pitan, 6: Connor Randall 1, 7: Jay Henderson 1, 8: Dean Cornelius, 10: Noah Chilvers, 24: Kaedyn Kamara, 26: Jordan White, 45: Calum Brown |
| Queen's Park | |
| Manager | Sean Crighton |
| Starting 11 | Calum Ferrie, Roddy MacGregor, Matthew Shiels, Aidan Connolly 1, Ricki Lamie, Henry Fieldson, Callum Smith, Louis Longridge, Seb Drozd 1, Scott Martin, Michael Ruth |
| Bench | Magnus MacKenzie, Liam McLeish, Ross Mclean, Kyle Rodger, Jack Wills, Cole Burke, Cole Goldie, Jamie Bradley, Ricky Waugh |