| Date | Tuesday, 03 November 1998 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Inverness Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 7:1 Nairn County |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | |
| Referee | William Murray |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the North Star. Ross County 7 Nairn County 1 Ross County soundly trounced Nairn on Tuesday night to get in to the semi-finals of the Inverness Cup. Nairn got off to a good start with Gary Ross putting a free kick ball past keeper Michael Rae to put the Highland League side ahead. But five minutes later by putting their opponents under ferocious pressure County scored an equaliser. Roy McBain's corner was cleared to Stuart Golabek who hit a 22 yard shot which cannoned off the woodwork to Steve Ferguson, who hit it home from six yards. Two minutes later County took the lead, McBain setting up Ross who hammered a 12 yard shot into the roof of the net, the helpless Nairn keeper Billy Neilson looking on. However, he rectified this on the half hour with a superb save when Matheson's cross was headed towards the top corner by Ross. Neilson responded magnificently to touch the ball over the bar, and he followed this with another save on 39 minutes when he blocked a piledriver from McBain. Ferguson hit the Nairn woodwork just before the interval which saw County 3-1 in front after Ross steered home a header when McBain chipped the Nairn defence. In the second half Nairn, looking better organised, frustrated County until the 72nd minute when Golabek drilled a 20 yard shot low past substitute keeper Harold Annand into the bottom of the net. County's fitness level told in the closing 10 minutes, Ferguson scoring with a header to make it 5-1. Neil Tarrant made it 6-1 with a chip from the edge of the penalty area. Substitute Steve McKay rattled home the seventh from the edge of the box two minutes before the final whistle. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Michael Rae, 2: David Matheson, 3: Stuart Golabek 1, 4: William Furphy, 5: William (Billy) Herd, 6: Robert (Robbie) Williamson, 7: David Ross 2, 8: Steven Ferguson 2, 9: Neil Tarrant 1, 10: Murray Hunter, 11: Roy McBain |
| Bench | 0: Steven MacKay 1, 0: Graham Munro, 0: David MacLean |
| Nairn County | |
| Manager | |
| Starting 11 | Neilson, Dearie, Kennedy, Clark, Simpson, Brown, MacDonald, MacMillan, MacRae, Sinclair, Ross 1 |
| Bench | Annand, Smith |