| Date | Tuesday, 10 November 1998 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Inverness Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 4:3 Brora Rangers |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | |
| Referee | John Bicknell |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the North Star. Ross County 4 Brora Rangers 3 Ross County came from behind to win against battling Brora Rangers on Tuesday night in a seven goal thriller at Victoria Park. County's mixed side of first team full-timers and fringe players had to work hard to overcome the Brora side, who were 3-1 ahead 10 minutes into the second half. Ten minutes into the game Brora went into the lead when John Tuach knocked in a rebound after defender Donald Allan's shot came back off the woodwork. Following a brilliant diving save by Brora keeper Don McMillan, Brora went two up on 14 minutes following an amazing blunder by County keeper Michael Rae who let a harmless-looking ball drop through his hands which was immediately capitalised on by an alert Norman MacMillan. Five minutes before the interval Steve Ferguson hammered a 25 yard right foot volley into the top corner to pull one back for the home side, but nine minutes after the break MacMillan grabbed the goal of the game. He weaved past two County defenders on the edge of the box, selling Willie Furphy a clever dummy and then stroking the ball past Rae from 12 yards to put Brora 3-1 ahead. County cranked up the pressure, looking to get back into the game, and got three goals in two minutes from striker Gary Higgins. Higgins lashed his first into the roof of the net from 10 yards on 73 minutes before smacking Steve Ferguson's clever lay-off wide of the diving MacMillan on 76 minutes to get the Third Division side back on level terms. Brora goal hero MacMillan missed a great chance to put his side back in front inside a minute and six minutes from the end Higgins almost grabbed a hat trick when he beat the diving Brora Keeper with a header from Dave Mackay's cross which came back off the base of the near post. It was County substitute Brian MacLeod who stroked the winner from 14 yards in the final minute after Stuart Golabek opened the Brora defence to give the youngster a chance. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Michael Rae, 2: David MacKay, 3: Stuart Golabek, 4: William Furphy, 5: Robert (Robbie) Williamson, 6: Neil Tarrant, 7: David Ross, 8: Steven Ferguson 1, 9: Gary Higgins 2, 10: Murray Hunter, 11: ? Huggon |
| Bench | 0: Brian MacLeod 1 |
| Brora Rangers | |
| Manager | |
| Starting 11 | McMillan, Somerville, Murray, Glazier, Skinner, Allan, Tuach 1, Hart, MacMillan 2, MacLeod, Stone |
| Bench | Winter, Bain, MacKay |