| Date | Saturday, 01 October 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 1:1 Queen of the South |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 2,203 |
| Referee | Andrew Hunter |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 1 Queen of the South 1 Martin Canning saved Ross County's blushes with a late leveller against nine-man Queen of the South at Victoria Park and a point proved to be enough to take the Dingwall men back to the top of the First Division. John O'Neil had given Queens the lead against the run of play in the first half but County finally got the goal they deserved six minutes from the end. County manager John Robertson, who celebrated his 41st birthday yesterday, has called for the strikers to be more clinical in front of goal. He said: "I left my forwards in no doubt whatsoever that they will have to start producing. The only striker who is playing well is Alex Burke. "I don't see a 20-goal-a-season striker in this league so it's important for our strikers to get to double figures. Any team that has one or two strikers scoring up to 15 goals a season will be the team that will come away with the silverware." The visitors broke upfield to score in the 32nd minute. Stuart Garden had just pulled off his first save of note from Stephen Payne and within a minute he was picking the ball out of the back of the net. Willie Gibson's cross from the left was deflected high into the box and O'Neil rose to head home on the six-yard line. County kept creating openings and John Rankin and Burke were both denied by a succession of point-blank saves from Scott before Mark McCulloch and Don Cowie drove wide of target when they should have scored. County's task was made easier when former Dingwall striker Gary Wood was dismissed after he picked up a second yellow card in the 73rd minute. After pressure in the Queens goal the equaliser finally arrived. Rankin's corner kick was headed back across goal by Fergus Tiernan and when the ball fell to Canning the big centre back hooked it into the net from close range. As Rankin attempted to retrieve the ball a scuffle ensued involving Brian McCulligan and Stephen Bowey with Bowey being sent off. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | John Robertson |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: Sean Webb, 3: Martin Canning 1, 4: David Cowan, 5: Lionel Djebi-Zadi, 6: John Rankin 1, 7: Fergus Tiernan, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: Steven McGarry, 10: Alexander Burke, 11: Maciej Nuckowski |
| Bench | 0: Ian McCaldon, 0: James Lauchlan, 0: Kevin McKinlay, 0: David Winters, 0: Gary McSwegan |
| Queen of the South | |
| Manager | Iain Scott |
| Starting 11 | Colin Scott, Brian Reid, Tom English, Stephen Payne, Eric Paton, Jim Thomson, Paul Burns, Jon O'Neil 1 1, Steve Bowey 1, Willie Gibson, Garry Wood 2 1 |
| Bench | Richard Barnard, Brian McColligan 1, David McNiven, Brian McLaughlin, A Trialist |