| Date | Saturday, 05 November 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Stranraer 2:3 Ross County |
| Venue | Stair Park |
| Attendance | 483 |
| Referee | Iain Brines |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Stranraer 2 Ross County 3 Ross County caretaker manager Garden Speirs led his new charges to a hard-fought First Division win at Stranraer--and promptly con firmed he wants the job on a full-time basis. Speirs said: "I have enjoyed my first week in charge. I've had a great response from the players and you can't ask for any more. "The agreement I have is I will take charge for two or three weeks while the club is being re-financed. Maybe once everything has been sorted out, we'll talk again. Obviously, I'd Like a go at the job." The Dingwall men thoroughly deserved the win which made worthwhile their marathon trek to Wigtownshire. But they made life difficult for themselves by allowing Stranraer back into the game. The visitors made all the running in the first half, but just couldn't get past home goalkeeper Barry John Corr, who blocked efforts from Mark McCulloch and John Rankin. In the 33rd minute, the former Motherwell goalkeeper looked to have been beaten by another McCulloch shot, but did well to boot the ball clear of the danger zone. A minute later, County had the lead. Neil McDonald swung over a cross from the right and, when home defender Alex Keddie failed to connect, Don Cowie turned and thumped the ball past Corr from deep inside the six yard box. But the visitors were stunned when Stranraer's David Hamilton hit back with two goals in as many minutes right at the end of the half. In the 44th minute the unmarked midfielder picked up a perfect pass from Michael Moore and beat Stuart Garden with a fine angled lob from the edge of the County box. Then, straight from the restart, Stranraer's Lee Sharp made his way up the left. When he whipped over a cross, McDonald handled and gifted Neil Watt's team a spot-kick. Hamilton scored the penalty. It was a lead Stranraer scarcely deserved and it radically altered Spiers's half-time team talk. His players responded well and, within nine minutes of the restart, they were level. Cowie was the fastest to react when Alex Burk sent over a cross. As Corr and Keddie dithered, the County frontman wheeled and sent a rising volley past the home goalkeeper. A string of home substitutions made little difference to the flow of the game and the only remaining question was whether or not the Dingwall men would get a winner. They did just that with eight minutes remaining. David Winters helped Steven McGarry's cross to reach the goalmouth and the unmarked John Rankin found the net with his second attempt after his first had been blocked by defender Derek Wingate. Speirs added: "i fell we deserved the result on the balance of play and the chances we created." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Gardner Spiers |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: Neil McDonald 1, 3: James Lauchlan, 4: Lionel Djebi-Zadi, 5: Martin Canning, 6: Don (JNR) Cowie 2, 7: Fergus Tiernan, 8: John Rankin 1 1, 9: Mark McCulloch, 10: Alexander Burke, 11: David Winters |
| Bench | 0: Joseph Malin, 0: Stuart Taylor, 0: Kevin McKinlay, 0: Gary McSwegan, 0: Steven McGarry |
| Stranraer | |
| Manager | Neil Watt |
| Starting 11 | Barry Corr, Ian Ross, Alex Keddie, Derek Wingate, Murray Henderson 1, Allan Jenkins, David Hamilton 2 1, Stephen Aitken, Michael Moore, Leigh Hinds, Lee Sharp |
| Bench | Andy Dowie, Alan Morrison, Craig Higgins, Paul Walker, Colin Marshall |