| Date | Tuesday, 24 August 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 0:1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 3,315 |
| Referee | Calum Murray |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Dave Edwards for the Press & Journal. Ross County 0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 Ross Tokely's powerful 64th-minute header took Caley Thistle into the third round of the CIS League Cup after a dismal derby at Victoria Park last night. Tokely's goal sent the Premier League side through and earned the big defender the man-of-the-match award--but this eagerly-awaited derby failed to reach the dizzy heights of previous encounters. County gave a debut to former Dunfermline Athletic left-sided midfielder Steve McGarry, who started against Clyde in a 1-0 defeat at the weekend. For Thistle, Roy McBain and Richie Hart dropped to the bench after their exertions against Celtic at Pittodrie on Sunday, while former Hearts striker Juanjo was included in John Robertson's starting line-up. Fuanjo was available for selection as he has appealed against his controversial dust-up with Neil Lennon in Aberdeen. Liam Keogh had the game's first shot at goal but his 30-yard effort flew harmlessly over the top in the 10th minute. A minute later, Jim Lauchlan was penalised for dangerous play 25 yards out but Juanjo's curling free kick sailed a yard past. It was Barry Wilson's turn to get in on the action in the 19th minute but Stuart Garden dived to clutch his angular drive while at the other end Mark Brown dealt confidently with a John Rankin free kick which curled round the Jags wall. Grant Munro came up for a Juanjo free kick but his powerful header went over while County responded with a Mark McCulloch drive from a Brown punch-out but that one too failed to find the target. Alex Burke had a great chance to open the scoring when Mark McCulloch set him up on the right but the former Kilmarnock striker pulled his shot wide. Jags went right up the park and Barry Wilson volleyed just over from a Grant Munro cross. Four minutes before the break Juanjo passed up the best chance of the first half when he blazed high over from eight yards with only Garden to beat. Ross County made a positive double substitution on the hour when strikers Alex Burke and Gary McSwegan were replaced by Steve McGarry and David Winters. However, it was the visitors who took the lead in the 64th minute when Barry Wilson fired a corner to the near-post and Ross Tokely rose unchallenged to head home powerfully. Three minutes later the Inverness side earned a free kick 25 yards out but the path of Stuart Golabek he drove narrowly past the upright. The Dingwall side brought on Sean Higgins in place of Sean Kilgannon and with 10 minutes left only a miraculous finger-tip save from Mark Brown denied David Winters the equaliser. Steve McGarry almost took the game into extra time with a ferocious 25-yard drive with only two minutes left but the ball sizzled narrowly past the upright. It could all have been so different for Alex Smith's brave side had any one of those chances counted, but instead it is their old First Division rivals who will go on to represent the Highlands in the national League Cup Competition. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: Martin Canning, 3: James Lauchlan, 4: John Robertson, 5: Steven MacKay, 6: Sean Kilgannon, 7: Don (JNR) Cowie, 8: John Rankin 1, 9: Mark McCulloch 1, 10: Gary McSwegan, 11: Alexander Burke |
| Bench | 0: John Mccaffrey, 0: Jamie McCunnie, 0: David Winters, 0: Sean Higgins, 0: Steven McGarry |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | |
| Manager | John Robertson |
| Starting 11 | Mark Brown, Stuart Golabek, Ross Tokely 1, Stuart McCaffrey, Grant Munro, Barry Wilson, Russell Duncan, Steven Hislop, Juan (Juanjo) Pérez, Graham Bayne, Liam Keogh |
| Bench | Michael Fraser, Darren Dods, Richard Hart, Roy McBain, Bryan Prunty |