| Date | Saturday, 18 September 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Airdrie United 1:2 Ross County |
| Venue | New Broomfield |
| Attendance | 1,484 |
| Referee | Steve Conroy |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Airdrie United 1 Ross county 2 David Winters has vowed to make the Ross County centre forward's berth his own after netting the winner against Airdrie United at New Broomfield on Saturday. The 22-year-old scored for the second consecutive match as County capped a memorable week on Saturday after the penalty shootout Bell's Cup win against Partick Thistle on Wednesday. Dingwall manager Alex Smith has a wealth of attacking options and Winters, who only got his chance after Gary McSwegan was suspended in midweek, was delighted to take his chance. The players said: "I'm hoping to stay in the team and I feel now it is only me that can push me out. "I only got my chance after Gary got sent off last week against St Johnstone and I got my chance again against Partick Thistle and I think I did quite well. "I just need to keep scoring goal and creating for the team." Ross County showed no signs of tiredness and were out of the blocks first and took the lead after just five minutes when Martin Canning nodded in from a Charlie Adam corner for his first goal of the season. Airdrie battled back, but the outstanding Jim Lauchlan was marshalling the defence superbly and for all the home players' possession, they created very little in the final third. But, after 41 minutes, Mark McCulloch was harshly adjudged to have pushed Owen Coyle in the penalty box and Stephen McKeown slotted home the penalty kick. The winner came nine minutes into the second half when Steven McGarry released Alex Burke and County's leading scorer turned provider when he drove into the box and crossed for Winters to tap home at the back post. McGarry was sent off with nine minutes remaining for elbowing Airdrie substitute Neil McGowan, but Smith's men held on for a well-deserved victory. Smith said: "It's been a good win and we deserved it today and it puts us back in the pack." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: James Lauchlan, 3: Martin Canning 1, 4: Jamie McCunnie 1, 5: Charles Adam 1, 6: Mark McCulloch 1, 7: Sean Kilgannon, 8: Don (JNR) Cowie, 9: Steven McGarry 1, 10: David Winters 1, 11: Alexander Burke |
| Bench | 0: Colin Stewart, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Craig Gunn, 0: Gary McSwegan, 0: Sean Higgins |
| Airdrie United | |
| Manager | Sandy Stewart |
| Starting 11 | Mark McGeown, Kevin Christie, Marvyn Wilson, Jerome Vareille, William Wilson, David Dunn, Allan McManus 1, Kevin Barkey, Steven McKeown 1 (1 pen), Owen Coyle, A Trialist |
| Bench | Lee Hollis, Neil McGowan, Stevie Docherty, Martin Hardie, Thomas Hoey |