| Date | Saturday, 25 September 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Hamilton Academical 1:2 Ross County |
| Venue | New Douglas Park |
| Attendance | 1,522 |
| Referee | Mike Tumilty |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Hamilton Academical 1 Ross County 2 Lanarkshire is proving to be happy hunting ground in Division 1 for Alex Smith's Ross County. After their win at Airdrie last week smith's men did it all over again on the all-weather pitch at Hamilton. And how substitute Sean Higgins enjoyed the moment as he came off the bench to drive in the winner. He said: "This seems to be a lucky ground for me for I scored here in a youth cup final." Manager Smith was also happy for the young forward. He said: "The goal will give him a lot of confidence as he has been in and out of the team." Smith was also pleased with the three points. He Added: "We rode our luck slightly in the second half and allowed them into the game but, overall, I believe we were the stronger team and deserved the points. "The substitution worked out well. "It was Hamilton who went ahead early when Scott Tunbridge turned a Brian Carrigan cross into the net after only nine minutes. But County buckled down and Jim Lauchlan got above the home defence just before the half hour mark to meet a Sean Kilgannon cross and head the equaliser. After that County could have gone ahead but Hamilton goalkeeper David McEwan denied Alex Burke, David Winters and Mark McCulloch. County lived dangerously midway through the second half as a Tunbridge header came back off the bar. However, County got the points when Alex Burke crossed for Higgins to knock in the winner with his first touch of the ball. Hamilton had Brian Carrigan sent off near the end, a decision which angered manager Allan Maitland. He said: "I asked the referee whey he had been sent off and he said it was for making running motion--whatever that is. "However, it was our inability to score that cost us." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: Stuart Malcolm 1, 3: James Lauchlan 1, 4: Jamie McCunnie, 5: Sean Kilgannon, 6: Don (JNR) Cowie, 7: Charles Adam 1, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: David Winters, 10: Alexander Burke 1, 11: Gary McSwegan |
| Bench | 0: Colin Stewart, 0: John Robertson, 0: Kevin McKinlay, 0: Bryan Young, 0: Sean Higgins |
| Hamilton Academical | |
| Manager | Allan Maitland |
| Starting 11 | Dave McEwan, Sandy Hodge, Stevie Thompson, Ryan Blackadder, Derek Ferguson, Mark Corcoran, Scott Turnbridge 1 1, Brian McPhee, Brian Carrigan 2 1, Pat Keogh, Iain Fyfe |
| Bench | Raymond Jellema, Robert Walker, Chris Aitken, Ricky Waddell, Andrew Arbuckle |