| Date | Saturday, 23 October 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 1:0 Queen of the South |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 2,354 |
| Referee | John Rowbotham |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 1 Queen of the South 0 Don Cowie more than compensated for his own goal in Ross County defeat at St Mirren last weekend with a superb winner against Queen of the South at Victoria Park. The St Mirren match was Cowie's 100th appearance for the Dingwall club and he was presented with an engraved plaque before Saturday's game to acknowledge the landmark. Cowie repaid his club's generosity with a stylish display which earned him the man of the match award as County notched their first home league victory of the season. Charlie Adam was the architect of the strike. The on-loan Rangers player laid the ball into Cowie's path and the 21-year-old curled the ball high into the top corner from 20 yards--a goal worthy of winning any game. County manager Alex Smith, was delighted his side had finally come good on home soil. He said: "For a change we got what we deserved--a win at home. We created a lot of chances, especially in the first half. And although I was pleased with the outcome, I'm a bit concerned we didn't get more goals. "We were allowed to play football, mainly due to the performance of an experienced referee. It was important we won, since all the other games ended in a draw. That puts us two points up on everybody." The Queen of the South goal was under constant pressure and Colin Scott was forced to make a one-handed save from Sean Higgins to keep the score line blank. Ross County made the perfect start to the second half with a goal after just 30 seconds. Adam took the ball in from the left and his lay-off was whipped into the net by Cowie's left foot. The Doonhamers came out of their shell after the goal and pushed players forward but, apart from a long-range shot from substitute Emilio Jaconelli which Stuart Garden did well to tip over, the County defence coped well. Disappointed Queens manager Iain Scott said: "It was a flat performance from the start to finish. I can't explain it because we are normally a high energy side." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: James Lauchlan, 3: John Robertson, 4: Martin Canning, 5: Don (JNR) Cowie 1, 6: Charles Adam, 7: Mark McCulloch, 8: Sean Kilgannon, 9: Jamie McCunnie, 10: Sean Higgins, 11: Gary McSwegan |
| Bench | 0: Colin Stewart, 0: Stuart Malcolm, 0: John Rankin, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: David Winters |
| Queen of the South | |
| Manager | Iain Scott |
| Starting 11 | Colin Scott, Brian Reid, Tom English, Eric Paton, Jim Thomson, Steve Bowey, David Bagan, Brian McColligan, David McNiven, Brian McLaughlin, Garry Wood |
| Bench | Craig Samson, Stephen Payne, Willie Gibson, Emillio Jaconelli, Ross Beattie |