| Date | Tuesday, 23 November 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 1:1 Raith Rovers |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,193 |
| Referee | Alan Freeland |
| Comments | Match Report Published: Press & Journal 24/11/2004 Ross County 1 Raith Rovers 1 Dingwall men move up a place....Burke's 10th goal, but poor home form continues Smith calls for cool heads Alex Smith last night admitted his players seem to lack composure at home while turning it on away. But while last night's draw against Raith Rovers at Victoria Park was a cause for concern, Smith called for cool heads and expressed faith in his players to return to their best. The manager said: "I'm disappointed, of course. We seem to have lost a bit of composure in the last couple of games and you wouldn't think this was the team that played so well in a cup final two weeks ago. "Saturday was a bad game for us and tonight we were nervy on a 1-0 lead. "We had chances to finish the game but couldn't take them and when the game goes to that late stage, you are vulnerable. "And it was a very good goal by their lad. "We do seem to be facing problems at home and we seem to go from being one of the best passing teams in the league to losing our fluency. "But everyone needs to rally around - the players and the supporters. "I criticise the players when they do badly and praise them when they do well, but I will never slaughter them. "We have to keep calm and measured about it and turn things around." A wonderful strike by Moussa Ouattara gave Raith Rovers a share of the spoils. The Burkina Faso international cancelled out Alex Burke's first half strike to clinch a First Division point. But while County climb a place in the table with the draw, their puzzlingly poor home form continues. After a scrappy first 15 minutes, County went ahead. Full back John Robertson broke powerfully down the right and found Burke closing in on goal at pace to tuck the ball away from eight yards. That was Burke's 10th goal of the season in every competition and County visibly grew in confidence. Just three minutes later, Sean Higgins flashed a header just wide of the post from Don Cowie's corner. Ross County's own slackness then gave Raith encouragement with a poor Martin Canning back pass almost letting Ouattara in. Almost everything good Raith produced went through the Burkina Faso international. Just before the break, Ouattara let fly from the edge of the area and rattled the inside of Garden's left-hand post. County upped the ante after 66 minutes with two good attempts. A Burke cross set up Don Cowie for a half volley six yards out but keeper David Berthrlot turned the ball brilliantly for a corner. Seconds later, a curling 20 yard effort from Mark McCulloch was tipped over brilliantly by Berthelot. And against the run of play, though, the out standing Ouattara produced a glorious finish in 71 minutes. The tricky African shook off the attentions of Charlie Adams and lifted a 22-yard shot high into the net. Ross County breathed a sigh of relief near the end as Hamed Sacko rounded the keeper but Canning cleared off the line. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: Stuart Malcolm, 3: James Lauchlan 1, 4: John Robertson, 5: Martin Canning, 6: Steven MacKay, 7: Don (JNR) Cowie, 8: John Rankin, 9: Mark McCulloch, 10: Sean Higgins, 11: Alexander Burke 1 |
| Bench | 0: Colin Stewart, 0: Charles Adam, 0: Jamie McCunnie, 0: David Winters, 0: Steven McGarry |
| Raith Rovers | |
| Manager | Gordon Dalziel |
| Starting 11 | David Berthelot, Jonathan Smart, Maurice Mendy, Ian Davidson, Moussa Ouattara 1, Anthony Bartholome, Shaun Dennis, Bruce Raffell, Paul Millar 1, Herve Ebanda, John Martin |
| Bench | Rudy Pounoussamy, Lloyd Young, Hamed Sacko, Craig Malcolm, Baronne Tagro |