| Date | Monday, 03 January 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 4:0 Saint Johnstone |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 3,105 |
| Referee | Calum Murray |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 4 Saint Johnstone 0 An early double from David Winters gave Ross County the perfect start to the new year and propelled them further up the First Division table after their third league win in succession. A delighted County manager Alex Smith said: "All our goals were well taken. We created other opportunities and it was an eye catching performance. "The whole team played their part and produced excellent football." In blustery conditions, County almost blew away Saints from the off, and Mark McCulloch fired a early warning signal with a shot which flew over the Saints crossbar in the first minute. John Rankin slipped the ball through to Don Cowie for the first real chance of the match, but Saints goalkeeper Kevin Cuthbert raced from his goal to turn the ball past for a corner. At the other end, Colin Stewart had to look smart in dealing with a snap shot from Peter MacDonald, and a low drive from Ryan McCann. But the opening goal came at the other end in the 14th minute. Don Cowie set up Winters with a scoring chance, and after his first effort was cleared off the goal line by former County favourite Ian Maxwell, he stabbed the rebound into the net from 12 yards. Winters was on target again a couple of minutes later when he got on the end of a Sean Kilgannon cross to tuck the ball away at the near post. County were flying, and it was no surprise when they went 3-0 up in the 34th minute when Martin Canning rose high in the box to head home a perfectly flighted Kilgannon free kick. Saints pushed players forward after the break, but the County defence never looked in any danger and Jim Lauchlan completed a fine afternoon's work when he stabbed the ball home from five yards after Cuthbert failed to hold a long-range shot from Rankin. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: James Lauchlan 1, 3: John Robertson, 4: Martin Canning 1, 5: John Rankin, 6: Don (JNR) Cowie, 7: Fergus Tiernan 1, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: Sean Kilgannon, 10: Alexander Burke, 11: David Winters 2 |
| Bench | 0: Stuart Garden, 0: Neil McDonald, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Steven McGarry, 0: Sean Higgins |
| Saint Johnstone | |
| Manager | John Connolly |
| Starting 11 | Kevin Cuthbert, Sean Webb, Mark Baxter, Ian Maxwell, Kieran McAnespie, Jordan Tait, Paul Sheerin, David Hannah 1, Ryan McCann, Peter MacDonald, Chris Hay 1 |
| Bench | Craig Samson, Kevin Rutkiewicz, Ross Forsyth, Martyn Fotheringham, Michael Moore |