| Date | Saturday, 09 April 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Falkirk 1:0 Ross County |
| Venue | Falkirk Stadium |
| Attendance | 5,209 |
| Referee | Craig Thomson |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Falkirk 1 Ross county 0 Falkirk finally made the Premier League for the first time since 1996 with a 1-0 victory against Ross County. The Bairns needed only a point to win the title, but the three gained was the icing on the cake for a team last snubbed by the SPL two years ago, due to the state of the old Brockville ground. With the new Falkirk Stadium now meeting the SPL criteria, John Hughes and his men delivered on the park. County manager Alex Smith, who was brought up a few miles from the ground, owns a pub in Falkirk. He said: "Falkirk have been the best team in the league all season. Even if they had a couple of breaks against us they are deserved champions. "This has always been a good area for football and the club is now going back to where it belongs. "I hope they go on to do well in the Premier Division as well, because if they do they are definitely capable of bringing in maximum gates every week." County made it difficult for the home side in what was never a classic match, but Ryan McStay's 67th minute goal calmed nerves and started the party. The 18-year-old picked up a clearance 25 yards out and hit a right-foot shot which beat Colin Stewart before going in off the left upright. Hughes said: "It's a brilliant day for everybody connected to the club. It overshadows the win two years ago because we didn't know then if we would be allowed up. "This time we have the new stadium up and running and everyone is delighted we have been given the green light. "The players have been fantastic all season and have won the league on merit. "The hard work starts now through. We are under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task next term and I know we will have to bring in young legs. "I think we will need half a dozen or so new players and we have already identified some, so I will be going to knock on the directors door to get a budget to get on with my work." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: Martin Canning, 3: John Robertson, 4: Don (JNR) Cowie, 5: Mark McCulloch, 6: Fergus Tiernan, 7: Jamie McCunnie, 8: Sean Kilgannon, 9: Steven McGarry, 10: Sean Higgins, 11: David Winters |
| Bench | 0: Stuart Garden, 0: Neil McDonald, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Shaun Kerr, 0: Alexander Burke |
| Falkirk | |
| Manager | John Hughes |
| Starting 11 | Allan Ferguson, Kevin James, John Hughes, Neil Scally, Russell Latapy, Ryan McStay 1, Craig McPherson, John O'Neil, Darryl Duffy, Daniel McBreen, Scott McKenzie |
| Bench | Darren Hill, Mark Campbell, Andy Lawrie, Colin Marshall, Andy Thomson |