| Date | Saturday, 16 April 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:1 Hamilton Academical |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 2,107 |
| Referee | Michael McCurry |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Hamilton Academical 1 Goals from Don Cowie and Sean Kilgannon in either half ensured First Division status for Ross County and a victory against Hamilton Accies at Victoria Park, Dingwall, on Saturday. Accies substitute Steve Convery pulled one back in injury time but, in truth, County should have won by a barrow load. Delighted County manager Alex Smith said: "I thought we dominated the game for long spells. We played a lot of good football and created a few good chances. "Cowie's goal was fantastic and I thought we could have had another before half-time at least. "We continued to play football in the second half and their goalkeeper had a least four outstanding saves." County started well and John Rankin fired over the crossbar in the ninth minute after Kilgannon set up the chance. David Winters then scooped the ball over after a fine build-up and a goal looked on the cards. It arrived in the 19th minute after good work from Kilgannon on the left created an opening for Cowie, who almost burst the net with a tremendous finish from 10 yards. It was still one-way traffic after the break and County doubled their lead in the 59th minute when Kilgannon got on the end of a flowing move involving Winters, Steve McGarry and Rankin to neatly lob David McEwan in the Accies goal. Alex Burke replaced Winters in 72nd minute, but the out-of-form forward failed to convert any of the chances which came his way. Accies got one back in the 90th minute when Convery stuck the ball into Colin Stewart following a Mark Corcoran knockdown. Accies manager Allan Maitland said: "We had a great opportunity to secure our status in the First Division and move above Ross County but, unfortunately, we didn't start well. "I thought we were second best all over the park and although we got a goal in the end, it probably flattered us." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: Martin Canning, 3: John Robertson, 4: Mark McCulloch, 5: Don (JNR) Cowie 1, 6: John Rankin, 7: Jamie McCunnie, 8: Sean Kilgannon 1, 9: Fergus Tiernan, 10: David Winters, 11: Steven McGarry |
| Bench | 0: Stuart Garden, 0: Neil McDonald, 0: Kevin McKinlay, 0: Shaun Kerr, 0: Alexander Burke |
| Hamilton Academical | |
| Manager | Allan Maitland |
| Starting 11 | Dave McEwan, Sandy Hodge, Todd Lumsden, Mark McLaughlin, Paquito Ortiz, Marcel Mahouve, Lee Hardy, Jean-Phillipe Javary, Mark Corcoran, James McArthur, Pat Keogh |
| Bench | Raymond Jellema, David Hamilton, Derek Ferguson, Stevie Convery 1, Colin Cramb |