| Date | Saturday, 30 August 2003 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 1:1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 5,020 |
| Referee | Douglas McDonald |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Paul Third for the Press & Journal. Ross County 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 Hugh Robertson is convinced Ross County can be title challengers. Man of the match Robertson was a constant threat in a thrilling game at Victoria Park which, but for the performance of the goalkeepers, could have finished 4-4. Robertson said: "We are still undefeated at home and, if we can continue our from in away matches, a top-half finish is not beyond us. If we go on a good run we might be right up there." Former Dundee and Aberdeen midfielder Robertson believes that manager Alex Smith's assistant Jimmy Bone deserves credit for his role in building team spirit. He said: "The mood at the club has really changed, Jimmy has been a real influence. He comes into work buzzing every day and he gets the boys worked up before we go out training. "I worked with Jimmy at Dundee and he hasn't changed at all. He's very much the old school. He shouts at us during the whole game and lets the manager do it at half-time. "Some of the younger boys are probably a bit afraid of Jimmy as he can be intimidating, but he's a terrific motivator. He and the boss are a real double act." Smith said: "It was a cracking game with both teams going all out to win. Caley put us under some real pressure, especially from set-pieces, and the deliveries from Roy McBain and Richie Hart were excellent. "Caley caused us a lot of problems with their aerial threat, but I felt in open play we created the better chances and on another day could have taken all three points. "We had more than 5,000 fans here and I'm sure everyone went home happy with what they saw. It's up to us to ensure the people keep coming back." Caley Thistle manager John Robertson said: "I think we dominated the game and we could have been three of four up before equalising. We had another three or four great chances after our goal. "The County keeper had two great saves--from Paul Ritchie and David Bingham--but Mark Brown made a few good saves of his own. "I have to be happy with the start we have made. We're three points behind the leaders and in the semi-finals of a cup competition. We've had a good start but we can't switch off-- we have to keep the momentum going." County got off to a dream start with a penalty just 75 seconds into the game. Sean Higgins won the ball in midfield and released Hugh Robertson down the right. Caley's Richie Hart came across to close him down, but was wrong-footed just inside the box, bringing down Robertson. David Hannah made no mistake with the spot-kick. Caley responded with several near misses, David Bingham and Paul Ritchie close to netting an equaliser. With Colin Stewart in fine form, it was going to take something special to beat the County goalkeeper. Step forward Caley captain Bobby Mann in the 22nd minute. Mann steered a terrific 25-yards free kick over the County defensive wall and past Stewart into the top left-hand corner. Both sides continued to create chances in the first half, with County's Robertson and Caley's Ritchie both thwarted. The side struggled to maintain the frantic pace of the first half, but chances continued to be wasted. Jim Hamilton squandered a great opportunity to put County in front when clear on goal. Caley striker Ritchie then watched his header superbly tipped past the post by County goalkeeper Stewart. Not to be outdone, Brown pulled off the save of the match two minutes from time, tipping Robertson's overhead kick from eight yards around his left post. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: Stuart Malcolm 1, 3: Jordon Tait, 4: Hugh Robertson, 5: Jamie McCunnie, 6: John Rankin, 7: Mark McCulloch, 8: Steven MacKay, 9: David Hannah 1 (1 pen), 10: David Winters, 11: Sean Higgins 1 |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Sean Webb, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: James Hamilton, 0: Conor Gethins |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | |
| Manager | John Robertson |
| Starting 11 | Mark Brown, Ross Tokely, Stuart Golabek, Bobby Mann 1, Stuart McCaffrey, Russell Duncan, Richard Hart, Steve Hislop, Paul Ritchie, Roy McBain, David Bingham |
| Bench | Michael Fraser, Tony Low, Darran Thomson, Grant Munro, David Proctor |