| Date | Saturday, 20 September 2003 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:2 Ayr United |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 2,832 |
| Referee | John Underhill |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Ayr United 2 Ross County clung to top spot in Division One, despite being held to a draw by Ayr United at Victoria Park. Alex Smith's men looked every inch league leaders when they stormed into a 2-0 lead in the first 14 minutes, but some bad defending let the Honest Men back into the game. After taking a commanding lead thanks to a Sean Higgins double, goals from Stephen Whalen and Scott Chaplain earned the visitors a point. County manager Smith said: "We talked before the game about the dangers of complacency after such a good result last week." Higgins was on the scoresheet after three minutes when he re-directed a through ball from Hugh Robertson past French goalkeeper Ludovic Roy, and the same player added a second following a similar move. John Rankin cut the ball back for David Hannah who shot low through a ruck of players and Higgins, in a suspiciously offside position, stabbed the ball home. County were spreading the ball about well and looked sure to add to their tally before a defensive blunder from Stewart Malcolm let in Wheelan, who fired the ball into the corner of the net. Robertson looked odds-on to restore County's two-goal lead when he connected with a Cowie cross, but his shot rebounded off the underside of the crossbar. The home side was punished for the miss when Chaplain got behind the County defence to head in a Willy Lyle cross five minutes from time. Sub Steve McGarry tested Roy with a shot the keeper did well to tip over, and, at the other end, Chaplain was unlucky to see a header come off the bar. County captain David Hannah went off eight minutes into the second half with a hamstring and his leadership qualities were missed in the closing stages. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: Stuart Malcolm, 3: Jordon Tait, 4: Hugh Robertson, 5: Jamie McCunnie, 6: David Hannah, 7: John Rankin, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: Don (JNR) Cowie, 10: David Winters, 11: Sean Higgins 2 |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Stephen O'Donnell, 0: Steven McGarry, 0: James Hamilton, 0: Graham Bayne |
| Ayr United | |
| Manager | Campbell Money |
| Starting 11 | Ludovic Roy, David Craig, Mark Campbell, Marc Smyth, Willie Lyle 1, Dougie Ramsay, Scott Chaplain 1, Steven Ferguson, Stephen Whalen 1, Stewart Kean, Stewart McGrady |
| Bench | John Hillcoat, James Latta, Chris Kerr, Aaron Black, Robert Burgess |