| Date | Saturday, 18 October 2003 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 0:3 Saint Johnstone |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 3,195 |
| Referee | Colin Hardie |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 0 Saint Johnstone 3 A Mixu Paatelainen hat-trick wrapped up the points for St Johnstone before half-time as Ross County suffered their first home league defeat of the season. The Big Finn was immense as Billy Stark's men floored County with a devastating display of attacking football. Disappointed County manager Alex Smith said: "That was a massive win for St Johnstone. If they had lost they would have been seven points behind us, and it would have opened up a big gap. "For us it was the first big disappointment and we will just have to see if we have the character to get the result out of the road and take care of Queen of the South here on Saturday." Saints attacked the County goal from the kick-off and John Robertson fired into the side netting before Paul Bernard rifled a shot just past the upright. Colin Stewart did well to block a goal bound effort from Simon Donnelly and Marc McCulloch stepped in to head the ball away from the danger area. It was all Saints and it was no surprise when they took the lead in the seventh minute when former County defender Ian Maxwell got on to the end of a corner and his header across goal was hooked into the net by Paatelainen. Paatelainen grabbed his second in the 37th minute when a Peter MacDonald free kick was touched on by Maxwell and the Fin was presented with the simplest of tap-ins. It was all over three minutes later when another MacDonald free kick crashed off the cross bar and former Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hibs forward Paatelainen was first to react to steer the ball home. County made a couple of changes at the start of the second half in a desperate attempt to get back into the game, with Jordan Tait and Graham Bayne on for Sean Higgins and David Winters. But they failed to make an impression as the Perth visitors kept control without overstretching themselves in an uneventful second period. Delighted Saints manager Billy Stark said: "The way we put the game beyond Ross County before half-time was really pleasing. We restricted them to very few chances and overall I was delighted with the performance. "We are unbeaten now in the last four games--three wins and a draw. This is the type of form we need to show to challenge at the top of the league." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: Stuart Malcolm 1, 3: John Rankin, 4: Mark McCulloch, 5: Steven MacKay 1, 6: David Hannah, 7: Stephen O'Donnell, 8: Jamie McCunnie, 9: Sean Higgins, 10: Steven McGarry, 11: David Winters |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Jordon Tait, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: Graham Bayne, 0: Conor Gethins |
| Saint Johnstone | |
| Manager | Billy Stark |
| Starting 11 | Kevin Cuthbert, Jon Robertson, Ian Maxwell 1, Darren Dods, Ross Forsyth 1, Mark Reilly, Simon Donnelly, Mark Robertson, Paul Bernard, Mixu Paatelainen 3, Peter MacDonald |
| Bench | Craig Nelson, Mark Baxter, Brian McLaughlin, Keigan Parker, Chris Hay |