| Date | Friday, 14 November 2003 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3:3 Ross County |
| Venue | Caledonian Stadium |
| Attendance | 3,523 |
| Referee | Willie Young |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Paul Third for the Press & Journal. Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 Ross County 3 Ross County staged one of the great comebacks in Highland derby history last night, rallying from 3-0 down to grab a point in a thrilling First Division game at Caledonian Stadium. Three first-half goals in four minutes--from David Bingham Steve Hislop and Barry Wilson--put John Robertson's side in control, but County hit back quickly through David Winters, Graham Bayne netted County's second goal midway through the second half to set up a frantic finale and Steven McGarry hit the equaliser in the second minute of injury time. County defender Stuart Malcolm seemed particularly fired up and, having escaped a booking for a petulant swipe at Wilson earlier in the match, could have no complaints at being shown the yellow card by referee Willie Young for a tackle from behind on Bingham. Roy McBain squandered a great chance to put Caley Thistle in front in 27th minute. Caley finally managed a good delivery into the box in the 30th minute, and it culminated in the opening goal. Barry Wilson's in swinging corner was met by Bingham at the back post and the striker coolly stroked the ball into the back of the net--despite the effort of County defender Steven MacKay on the line. Within a minute it was 2-0. McBain played a one-two with Bingham down the left and his driven cross was hammered past Stewart by former County striker Hislop from eight yards. It was 3-0 in the 34th minute with the visitors' defence in disarray. Richie Hart was put under no pressure 25 yards from goal and he squared the ball to Wilson, whose first-time effort flew past Stewart into keeper's top-right corner. County needed a break and they got one in the 37th minute when Winters pulled a goal back, volleying Stephen O'Donnell's cross past home keeper Mark Brown from 10 yards. The visitors started the second half brightly, knowing they needed another goal to haul themselves back into the game and it duly came in the 70th minute. Substitute Conor Gethin's looping ball into the box from 35 yards was met by Bayne, whose downwards header from eight yards gave Brown no chance. County completed the comeback with an injury-time equaliser. A high ball into the box fell perfectly for substitute McGarry who fired a superb rising shot past Brown from 20 yards. He was booked for removing his shirt in the celebration. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: Sean Webb, 3: Hugh Robertson, 4: Stuart Malcolm 1, 5: Stephen O'Donnell, 6: Mark McCulloch, 7: Steven MacKay 1, 8: Jamie McCunnie, 9: David Hannah, 10: Graham Bayne 1 1, 11: David Winters 1 |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Jordon Tait, 0: Sean Higgins, 0: Steven McGarry 1, 0: Conor Gethins |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | |
| Manager | John Robertson |
| Starting 11 | Mark Brown, Ross Tokely, Stuart Golabek, Grant Munro, Stuart McCaffrey 1, Russell Duncan, Barry Wilson 1, Roy McBain, Steven Hislop 1, Richard Hart, David Bingham 1 |
| Bench | Liam Keogh, Darran Thomson, Craig Macmillan, Paul Ritchie, Michael Fraser |