| Date | Saturday, 17 January 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Falkirk 2:0 Ross County |
| Venue | Ochilview |
| Attendance | 2,482 |
| Referee | Garry Mitchell |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Falkirk 2 Ross County 0 Falkirk had won only three games at temporary home Ochilview prior to Ross County's visit on Saturday, but saw off the Dingwall outfit with more ease than the score line suggests. The Bairns had lost central defender Kevin James to injury in the warm-up, but the addition of player-manager John Hughes to the starting line-up strengthened rather than weakened the home side and the weakened the home side and the big fellow had a stormer. When 19-year-old forward Derek Colquhoun added to Russell Latapy's opener in 25 minutes, with only four minutes of the second period gone, it was all over. Ross County manager Alex Smith said: "I thought Falkirk started lacking a bit of confidence, but we allowed them to dictate the game and gave them encouragement. "As the game went on they had two or three good efforts, but our young goalkeeper had some good saves. "Falkirk deserved to win, there's no doubt." David Hannah had gone close early on for County, but the Bairns took over and Russell Latapy controlled beautifully on his chest before blasting the opener high into the net from 14 yards. Davide Xausa went close for the home side before Colquhoun got on the end of a Hughes knock down off a wonderful Craig McPherson cross in the 49th minute to drill low into Graham Smith's right corner for the second. Although County's substitutions, particularly Conor Gethins arriving for David Winters in the 74th minute, gave them a lift, it was too much of an uphill climb back into the game. "After losing the second goal so early in the second half, we were chasing the game," said Smith. "We didn't pass the ball until the last quarter of an hour or so when we made changes and got a bit of rhythm to our passing." The manager admitted he had been concerned about a reaction after their Scottish Cup tie against Celtic, when they played well but lost 2-0. He said: "Historically, when you come off the back of a big game in Glasgow you suffer a bit. I read the script at 5pm last Saturday and I've worried about it all week." Falkirk player-manager Hughes said: "It was very pleasing to get a result playing a good passing game. We played some great stuff. "It's definitely a big win, but I don't believe the league would have been gone had we lost. "All the sides are capable of cutting each other's throats and there is a long way to go." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Graeme Smith, 2: James Lauchlan, 3: Sean Webb, 4: Hugh Robertson, 5: Mark McCulloch, 6: David Hannah 1, 7: John Rankin, 8: Jamie McCunnie, 9: Stephen O'Donnell, 10: David Winters, 11: James Hamilton |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: Steven McGarry, 0: Conor Gethins |
| Falkirk | |
| Manager | John Hughes |
| Starting 11 | Darren Hill, Kieran McAnespie, James Sharp, Andy Lawrie, John Hughes, Scott McKenzie, Russell Latapy 1, Craig McPherson, John O'Neil, Derek Colqhoun 1, Davide Xausa 1 |
| Bench | John Hutchison, Neil Scally, Philip Creaney, Ryan McStay, Ian McSween |