| Date | Saturday, 21 February 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:0 Saint Johnstone |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 3,072 |
| Referee | Stuart Dougal |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Saint Johnstone 0 Steven McGarry has revealed his determination to step out of the shadows and lead Ross County's late season recovery. The former St Mirren forward showed his quality and natural ability with an outstanding performance at Victoria Park on Saturday. In a game vital for both clubs, McGarry also epitomised the grit shown through the County side as goals from Sean Higgins and David Winters dealt St Johnstone's ambitions a serious blow. But the 24-year-old is first to admit he has to turn it on with greater regularity to keep his place in a competitive Dingwall attack. McGarry said: "It was good to start the game and get a victory to lift the club after some poor recent results. "But I should be looking to be starting game regularly and holding down my place. "I've been in and out of the team for the past month or so and, with so much competition for places, I know I have to keep doing well." McGarry admits County face an uphill struggle if they are to re-join the leading pack, but said: "You saw the determination among the players. "No one is giving up or letting up the effort. We want to do ourselves justice and try to go on a run of victories and finish as high as possible. "You never know what might happen if we can do that, although 11 points and the games in hand make it a tough gap to close on Clyde. "We need to turn Dingwall into a fortress again. "St Johnstone are still rightly seen as a quality SPL club and this was an important win for us." From kick-off County showed they weren't going to be brushed aside and their much more determined approach set the tone. McGarry robbed Rudi Vata with a solid challenge outside the box and young Sean Higgins ran through to tuck the ball under goalkeeper Craig Nelson. In the second half, County restricted Saints to barely a couple of chances. Late on, substitute David Winters showed perseverance under pressure from Nelson before scoring the second goal. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Graeme Smith, 2: Martin Canning, 3: James Lauchlan, 4: Mark McCulloch, 5: David Hannah, 6: John Rankin, 7: Jamie McCunnie, 8: Steven MacKay, 9: Sean Higgins 1, 10: Steven McGarry, 11: Graham Bayne |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Sean Webb, 0: Stephen O'Donnell, 0: David Winters 1, 0: Neil McDonald |
| Saint Johnstone | |
| Manager | Billy Stark |
| Starting 11 | Craig Nelson, Mark Baxter, Ian Maxwell, Rudi Vata, Jim Weir, Jamie McQuilken, Mark Reilly, Simon Donnelly, Paul Bernard, Brian McLaughlin, Chris Hay |
| Bench | Kevin Cuthbert, Darren Dods, Ross Forsyth, Keigan Parker, Mixu Paatelainen |