| Date | Saturday, 06 March 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Queen of the South 1:1 Ross County |
| Venue | Palmerston Park |
| Attendance | 2,047 |
| Referee | Charlie Richmond |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Colin Paterson for the Press & Journal. Queen of the South 1 Ross County 1 Ross boss Alex Smith insists his side still have a chance of winning the First Division title, despite a poor display in Dumfries. The Dingwall men produced a subdued display--which left Smith an angry man at full-time. His mood was not helped when he discovered that leaders Clyde had lost 3-2 at home to St Johnstone. A great chance to go fourth-- just eight points behind the leaders--had been spurned and County are now 10 points behind in fifth. Steven McGarry's fourth goal of the season was the only positive the Dingwall men could take from an afternoon in which they never got going. Smith said: "I'm very upset at only drawing the game. We came down here wanting to win." Smith had a warning for any player in his squad thinking the season is over and that they are in a comfort zone. He said: "If any player wants to be in the middle of the league and be happy, then that's fine, but I'm not going to put up with it." County fell behind in the seventh minute when Paul Burns found Stevie Bowey with an excellent ball in behind the defence and he coolly lobbed the ball over the advancing Graeme Smith and into the net. County began applying some pressure after the break and equalised in the 82nd minute. McGarry collected possession on the edge of the box before turning sharply and curling a wonderful shot in off the post, giving Craig Samson no chance. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Graeme Smith, 2: Martin Canning, 3: James Lauchlan 1, 4: Mark McCulloch, 5: David Hannah, 6: John Rankin 1, 7: Jamie McCunnie, 8: Steven MacKay, 9: Sean Higgins, 10: Steven McGarry 1, 11: Graham Bayne |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Stuart Malcolm, 0: Stephen O'Donnell, 0: James Hamilton, 0: David Winters |
| Queen of the South | |
| Manager | John Connolly |
| Starting 11 | Craig Samson, Brian Reid, Derek Allan, Andrew Aitken, Eric Paton, Steve Bowey 1, David Bagan, Willie Gibson 1, Emillio Jaconelli, Alex Burke, John Paul Burns |
| Bench | John Dodds, Paul McMullan, Joe McAlpine, Garry Wood, Steven Payne |