Date	Saturday, 03 August 2002
Competition	Scottish League Division 1
Fixture/Score	Arbroath 0:3 Ross County
Venue	Gayfield Park
Attendance	557
Referee	Tom Brown
Comments	Match Report Report by Paul Smith from the Press & Journal. Arbroath 0 Ross County 3 After 90 minutes of the new campaign Ross County have already improved on their record against Arbroath for the whole of last season--and nobody is more relieved than goalkeeper Tony Bullock. Saturday's 3-0 win at Gayfield marked his first victory and first clean sheet against the stuffy Angus outfit. County slumped to three defeats and a draw in four league encounters with Arbroath last term, scoring just two goals and conceding six in the process. Bullock admits he had fears about returning to a coastal stadium renowned as a nightmare for goalkeepers but he believes the curse of Gayfield has now been lifted. He said: "I laid a few ghosts to rest at Arbroath. I made a few costly mistakes there last season so it was pleasurable to come away with a clean sheet. "It can be difficult at Gayfield but the pitch was in perfect condition, there was no wind and no sun--ideal for keepers. "For the first 30 minutes it was quite even but we settled down after that and the boys were absolutely fantastic. We defended superbly as a unit and, in all honesty, I didn't have too much work to do." Neale Cooper's men sit in first position after the opening weekend of First Division action and Bullock believes they are capable of retaining top spot. He said: "We had a good end to last season but we want to look to the future now. "We don't want to be a middle of the table team, we want to be up at the top of thr league challenging. It may only be the first weekend of the season but it is still nice to be at the top of the table looking down on everyone. We want to stay there. "After two or three games last year we were at the bottom looking up and nobody wants to return to those days." For Arbroath manager John Brownlie, Saturday's comprehensive defeat at the hands of County was an indication of the fight his team face to beat the drop this season. He said: "It was a very disappointing match--the manner in which we lost more than just the score line. We usually roll our sleeves up if we fall behind but we didn't do that against Ross County. "It is going to be difficult to survive in this division but we did it last year and the players who were part of that know what is expected of them. "Those who weren't here will soon learn that there are no easy games in the First Division." County ran out comfortable winners at the end of the day but it took until the 43rd minute for the visitors to score the opener. Steve McKay, Steven McGarry and Don Cowie combined to provide unmarked striker Alex Bone with a chance and he fired the ball high into the net. Eighteen minutes after the interval County doubled their advantage when Bone cut the ball back for Cowie to score. After 69 minutes the game was over as a contest when McKay's corner was headed on by Brian Irvine and Steve Ferguson tucked the ball home.
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Paul Deas, 3: Mark Perry, 4: Brian Irvine, 5: Steven Ferguson 1, 6: Don (JNR) Cowie 1, 7: Steven MacKay 1, 8: Kenneth Gilbert, 9: Mark McCulloch, 10: Steven McGarry, 11: Alexander Bone 1
Bench	0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Sean Webb, 0: Martin Canning, 0: Martin Wood, 0: Graham Bayne
Arbroath
Manager	John Brownlie
Starting 11	Craig Hinchcliffe, Innes Ritchie, David McInally, John Cusick 1, Ross Currie, Jordan Tait, Andy Cargill, Gavin Swankie, John McGlashan, Murray McDowell, Kevin Heenan
Bench	Gary Gow, Darren Spink, John McAulay, Craig Feroz, Paul Brownlie