| Date | Saturday, 08 February 2003 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ayr United 1:1 Ross County |
| Venue | Somerset Park |
| Attendance | 1,486 |
| Referee | Douglas McDonald |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ayr United 1 Ross County 1 Ross County manager Alex Smith revealed some midweek team-building helped his side end a run of four straight defeats with a hard-fought point at Ayr. Smith ordered a Dingwall talk in as he tried to get his new charges to halt a worrying slide which has left them looking over their shoulders at fast-improving Alloa. Smith said: "We've tried all week to build up team spirit and we knew it was important to start well. "We brought in a lot of new faces and let a few go who were favourites among the players. "It's been a hard job to get them together again, and I think we saw the results. "We showed the best fighting qualities since the last time we played Ayr. Players such as Mark McCulloch, Brian Irvine, Kenny Gilbert and Jordan Tait were al outstanding, along with young Don Cowie so, there were a lot of good performances." County fell behind when Stephen Whalen shrugged off a couple of challenges before striking home a crisp shot. The Highlanders blew an amazing chance to equalise a minute later when Tait showed great skill to cut the ball back from almost on the bye line. Graham Bayne should have bust the net from point-blank range, but instead side-footed the ball straight at Craig Nelson. When County equalised in 53 minutes, it was thanks to a blunder from Nelson who somehow managed to spill a Hugh Robertson corner into his own net. County then went for the winner and Nelson took two attempts to keep out a well-struck shot from Steven McGarry. Tony Bullock tipped over a drive from teenage substitute James Latta in the final minute. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Jordon Tait, 3: Sean Webb, 4: Hugh Robertson 1, 5: Brian Irvine, 6: Don (JNR) Cowie, 7: Kevin McLeish, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: Kenneth Gilbert 1, 10: Steven McGarry, 11: Graham Bayne |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: David Winters, 0: Anastasios Venetis, 0: Sean Higgins |
| Ayr United | |
| Manager | Campbell Money |
| Starting 11 | Craig Nelson, David Craig, Mark Campbell 1, Michael Dunlop, Marc Smyth, Willie Lyle, Neil Murray, Scott Chaplain, Allan McManus, Stephen Whalen 1, Stewart Kean |
| Bench | John Dodds, James Latta, Andrew Ferguson, James Grady, Robert Burgess |