| Date | Saturday, 29 September 2001 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Falkirk 4:2 Ross County |
| Venue | Brockville |
| Attendance | 1,805 |
| Referee | Tom Brown |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Scott Macnab for the Press & Journal. Falkirk 4 Ross County 2 Ross boss Neale Cooper acknowledged that his side had suffered a reaction after their midweek cup exploits as they surrendered a two-goal lead to lose at Brockville. The Highlanders knocked Premier League Hearts out of the League Cup, winning on penalties after a gruelling two hours of football ended goalless. But Cooper refused to lay into his exhausted side. He said: "The last thing they need is me ranting. I thought the lads looked tired from the start and, even though we led 2-0 at the break, I was never that confident. "You could see they couldn't string two passes together in the second half and when Falkirk got their first goal you could just see their confidence rising." The home side started stronger, but fell behind on the half-hour mark when Hugh Robertson's corner found the unmarked Alex Bone in the box for the striker to head home. The host launched an immediate push for the leveller, which cost them dearly as the visitors countered. Ian Maxwell's drive was spilled my Myles Hogarth for Bone to notch his second goal inside a minute. Falkirk pushed forward after the restart, but when John Henry and Ricky Waddell both hit the woodwork it didn't seem to be their day. However, Henry pulled one back in the 63rd minute and two minutes later Steven Rennie drove home from the box for the leveller. The Bairns took a deserved lead in the 69th minute when McAllister again swung a ball in from the right and Andy Lawrie directed a close-range effort home. Falkirk completed the scoring in the 76th minute when Lawrie crossed from the right and Waddell header home. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Hugh Robertson, 3: Ian Maxwell, 4: Sean Webb, 5: Mark Perry 1, 6: Brian Irvine, 7: Don (JNR) Cowie, 8: Bryan Dlugonski, 9: Steven MacKay, 10: Alexander Bone 2 1, 11: Steven Hislop |
| Bench | 0: Ramiro Gonzalez, 0: Douglas Blackley, 0: Conor Gethins, 0: Karim Boukraa, 0: John McQuade |
| Falkirk | |
| Manager | Alex Totten |
| Starting 11 | Myles Hogarth, Kevin Christie, Greig Denham, John Henry 1, Lee Mair, Andy Lawrie 1, Jamie McQuilken, Steven Rennie 1, Paul Wright, Lee Miller, Steven Craig |
| Bench | Darren Hill, Steve Watson, Ricky Waddell 1, Ian Morris, Kevin McAllister |