| Date | Saturday, 08 December 2001 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Raith Rovers 1:3 Ross County |
| Venue | Starks Park |
| Attendance | 1,449 |
| Referee | Eric Martindale |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Raith Rovers 1 Ross County 3 Ross County won the battle of the First Division's bottom two, chalking up an easy 3-1 victory over Raith Rovers at Stark's Park. And County manager Neale Cooper was predictably delighted with first-half strikes from Hugh Robertson, Steve Hislop and Mark McCormick. Cooper said: "The effort was tremendous and we scored three good goals. Rovers may be struggling but they are still a tough team to play against, especially at home, and to beat them the way we did was very pleasing. "They kept coming at us in the second half, but we stayed strong and they didn't really have all that many clear chances." Cooper also made clear his support for under-fire Rovers boss Peter Hetherston, who was subjected to vociferous calls for his resignation by home fans. "I feel sorry for Peter as some of the things being shouted were very unfair and that sometimes make you wonder anybody would want to be a manager at all." added Cooper. While Hetherston's future is now in doubt, County will try to build on their win at Kirkcaldy with a string of similar displays almost certain to drive them away from the danger zone. The Dingwall side dominated the first half after McCormick hit the top of the bar in the second minute with a curled 25yd shot. Rovers, a cocktail of five Scots, four Spaniards and two Frenchmen, played like strangers and once County edged in front, they fell apart. That took 17 minutes, a long throw from Richard Hastings bouncing into the path of Robertson, who blasted a left-foot shot high into the net from just inside the penalty box. Eleven minutes later Hislop capitalised on a dreadful attempted back-header by Jorge Zoco, nodding the ball over the advancing Sammy Monin. And when McCormick headed in Hastings' cross at the back post, the game was already over as a contest. Rovers came out fired up for the second half but when they did break through, Tony Bullock pulled off good saves from Jay Stien and substitute Andy Clark. Even Clark's last minute consolation, after Nacho Novo had left Sean Webb for dead on the touchline and picked him out, did little to appease the home fans. But the small band of County supporters must have enjoyed a much shortened trip back to the Highlands. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Richard Hastings, 3: Hugh Robertson 1, 4: Mark Perry, 5: Ian Maxwell, 6: Brian Irvine, 7: Cedric Anselin, 8: Steven Hislop 1, 9: Alexander Bone, 10: Mark McCormick 1, 11: Neil Tarrant |
| Bench | 0: Stefan Gonet, 0: Sean Webb, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: Conor Gethins |
| Raith Rovers | |
| Manager | Peter Hetherston |
| Starting 11 | Samuel Monin, Paul Browne, Greig McCulloch, Paquito Ortiz, Jorge Zoco, Jean-Phillipe Javary 1, Jay Stein, Nacho Novo, Joe Miller, Andy Smith 1, Alvero Quesana |
| Bench | Simon Miotto, Laurie Ellis, Wilfred Nanou, Mark Jones, Andy Clark 1 |