Date	Saturday, 23 March 2002
Competition	Scottish League Division 1
Fixture/Score	Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1:1 Ross County
Venue	Caledonian Stadium
Attendance	4,685
Referee	Bobby Orr
Comments	Match Report Report by Duncan McKenzie for the Press & Journal. Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 Ross County 1 Ross County striker Steven Hislop will be fined by the club after being sent off early in the second half at Caledonian Stadium. Hislop was shown a red card for raising his hands to Caley's Ross Tokely not long after he had given County the lead in the second Highland derby in the space of a week. County boss Neale Cooper feels Hislop let the club down just as it looked as though the Dingwall team were gaining the upper hand. He said: "Steven will be fined for what was silly sending-off. We looked like we were going to win after we scored, but the sending-off didn't help one bit. "Steven is very disappointed, but the team and myself are also very annoyed. We had been playing the best football we have ever done since I joined the club. It was really a bit of handbags, but you can't raise your arms. "We have another big game against Airdrie on Tuesday and, of course, Hislop won't be eligible." Caley Jags boss Steve Paterson was disappointed his side failed to capitalise on the numerical advantage--and admitted they are not yet safe from relegation. He said: "We are getting closer to the finishing line, but we are no closer to safety. This result did neither side any good. "With Clyde and St Mirren not playing, we really had to make home advantage count and we should have done that when they went down to 10 men." The Visitors went closest after just three minutes. Ian Maxwell's cross from the left was headed across the face of goal by Brian Irvine but no one was there to follow up for County. Ross Tokely powered his way down the right side in 14 minutes and his cross was turned just over by top scorer Dennis Wyness. County midfielder Steven Ferguson forced a superb save from Nicky Walker in 21 minutes. The veteran keeper dived towards the top-left corner to divert Ferguson's 20-yard effort over the bar. County were the more fired up after the interval and, when Gethins set up Richard Hastings on the left edge of the area, it looked as though County would take the lead. Only a brilliant save by Walker stopped Hastings's powerful drive from bursting the net. However, the Dingwall side's pressure paid off in 55 minutes when they broke the stalemate. Hastings curled in a beautiful free kick from the left and Hislop headed past Walker for the opener. A minute later, Caley had appeals for a penalty waved aside when Charlie Christie appeared to be felled by Maxwell inside the area. However, a minute later the home side did get themselves back on level terms. Barry Robson sent in a curling free kick from the near side and Ross Tokely stole in at the back post to bullet a header past Bullock. Then a moment of madness from Hislop saw his side reduced to 10 men. The striker was booked for pulling Tokely back in 62 minutes. But after the free kick had been awarded, Hislop then raised his hands to Caley star and referee Bobby Orr had no option but to dismiss him. County's Gethins forced his way into the box in 73 minutes, but he dragged the ball too wide and his final shot was easily dealt with by Walker. At the other end, Bagan set up Bavidge inside the area in 85 minutes but the Inverness substitute failed to direct his shot on target.
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Richard Hastings, 3: Hugh Robertson, 4: Martin Canning, 5: Ian Maxwell, 6: Mark Perry, 7: Brian Irvine, 8: Kenneth Gilbert, 9: Steven Ferguson, 10: Conor Gethins, 11: Steven Hislop 1 1
Bench	0: Ramiro Gonzalez, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: Alexander Bone, 0: Karim Boukraa, 0: Mark McCormick
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Manager	Steve Paterson
Starting 11	Nicky Walker, Grant Munro, Bobby Mann, Stuart McCaffrey, Roy McBain, Russell Duncan, Ross Tokely 1, Charlie Christie, Barry Robson, Dennis Wyness, Paul Ritchie
Bench	Jim Calder, David Bagan, Martin Bavidge, Neil MacDonald, Graeme Stewart