| Date | Tuesday, 03 April 2001 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 3:4 Airdrieonians |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,645 |
| Referee | Steve Kaney |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Mike Tremlett for the Press & Journal. Ross County 3 Airdrieonians 4 Angry Ross County manager Neale Cooper was talking tough last night after seeing his side crash 4-3 to Airdrie at Victoria Park in a thriller which saw the threat of relegation rear its head over the Dingwall side. County put on a display littered with defensive errors which allowed former Dunfermline striker Owen Coyle, who spent three months on loan at County earlier this season, to grab a double, set up Stewart Taylor and then admire a superb Robert Dunn strike as Ian McCall's rejuvenated Diamonds cashed in for three valuable points. Derek Holmes scored twice and John McQuade came off the bench to lash in the goal of the game as County came back from 2-1 behind at half-time to lead 3-2 before a late lapse. Cooper said: "I asked my strikers to go out and scored goals tonight, but the defence and the midfield let everybody down. "I've rarely seen a County side defend as badly as that in what was one of the saddest nights of my management career. "My players have to learn to live with the pressure which goes with full-time football at this level and allowing Airdrie to make us look bad at the back and like plodders in midfield isn't the way to do that. "Saturday's game against Livingston now looks a massively tough prospect and my worry is a couple of more disasters like tonight's could see us dragged into the relegation dogfight." County's defeat sees them stay in sixth place, but with only a one-point cushion over Airdrie with Alloa, currently lying ninth, just five points behind. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Garry Hamilton, 2: Ian Maxwell, 3: Hugh Robertson, 4: Mark Perry, 5: David MacKay, 6: Darren Henderson, 7: Steven Ferguson, 8: Derek Holmes 2, 9: Karim Boukraa, 10: Mark McCormick, 11: Alexander Bone 1 |
| Bench | 0: Stefan Gonet, 0: Martin Canning, 0: Craig Taggart, 0: Martin Prest, 0: John McQuade 1 |
| Airdrieonians | |
| Manager | Don Mackay |
| Starting 11 | Ramiro Gonzalez, Sean Sweeney, Lee Gardner, Fraser Wishart, Stuart Taylor 1, Paul Armstrong, Craig McPherson, Derek McWilliams, Ian Cameron, Scott Bannerman, Owen Coyle 2 |
| Bench | Stephen Wilson, Rob Coulter, Joe McAlpine, Scott Boyce, Robert Dunn 1 1 |