| Date | Saturday, 21 April 2001 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 0:1 Ayr United |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,942 |
| Referee | Alan Freeland |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Paul Smith for the Press & Journal. Ross County 0 Ayr United 1 Brian Irvine was dropped from the Ross County starting 11 but it was the big defender who Neale Cooper turned to in one final throw of the dice against Ayr. Irvine posed an unexpected goal threat for County after being pitched in as a makeshift striker seven minutes from the final whistle as Cooper tried in vain to prevent his side from falling to their sixth successive home defeat. The gamble failed to pay off but Cooper saw enough in the performance to suggest that County could be heading out of their current form slump. He said: "Against Morton in midweek there were a few things lacking--commitment and quality in the final third. Against Ayr it was much better. "I'm still disappointed that we were beaten at home, it's been a while since we won, but there was a big difference in the performance." Irvine was the notable casualty from the defeat against Morton and Cooper said: "Brian knows that he's not getting any younger. He has played a lot of games and Tuesday night wasn't one of his best." But the defender's introduction in the closing stages breathed new life into County and Cooper added: "Against Ayr I thought he caused them a nightmare. It's an option when we are chasing the game, he won a lot of flicks and caused problems." County were left chasing the game after falling behind 13 minutes after the interval in a game which produced few clear cut chances for either side. Gary Teale swung in a corner from the left and when the clearance from Derek Holmes fell to the feet of Pat McGinlay he drilled a 20-yard shot back through the crowded box and past the despairing dive of Nicky Walker. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Martin Canning, 3: Mark Perry, 4: Ian Maxwell, 5: Edward Cunnington, 6: Hugh Robertson, 7: David MacKay, 8: Steven Ferguson, 9: Mark McCormick, 10: Derek Holmes, 11: Alexander Bone |
| Bench | 0: Garry Hamilton, 0: Brian Irvine, 0: Darren Henderson, 0: John Fraser, 0: John McQuade |
| Ayr United | |
| Manager | Gordon Dalziel |
| Starting 11 | Neil Duffy, Craig Nelson, David Craig, Mark Campbell, Craig McEwan, Lee Sharp, Neil Scally, Gary Teale, Pat McGinlay 1, Eddie Annand, James Grady |
| Bench | John Dodds, Paul Lovering, Marvyn Wilson, Mark Crilly, John Bradford |