Date	Saturday, 31 July 1999
Competition	Scottish League Cup
Fixture/Score	Ross County 2:1 Forfar Athletic
Venue	Victoria Park
Attendance	1,169
Referee	Kevin Bisset
Comments	Match Report Report by Alasdair Fraser for the Daily Record. Ross County 2 Forfar Athletic 1 Win After Extra Time Ross County boss Neale cooper last night rounded on furious Forfar after they claimed former Scotland star Brian Irvine had dived to get a match-winning penalty. He insisted new signing Irvine had been manhandled in the box in a controversial incident which clinched a lucrative CIS Cup second round tie with Dundee United. Teanager Alan Rattray was adjudged to have climbed on top of the big former Aberdeen and Dundee defender and knocked him to the ground with three minutes of extra-time remaining. But Forfar's players were convinced Irvine had dived and County's Craig Tully was red carded and Forfar's Andy Cargill and Paul McIlvray booked as angry scenes ensued. Forfar manager Ian McPhee said: "From where I was sitting, it looked like a penalty but my players, to a man, told me afterwards that it certainly wasn't. "All I will say is that Irvine hit the deck rather easily for a big man. The real shame was that Rattray was the best man on the park. "I'm delighted with the performance considering the money County have spent and the fact six of our players were playing youth football last season. I'm excited about this group of players." Irvine is viewed as one of Scottish football's honest characters and Cooper was quick to defend him. Cooper said: "It looked like a penalty to me. The young defender climbed on Brian when he had a good opportunity in the area. It's as simple as that." Red-carded Tully, who had goy too involved in the fracas which followed the penalty award, had been lining up for the spot-kick when he was sent packing, leaving new signing George Shaw to take the responsibility. The former Dundee and Dunfermline striker fired it high above keeper Jim Moffat's reach. Shaw later revealed he had been too polite to demand the ball before the dramatic penalty decider. He said: "when the ref pointed at the spot I wanted to take the kick but I asked Craig and he said he wanted it. "I'm the new boy here, so it wouldn't have been right for me to have just grabbed it for myself but when Craig was sent off I volunteered and I'm delighted it hit the net. "It's pleasing to score on my debut but the win was most important thing. "A trip to Tannadice is great but we will have to play a hell of a lot better than we did today. I didn't feel we played as we can." The sides were tied at 1-1 in normal time and looked inseparable until two minutes from the end of extra-time. Irvine, making his competitive debut for the Dingwall side, looks set to add a whole new attacking dimension to the Third Division champions. He powered forward at every opportunity and came close to scoring twice in the opening minutes with aerial efforts. But while County dominated the opening 20 minutes they were stunned in 23 minutes when Innes MacDonald opened for Forfar. A superb long ball caught out Ian Maxwell in the County defence and Barry McLean's perfect cross from the right found MacDonald free to head an angled effort beyond Nicky Walker. Irvine again came close with a header from a Tully free-kick in 35 minutes but Moffat somehow grasped it at the far post. County's equaliser came in 40 minutes when Paul Kinnaird's cross was netted with the simplest of head-flicks from Irvine. The second half again saw County hold the bigger share of possession but neither side could capitalise on chances. Roy McBain almost found the top corner with a 30-yard drive and Shaw scraped the cross-bar with a 20-yard blast. Cooper admitted he had expected a penalty shoot-out as legs tired in intense heat. He added: "There's always a risk of upsets at this time of the season as everyone starts afresh. "George Shaw had a couple of chances to win the game but it is a sign of a good striker that he shrugged it off and took the penalty with confidence."
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Craig Tully 1, 3: Ian Maxwell, 4: Brian Irvine 1 1, 5: Paul Kinnaird, 6: Kenneth Gilbert, 7: Franck Escalon, 8: John McGlashan 1, 9: Steven Ferguson, 10: Roy McBain, 11: George Shaw 1 (1 pen)
Bench	0: John Fraser, 0: Michael Geraghty, 0: Kevin Finlayson
Forfar Athletic
Manager	Ian McPhee
Starting 11	Jim Moffat, Alan Rattray, Euan Donaldson 1, Roberto Morris, Alex Taylor, Graeme McCheyne 1, Gary McPhee, Andy Cargill 1, Innes MacDonald 1, Ralph Brand 1, Barry McLean
Bench	Ross Kiddie, Jimmy Nairn, Paul McIlravey 1