| Date | Saturday, 03 January 1998 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 3:1 Brechin City |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,296 |
| Referee | John Young |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Daily Record. Ross County 3 Brechin City 1 County goal-machine Derek Adams bagged his Fourth hat-trick of the season--but barely got a mention from his boss. Home gaffer Neale Cooper was too busy raving about Steve Ferguson, the 20-year-old he rates as his star man. Ferguson was brought to Victoria Park from Dunfermline after Cooper spotted the youngster when both were players at East End Park. And Coop said: "Steve has been outstanding this season--he is the player of the season so far for me. "He has played in every position--striker, central midfield, centre -half, right-back and right-wing--it's a pleasure to have the boy at the club. "He has been a valuable servant for us and is a lad that I can always rely on to give 100 per cent effort." A trip in the box on Ferguson by Roddie Black led to the 38th-minute opener. Adams took the penalty and scored at the second attempt after Stuart Garden blocked his spot kick. Adams headed in off the underside of the crossbar for No.2 in 49 minutes, before Brechin's Dick Baillie was sent off for stamping on Roy McBain. City's Stuart Sorbie pulled a goal back with a header in 69 minutes, but Adams grabbed his 16th goal of the season in 83 minutes to set up a third-round clash with Airdrie. Cooper admitted; "It'll be a very difficult tie for us because Airdrie are well organised. "I played many hard games against them when I was with Dunfermline and they have lots of experienced players. "But if we play to our capabilities we have a chance because our away form has been good." Brechin boss John Young said: "We let in two soft goals and then had to re-organise everything hen we were down to 10 men." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Mark Haro, 3: William (Billy) Herd, 4: David MacKay, 5: Steven Ferguson, 6: Roy McBain, 7: Kenneth Gilbert 1, 8: Gerard Farrell, 9: Alexander Taylor, 10: Derek Adams 3, 11: Garry Wood |
| Bench | 0: Stuart Golabek, 0: Neil Tarrant, 0: Connor Campbell |
| Brechin City | |
| Manager | John Young |
| Starting 11 | Stuart Garden, Harry Cairney, Graeme Christie, Stevie Campbell, Craig Farnan 1, Billy McNeill, Stuart Sorbie 1, Roddy Black, Craig Smart 1, Craig Feroz, Dick Baillie 1 |
| Bench | Greig Smith, Jamie McKellar, Andrew Hutcheon |