| Date | Saturday, 25 January 1997 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Dunfermline Athletic 4:0 Ross County |
| Venue | East End Park |
| Attendance | 4,786 |
| Referee | Alan Freeland |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Matthew Lindsay from the Press & Journal. Dunfermline Athletic 4 Ross County 0 Ross County assistant manager Jim Kelly last night welcomed the opportunity to proceed with their Division 3 promotion challenge following an emphatic Tennent Scottish Cup defeat against Dunfermline on Saturday. The Dingwall men acquitted themselves admirably against a fitter and stronger side which has become firmly established in Premier Division this season. Despite witnessing his side suffer a four-goal drubbing in the third round tie at East End Park, Kelly preferred to look positively at their fighting performance. He said: "I thought we did very well and competed with a very impressive side throughout. We were extremely unfortunate not to finish the first half with one goal apiece." Harry Curran edged the host side in front after only 18 minutes when Dave Bingham supplied him with an excellent ball inside the opposition box. How ever, the visitors retaliated shortly before the interval when Derek Adams provided Roy McBain with a perfect pass. He broke clear of the defence but shot poorly into the arms of the goalkeeper. Directly following that opportunity the home team effectively killed off the contest with two goals in quick succession from Hamish French and Andy Smith. Smith added his second late on to ensure the Fifers progress to the fourth round where they will face either Falkirk or Berwick Rangers. However, Kelly believes the bitterly disappointing result will assist Ross County in the remainder of their league campaign. He said: "I hope our players will learn from the experience and set themselves new personal targets for the remainder of the season. "I also think that some of the clubs who are challenging us in third Division have still to have a bad patch. We have had ours and I am hopeful we can continue our recent run of good results." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stephen Hutchison, 2: William (Billy) Herd, 3: Johnston Bellshaw, 4: Gerard Farrell, 5: Steven Ferguson, 6: Julian Broddle, 7: Roy McBain, 8: Alexander (Sandy) Ross, 9: Derek Adams, 10: Keith (Billy) Ferries, 11: Andrew (Andy) MacLeod |
| Bench | 0: William Furphy, 0: Robert (Robbie) Williamson, 0: David MacKay |
| Dunfermline Athletic | |
| Manager | Bert Paton |
| Starting 11 | Ian Westwater, Ivo Den Beiman, Mark McCulloch, Andy Tod, Stevie Welch, Brian Rice, Hamish French 1, Craig Robertson, Andy Smith 2, Harry Curran 1, David Bingham |
| Bench | Craig Ireland, Ray Sharp, Scott Young |