| Date | Tuesday, 28 January 1997 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 3 |
| Fixture/Score | Cowdenbeath 1:1 Ross County |
| Venue | Central Park |
| Attendance | |
| Referee | Stuart Dougal |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Cowdenbeath 1 Ross County 1 Ross County blew their chance to go second in Division 3 last night when they could only draw with struggling Cowdenbeath at Central Park. With Forfar idle, the Dingwall side needed only a win to move in behind neighbours Inverness Caledonian Thistle--but the Fifers had other ideas and in the end County left Fife happy with a point. The visitors made the early running and had a penalty claim turned down in eight minutes when Keith Ferries appeared to be tripped while bearing down on Neil Russell in the home goal. But the Fifers, who had lost their previous six league matches, took over territorial control and created a series of good openings. Eddie Petrie burst clean through in 10 minutes and his shot brought out a great save from Stevie Hutchison in the County goal and then in 20 minutes Gary Wood shot over when it seemed easier to score. Wood and Craig Winter missed excellent chances for the Fifers before the half-hour mark but with 10 minutes to go until the interval County's Roy McBain almost did the trick for his side with an opportunist 20-yard shot which bounced to safety off the Cowdenbeath bar. It was a much more determined Dingwall side on the restart and they got their noses in front in 54 minutes. A Ferries corner caused problems for the home defence and Sandy Ross forced the ball home after a scramble on the Cowden line. Keeper Russell and his name taken for over-zealous protestations that he was being fouled by the County scorer. Ross became a sinner seven minutes later when he headed over an open goal as the visitors took a grip of the midfield area and in a bid to pep-up the Cowden cause boss Tom Stephen sent on Willie Stewart and Kevin Bowmaker for Ally Hamilton and Craig Sinclair. In 73 minutes it paid off when Stewart's persistence saw County give the ball away and Wood's 25-yarder dipped under the bar with Hutchison given no chance. But the keeper was the main man in the very last minute when Bowmaker cut inside from the left and fired in a 25-yarder which seemed ear marker for the top right hand corner but somehow the County number one got a hand to it and deflected the ball for a corner. At the end of the day the point keeps County very much in the promotion race with the last quarter of the season just around the corner. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stephen Hutchison, 2: William Furphy, 3: William (Billy) Herd, 4: David MacKay, 5: Johnston Bellshaw, 6: Julian Broddle, 7: Roy McBain, 8: Steven Ferguson, 9: Alexander (Sandy) Ross 1, 10: Keith (Billy) Ferries, 11: Derek Adams |
| Bench | 0: Robert (Robbie) Williamson, 0: Gerard Farrell, 0: Andrew (Andy) MacLeod |
| Cowdenbeath | |
| Manager | Sammy Conn |
| Starting 11 | Neil Russell 1, Alistair Hamilton, Graham Meldrum, Martin Humphreys, Barry McMahon, Kenny Munro, Edward Petrie, Sammy Conn, Garry Wood 1, Craig Winter, Craig Sinclair |
| Bench | Willie Stewart, Martin Scott, Kevin Bowmaker |