| Date | Saturday, 03 September 1994 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 3:3 Alloa Athletic |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,702 |
| Referee | Willie Young |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Willie Wilson for the North Star Ross County 3 Alloa Athletic 3 County continued the learning process against old adversaries Alloa Athletic and must now realise they will have to do something to prevent the opposition scoring from set pieces. Here we were again, caught short from well placed corners and Alloa hitting three equalisers from three headers. County had been looking for revenge for that 2-0 Scottish Cup defeat last season when they were just 90 minutes away from a big Ibrox pay-day in the next round, and when they went up 1-0 within the space of three minutes last week, sweet revenge looked definitely on the cards. Alloa had other ideas, however, and their big, strong side kept coming back and, in the end, even with 10 men, took a point away from Dingwall. As Bobby Wilson rightly says, though, his side are undergoing the learning process and will eventually get their act right in this new environment. It was ball of fire Robbie Williamson, easily County's best player on view against Alloa, who led by example and headed that first goal in three minutes after a Ferries corner had been missed by keeper Butter and then headed back in by Grant. Alloa's reply down the right saw Nelson head over and then McAnenay was given a finger wagging for a foul on Hutchison, The County keeper, brought off a fine save from Newbigging rocket but could do nothing about the equaliser, the first of three from the head of effervescent Mike McAnenay who head flicked a Peter Lamont cross past a helpless Hutchison. Two minutes later, however, County were back in front, this time from the penalty spot. Willie Newbigging, the Alloa captain, brought down the dangerous Williamson and Grant finished the job from the spot. Then Ferries hit a post with County in full cry. But after Connelly, who had just returned from injury, was helped off in 33 minutes County found themselves back on level terms for a second time. And it was that man McAnenay again, the wee fellow's head flashing another past Hutchison. But again County showed their fighting prowess and sheer persistence saw Jamie MacPherson hit them ahead again after he bulldosed his way through the Alloa defence to beat keeper Butter. Although the rejuvenated Billy Ferries was a constant thorn in the visitors defence and took County right into the game after the turn, it was Alloa who looked the more likely to score with Nelson shooting just past. McAnenay was spoken to for a foul on Hutchison and his reply was to head the equaliser to complete his hat-trick and deprive County of a win in front of their own fans. With 21 minutes left Alloa's Keith McCulloch was red carded for bringing down substitute Duff while in full flight towards goal on this own. County, however, failed to make anything of the free on the edge of the box and neither did they make anything of their one man advantage for the rest of play. Alan Duff's name went into the book for what the referee indicated was "a dive", while we all thought it was a penalty. He joined Alloa's Newbigging (22 minutes) and Mark Nelson (68) in the referee's book. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Robert (Bobby) Wilson |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stephen Hutchison, 2: Christopher (Chris) Somerville, 3: Robert (Robbie) Williamson 1, 4: Alexander (Sandy) MacLeod, 5: William (Billy) Herd, 6: Craig Reid, 7: Cameron Robertson, 8: Gordon Connelly, 9: Keith (Billy) Ferries, 10: Brian Grant 1 (1 pen), 11: Jamie MacPherson 1 |
| Bench | 0: Donald (Don) MacMillan, 0: Andrew (Andy) MacLeod, 0: Alan Duff |
| Alloa Athletic | |
| Manager | Billy Lamont |
| Starting 11 | Jim Butters, John McCormack, Neil Bennett, Mark Nelson, Keith McCulloch 1, Willie Newbigging, Neil McAneny 3, Steve Morrison, Danny Diver, Neil McAvoy, Peter Lamont |
| Bench | Brian Kemp, Trialist |