| Date | Tuesday, 14 August 2018 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Challenge Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Heart of Midlothian U21 1:2 Ross County |
| Venue | Tynecastle Park |
| Attendance | 344 |
| Referee | Gavin Duncan |
| Comments | Match Report Report by SPP Reporter for the Ross-shire Journal Heart of Midlothian U21 1 Ross County 2 ROSS County were made to work hard to see off a determined Hearts Colts team to make it to the second round of the Irn-Bru Cup. The Staggies could have taken the lead in the opening minute of the game when Harry Paton drove forward into the box and crossed to find Billy McKay who only had the goalkeeper to beat from eight yards but fired wide. But McKay made up for his glaring miss with a moment of quality as he managed to latch on to a poor clearance from goalkeeper Colin Doyle and from 25 yards launched a neat chip over him into the back of the net. However County were guilty of taking the foot off the pedal as the young Hearts side were allowed to charge forward on the wing. The young Hearts hade a great chance equalise when Ryan Edwards was allowed to piroutette through three defenders in the box and fired on target forcing goalkeeper Ross Munro to tip the ball over the bar. However, McKay doubled County’s lead on the half hour mark when he managed to beat the offside trap to run on to a through ball and charged towards goal before firing into the net past Doyle from 12 yards. County could have made it 3-0 just before the break when Tony Dingwall’s cross from the right wing found Brian Graham in the box who laid it off to Davis Keillor-Dunn who from 12 yards fired a low powerful drive that was well saved by Doyle. But Hearts deservedly pulled one back two minutes from the break when Aidan Keena played a neat one-two with Harry Cochrane through the Ross County defence before firing into the bottom left corner of the net. Ross County looked to kill the game off early in the second half and came close to making it 3-1 when Paton’s cross from the right wing found McKay who lashed his shot from 12 yards wide of the right hand post. Hearts Colts claimed for a penalty midway through the second half when Keena protested he was fouled in the box by Dylan Dykes but referee Gavin Duncan booked the forward for diving. Dykes then almost gifted Hearts Colts an equaliser when his powerless backpass was pounced on by Keena and his chip over goalkeeper Doyle from 20 yards only went an inch wide of the left hand post. Hearts could have equalised with 15 minutes remaining when Bobby Burns was allowed the freedom of the left wing and his cross found Euan Henderson in the six yard box who beat Callum Morris but headed wide of the right hand post. In injury time Bobby Burns hit the crossbar after he connected with a Callum Morrison cross from close range. But Ross County held on to make it to the second round of the competition. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Steven Ferguson Stuart Kettlewell |
| Starting 11 | 21: Ross Munro, 5: Callum Morris, 9: Billy Mckay 2, 12: Stelios Demetriou, 16: Dylan Dykes, 17: Davis Keillor-Dunn, 18: Ryan Dow 1, 19: Brian Graham, 22: Tony Dingwall, 24: Harrison Paton, 27: Ross Stewart |
| Bench | 1: Scott Fox, 2: Marcus Fraser, 3: Sean Kelly, 20: Greg Morrison, 23: Russell Dingwall 1, 40: Ross MacIver, 49: Mark Gallagher |
| Heart of Midlothian U21 | |
| Manager | Craig Levein |
| Starting 11 | Colin Doyle, Cameron Logan, Bobby Burns, Chris Hamilton, Daniel Baur, Alex Petkov, Anthony Mcdonald, Harry Cochrane, Aidan Keena 1, Ryan Edwards, Callum Morrison |
| Bench | Kelby Mason, Connor Smith, Lewis Moore, Rory Currie, Euan Henderson, Bartlomiej Gajda, Dean Ritchie |