| Date | Friday, 15 February 2019 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Challenge Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:1 East Fife |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,284 |
| Referee | Alan Newlands |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the BBC. Ross County 2 East Fife 1 Daniel Armstrong's bizarre debut goal direct from a corner helped Ross County defeat East Fife to earn a place in the Scottish Challenge Cup final. The 21-year-old's cross curled straight into the net in Dingwall, with Declan McManus turning in a second. Anton Dowds pulled one back for East Fife within two minutes to give hope of a comeback. But County held firm to secure a date with either Connah's Quay or Edinburgh City in the final. It was a controlled and dominant display from the hosts in the first half, who went into the tie after rescuing a Scottish Cup replay against Inverness Calednian Thistle on Monday night. Armstrong's in-swinging corner on 18 minutes deceived everyone to bounce in at the far post and give the hosts a deserved lead. By the time their advantage was doubled eight minutes before the break as McManus pounced on a rebound from Ross Stewart's initial shot, the writing looked on the wall for Darren Young's men. Dowds' glancing header, which appeared to take a deflection off County man Tom Grivosti, was the unexpected lifeline that arrived almost immediately for his side. And they did up their game in the second half and Kevin Smith was unlucky not to win a penalty as he appeared to be nudged by Harry Paton. Josh Mullin had the chance to kill the game off with a quick breakaway, but he was superbly denied by East Fife's heroic keeper Brett Long. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Steven Ferguson Stuart Kettlewell |
| Starting 11 | 21: Ross Munro, 2: Marcus Fraser 1, 6: Ross Draper, 10: Declan Mcmanus 1, 12: Andrew Boyle, 14: Joshua Mullin, 24: Harrison Paton, 27: Ross Stewart, 28: Kenny Van der Weg, 31: Daniel Armstrong 1, 44: Tom Grivosti 1 |
| Bench | 1: Scott Fox, 7: Michael Gardyne, 8: Jamie Lindsay, 9: Billy Mckay, 16: Lewis Spence, 43: James Wallace, 46: Jack Murray |
| East Fife | |
| Manager | Darren Young |
| Starting 11 | Brett Long, Craig Watson, Pat Slattery, Ross Dunlop, Daryl Meggat, Aaron Dunsmore 1, Scott Linton, Mark Docherty, Ross Davidson 1, Anton Dowds 1, Liam Watt |
| Bench | Daniel Terry, Chris Kane, Kyle Bell, Jonny Court, Rory Currie, Kevin Smith |