Date	Monday, 27 October 1997
Competition	FRIENDLY
Fixture/Score	Ross County 0:4 Celtic
Venue	Victoria Park
Attendance	5,500
Referee	Kevin Bisset
Comments	Match Report Report by Willie Wilson for the North Star. Ross County 0 Celtic 4 Defeated but not disgraced is a well-worn sporting cliche but it mast certainly sums up Ross County's performance against a Celtic team in front of almost 5,500 fans at Dingwall on Monday night. Initially the game had been arranged to officially open County's handsome function suite at the new East Stand but this event was some-what overshadowed by the Parkhead side fielding their Scottish international striker Darren Jackson for the first time since his brain operation just seven weeks ago. And while the enthusiastic fans gave the dark-haired, 31-year-old Jackson a real Highland welcome they also enjoyed seeing many of the Glasgow club's up and coming youngsters in action on a cold, brisk night which was just perfect for football. And County's biggest crowd in ground since its extensive improvements also enjoyed a really fine display by their favourites who were never overawed by the opposition and with a little more luck could have scored at least a couple of goals. County's flowing football must have impressed the Celtic side, who had Ross-shire favourite Eric Black in charge after joining up as a coach at Parkhead some weeks ago. The Dingwall men had fairly cruel luck on numerous occasions and young goalkeeper Kevin Morgan even took time to save a John Paul MacBride weak penalty effort in the first half after Jackson had been sent tumbling following a mis-timed Furphy tackle. Cheeky chappie Connor Campbell was once again very impressive and, along with Wood and Adams, was rather unfortunate not to get at least one goal to give the huge home support something to shout about. Celt Tommy Johnson was also being tested out after injury and the former Aston Villa hit-man proved he is fit and ready and as sharp as ever as he hit a magnificent hat trick, with Anthony getting the other goal for the green and whites. And Jackson proved he is ready for the fray again at the highest level, only seven weeks after that major surgery, a credit to him and the physicians who operated. Surrounded by eager, young autograph-hunting fans and TV crews and reporters at the end of the game, the former Hibernian favourite smiled happily at his successful return and satisfaction at coming through what was a gruelling test against an gruelling test against an enthusiastic County who went full out throughout the whole 90 minutes. "I feel great," said Jackson, "and so happy to get that first game under my belt," He added he hoped to have his second competitive game against St Johnstone at Perth last night (Wednesday) and could even be looking for a first team game against Dunfermline this Saturday. "But that's entirely up to our coach Wim Jansen," he smiled. "I would like to thank the fans for the great reception I got when I came off and thank the club for the presentation they gave me before the game. "I really hope they (County) do well because they have a great set-up and if people are prepared to come out, 5,400 of them, to watch a friendly they deserve success." But the important factor for Celtic, their fans and Scottish football is that that smile is back after a harrowing period in this athlete's life. The Ross County fans will surely always remember the night they witnessed the quite amazing return of Darren Jackson to competitive football once again.
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Kevin Morgan, 2: David MacKay, 3: Stuart Golabek, 4: William Furphy, 5: Kenneth Gilbert, 6: Steven Ferguson, 7: Roy McBain, 8: Gerard Farrell, 9: Connor Campbell, 10: Garry Wood, 11: Derek Adams
Bench	0: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 0: Paul Bradshaw, 0: Mark Haro, 0: Thomas Callaghan, 0: Richard Hart, 0: Neale Cooper
Celtic
Manager
Starting 11
Bench