| Date | Tuesday, 16 December 1997 |
|---|---|
| Competition | FRIENDLY |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:3 Rangers |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 4,278 |
| Referee | William Murray |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Alasdair Fraser from the Scotsman. Ross County 2 Rangers 3 More than 4000 fans skipped Question of Sport last night but were denied their anticipated opportunity to see Ally McCoist in action. Instead, they paid a hearty tribute to two of north football's most colourful characters, silky full-back Chris Somerville and tricky winger Billy Ferries. It was a flat match, narrowly won by Rangers. After the early exchanges, testimonial stars Ferries and Sommerville, now at Brora, made planned exits early on due to injuries. Four minutes later, County youngster Connor Campbell showed explosive pace but didn't finish well. There was little to cheer until the 43rd minute when the impressive Steve Boyack split open the County defence with a weighted pass and Darren Fitzgerald blasted the opener past another former Ibrox star, Nicky Walker, from 12 yards. The hosts equalised in the 63rd minute on the break. Gary Wood squared to the unmarked Neil Tarrant and he tucked the ball past Rae in goal. The 19-year-old Darlington product has done well since coming back from trials at Auxerre. Barry Ferguson's long ball in 80 minutes found substitute David Graham on the right hand edge of the box and he curled the ball brilliantly around County reserve keeper Martin Rae. Five minutes later Tarrant grabbed a deserved equaliser from eight yards. Rangers blushes were saved on the final whistle when Ferguson's cross was turned in by McKnight in the six-yard box. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: David MacKay, 3: Kenneth Gilbert, 4: William (Billy) Herd, 5: Neale Cooper, 6: Christopher (Chris) Somerville, 7: Keith (Billy) Ferries, 8: Steven Ferguson, 9: Richard Hart, 10: Andrew (Andy) MacLeod, 11: Roy McBain |
| Bench | 0: Derek Adams, 0: Connor Campbell, 0: Michael Rae, 0: Mark Haro, 0: Garry Wood, 0: Gerard Farrell, 0: Neil Tarrant 2 |
| Rangers | |
| Manager | |
| Starting 11 | |
| Bench | |