Date	Friday, 16 July 1999
Competition	FRIENDLY
Fixture/Score	Scalloway 2:8 Ross County
Venue	Fraser Park
Attendance	1,000
Referee	Robert Leask
Comments	Match Report Report from the Shetland Times. Scalloway 2 Ross County 8 Scalloway were always already going to be up against it and despite being generally outplayed they must take great credit from getting such a big-name club to Shetland. County initially found it hard to adapt to the tight, narrow pitch and had to rely on a couple of defensive errors before they settled. But in the end they seemed to have an extra gear and finished convincing winners. When the match kicked off a crowd of around 1000 had assembed at the Fraser Park, befitting such a fixture. With 15 minutes gone it was the visitors who came close first. Glen Gilfinnan diving to his left to palm away a snap shot from Gary Nicol. Just after hesitancy by County captain Brian Irvine let in Ryan Inkster but the striker lobbed just over the bar. John W. Laurenson cleared a dangerous moment in the Scalloway box but the writing was on the wall and the visitors went ahead on the 18-minute mark. Finding himself with space Derek McGill chipped beautifully over Gilfillan to open the scoring. A couple of minutes later it was 2-0. A missing tackle by Drewie Anderson left Franck Escalon in the clear and his cross was stabbed in by McGill for his second. Ross Duncan than had a great chance to pull one back for Scalloway. He took the ball down the left, went past keeper Nicky Walker and shot for goal. But agonisingly for him, the ball rolled just the far post. Former Celtic player Gary Nicol then made it 3-0 to County from close range in the 29th minute. Scalloway had another chance when they gained a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. Duncan Bray rolled the ball to Ross Duncan, who was having a fine match, but his scorching shot was just wide. Then Brian Irvine, who had terrorised Dunfermline from set pieces earlier in the week, crashed a header onto the Scalloway bar in the 39th minute. Scalloway were by no means out of it at this stage and Inkster and Bray combined well on the right. Inkster received a fine through ball from Ross Duncan but just couldn't control it. The half ended with Gilfillan palming away a dangerous looking cross with several County players poised in the box. Just after the break Inkster crossed and Walker scrambled to get the ball away for a corner. Then a Bray cross was headed just over by substitute Robbie Nicolson. County were now starling to up the pace a bit and twice big Brydon Goodlad came to Scalloway's rescue with timely interceptions. Not content with that he also headed a net-bound effort off his own line. But the County pressure finally paid off and they snatched three goals in a tremendous 10-minute spell. Substitutes Kevin Finlayson, Michael Gerraghty and Paul Kinnaird all scored to finish off simple but highly effective moves. Back cam Scalloway and Inkster was just wide with another lob. He then produced a neat backheel to set up Murdo Brown but sadly his shot was a weak one. The biggest cheer of the night, however, was not long coming. Duncan Bray found space on the left and slotted the ball in from a tight angle. Inkster might just have got a slight touch but there was no doubt Bray was claiming the goal. Ross County showed their class after the setback, however minimal, and went straight up the park and scored a seventh, Nicol bagging his own second. Then came a moment of rashness from referee Robert Leask when Grant Gilfillan appeared to make a perfectly good interception just inside the County area. He pointed to the spot and Nicol completed his hat trick. For the first time in the match Leask was now at the centre of the action and he managed to even things up just before the end, awarding Scalloway a spot-kick of their own. Grant Gilfillan scored to make the score 8-2. Just before the end Scalloway substitute keeper Bryan Johnson made a point-blank save from Steve Ferguson to deny County a ninth goal. Despite the score-line Scalloway had a number of stand-outs on the night, none bigger than Brydon Goodlad. Other to impress were Grant Gilfillan, Duncan Bray and Ross Duncan, who sadly had to leave the field after the first half. But it was a night on which there were no failures in the village side.
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Franck Escalon, 3: Steven MacKay, 4: Ian Maxwell, 5: Brian Irvine, 6: Martin Canning, 7: John Fraser, 8: John McGlashan, 9: Gary Nicol 3, 10: Steven Ferguson, 11: Derek McGill 2
Bench	0: Michael Geraghty 1, 0: Paul Kinnaird 1, 0: Kevin Finlayson 1
Scalloway
Manager
Starting 11
Bench