| Date | Saturday, 24 July 1999 |
|---|---|
| Competition | FRIENDLY |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:0 Livingston |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | |
| Referee | |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Dave Edwards for the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Livingston 0 Ross County scored a confidence boosting win over last year's Second division Champions Livingston, with the return of midfielder Kenny Gilbert, after a five-month lay-off, the highlight of the day. Neale Cooper's men were in control for most of the game and two second half goals left his assistant Jim Kelly in positive mood. Kelly said: "We did very well and guys showed a good attitude. We have been creating a lot of chances in our friendly match so far and this time we converted a couple. "The all-rounder effort of the players was excellent and they showed good discipline. It was great to see Kenny Gilbert coming back for his first game since we played Brechin City about eight games before the end of the last season. "We brought on Kevin Finlayson in the second half and maybe his sharpness found them out a wee bit as he went on to score a goal only minutes later." County also had former Dunfermline Athletic striker George Shaw in action and it is believed that the Dingwall side will be having further discussions with the 30-year-old striker in a bid to lure him to Victoria Park. After a goalless first half County opened the scoring in the 65th minute with a bizarre goal. Livingston goalkeeper Ian McCaldon's attempted clearance hit Finlayson full in the face, but the winger had the presence of mind to carry on, round the keeper and slide the ball into the empty net. Ten minutes from time Frenchman Franck Escalon pounced after McCaldon failed to hold Roy McBain snapshot to nod the ball home from a couple of yards. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Craig Tully, 3: Roy McBain, 4: Ian Maxwell, 5: Brian Irvine, 6: Kenneth Gilbert, 7: Franck Escalon 1, 8: John McGlashan, 9: George Shaw, 10: John Fraser, 11: Derek McGill |
| Bench | 0: Michael Geraghty, 0: Gary Nicol, 0: Kevin Finlayson 1, 0: Paul Kinnaird |
| Livingston | |
| Manager | |
| Starting 11 | McCaldon, McManus, Deas, Sweeney, Coughian , Millar , Feroz, Millar , Bingham, Trialist , Britton |
| Bench | Kelly, Little, McPhee , McDonald, McCormack |