| Date | Tuesday, 22 September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Competition | KDM Evolution Trophy |
| Fixture/Score | Inverness Clachnacuddin 1:5 Ross County |
| Venue | Grant Street Park |
| Referee | Stuart Broadfoot |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Stuart (Ketts) Kettlewell |
| Starting 11 | 31: Bradley Wade, 2: Adam Forrester 1, 7: Richard Chin, 8: Dean Cornelius, 10: Jamie Lindsay, 15: Dylan Smith 1, 17: Ricco Diack 2 (1 pen), 18: Andrew MacLeod 1, 20: Jack Turner 1, 28: Jamie Williamson, 43: Josh Reid 1 |
| Bench | 1: Bradley Foster, 3: Lewis Strapp, 4: Akil Wright, 5: Lewis Reid, 9: Brian Graham, 11: Kieran Phillips, 19: Luke McCarvel, 22: Adam Emslie, 23: Ross Docherty |
| Inverness Clachnacuddin | |
| Manager | Conor Gethins |
| Starting 11 | Mark Ridgers, Tommy Havlicek 1, Harry Nicolson, Ben Cormack, Kuba Leszczynski, Fergus Ross, Andrew MacRae, Troy Cooper 1, Samuel Thompson, Craig Lawrie, Ross Logan |
| Bench | Mikey Mackenzie, Jacob Kerr, Shae Keogh, Alfie Lobban, Arran Thain, Jordan MacRae, Michael Finnis, Aidan Colligan |
| Attendance | |
| Match Report | Ross County Goal Scorers: Dylan Smith (8') Ricco Diack (47' 51' Pen.) Andrew MacLeod (65') Josh Reid (83') Ross County Substitutions: Adam Emslie for Andrew MacLeod (68') Luke McCarvel for Richard Chin (68') Lewis Reid for Adam Forrester (74') Ross Docherty for Jack Turner (74') Kieran Phillips for Ricco Diack (74') Ross County Cautions: Adam Forrester (28') Jack Turner (42') Inverness Clachnacuddin Goal Scorer: Troy Cooper (57') Inverness Clachnacuddin Substitutions: Jacob Kerr for Tommy Havlicek (58') Mikey Mackenzie for Andrew MacRae (58') Shae Keogh for Fergus Ross (58') Alfie Lobban for Ross Logan (68') Arran Thain for Harry Nicolson (87') Inverness Clachnacuddin Caution: Tommy Havlicek (34') Report by Will Clark for the Ross-Shire Journal. Inverness Clachnacuddin 1 Ross County 5 Ross County recorded another victory in the KDM Evolution Trophy as they claimed all three points against Clachnacuddin at Grant Street Park. It only took seven minutes for the Staggies to break the deadlock when Dylan Smith got his first competitive goal for the club when he headed home a Jack Turner cross. Ricco Diack went close to doubling the Staggies advantage midway through the first half when he won the ball and charged towards the goal before driving a powerful low drive inches wide of the right post. But Diack did double Ross County’s advantage immediately after the start of the second half when he fired a low drive past goalkeeper Mark Ridgers from 12-yards out. Five minutes later, Diack made it 3-0 when Ross County were awarded a penalty after he was fouled by Tommy Havlicek. He kept his composure to fire his spot-kick into the bottom left corner of the net out of the reach of Ridgers. The Lilywhites did pull one back in the 57th minute when Troy Cooper managed to get himself free of the County defence. From the edge of the box, he fired his shot past Brad Wade into the top right corner. But County restored their three goal lead in the 64th minute when Andrew Macleod fired home a cross from Richard Chin as he thundered the ball home from 10-yards out. Cooper should have made it 4-2 after he was unchallenged in the box to connect with a cross from Mikey Mackenzie from the left wing. But from 12 yards, he fired his shot wide of the right post. Ross County made it 5-1 when Josh Reid pounced on a rebound after Ridgers blocked a shot and fired home from close range with six minutes remaining. |