Date	Saturday, 30 July 2005
Competition	Scottish Challenge Cup
Fixture/Score	Ross County 2:1 Montrose
Venue	Victoria Park
Attendance	1,200
Referee	Ian Frickleton
Comments	Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Montrose 1 Ross County manager John Robertson was less than impressed with his side's display in the Bell's Cup first-round tie at Victoria Park. it took a David Winters penalty on the hour mark on Saturday to steer County through to the next round. Robertson said: "Montrose were the unluckiest team in the world to go in 1-1 at half-time. "The players were told a few home truths at half-time and they were a different team in the second half, although they switched off with 15 minutes to go. "It was just not good enough. I can only apologise for this level of performance." Steve McGarry drifted a shot wide of the target early on as County made the better start, but the Third Division hopefuls soon found their feet and took a shock lead in the 33rd minute, Calum Watson set up Willie Martin, who provided a clinical finish from the edge of the 18-yard box. Winters almost equalised within a minute, but his shot clipped the top of the bar. The home side, however, did draw level three minutes into injury time of the first half. County won a free kick 20 yards out and John Rankin fired a superb shot into the top corner of the net to give the Montrose goalkeeper no hope. County looked in more determined mood after the break and the winner came in the 59th minute. Elliott Smith pulled down Fergus Tiernan inside the area and Winters coolly slotted home the spot kick to book County's place in the second round. Greig Henslee had a great chance to level the scores in the 77th minute, but his flashing header went wide with the goal gaping. County substitute Alex Burke missed an even better chance in the final minute when he blazed over from close range with his first touch. Montrose boss Henry Hall was nonetheless pleased with his side, saying: "Our performance has given me a lot of heart. I thought we competed well for most of the game, but County's quality showed in the second half."
Ross County
Manager	John Robertson
Starting 11	1: Ian McCaldon 1, 2: Neil McDonald, 3: Lionel Djebi-Zadi, 4: Sean Webb, 5: Martin Canning, 6: Fergus Tiernan, 7: Mark McCulloch, 8: John Rankin 1, 9: David Winters 1, 10: Steven McGarry, 11: Sean Higgins
Bench	0: Stuart Garden, 0: Adam Moffat, 0: Stuart Taylor 1, 0: Kevin McKinlay, 0: Alexander Burke
Montrose
Manager	Eddie Black
Starting 11	Andrew Reid, Barry Donnachie, Elliot Smith 1, PaulDoyle, Jamie McKenzie, Steve Kerrigan, Kevin Webster, Martyn Fotheringham, William Martin 1, Calum Watson, Greig Henslee
Bench	Jim Butters, Andy Cargill, Kerr Dodds, Stephen Fraser, Euan Hall