| Date | Tuesday, 30 August 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Challenge Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 0:1 Hamilton Academical |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,024 |
| Referee | Michael McCurry |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 0 Hamilton Academical 1 Hamilton Accies deservedly claimed their place in the last eight of the Bell's Cup after a professional show in the Highlands last night. The Douglas park side worked hard to earn a second clean sheet of the season at Victoria Park, but this time nicked victory with an Alex Neil winner in first half injury time. It was a disappointing night for Division 1 leaders County, who have now exited both the CIS League Cup and Bell's Cup. County had the ball in the net after only six minutes, but Sean Webb's headed finish was chalked off for an infringement. Accies were soon enjoying the lion's share of possession, though, and forcing the hosts to do most of the chasing. Five minutes later, Martin Canning had to race back to make a desperate clearance over his own bar after Scott Tunbridge tore past the County keeper in the box. Accies frontman Adrian Gonzalaz, just sighed from Edinburgh City, had the ball in the County net, but was adjudged to have fouled keeper Stuart Garden. There was only occasional respite for County in the first half. Home fans craving something special from recent signing Maciej Nuckowski saw the Pole turn well and swerve a fine shot just wide after 30 minutes. Another Nuckowski headed had to be cleared by Derek Fleming as County pressed late in the first half. Having lost Stuart Taylor to a 36th-minute injury, young replacement David Niven did some sterling work in mopping up danger for County. But Accies struck in first half injury time with a goal of great simplicity. Brian Carrigan hooked the ball in from far left and Neil leapt high and free to get over the ball and beat keeper Garden with an easy header. The early part of the second half was scrappy as County tried to hit back, but found too many balls forward going astray. Accies quickly looked content to settle for what they had and took few risks. It might have been two for Accies in 64 minutes after Tunbridge wriggled through the defence. Fortunately for County, keeper Garden who did well to close down the angle and block. The uninspiring play continued into the last quarter. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | John Robertson |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: Lionel Djebi-Zadi 1, 3: Sean Webb, 4: Martin Canning, 5: Fergus Tiernan, 6: John Rankin, 7: Stuart Taylor, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: Alexander Burke, 10: Steven McGarry, 11: Maciej Nuckowski |
| Bench | 0: Joseph Malin, 0: David Niven, 0: Kevin McKinlay, 0: Sean Higgins, 0: David Winters |
| Hamilton Academical | |
| Manager | Billy Reid |
| Starting 11 | Dave McEwan, John Robertson, Sandy Hodge, Mark McLaughlin, Stevie Thompson, Marvyn Wilson, Alex Neil 1, Derek Fleming, Scott Turnbridge, Brian Carrigan, Adrian Gonzalez 1 |
| Bench | Raymond Jellema, Stuart Balmer, Brown Ferguson, Lee Hardy, Ian Harty |