| Date | Saturday, 31 July 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Challenge Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:1 Saint Mirren |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 950 |
| Referee | Craig MacKay |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Saint Mirren 1 Alex Burke provided the spark up front as Ross County booked their place in the second round of the cup. Burke opened the scoring early in the second half of Saturday's match against St Mirren at Victoria Park. After Ricky Gillies levelled for the Buddies in the 81st minute with a free kick, Burke grabbed the winner three minutes from time. County manager Alex Smith was delighted with his new signing's contribution and is a lot happier with the firepower available to him this season. He said: "We are well equipped up front. Apart from Burke, (Steven) McGarry, (David) Winters and (Sean) Higgins are all capable of doing the same. "I'll keep varying and changing them during games because each one of them is capable of scoring goals. If we could get a couple of them scoring consistently, we'll do fine because we are very secure at the back." Smith felt his side deserved to reach the second round. He added: "It was a hard game on a very hot, stamina-sapping day, but I felt we deserved to win. "Both our goals were well taken. Alex's movement in the box for the first was excellent. The winner was, in his own words, to save him from half an hour of extra time." St Mirren striker Mixu Paatelainen had the first effort on goal in the first minute, but the Finn's header went straight into the arms of keeper Stuart Garden. County's first real chance fell to Burke in the ninth minute when Gary McSwegan found him with a diagonal ball into the box, but the former Queen of the South man shot over from the edge of the six-yard box. County should have taken the lead in the 17th minute when Martin Canning knocked down a John Robertson free kick for McGarry, but the striker's effort was held on the line by Craig Hinchcliffe. Ross made the breakthrough in the 49th minute when John Rankin's cross from the left was headed high into the net by Burke at the near post. Rankin tried a cheeky chip from 40 yards in the 66th minute, catching Buddies goalkeeper Hinchcliffe off his line, but the ball rolled just wide. The visitors were allowed back in to the match in the 81st minute when Canning fouled Broadfoot on the edge of the box and Gillies curled a tremendous free kick into the top corner. The game looked to be heading for extra time, but Rankin released Burke with a long through-ball and County's new goal hero kept his cool to slot the ball past Hinchcliffe from 12 yards. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: John Robertson, 3: Martin Canning, 4: James Lauchlan, 5: Don (JNR) Cowie, 6: John Rankin, 7: Mark McCulloch, 8: Jamie McCunnie, 9: Alexander Burke 2, 10: Steven McGarry, 11: Gary McSwegan |
| Bench | 0: John Mccaffrey, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Sean Kilgannon, 0: Sean Higgins, 0: David Winters |
| Saint Mirren | |
| Manager | Gus MacPherson |
| Starting 11 | Craig Hinchcliffe, Kevin McGowne, David van Zanten, Andy Millen, Kirk Broadfoot, Mark Reilly, Simon Lappin, Mark Crilly, Brian McGinty, Mixu Paatelainen, Ricky Gillies 1 |
| Bench | Stevie Woods, Laurie Ellis, Jon O'Neil, John Baird, Eddie Annand |