| Date | Tuesday, 10 August 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Dumbarton 1:3 Ross County |
| Venue | Strathclyde Homes Stadium |
| Attendance | 437 |
| Referee | Iain Brines |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Dumbarton 1 Ross County 3 Alex Burke was the hat-trick hero as County edged part battling Dumbarton, but they made it hard for themselves. The Dingwall men wasted a series of chances and Burke even missed a second half penalty as they struggled to kill off their Division Two rivals. County boss Alex Smith said: "It was a difficult game and they were a good side but I thought we deserved the win. "Alex Burke was superb for us and I was very happy with the way he played, apart from the penalty that is. It was dreadful and even I could have saved it. If that had gone in I think that would have been the end, but as it turned out Dumbarton pushed us back for a while and we only killed the game off in the last five minutes when Burke made amends. "I'm hoping we get a good tie in the next round." After a scrappy opening 15 minutes, County began to take the initiative and only the brilliance of Sons keeper Stephen Grindlay kept the score level. But there was nothing he could do when County finally opened the scoring on 27 minutes. Don Cowie found Burke with a cross field pass and he made no mistake from eight yards. Dumbarton levelled with virtually their first shot of the match after 39 minutes when Ian Russell sent a spectacular volley past Stuart Garden from 10 yards. Just two minutes later, however, Burke prodded home from close range after Grindlay spilled a Rankin free kick to put County back in front. McGarry almost made it three, five minutes after the break but his snapshot was blocked by Ian Dobbins. Seconds later at the other end Russell gave Smith's side a fright with a 25-yard volley that flew inches over. Andy Rogers came even closer in the 53rd minute when he sent a blistering long-range drive careering just past the post. County had the chance to put the result beyond doubt when referee Ian Brines harshly ruled that Craig Brittain had fouled McGarry in the box on the hour mark, but Grindley got down to save Burke's poor penalty and deny his hat-trick. It was all over for the home side five minutes from time when Craig McEwan was sent off for handling on the line. Burke again stepped up to take the penalty and this time he scored. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: Martin Canning, 3: James Lauchlan, 4: John Robertson, 5: Jamie McCunnie, 6: Don (JNR) Cowie, 7: John Rankin, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: Gary McSwegan, 10: Alexander Burke 3 (1 pen), 11: Steven McGarry |
| Bench | 0: John Mccaffrey, 0: Stuart Malcolm, 0: Steven MacKay 1, 0: David Winters, 0: Sean Higgins |
| Dumbarton | |
| Manager | Brian Fairlie |
| Starting 11 | Steve Grindlay, Craig McEwan 1, James McKinstry, Ian Dobbins, Craig Brittain, Steven Bonar, Paul Ronald, Barry Donald, John Dillon, Andy Rodgers, Iain Russell 1 |
| Bench | Gordon Herd, Chris Boyle, Ryan Borris, Neil Binnie, Robert Dunn |