| Date | Wednesday, 15 September 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish Challenge Cup |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 1:1 Partick Thistle |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,050 |
| Referee | Alan Freeland |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Andrew Dickson for the Press & Journal. Ross County 1 Partick Thistle 1 After Extra Time Win 5-3 on Penalties Alex Burke was Ross County's hero as they finally broke their quarter-final jinx with a 5-3 Bell's Cup win over Partick Thistle. The Victoria Park Men had crashed out in the last eight of this competition four times in the last five years, but this win sees them reach the semi-finals of a national competition for the first time. David Winters, making just his second side ahead midway through the second half but Emmanuel Panther's goal within six minutes forced extra time. That passed without incident, and it took Burke's winning spot kick after Ramon Escalas had missed Thistle's first effort when he blazed over the bar. Ross County manager Alex Smith said: "We're capable of getting to the final now. Obviously, it depends on the draw, but we are capable of beating the other teams left in the competition. "This is Ross County's first semi-final and it is a good feeling to be there. It was a really hard night but I thought we deserved it." County's cause had been aided from virtually the first whistle after Partick defender Kenny Milne was sent off with just three minutes gone. Burke threaded a neat ball through to Steven McGarry and as he prepared to shoot from the edge of the penalty area, the Jags defender hauled him down. As he had prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity, he left referee Alan Freeland with no option but to show him a straight red card. It was a scrappy start to the match, typified by Leigh Hinds's booking for his reckless challenge on Winters with the ball long gone. County's extra man was failing to show, and of the few chances that were created, the best of them fell to the Firhill side. Hinds was unlucky to see his firmly hit effort hit the bar as, with the aid of a deflection off Stuart Malcolm, it had Garden well beaten before it cannoned off the upright and away to safety. That seemed to spur the hosts into action and McGarry brought out a good save from Arthur before Burke's drive from an Adam corner was tipped over. County piled more and more pressure on the Glasgow side as time progressed and they seemed to have taken the lead on 36 minutes before the goal was ruled out by Freeland. Adam swung a corner in from the left which Arthur, whose handling was poor all night, fumbled into the net. At first it seemed that the strike was chalked off because he had been pushed, but when Arthur restarted play with a goal kick it became apparent the ball had gone out of play before drifting back in when Adam kicked it. County continued to press after the break and the away defence had to be alert to block Stuart Malcolm's header from an Adam corner before the on-loan Rangers midfielder drove high and wide from distance. Thistle should, against the run of play, have taken the lead on the hour when Panther burst clear and set up Armand One but, with just Garden to beat, his first touch was awful and he could only win a corner which was wasted. County boss Smith brought on teenager Craig Gunn and he almost made an immediate impact when he set up Burke, but the former Kilmarnock winger could not get his shot on target and instead it trickled just past the post. The home fans didn't have to wait much longer for the break-through and on 65 minutes Ross County finally went in front when Don Cowie's diagonal ball from the right found Winters, who headed back across goal at the back post to make it 1-0. Winters then had a chance to double the lead when Burke split the defence with a beautiful pass, but he lifted his effort just wide of the mark. Within moments he paid for that miss when Thistle drew level on 71 minutes. Derek Fleming collected the ball 25 yards out and rolled it sideways to Panther, whose scorching drive soared into the top corner of the net, leaving Garden with no chance. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Stuart Garden, 2: Stuart Malcolm, 3: Martin Canning, 4: James Lauchlan, 5: Don (JNR) Cowie, 6: Jamie McCunnie, 7: Charles Adam, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: David Winters 1, 10: Alexander Burke, 11: Steven McGarry |
| Bench | 0: Colin Stewart, 0: Kevin McKinlay, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Sean Higgins, 0: Craig Gunn |
| Partick Thistle | |
| Manager | Derek Whyte |
| Starting 11 | Kenny Arthur, Billy Gibson, Kenny Milne, Grant Murray, Andy Dowie, Steve Fulton, Leigh Hinds 1, Derek Fleming, Juan Ramon, Armand One, Manny Panther 1 |
| Bench | Adrian Madaschi, Steven Pinkowski, Andy Wilkinson, Adam Strachan, Willie Howie 1 |