| Date | Saturday, 22 January 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Hamilton Academical 0:1 Ross County |
| Venue | New Douglas Park |
| Attendance | 1,476 |
| Referee | Steve Conroy |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Hamilton Academical 0 Ross County 1 Ross County will go into tonight's Scottish Cup tie at home against Airdrie United in positive mood after a David Winters strike earned the Highlanders all three points against Hamilton Accies. After his 77th-minute winner at New Douglas Park on Saturday, Winters said: "We have now won four out of our last five, If we keep this up, we could be in the top three. I could have scored more than the one, but we are happy with the win." The Dingwall side is now just three points behind third-placed St Mirren in the First Division, and County manager Alex Smith said: "It is important for us to keep things going to move further up the league." Hamilton salted their pitch in the morning to ensure the game went ahead, but must be wondering if their work was worthwhile as they plunged closer to the relegation zone. Accies manager Alan Maitland said: "We are not yet in the relegation zone, but we have to start winning games. We are just not scoring. Confident Ross County are moving in the opposite direction, and there was no doubt that they deserved to win after dominating the second half. Indeed, it was the visitors who threatened first, with Jamie McCunnie's 30-yard effort forcing Accies goalkeeper David McEwan to make a fine save. County goalkeeper Colin Stewart then had to be alert to snuff out the threat as Mark Corcoran closed in on goal. But Winters was in the mood and he twice came close to scoring in the first half. After earlier seeing his 20-yard drive sail just over the bar, the former Dundee United man then had a great chance just before the break when he collected an Alex Burke pass, rounded McEwan, but he delayed his shot and the chance was lost. Although Accies' recent signing Colin Cramb had a couple of efforts after the interval, County were on top and it was only a matter of time until they broke the deadlock. And much to the delight and relief of the County supporters, the goal arrived 13 minutes from time when Hamilton Accies goalkeeper McEwan failed to hold an Alex Burke shot and Winters pounced to drive the ball in from eight yards. Ross County manager Smith added: "The foundation for the win was the defence, and it gave us a big lift when we got the goal. "We started shakily on the artificial surface, which seemed a bit slippy, but once we got the feel of the ball, we started playing our passing game. When we play that type of game, we are a good side." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: John Robertson, 3: James Lauchlan, 4: Martin Canning, 5: Mark McCulloch, 6: Don (JNR) Cowie, 7: Fergus Tiernan, 8: Jamie McCunnie, 9: John Rankin, 10: Alexander Burke, 11: David Winters 1 |
| Bench | 0: Stuart Garden, 0: Neil McDonald, 0: Stuart Malcolm, 0: Steven McGarry, 0: Sean Higgins |
| Hamilton Academical | |
| Manager | Allan Maitland |
| Starting 11 | Dave McEwan, Sandy Hodge, Stevie Thompson, David Hamilton, David Carney, Lee Hardy, Jean-Phillipe Javary, Mark Corcoran, Brian Carrigan, Pat Keogh, Colin Cramb |
| Bench | Raymond Jellema, Todd Lumsden, James McArthur, Brian McPhee, Paul McLeod |