| Date | Tuesday, 01 March 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 0:1 Saint Mirren |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 1,302 |
| Referee | John Rowbotham |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 0 Saint Mirren 1 A Stuart Kean goal was enough to lift St Mirren into third spot in Division 1 last night and leave Ross County perilously close to the relegation zone. Kean sent in a cross from the right in the fifth minute which was split by County keeper Colin Stewart and Mark McCulloch kept his cool to clear the danger. The Saints went close to an opener a minute later when Kirk Broadfoot's close-range effort was blocked by Stewart, then John O'Neill blasted the rebound well over the crossbar. County's first attempt on goal arrived in the ninth minute, but David Winters' weak shot failed to trouble Saints Keeper Craig Hinchcliffe. Winters was almost in three minutes later when a long ball from McCulloch caught out the Saints defence, but the player's first touch let him down. The Saints' goal had a real let-off in the 19th minute when a poor clearance from Hinchcliffe fell to Don Cowie 30 yards from goal, but his attempted lob cleared the crossbar. County's best chance of the half fell to Winters, who failed to get his header on target following a Cowie delivery. But a dreadful blunder by County captain Jim Lauchlan let in Kean, who ran into the box and picked his spot behind Stewart to give Saints a lead in the 28th minute. Another defensive error nearly cost County dear when McCulloch failed to control the ball and O'Neill nipped in, only for Stewart to turn away the ball. Saints almost doubled their lead at the start of the second half when David van Zanten slipped the ball through to Kean and the striker was not far away with a low drive. County brought on Steve McGarry to face his old team at the expense of Stuart Taylor and the substitute laid on a great pass for Winters, who failed to hit the target. County were trying hard to get back on level terms, but a long-range effort from Rankin, which flew over the crossbar, was all they had to show for their efforts. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: James Lauchlan, 3: Martin Canning, 4: John Robertson, 5: Don (JNR) Cowie, 6: Fergus Tiernan, 7: John Rankin, 8: Stuart Taylor, 9: Mark McCulloch, 10: Alexander Burke, 11: David Winters |
| Bench | 0: Stuart Garden, 0: Neil McDonald, 0: Sean Kilgannon, 0: Sean Higgins, 0: Steven McGarry |
| Saint Mirren | |
| Manager | Gus MacPherson |
| Starting 11 | Craig Hinchcliffe, Kevin McGowne, Laurie Ellis, David van Zanten, Andy Millen, Kirk Broadfoot, Hugh Murray, Jon O'Neil, Simon Lappin, Ricky Gillies, Stewart Kean 1 |
| Bench | Stevie Woods, Allan Russell, Mark Crilly, John Baird, Brian McGinty |