| Date | Saturday, 05 March 2005 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 2:0 Raith Rovers |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 2,083 |
| Referee | Iain Brines |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 2 Raith Rovers 0 Alex Burke 13th goal of the season inspired County to a vital victory against bottom club Raith Rovers at Victoria Park. The result, however, was not good enough for a section of County supporters, who held up placards with the words 'Smith must go' aimed towards manager Alex Smith. The County manager insists he did not see the show of disapproval. When asked of the incident yesterday, Smith said: "What a load of rubbish . I never saw any fans with placards. The fans who were at Victoria Park were delighted to see the side win what a massive game." Burke fired in the opener in the 67th minute, just as the visitors were threatening to take control of the game. Substitute Sean Higgins killed off Raith with a second goal four minutes from time. Smith added: "It was a stuffy kind of game and it was always going to be nervy for us. The first goal took a lot of pressure off us and the second goal eased up things for us. I'm very pleased with the win." The home side started well and Raith Rovers defender Anthony Bartholome made a couple of important clearances from John Rankin and Burke in quick succession. Bartholome also got in the way of another Burke effort as County kept the pressure on the visitors. David Winters fired in a curling free kick in the 18th minute which Raith goalkeeper David Berthelot did well to turn round a post, then Stuart Taylor flashed a header narrowly wide. Raith's claims for a penalty went unheeded by referee Iain Brines after Jamie McCunnie appeared to handle an Eamon Fullarton header well inside the area, but then County went upfield and scored. A Taylor knockdown inside the Raith box fell nicely for Burke, who slotted the ball under Berthelot. Raith hit back and Patrick Clarke's shot was deflected into the side netting. But with just four minutes left, Higgins wrapped up the points when he swept the ball home at the far post after good work by Cowie. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: Neil McDonald, 3: Martin Canning, 4: Mark McCulloch, 5: Don (JNR) Cowie, 6: Stuart Taylor, 7: John Rankin, 8: Jamie McCunnie, 9: Steven McGarry, 10: Alexander Burke 1, 11: David Winters |
| Bench | 0: Stuart Garden, 0: Sean Kilgannon, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Sean Higgins 1, 0: Adam Moffat |
| Raith Rovers | |
| Manager | Gordon Dalziel |
| Starting 11 | David Berthelot, Jonathan Smart, Ian Davidson, Moussa Ouattara, Anthony Bartholome, Stephen Tulloch, Paul McMullan, Conall Murtagh, Neil Jablonski, Scott Crabbe, Pat Clarke |
| Bench | Stuart Hall, Eamonn Fullerton, Bruce Raffell, Craig O'Reilly, John Martin |