| Date | Saturday, 09 August 2003 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 4:0 Brechin City |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 3,161 |
| Referee | Alan Freeland |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Duncan McKenzie for the Press & Journal. Ross County 4 Brechin City 0 Ross County manager Alex Smith dedicated his side's opening day victory against Brechin City to the clubs groundsman. The Dingwall side opened its First Division challenge with a clinical disposal of Dick Campbell's promoted side. That Brechin had beaten Falkirk in the Bell's Challenge Cup the previous weekend might have worried Smith, but his side showed precious little sign of anxiety. The Victoria Park side controlled the game throughout and left part-timers with more questions than answers as they attempt to survive in a predominantly full-time league. But Smith thanked his groundman for giving him ammunition for his pre-match team talk. He said: "The park was absolutely superb for football and it was a credit to our groundsman Davie Fraser. "He has been out there mowing it almost every single day and, every time he cuts it, he must walk eight miles. "I said to the players before the game they had better win it for that man and told them to match his dedication." Smith is convinced a good start, with three out of four league games at home this month, will be vital if his young players are to believe in themselves and emerge as a force. He said: "The first goal set the pattern and once we started winning the challenges and passing the ball at pace, I was really pleased with the whole team. "The full backs were immense and our captain David Hannah and John Rankin did particularly well along with young Sean Higgins." Brechin manager Dick Campbell missed the game after a family bereavement, but brother Ian, his assistant, admitted: "We will learn from this, but we can't spend too much time learning. "We lost soft goals and it was uphill after that. You didn't see the best of us today. "We believe we have a terrific bunch of players, but they have got to believe in themselves." A superb passing sequence from the left back area saw Steven MacKay start and finish the move with a header from Jamie McCunnie's cross in 17 minutes. It was then you could see and feel the confidence flowing through Smith's side and, three minutes later, Hugh Robertson's fierce 25-yard effort took a nasty deflection off Sean Higgins to make it two. Another deadly and incisive break in 67 minutes saw five or six passes being exchanged before Jamie McCunnie was knocked off the ball inside the box by David White. Up stepped debut boy and substitute Jim Hamilton to knock in the resultant penalty. After Ally Mitchell was red-carded for a second caution during a heated period in the match, Jordan Tait sealed the game for County with a header from Don Cowie's cross. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Colin Stewart, 2: Jordon Tait 1, 3: Hugh Robertson, 4: Stuart Malcolm, 5: Steven MacKay 1, 6: David Hannah, 7: Jamie McCunnie, 8: John Rankin, 9: Mark McCulloch, 10: David Winters, 11: Sean Higgins 1 |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Sean Webb, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: Conor Gethins, 0: James Hamilton 1 (1 pen) |
| Brechin City | |
| Manager | Dick Campbell |
| Starting 11 | Kevin Budinauckas, Ian Davidson, Scott McCulloch 1, Paul Deas, David White 1, Kevin Fotheringham 1, Ally Mitchell 2 1, Grant Johnson, Chris Templeman, Graham Gibson, Roddy Black |
| Bench | Jay Stein, Derek Clark, David Hay, Dene Shields, Greig Miller |