| Date | Saturday, 24 January 2004 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Ross County 1:1 Ayr United |
| Venue | Victoria Park |
| Attendance | 2,732 |
| Referee | Brian Cassidy |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 1 Ayr United 1 County set themselves up when Graham Bayne gave them the lead in 39 minutes, but then saw full points slip away when Kean equalised for the Honest Men in 72 minutes. Bayne said: "We received a lot of praise for the Celtic cup performance, and rightly so. We deserved it and we take it--but we've got to forget all that now. "Our fans were absolutely brilliant down there and every one of our players enjoyed the occasion. It is the kind of place you would want to play every week. "But we have to got to concentrate every thought on the league now, because it is all we have left. We have to make a real push through until the end of the season, because anything can happen. "As we saw today, it is amazing how quickly things can change in this league and we want to be involved in the final weeks. Two or three wins on the trot could push us right back in among it." Bayne's confidence in his team's ability to claw back the margin is obvious and, whatever the out come this season, he believes that manager Alex Smith is building firm foundations. Impressive midfielder John Rankin has just put pen to paper on a deal through until 2007 and Bayne added: "John's decision is a massive boost to all of us. I know Alex Ferguson rated him very highly. Don't forget he is just a young boy." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Graeme Smith, 2: James Lauchlan, 3: Stuart Malcolm, 4: Hugh Robertson, 5: Mark McCulloch, 6: John Rankin, 7: Jamie McCunnie, 8: David Hannah, 9: Steven McGarry, 10: Graham Bayne 1, 11: David Winters |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Stephen O'Donnell, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: Conor Gethins, 0: James Hamilton |
| Ayr United | |
| Manager | Campbell Money |
| Starting 11 | Ludovic Roy, David Craig, Marc Smyth, Willie Lyle, Dougie Ramsay, Lee Hardy, Scott Chaplain, Graeme Brown, Stewart Kean 1, Jamie Doyle, Robert Burgess |
| Bench | John Hillcoat, Aaron Black, Andrew Ferguson, A Trialist, Stewart McGrady |