Date	Saturday, 14 February 2004
Competition	Scottish League Division 1
Fixture/Score	Clyde 1:0 Ross County
Venue	Broadwood Stadium
Attendance	1,139
Referee	John Rowbotham
Comments	Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Clyde 1 Ross County 0 Ross County were left counting the cost of one of football's most controversial rules as their First Division title hopes were dealt a telling blow. Saturday's defeat at Broadwood Stadium has left the Dingwall side 11 points adrift of front runners Caley Thistle and Clyde--and the rule which states that a last-man foul should result in an sending-off was at the root of the defeat. In the 41st minute, County defender Stuart Malcolm was sent packing for a foul on Ian Harty, which resulted in a red card being issued and a penalty kick awarded--and Harty's successful effort from the spot proved to be the winner. County manager Alex Smith said: "It is a cruel rule which dictates that you lose a penalty and a player at the same time. Stuart had been having a good game up until then, but defenders have to learn that if the odds are against them winning the ball, they would be as well leaving it up to the keeper to see if he can prevent the goal." Even Clyde striker Harty had words of consolation for Malcolm, saying: "It was definitely a penalty, but it is a bit harsh for any team to lose a player, too." County thought they had taken the lead in the first half when Graham Bayne had the ball in the net, only for an offside flag to deny the visitors. Then came the decisive moment came just minutes from the interval when Harty robbed Jim Lauchlan and made for goal. Just as the Bully Wee forward was about to shoot, Malcolm brought him down. Despite going down to 10 men, County kept fighting, with keeper Graeme Smith keeping them in the game as he pushed out a dangerous David Hagen cross and then got up to defy a Harty shot. Smith added: "When we went down to 10 men, it was a tremendous effort from the players. We needed a bit of luck to go with all the hard work, but we did not get it. We wanted to win this one because a defeat is a blow to our title hopes. But it is still February and things can change."
Ross County
Manager	Alexander (Alex) Smith
Starting 11	1: Graeme Smith, 2: Stuart Malcolm 1, 3: James Lauchlan, 4: David Hannah, 5: John Rankin, 6: Jamie McCunnie, 7: Stephen O'Donnell, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: Steven MacKay 1, 10: Graham Bayne, 11: David Winters
Bench	0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Martin Canning, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: Steven McGarry, 0: Sean Higgins
Clyde
Manager	Alan Kernaghan
Starting 11	Alan Morrison, Stuart McCluskey, Simon Mensing, Alan Kernaghan, Mark McLaughlin, Jack Ross, David Hagen, Colin Marshall, Andy Smith, James Gibson, Ian Harty
Bench	Stephen McConalogue, John Fraser, Bryn Halliwell, Pat Keogh, Mark Gilhaney