Date	Saturday, 28 September 2002
Competition	Scottish League Division 1
Fixture/Score	Ross County 0:1 Alloa Athletic
Venue	Victoria Park
Attendance	2,002
Referee	George Clyde
Comments	Match Report Report by Paul Third for the Press & Journal. Ross County 0 Alloa Athletic 1 Ross County ended another run at Victoria Park on Saturday but it was one which left boss Neale Cooper questioning the attitude of his players. Having ended Falkirk's 100% start to the season and becoming the first team to penetrate St Johnstone's defence, County handed Alloa their first league win of the season in a poor game. To say Cooper was upset at the result would be putting it mildly. The County boss said: "I can't justify what happened on the park. "We were the worst I've seen us. The passing was a disgrace at times and we were putting the ball out of play when under no pressure at all. "I'm really upset, in fact I'm the most upset I've ever been and I can only apologise to our fans who had to watch. "I'm in charge of the team and I have to take responsibility. "This was one of the worst games I've watched and been part of as a manager. "I don't believe the players are hunting enough and some of them are mentally weak. "I didn't shout at the players in the dressing-room, I shouldn't have to. If they can be happy with their performance then something is very wrong. "The players are well looked after at this club, they all get on really well, yet they played so badly and I can't explain it. "They need to take a long, hard look at themselves as this was not acceptable." Cooper has arranged a friendly with Forres tomorrow night to give striker Steven Hislop a runout and has pledged to include the former East Stirling man in his squad for this weekend's trip to St Mirren if he proves his fitness. When skipper Steven Ferguson will return, however, is a different matter. Cooper said: "Steven saw a specialist on Friday and he's found he has an imbalance in his body shape which is putting pressure on his back and his calf. "I'm not sure how he will sort it out and I don't know how long he will be out for. "He is going to see the specialist again to see what he can do to fix the problem." The first half was awful. There was an end-of-season tempo, with both sides struggling to make any headway. A measure of the poor standard of play was illustrated by Cooper making a substitution after only half an hour. County's best chances came three minutes before the interval when Alex Bone had two curling efforts from the edge of the box which were easily taken by James Evens in the Alloa goal. The Wasps also wasted their sole chance just before half-time, Gareth Hutchison sending his free header from Andy Seaton's free kick well over the bar with only Tony Bullock to beat. The second half continued in a similar vein with Terry Christie's men seemingly content to sit in their own half and soak up the County pressure. County were struggling to make an impact and were restricted to set-piece for their best chance. Graham Bayne went closest for Cooper's side with a near-post flick on from Hugh Robertson's corner, but his effort was deflected wide by the Alloa defence. The Wasps took the lead in the 72nd minute, albeit in controversial circumstances. Martin Canning was adjudged to have fouled Ian Little near the corner flag as he attempted to let the ball cross the line for a goal kick. From the resulting free kick, substitute Gareth Evans rose above the home defence to bullet a header low past the helpless Bullock from six yards. County almost equalised six minutes later when Evans parried Mark Perry's fierce 25-yard drive but Craig Campbell somehow ballooned his effort from three yards out over the bar with an empty net at his mercy. Little was denied a goal in the 82nd minute when he beat Kenny Gilbert and Canning down the left before playing a one-two with Evens, only to hit the post from 10 yards.
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Hugh Robertson, 3: Martin Canning, 4: Mark Perry 1, 5: Brian Irvine, 6: Don (JNR) Cowie, 7: Mark McCulloch, 8: Kenneth Gilbert, 9: Graham Bayne, 10: Martin Wood, 11: Alexander Bone
Bench	0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Steven McGarry, 0: Conor Gethins, 0: Craig Campbell
Alloa Athletic
Manager	Allan Maitland
Starting 11	Jim Evans, Craig Valentine, Andy Seaton, Gregg Watson, Stevie Thompson, Ian Little 1, Derek Ferguson, Max Christie, Gareth Hutchison, Ross Hamilton, Scott Crabbe
Bench	Myles Hogarth, Jimmy Fisher, Gareth Evans 1, Mark Cowan, Graeme Gillan