| Date | Saturday, 26 October 2002 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Queen of the South 0:2 Ross County |
| Venue | Palmerston Park |
| Attendance | 1,538 |
| Referee | David Somers |
| Comments | Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Queen of the South 2 Ross County 0 Two goals by Derek Lyle sank a lacklustre Dingwall side. Referee David Somers was knocked cold by a shot from County's Hugh Robertson near the end of the first half and had to be stretchered off. Assistant referee Steve O'Reilly took over and the Doonhamers recruited a supporter, local fireman Robert Park, to run the line. Angry County manager Neale Cooper gave his players a full-time dressing-down and warned there will be changes in personnel if the team's rollercoaster inconsistency continues. County were outfought by a hungry Doonhamers side, buoyed after lifting the Challenge Cup at Broadwood six days earlier. The homesters controlled matters from the start and the visitors hardly created a clear chance against a well-ordered defence marshalled by former Arbroath centre back Jim Thomson. Cooper said: "They were hungry and they deserved to win. I cannot understand how we can pull off a fantastic result against Arbroath and then go down so badly to Queens. "There is no consistency. It is difficult to explain, but I had to tell them a few home truths in the dressing-room. It was a very poor show, and our strikers could do nothing against their centre backs. "It will be a long, sad drive home. It just isn't good enough. One or two players have to take a serious look at themselves." The Dumfries outfit soaked up County pressure in the first 10 minutes-- although they almost scored in the first minutes when Peter Weatherson crossed well for Derek Lyle to head just wide. Lyle opened the scoring after 11 minutes after Steve Bowey dribbled past two defenders and passed to him in the six-yard box. That goal seemed to take the wind right out of County's sails and they then wilted. Ten minutes later, Lyle showed his skill when he beat the defence near the corner flag and crossed for Joe McAlpine to miss a sitter. County's first chance came in 25 minutes when Steve McGarry skinned Derek Anderson before slamming the ball just wide of Andy Goram's post. A minute later, Hugh Robertson troubled the former Scotland keeper when he sent the ball on to the rigging from a corner. Five minutes into the second half Weatherson chested the ball down and sent in a dipping volley from 30 yards. He had Tony Bullock well-beaten, but the ball crashed off the crossbar. It rebounded to Lyle, who slipped it home. Doonhamers boss John Connolly said: "It was a major boost for us to beat a side which saw off Arbroath 4-0 last week. Every game we have played we have created chances. Now we are banging them in Competition for places is fierce." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Neale Cooper |
| Starting 11 | 1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Paul Deas, 3: Hugh Robertson, 4: Martin Canning 1, 5: Brian Irvine, 6: Kenneth Gilbert, 7: Don (JNR) Cowie, 8: Mark McCulloch, 9: Steven Hislop, 10: Steven McGarry, 11: Sean Higgins |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Mark Perry, 0: Peter Lynch, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Grant Davidson |
| Queen of the South | |
| Manager | John Connolly |
| Starting 11 | Andy Goram, Derek Anderson, Andrew Aitken, Robbie Neilson, Jim Thomson, Jon O'Neil 1, Steve Bowey, Joe McAlpine, Brian McColligan, Derek Lyle 2, Peter Weatherson |
| Bench | Colin Scott, Paddy Atkinson, Paul Shields, Brian McLaughlin, Shaun O'Connor |