| Date | Saturday, 21 December 2002 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Arbroath 2:1 Ross County |
| Venue | Gayfield Park |
| Attendance | 580 |
| Referee | Calum Murray |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Lynne Stewart for the Press & Journal. Arbroath 2 Ross County 1 It may be the season of goodwill, but Alex Smith is hoping his Ross County side don't make a habit of handing out too many gifts on the park. The Dingwall men were made to pay for a sluggish start and found themselves two goals down at half-time. Veteran defender Brian Irvine struggled to contain Arbroath danger man Gavin Swankie--who set up the opener in 15 minutes. After patient build-up play from Arbroath, Swankie received the ball on the edge of the box and cut inside two defenders to fire in a shot which was deflected into his own net by Mark Perry. Six minutes later, County had keeper Tony Bullock to thank when he saved a penalty from Craig Feroz after Perry had brought down Feroz in the box. Feroz then had another effort saved by the busy County goalkeeper. Arbroath moved up a gear after the penalty save and consistently created chances, their second goal coming shortly before half time. Feroz sent Greg Henslee away and he fired a low ball across the face of goal. Swankie's diving header at the far post gave him his first goal of the season. Clear chances were few and far between in the second half. Arbroath dropped a gear, allowing County to chase the game while the Lichties were happy to defend their 2-0 lead. County's persistence was rewarded when substitute Steven Hislop latched on to an Alex Bone pass to fire low past Hinchcliffe to make it 2-1. In the dying seconds, Arbroath's Jordon Tait had a shot cleared off the line by Kenny Gilbert. Alex Smith said: "We didn't start the game properly and we got what we deserved in the first half. We were fortunate to be 2-0 down at half time. "In the second half, we picked it up and put them under a lot of pressure. We got a goal a bit too late and time ran away from us. There are big lessons to be learned from the game for me and for the players and they better learn them quick. "We need to do better than that. We are a full-time team. Arbroath deserved to win and good luck to them." |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Mark Perry 1 1, 3: Martin Canning 1, 4: Hugh Robertson 1, 5: Paul Deas, 6: Brian Irvine, 7: Mark McCulloch, 8: Kenneth Gilbert, 9: Graham Bayne, 10: Alexander Bone, 11: Steven McGarry |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Sean Webb, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: Steven Ferguson, 0: Steven Hislop 1 |
| Arbroath | |
| Manager | John Brownlie |
| Starting 11 | Craig Hinchcliffe, Innes Ritchie 1, Paul Browne, Ross Currie, Jordan Tait, Steve Florence, Andy Cargill 1, Greig Henslee, Gavin Swankie 1, Craig Feroz, Paul Brownlie |
| Bench | Tim Woodcock, Darren Spink, John McAulay, Gary Bowman, Murray McDowell |