| Date | Saturday, 11 January 2003 |
|---|---|
| Competition | Scottish League Division 1 |
| Fixture/Score | Saint Johnstone 2:0 Ross County |
| Venue | McDiarmid Park |
| Attendance | 2,400 |
| Referee | Michael McCurry |
| Comments | Match Report Report by Graeme Dey for the Dundee Courier. Saint Johnstone 2 Ross County 0 The Saints put the game beyond the Dingwall club's reach they utterly dominated the opening hour. By the time substitute Chris Hay opened the scoring in the 31st minute, with his ninth goal of the campaign, Saints had forced eight corners, seen an Ian Maxwell header come back off the bar and watched Tony Bullock make a fantastic save to keep out a deflected Paddy Connolly effort. Hay had only been on the park a couple of minutes after replacing twisted knee victim Connolly when Bullock spilled a John Robertson shot into his path, but there was nothing sluggish about the ball into an empty net. County threatened to come back into it briefly when on-loan Dunfermline starlet Kevin McLeish almost caught out Alan Main with a dipping long range attempt, But once Ross Forsyth's flashing header from a Marc McCulloch-Paul Hartley short corner found its mark the match was effectively over. County's other loan acquisition, Dundee United's David Winters, wasn't far away from reducing the arrears with a volley which curled wide...but only a sensational one handed Bullock save from a Reilly first-timer kept the score line down. Victoria Park chief Alex Smith felt the two week lay-off his side had endured since drawing with Clyde had contributed to their showing, as had a lack of self belief. "St Johnstone looked that bit sharper and more confident in the first half," he acknowledged, "But in the second half I felt we used the ball much better. "Our confidence is still a little delicate but there were some pleasing aspects today. I thought young McLeish controlled the midfield after the break and David Winters looked a threat when he came on. |
| Ross County | |
| Manager | Alexander (Alex) Smith |
| Starting 11 | 1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Mark Perry, 3: Paul Deas, 4: Sean Webb, 5: Martin Canning 1, 6: Brian Irvine, 7: Steven MacKay, 8: Kevin McLeish, 9: Kenneth Gilbert, 10: Graham Bayne, 11: Steven Hislop |
| Bench | 0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Hugh Robertson, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: David Winters, 0: Steven McGarry |
| Saint Johnstone | |
| Manager | Billy Stark |
| Starting 11 | Alan Main, Jon Robertson, Grant Murray, Marc McCulloch, Ian Maxwell, Ross Forsyth 1, Mark Reilly, Paul Hartley, Tommy Lovenkrands, Paddy Connolly, Keigan Parker |
| Bench | Kevin Cuthbert, Mark Baxter, Darren Dods, Manny Panther, Chris Hay 1 |