Date	Saturday, 01 February 2003
Competition	Scottish League Division 1
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:2 Alloa Athletic
Venue	Victoria Park
Attendance	2,096
Referee	Mike Ritchie
Comments	March Report Report by Paul Third for the Press & Journal. Ross County 1 Alloa Athletic 2 Ross County manager Alex Smith is in no doubt as to what cost his side three valuable points against Alloa. Two goals down after nine minutes, the home side was chasing the game and Smith knows his players must do better if they are to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle with Alloa and Arbroath. Smith said: "You don't start a game conceding two goals as easy as we did and expect to come back. Our own defending cost us the game. "We had chances to pull a goal back before half time, but when we didn't take them I knew it was going to be more organised defensively and pick up opposition players better than we did." Smith insists his side won't be pulled into a relegation battle this season and is backing his players to get their stuttering season back on track. He said: "There are a lot of games to go and I'm not overly concerned. We wanted to stretch the gap with a win which I'm sure would have ended the matter, but we didn't do it. "But I'm not going to panic. There's been a big upheaval at the club during January and it takes time for the new players to gel with their teammates. "We will work harder in training this week to get the spirits lifted again and with Graham Bayne and Sean Webb back next week, we will be much stronger." The Visitors got off to the perfect start with a goal in the fourth minute. Derek Ferguson's in swinging corner was headed on at the near post by Ross Hamilton and Robert Sloan had the simple task of prodding the ball over the line from a yard. Within five minutes it was 2-0. Max Christie played a short ball to Sloan and with the young striker being given far too much time on the edge of the box by the home defence, he took full advantage, drilling the ball low past County goalkeeper Tony Bullock. County manager Smith's insistence before the game of a big performance from his players to make up for their Scottish Cup defeat against Morton looked like a false promise with his side completely knocked off its stride by the hard-working visitors in the opening quarter. Terry Christie's men were defending as if their lives depended on getting a result and the frustration among the County players was highlighted by loan forward David Winters's booking for a blatant dive in the box. With Alloa happy to defend their lead and hit on the break, County struggled to break down the visitors' back line, their best chance coming from a Tassos Venetis header which was cleared off the line by Christie. It took until the final minute of the first half for County to get behind the Alloa defence, Venetis releasing Winters down the right and his cutback was met first time by Mack McCulloch, but Wasps goalkeeper Derek Soutar blocked the midfielder's well-taken shot from 14 yards. Smith's disappointment with the first was evident as he made a double substitution at the break, with McCulloch and Venetis replaced by Don Cowie and Steven MacKay. County almost pulled a goal back in the 47th minute when Steve McGarry's shot from the edge of the box was deflected over Soutar, but he pulled off a superb save, diving back towards his own goal to tip the ball past the post. The home side was desperate to get a goal and pushed Alloa back to the edge of their own box in search of a goal. Winters wasted a great chance to do just that in the 50th minute, hitting a tame effort straight at Soutar when he found himself in space at the back post. With County pushing up, new captain Bullock almost gifted Alloa a third goal, playing a poor ball straight to Scott Crabbe, but the former Hearts hitman hit the bar from an acute angle and the bar from an acute angle and the home defence cleared. Soutar continued his heroics in goal with another terrific save in the 74th minute, diving at full stretch to his right to tip Cowie's 18-yard volley past the post. County pulled a goal back two minutes from time when Brian Irvine rose at the back post to bullet Cowie's in swinging free-kick past Soutar, but it proved to be too little too late.
Ross County
Manager	Alexander (Alex) Smith
Starting 11	1: Anthony (Tony) Bullock, 2: Hugh Robertson, 3: Martin Canning, 4: Jordon Tait, 5: Brian Irvine 1, 6: Kevin McLeish, 7: Mark McCulloch, 8: Kenneth Gilbert, 9: Anastasios Venetis, 10: Steven McGarry, 11: David Winters
Bench	0: Leslie Fridge, 0: Don (JNR) Cowie, 0: Steven MacKay, 0: Martin Wood, 0: Sean Higgins
Alloa Athletic
Manager	Allan Maitland
Starting 11	Derek Soutar, Craig Valentine, Andy Seaton, Gregg Watson, Stevie Thompson, Robert Sloan 2, Derek Ferguson, Max Christie, Ross Hamilton, Scott Crabbe, Richard Walker
Bench	Myles Hogarth, Gareth Hutchison, Gareth Evans, Ryan Davidson, Graeme Gillan