Date	Saturday, 22 October 1988
Competition	Highland League
Fixture/Score	Ross County 0:1 Elgin City
Venue	Victoria Park
Referee
Ross County
Manager	Robert (Bobby) Wilson
Starting 11	1: John Sutter, 2: Christopher (Chris) Somerville, 3: Scott Lemmon, 4: David MacRae, 5: Dave Bellshaw, 6: Don Cowie (SNR), 7: Keith (Billy) Ferries, 8: Alan Gair, 9: Alex (Nero) McDonald, 10: Gordon Connelly, 11: Ronnie Gorman
Bench	0: John MacDonald, 0: Davie Jackson
Attendance
Match Report	Report from the Ross-shire Journal. Ross County 0 Elgin City 1 SPECTATORS leaving Victoria Park on Saturday had varying views on what had proved a disappointing match from their perspective. This player or that was played out of position; such-and-such would be more commanding as a central defender coming forward. Well, everyone has their own views and everyone sees incidents in different lights — perhaps this accounts for the success or otherwise of the "gang of three," plus Vincent, who combine their talents of observation and perspicacity in producing a "common-ground" report of home games at Victoria Park. There is no action replay for them, but their combined efforts do pay off—not all the time, mind you, for there was one occasion when a goal completely "eluded" them! County training is hard and strenuous, one has no doubt about that, but some players lack speed off the mark, which can be very essential at times, especially for defenders who are "turned" by an opponent. Such was the case with Dave Bellshaw on Saturday, in the 69th minute. Teasdale avoided his initial tackle and strode away from him as Dave gave chase. However, his speed of recovery was such that his opponent had a yard or more of advantage when he lunged forward and took him down on the edge of the box, twenty or so yards out. One danger was averted, for the winger was cutting in with as good a chance as any of scoring. However, the inevitable was simply delayed a minute or two, for Teasdale’s free kick, perfectly placed to the far post, was brilliantly headed home by player-manager Paterson. One supposes it was just reward for Elgin City’s endeavours, for, on the whole, they had the edge on play and looked the more likely to score, their chances being thwarted on some occasions by doughty defending, and on others by the alertness and ability of keeper John Suttar. So far this season, Gordon Connelly has not recaptured last season’s form, and fans generally agree he has lost the edge he had when he came North with the benefits of Dunfermline Athletic training behind him. Gordy is finding it more difficult to produce the magic with which he thrilled fans and which brought him the Player of the Year Award. However, one is sure the magic will return. Ross County sprang a surprise when they included in their line up Edinburgh-based Ronnie Gorman, a Glasgow Rangers signing earlier in his career. He started the match with great verve, but found as the game went on that Highland League football is a hard taskmaster, calling for much strength and stamina. Billy Ferries continues to delight with his scintillating runs, and it takes two, sometimes three, players to hold him in check. For a time, he looked as though he would be the match-winner for County with darting runs in from the wing and two shots, which had "Goal of the Season" written on them had one been on target and the other not been brilliantly saved by Gunn. As it was the longer a game goes on Billy finds himself too closely marked to be effective as he could be on the wing, and takes to moving inside, as he did on Saturday.