Date	Saturday, 17 October 1987
Competition	Highland League
Fixture/Score	Ross County 4:1 Fort William
Venue	Victoria Park
Referee
Ross County
Manager	Robert (Bobby) Wilson
Starting 11	1: John Sutter, 2: Alan Gair, 3: Scott Lemmon, 4: Gordon Connelly, 5: Dave Bellshaw, 6: Don Cowie (SNR), 7: Keith (Billy) Ferries, 8: Cameron Robertson, 9: Davie Jackson 1, 10: James MacKay 1, 11: Donald MacKay 1
Bench	0: Martin MacKay, 0: David MacRae
Attendance
Match Report	Report from the Ross-shire Journal. Ross County 4, Fort William 1 Another entertaining performance from Ross County on Saturday brought an excellent tally of four goals, which brings their total for the last three league games to 14! This is a great achievement for any team, but particularly so for the much-transformed Ross County, who finished last season at the bottom of the league. At present, they occupy the seventh position from the top of the table and look good for many more points and goals. As they say, it's goals that count, and this year, the number and the calibre of performance preceding their execution have been whetting the appetite of the faithful for more, and they have come too! When County went one goal down in four minutes against Fort William on Saturday, it was just a matter of time, one felt, before the goal-scoring machine got into action. Sure enough, within another twenty-five minutes, the teams were level, and the push was on for more goals. Bobby Wilson is certainly bringing out the best in his players, and the introduction of Gordon Connolly from Dunfermline Athletic has been an inspired move, as his colleagues will agree. Operating in midfield, Gordon encourages and inspires all about him with his coolness under pressure; his ability to hold a ball, take on an opponent, beat him, and push a pass to an unmarked player has been a pure delight. He is a thrilling player to watch. His performances have been inspiring others to greater effort, particularly the County frontrunners, who have never looked sharper or more deadly in front of goal. James Mackay has taken on a new lease of life as a maker and taker of goals; Donald Mackay can always pull off the unexpected, and with Billy Ferries, is a winger in the mould of a past age. They know just where to place the ball, which is the most dangerous to a keeper, and when to cut in with deadly direction. Dave Jackson, too, has never been sharper, and he is another player who inspires confidence in the younger members of the team. In goal, Suttar was supreme, although he had little chance with the fourth-minute goal. This came from a left-wing cross, which came across the goal to Sutherland, whose strong rising shot whipped past the keeper. Little escaped Suttar’s safe clutch after that. Alan Gair and Scott Lemmon, the backs, benefited from the wealth of experience before them and knew when to make the hefty full-blooded clearance or the tactically placed short pass to a colleague who had made a better position for himself. Don Cowie, too, grows in stature and is more secure in himself, as is Bellshaw, commanding in the air and sharp in covering ground and timing his tackles. Cammie Robertson combines well with Connolly in their grip on midfield, and both are not averse to taking a chance on goal. Continuing performances, such as Saturday’s, will soon bring the fans back to Victoria Park. The next home league game, by the way, is on 7th November. Shortly after Fort William opened the scoring, a Cowie free-kick came thundering off the bar with the keeper well beaten. The County defence was caught out claiming off-side as McGinlay strode towards the goal minutes later, but as Suttar came out to meet him, he attempted to lob the keeper. Much to his regret, the ball went just wide of the target. A cross from Cowie was taken off Jackson's head by keeper Graham, who received a knock when he dived valiantly at Jackson’s feet to retrieve the ball. The keeper was being caught out by the far-post crosses, and he palmed another from Ferries off Jackson's head. On this occasion, the County player had to receive treatment for a knock. In the 26th minute, a slick move involving Jackson and Donald Mackay saw James Mackay stroll onto their final pass and effortlessly turn the ball past the outcoming keeper for the County equaliser. A cross from Ferries was just headed past the post by James Mackay, and as the half drew to its close, a cracking shot from Connolly was turned away for a corner. A beautiful move involving the front four left James Mackay in the open, but his strong shot went straight to the keeper. Minutes later, Connolly headed a cross from Gair narrowly over the bar. County went into the lead in the 50th minute, when James Mackay made for the goal-line before moving in on goal and dispatching a perfect pass to an unmarked Jackson, who had the easiest of chances of scoring. Fort William were under steady pressure and were forced to concede a number of corner kicks. Seldom were the services of Suttar called upon, until there was a flurry of attacks by Fort William towards the end of the encounter. County pressed on all sails, and on two occasions, full-back Lemmon was well up with play, just missing counting with two headers. A long ball to the far post from Jackson was headed down on target by Robertson, but the keeper scrambled the ball clear for a corner. Bellshaw broke up one promising Fort attack with a well-timed tackle and quickly advanced upfield to crash a low shot just wide of the goal. In the 65th minute, James Mackay had a brilliant run down the left wing from a pass by Connolly. He hit the ball hard across the goal, and there was little Dennison could do to prevent the ball entering the net for an own goal. In the 70th minute, Donald Mackay completed the scoring when he broke down the right wing and, seeing the keeper out of position, flighted a perfect ball into the net at the far post.