Date	Saturday, 20 April 1940
Competition	Ness Cup
Fixture/Score	Inverness Thistle 3:5 Ross County
Venue	Kingsmills
Referee	Mr. A. Clyne
Ross County
Manager	The Management Committee
Starting 11	1: ??? Morrit, 2: Adam Forsyth, 3: ? Boyle, 4: A. MacDonald 1, 5: D Urquhart, 6: ??? Brown, 7: Frankie MacBeath, 8: ??? Nicol 1, 9: ??? Moffat 2, 10: ??? Boal, 11: J Sutherland 1
Bench
Attendance
Match Report	Report from the North Star. Inverness Thistle 3 Ross County 5 Ross County ran out winners in this home-and-home semi-final match played at Kingsmills Park, Inverness. Both teams showed changes, Thistle being without Mackenzie, their left-half, and Ross County fielded a new man in Brown, a Militia player, who took the place of Wood. Both teams meet again at Dingwall to-day (Saturday), when a thrilling game is being looked forward to. Ross County won the toss, and with a strong breeze behind them they started bombarding the Thistle goal. MacBeth had a good try which had Mac Neil in difficulties. During this period Thistle were sorely pressed and their defence had to stand up against a terrific barrage of shots which flew in towards their goal from all angles. Time and again they had lucky escapes, the ball grazing past the post or skimming over the bar. On several occasions Thistle forced the play into the other half, but their finishing was poor. Dennis had a brilliant chance to score but he failed to accept a pass from Gillies. County once more came into the attack and only through a superb save by Mac Neil, Nicol was prevented from scoring. Following an attack on the County goal, Sutherland broke away for County and drove the ball hard against the bar. Ross County soon forged ahead through Macdonald, who scored from about twenty yards. About a minute after this Nicol scored from a MacBeth cross, Milne deflecting the ball into his own goal in a vain attempt to stop the ball. County with a two-goal lead continued to exert pressure on the Thistle goal, which had narrow escapes from Nicol, Moffat and MacBeth, the latter playing brilliant football. Thistle broke away on two occasions during this period, but Morritt saved brilliantly from Hossack on both occasions. From a lovely cross from MacBeth, Moffat, with a perfectly judged shot, added number three to the County's total. In the later stages of the first half Thistle showed more prominence in front of goal, but all their raids were baulked by the County defence in which Brown and Boyle excelled. Just before the interval Sutherland added the County's fourth after Nicol had almost walked through the Thistle defence. Half-time result—Thistle, 0; Ross County, 4. The second half opened with both teams playing grand football. Thistle, with the wind behind them, attacked repeatedly and Ross County were lucky on a few occasions. Forsyth headed out a drive from Hossack which had Morritt well beaten, and Gillies struck the bar with another try. Thistle soon reduced the leeway through Macaulay, who scored from close in. The County once more increased their lead. Once more it was from a cross from MacBeth which Moffat accepted, and beating two defenders, slipped the ball past Mac Neil. This game player missed what looked like a certain goal by slamming the ball over the bar from close range. End-to-end play followed, Ross County being again unlucky not to score on more than one occasion. Thistle soon reduced the leeway once more. Gillies, accepting a pass from Robertson, slapped the ball past Morritt. Right on top of this the Thistle lads brought the score down to 5-3, Gillies again being the marksman. For the rest of the game Thistle kept hammering away at the County goal and only through great defending by Boyle, Forsyth and Brown did the County keep their lead. Thistle kept up a terrific barrage, Urquhart slamming the ball against the bar, Gillies driving the rebound in with all his might; Kay, Hossack and Mackenzie all trying to score, but the County defence stood up to the strain magnificently and ran off the field worthy winners. Final result—Thistle, 3; Ross County, 5. For a grand County team, Brown distinguished himself in the half-line; Boyle, in the defence, excelled, while in the forward line MacBeth and Nicol slightly outclassed their colleagues. For Thistle, Kay and Gillies were hard workers, while Webster and Mac Neil defended well against a superb County attack.