Date	Saturday, 14 January 1939
Competition	Highland League
Fixture/Score	Deveronvale 2:1 Ross County
Venue	Princess Royal Park
Referee	Mr. W. Leys
Ross County
Manager	George Barrie
Starting 11	1: Tom McAllister, 2: Roddie Munro, 3: A Jack, 4: A. MacDonald, 5: George Barrie 1, 6: J Wood, 7: J Black, 8: J.A MacKay, 9: Ernest Gowl, 10: Neil Gillies, 11: W Murray
Bench
Attendance
Match Report	Report from the Ross-shire Journal. Deveronvale 2 Ross County 1 Ross County's bid for the Highland League championship at Banff on Saturday was frustrated when Deveronvale, occupying a lowly position in the table, rose to the occasion and defeated the Highlanders by two goals to 1. On a frostbound pitch, sometimes a bogey to the Ross men, the home team showed fine dash and frequently had the County defence in a tangle. Although Mac Allister, a promising youngster, was a sound deputy for Applegate in the County goal, the services of the latter were greatly missed. Kindness, one or two mistakes apart, gave the visiting defence no rest, and a fine afternoon's work culminated in his scoring a great goal, after he had neatly tricked Jack. But before this P. Murray scored one of the best goals seen at Princess Royal Park this season. Livingstone shared in the credit. After beating an opponent he sent over a beautiful cross which was only partly cleared and P. Murray, after a clever piece of work, cut in and confidently placed the ball well out of Mac Allister's reach. The 'Vale stuck to their two-goal lead until seven minutes from time, when there was a decided slackening off on the part of the home defence from which a corner resulted. In the goalmouth scrimmage, Barrie scrambled the ball into the net. Ross County went all out for the equaliser and for a few minutes it appeared to be within their grasp, but the Vale forwards, inspired by close on 1000 supporters, again asserted themselves. In the fast pace set during the closing minutes of the game, Kindness narrowly missed increasing his side's lead. In the Vale goal, Marr proved his worth; but for his splendid clearances a different result would have to be recorded. Kindness, Murray and Livingstone were sound Vale men. Ross County's positional play was decidedly superior to their opponents', although perhaps they were not so nippy on the ball. Barrie made his re-appearance after an absence of eight weeks, owing to a ligament injury, and was responsible for the County only goal. Mac Allister, as stated, gave a display which justified his selection, while Munro and Jack were both sound. Wood was the best half-back. Of the forwards, both wingers, Black and Murray, were dangerous. Gow appeared to be slow in getting off his mark, and Mackay was the steadiest shooter. Taken all over, the Ross men had the better understanding in every department, but were weak at close quarters.