Date	Saturday, 12 February 1938
Competition	Scottish Cup
Fixture/Score	Ross County 2:5 Albion Rovers
Venue	Victoria Park
Referee	Mr. A. Henderson
Ross County
Manager	George Henderson
Starting 11	1: R MacNeil, 2: Roddie Munro, 3: A Burnett, 4: D.L MacIntosh, 5: George Henderson, 6: J MacIntosh, 7: J.A MacKay, 8: J.G MacKay 2, 9: Ernest Gowl, 10: Ackie Urquhart, 11: Frank Wilson
Bench
Attendance	3,400
Match Report	Report from the Ross-shire Journal. Ross County 2 Albion Rovers 5 Keen interest was shown in the Scottish Cup tie between Ross County and Albion Rovers at Dingwall on Saturday. This was indicated by the attendance, which numbered over 3400, while the money taken, exclusive of the stand, amounted to £151. It was a cosmopolitan crowd. Private cars brought spectators from Wick, Helmsdale, Brora and other centres in Caithness and Sutherland. Tain sent a large contingent, as also did Invergordon and Alness. Stornoway, and Broadford in Skye, were also represented, while a special train brought "fans" from all stations on the Skye line, as well as from Ullapool and Gairloch. Motor buses from the Black Isle and Inverness had to run in triplicate, while over 200 came by special train from Inverness. Coatbridge sent a contingent by special train. They numbered 460 all told. A motor bus also brought a load from the mining town. The crowd was well managed. There was no congestion at the gates and the people were comfortably housed round the pitch. Behind the goals seemed to be most popular, and here the crowd was rows deep, standing on terracing made of railway sleepers. The I.D.A. brass band from Inverness passed the long wait before the game and at the interval with selections of patriotic music. Entertainment was also provided at the North goal, where the Coatbridge men rendered several popular airs in beautiful harmony. The Victoria Park looked very trim, but soft spots could be seen. Recent heavy rains had partially flooded the ground, and only herculean efforts on the part of the staff and committee had made it presentable for play. A drying wind on Friday night and Saturday forenoon greatly improved matters. But it was a heavy ground to play on and as the game progressed it got worse. The ball was very greasy and at times difficult to control. The Albion Rovers received a warm welcome from the people of the Highlands, among whom they spent a very pleasant time. Many people recalled the happy time spent at Coatbridge in February, 1934, when Ross County had to meet the Rovers in the third round of the Cup competition. That experience made the visitors doubly welcome to the North. The Albion Rovers directors and team were met at the Dingwall Station on their arrival by Provost John Macrae and followed by their supporters, they marched to the local War Memorial, where Mr Maclaren, chairman of the directors, placed a beautiful wreath at the base of the Memorial. Provost Macrae extended to the visitors a cordial welcome to the town from the citizens and all others interested in football in the county. Ross-shire was proud of its football team, he said, and particularly because they had been the means through their prowess of bringing such a talented team as Albion Rovers to the North. He wished the Rovers all success in the cup competition, and also in their efforts to get promotion this season to the First Division League. He trusted they would return to Coatbridge feeling the better of their sojourn in the County Palatine. Mr C. G. Macdowall, president of the Dingwall Branch of the British Legion, expressed his appreciation of the thoughtful act by the Albion Rovers of remembering those who had fallen in the War. The visitors got a good reception when they appeared, but it was a roar of welcome that greeted Ross County when they took the field. Henderson correctly guessed the spin of the coin and took advantage of a strong breeze blowing towards the County Buildings end. Prompt to time Love kicked off. The Rovers immediately took the game in hand and pressed strongly and three minutes elapsed before the County got across the middle line. The defenders, while hard pressed, gave little away and when the County forwards did get going they showed that they knew the direction of the goal. Urquhart was the first to have a shot and it was fortunate for Robertson that the elevation was just too high, the ball scraping the crossbar. The wind was certainly of considerable assistance to the County, but Albion Rovers kept the ball on the ground, and when they got going they made very rapid progress up the field. Burke gave Burnett some trouble. Once he got clean away and closed into the goal. Macneil advanced to meet him. Burke shot, but the ball struck the goalkeeper, deflecting it across the goalmouth. There was no one up to send it home and eventually Munro cleared the danger. It was a narrow escape. Gowl and J. G. Mackay had a smart passing bout, but the latter's final cross went away from the goal instead of towards it and a likely opportunity went abegging. There was no doubt that the Coatbridge boys were more polished than their opponents. There was fine positional understanding between the halves and forwards, and long passes to the extreme wingers often had the County defenders guessing. The latter, however, stood on no ceremony, and Munro fearlessly intervened to successfully break up well-organised movements. In nine minutes the Rovers scored, through Kiernan. Burnett might have stopped the inside left, but Macneil had little chance to stop the shot. On play so far the count was deserved. But Ross County did not lie down. After Robertson had stopped a strong shot from J. G. Mackay, his Clan partner got the chance of a lifetime. It was Urquhart who started the move. He gave the ball to Gowl, who drew Beath towards him and slipped a perfect pass to the outside right. "J.A." was unmarked. He steadied himself and blazed. The ball struck goalkeeper Robertson on the side of his head and rebounded up the field. The crowd groaned, but J. A. Mackay's feelings can be better imagined than described. But worse was to follow, for within five minutes the Rovers were two up. The honour fell to Douglas, the disappointment to Macneil, who for some unaccountable reason, let the ball slip underneath his body into the net. Perhaps the County did not take full advantage of the wind. The centre and the two wing men were dangerous raiders, and caused Miller and his backs much anxiety. Dame Fortune, however, was not too kind to the County; at least she was not generous. A nice piece of dribbling between Gowl and Wilson brought no reward. Two corners in quick succession followed. Wilson took both, placed the ball well, but on both occasions the Rovers managed to scrape the ball away. A free kick well out of the penalty area was taken by Burnett. He sent in a stinger of a shot, which Robertson palmed on to his right upright post, from which it went back into play. There were loud shouts of "goal," but the referee waved play on. Ross County continued to persevere and eventually they got their reward. Following a throw-in, Urquhart turned the ball across the goalmouth. Miller deflected it to the feet of J. G. Mackay, who sent in a strong, low angular shot, which beat Robertson completely. The score of 2-1 in favour of the Rovers at half-time was a fair reflection of the play. After the rest the visitors, now having the wind at their backs, set about their business in real earnest. Within three minutes they had increased their lead. The defence, taken by surprise, at this point was somewhat slack. The goal came from a corner kick taken by Burke. MacNeil only partially saved and the ball, landing at Love's feet, the latter had no difficulty in sending it into the top of the net. This was the beginning of the end as far as Ross County was concerned. In quick succession four corners followed to the Rovers. The pressure was bound to tell and when Kiernan registered a fourth goal in the ninth minute of this half, the point was merited. Corrance scored a few minutes later, but the point was disallowed for offside. Frank Wilson tried hard to get the line going, and J. A. Mackay worried Beath, but Gowl got little scope from Miller. At the other end the fast-moving forwards kept the County defence on its toes. Then irresistible Kiernan walked through to give his team a fifth goal and his own "hat trick." There was still fight left in the County and they were well worth the goal secured by J. G. Mackay five minutes from the close. When the final whistle blew the visitors were attacking strongly. Final Result.—Albion Rovers, 5; Ross County, 2. Ross County were well beaten by a superior team, a more experienced team, and a better trained team. They shot their bolt in the first half; after that they were little in the game. Before the close they were leg weary. It has to be stated, however, that they did not lie down to their opponents, and in the end, while defeated, they were not disgraced. They should have made more use of the wind early on, and there should have been more shooting in place of the hesitation that was often witnessed and which gave their opponents time and opportunity to cover up. Macneil did very well, although he has often been better. He had one spectacular save when he threw himself full length along the goal-line to stop a shot at the foot of the post. Munro was the best back on the field, tackling fearlessly and kicking strongly. Burnett was not far behind, but he had some difficulty with the greasy ball. Henderson was better in defence than in attack. He blocked many dangerous shots with his head and his body. It would be to the advantage of the forwards, however, if he elevated the ball more. Many of his excellent ground passes were intercepted by the wrong man. J. Mackintosh was tireless, but he was up against a tough proposition in Kiernan and Burke, the best wing of the day. D. L. Mackintosh caught the eye of the experts. All his work was sound. He was the most valuable man to the forwards. In the vanguard the extreme wing men were most profitable, with Mackay a shade better than Wilson. Gowl got little rope, but when he did get a chance he did not throw it away. The inside men were good and bad in turns. Urquhart did many clever things, but he was prone to stick to the ball too long on occasions when his partners were waiting for it. J. G. Mackay did not feed his outside man as he usually does, but he scored two very fine goals. Albion Rovers are a clever lot, and full of enthusiasm. Robertson had not a great deal to do, but the work he did was sound. Waddell was the steadier of the backs, but Beath found J. A. Mackay on occasions too tricky for him. The half-backs were good without being brilliant; Miller was the best as the pivot. Of the forwards Kiernan was outstanding. He could hold the ball, beat his man, and was never inclined to overdo it. Burke was the better outside man. Louden and Douglas could make little of D. L. Mackintosh and less of Munro. Big Henderson was a stumbling block to Love and dominated him most of the game. It is interesting to note that Waddell and Beath, the two backs, were the only Albion Rovers players who took part in the tie against Ross County in February, 1934. The Ross County team on that occasion was:—R. Mackenzie, Macpherson and Anderson; Garrow, Macrae and Macleod; W. Mackenzie, J. A. Mackenzie, Aird, Ross and W. Bowie. Not one of these played on Saturday, but James Ross only lost his place at the last moment, giving way to Urquhart.