Date	Saturday, 25 November 1989
Competition	Highland League
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:1 Fort William
Venue	Victoria Park
Referee
Ross County
Manager	Robert (Bobby) Wilson
Starting 11	1: Derek Rudkin, 2: Christopher (Chris) Somerville, 3: Gary Campbell, 4: Robert (Robbie) Williamson, 5: Johnston Bellshaw, 6: Scott Lemmon, 7: Barry Wilson, 8: Cameron Robertson, 9: Brian Grant 1, 10: Gordon Connelly, 11: Alex (Nero) McDonald
Bench	0: Lee O'Brien, 0: George Stewart
Attendance
Match Report	Report from the Ross-shire Journal. Ross County 1 Fort William 1 WITH a run of eight defeats behind them, could Saturday’s home match with Fort William mark a change of fortune for Ross County? “Yes” and “No”, it did! “Yes”, their fortunes did change — they won a hard earned point; and “No”, that second half fall-off in pressure and power was still present to worry not only the management, but the fans in the terracing, who were baying for blood. They did not give keeper Rudkin a very happy time of it on Saturday. He should try and ignore this type of intimidation, but is that possible, for he is only human? A tremendous first half display in which they were pushing up-field from the Jubilee Park end into a penalty area from which the frost had not lifted all day, shaded as it was by the enclosure, County were firing on all cylinders, and giving their opponents no end of trouble. At this stage, the midfield had complete command, with good running on and off the ball, so much so that one felt County were safe for three points. The goal itself in the 22nd minute, was a cracker, and was the result of a clever inter-passing move between Barry Wilson and Brian Grant, who cleverly controlled Barry’s pass, and crashed a low hard ball past the keeper. It was a counter worthy of his first goal for his new club. Just minutes earlier, a similar shot from a Connelly pass had gone sizzling past the upright. As in the previous two cup games, which Fort William had won, keeper Dunlop was in brilliant form, and made several excellent saves in the course of the first half, when County were seen at their best. Came the second period, and the midfield seemed to relinquish control of the situation as Fort William came at them, pushing players forward with deadly regularity, putting pressure on County’s defenders, who had to contend with a frost-hard surface within the 18-yard box. They cleared their lines well, with strong headers or well directed kicks, but in midfield the front-runners were being tied down by the determination of their opponents. As often as not they were being caught in possession, or simply not releasing the ball quickly and accurately enough. It was a complete transformation from a team oozing confidence in the first half. The longer the game went on the stronger Fort William were becoming and then, with five minutes to go, they secured a deserved equaliser. A free kick was awarded some 25 yards out; the defensive wall was lined up, marshalled as it was by the keeper; and what happened? The kick was taken and as Rudkin left his line the ball was headed over his head into the net by Conlon. Just before this Nero Macdonald had a powerful shot at goal, which crashed off the under-side of the bar — a let-off for Fort William. With minutes remaining, County had a let-off, when Rudkin, like a bat out of h..., ran headlong from his goal-line to make an unavailing tackle on Mackinnon, as he was cutting in on goal. The Fort William forward simply stroked the ball towards the untenanted net. Fortunately Johnstone Bellshaw cleared the danger. A disappointing result as far as County was concerned, but at least they are, hopefully, on the right tracks again.