Date	Saturday, 31 December 1938
Competition	Highland League
Fixture/Score	Ross County 3:2 Rothes Victoria
Venue	Victoria Park
Referee	Mr A. Clyne
Ross County
Manager	George Barrie
Starting 11	1: Roy Applegate, 2: ??? Coulthart, 3: A Jack, 4: A. MacDonald, 5: Adam Forsyth, 6: J Wood, 7: J Black, 8: Neil Gillies, 9: Ernest Gowl 2, 10: ??? Mitchell, 11: W Murray 1
Bench
Attendance
Match Report	Report from the Ross-shire Journal. Ross County 3 Rothes Victoria 2 This game took place at Victoria Park, Dingwall, on Saturday in presence, considering the low temperature, of a fair crowd of spectators. At the outset, Gillies tested Brian with a strong shot which the goalkeeper fielded confidently. Rothes replied with vigour and forced a corner without further result. Rothes were impressive in the outfield and they kept the County defence on its toes. Then came a surprise. Gowl got away and crossing to the right, sent over a perfect centre for Murray to head home. Rothes were not dismayed. They attacked strongly and forced two corners. Both, however, proved fruitless. Again Gowl got through the defence but his pass was unaccepted. Fifteen minutes had passed when the County's young centre-half was hurt. A descending ball was played by both Coulthart and Forsyth. They jumped for the ball together and their heads came into collision. Forsyth collapsed. He was assisted from the field with blood streaming from his nose. He was taken to the Ross Memorial Hospital, where it was found that his nose was broken. Despite the loss of their mainspring, Ross County held their own, revealing fighting qualities which surprised their supporters. Gillies went into centre-half, which left four forwards. That somewhat minimised the attacking machine, but every man was keen and never allowed an opportunity to slip in organised pressure. Although handicapped with the sun in their eyes, Ross County held their opponents. With a full team, Rothes certainly held a territorial advantage, but the forwards were poor finishers. Mitchell missed what should have been a certainty, but even then none of the forwards appeared to have on their shooting boots. On the other hand, Gowl was playing splendidly and he thoroughly deserved his goal, which he secured just on half-time. After changing ends, Ross County continued to hold out against the visitors' attack, although the defence had to be on the alert. Mitchell, Rothes' best forward, sent a ball over the bar when well placed, but he made amends later when he sent in an oblique shot from the left, which flashed across the goalmouth and entered the net inside the off post. Immediately after, Brian brilliantly saved a shot from Black. Then Ross County restored its two goal lead when Gowl intercepted a Black cross and registered number three. From this point onwards both goals had narrow escapes. In the last minutes, however, Rothes got a second goal through Shewan and he deserved the congratulations of his comrades. Rothes were flattered by the small margin of their 3-2 defeat. All the indications were that had the County had its full complement of the men the victory would have been more pronounced. The Rothes halves and inside forwards attempted to play too closely, which was entirely unsuited to the frost-bound ground. This meant that Brian and his backs had to shoulder a lot of work, which, however, they performed with credit. Of the rest of the team Grant, Mitchell and Summerell were the best. In comparison, Ross County were a bunch of live wires, every man carrying his weight. Applegate remains one of the best goalkeepers in the North; Coulthart was the best back on the field; Gillies filled Forsyth's place excellently and he was well-supported by Wood and Macdonald in the order given. In front, Black was a continual source of trouble, while Gowl has seldom played better for the County. Mitchell had too much to do in defence to help his forwards much; Murray had some good touch-line runs.