Date	Saturday, 27 August 1932
Competition	Highland League
Fixture/Score	Ross County 3:1 Inverness Thistle
Venue	Victoria Park
Referee	Sergt. Barker
Ross County
Manager	The Management Committee
Starting 11	1: Peter Brett, 2: Alexander (Ackie) MacPherson, 3: Hector Stewart, 4: Dick Traill, 5: Thomas Anderson, 6: Roddie Garrow, 7: J Black 1, 8: Dave Cowie 1, 9: Ian Aird, 10: Fred MacLeod 1, 11: ??? Glass
Bench
Attendance
Match Report	Report from the Ross-shire Journal. Ross County 3 Inverness Thistle 1 The football prophets and Press writers interested in the Highland League have this year all but awarded the League flag to Inverness Thistle, and certainly, upon perusal of the Thistle playing strength, both from a point of experience and craft, there is some justification for their conclusions. Consequently, it was with very slim hopes even for a draw that Ross County met them at Dingwall on Saturday, and with Urquhart’s absence from the centre-half berth, the County faithful were even more despondent. The opening exchanges favoured the County and Aird was early on the mark, a shot from him being stopped by Macdonald when it seemed as if the goalkeeper had pulled the ball over the line. A claim was made for a goal but disallowed. It only required this incident to restore a feeling of confidence to the home side. Anderson, who deputised for Urquhart at centre-half, stood on no ceremony. He got rid of the ball first time and his tactics led the rest of the players to follow his example and get the ball away first time. The Thistle machine was consequently knocked out of gear and never was allowed to settle. Instead of playing County at their own game, Thistle put still more work on the ball, which made their attacking forwards easy prey to a pair of hard-tackling backs and a dour half-line. Anderson, in clearing, was unfortunate to kick against one of his defenders, and Thistle, much against the run of play, went one up. The Thistle goalkeeper was kept on the move. Aird was in sparkling form, and although not too successful with some of his shots, gave Macdonald a worrying time. Working into a good scoring position, Aird was grassed and the crowd howled for a penalty kick, but the referee paid no attention. Cowie drew the game with a splendid goal, taking the ball cleverly first-time with the outside of his boot. Inspired by success, County kept the ball moving swiftly, while their trapping and quickness in controlling it was the main factor in their success. Black, who was always dangerous, gave County the lead. Enthusiasm among the home spectators was great and infected the players to such an extent that nothing could stop them. On half-time, the veteran Thistle half-back, Roddie Fraser, headed clear from under the bar, with Macdonald out of position. After half-time, County again sailed into the game with the same dash as they had displayed in the first half. Try as they could, the experienced Thistle half-backs could in no way cope with their dashing opponents and were hard put to it to hold their own, let alone help their forwards. Anderson had now completely played himself into his strange position and the famous Gowl had a very lean time of it, due to Anderson’s fine interception and the dash of the County forwards, which kept the Thistle halves fully occupied. Macleod missed a likely chance from a centre by Glass. Cameron, on the Thistle extreme right, raised the siege and Gowl missed with a header. County backs were given the chance to show their mettle, and their work was confidently done, if sometimes in daring fashion. Aird had an interesting bout with Macrae, the Varsity player, in which the County centre came out best. He forced a corner, and only a brilliant clearance by Ballentyne—the only Thistle player to show up anything of his true form—saved Thistle from further defeat. The Thistle goalkeeper was kept busy and saved at point-blank range from Aird. Ballentyne, now at centre-half, made more headway against the keen County attack and was able on occasion to attend to his own forwards. A fine clearance by Stewart gave County the advantage again, and time after time, Ballentyne's brilliance alone held them out. A corner kick put County two up. Black placed the ball to perfection, and Macleod, who has developed a happy and useful knack of using his head, scored a delightful goal. With the third goal against them, the fight deserted the Thistle, and they were lucky to retire with only a two-goal deficit. Ross County’s great victory was the general topic of conversation with the football-loving public in Ross-shire over the weekend. Great satisfaction was expressed with their victory and that over a team like Thistle who include in their ranks such players as Stark (Hibs.), Ballentyne, Albert Macrae, and Ernie Gowl. The County eleven was a hundred per cent Ross-shire and included four young players who are playing in their first season of senior football. Their success lay in the fact that they were quicker on the ball, could trap it and get it away in a manner never attained by them before, and should they keep up this style of play in preference to their previous game of dilly-dallying and short passing, they will give a run to the best of Highland League elevens. Each and all of the County players pulled his weight, and all pulled out that little bit extra which made all the difference. The forwards found dash and speed. Cowie was superb with Aird back to form. Aird’s presence in the team is a great asset. His reputation singles him out for special attention, and although the centre, with two men trailing him, gets little chance to shine, the trailing business always allows another player to go unmarked. Anderson is to be complimented on his display at centre-half. It was his first-time tactics that gave the lead to his colleagues. Pat Brett, a brother of the old County goalkeeper, has made great improvement; he should hold the job if he plays as well as he did on Saturday. Macpherson, the newcomer at back, is another player who has only to reproduce his Saturday’s form to command a place. He and Stewart were a daring and speedy pair.