Dunfermline 3 Ross County 1
Saturday, 20th Sep 20081-0 after Nipper netted sixth minute free kick and Phinn made it two just before half time. Craig got one back but Bell`s 71st minute third put the game beyond County
Ross County were the opposition for the seventh league match of the season. With Calum Woods out suspended Scott Thomson returned to the Pars defence and Steven Bell started only his second match since joining from Stirling Albion, in place of Stephen Glass who was out with an abductor muscle injury. Kevin Harper returned after missing four of the last five matches meaning Simon Wiles was back on the bench.
The opposition made three changes from the team that faced St Johnstone the previous Saturday. Paul Lawson, Sean Higgins and Scott Morrison made way for Michael Gardyne, Dyron Daal and Martin Scott.
County kicked off attacking the goal at the McCathie Stand end and Scott immediately tried to find a route through the centre of the Pars defence. The ball was touched back for Paul Gallacher and with Daal coming in on top of him, was forced into a hurried clearance after only 12 seconds. Gardyne put in the first shot of the afternoon but his fourth minute attempt went wide right.
The Pars first forward movement into the visitors half saw Harper break from half way only to be unceremoniously dumped by Richie Hart 30 yards out. The County man was shown yellow and Alex Burke and Scott Thomson stood over the ball as the defensive wall was formed. THOMSON took responsibility and fired a great free kick over the wall to find the top right of Bullock`s net.
The home support had to wait until 20th minute before they had some further goalmouth action to excite them. Harper`s cross was knocked down by Graham Bayne and Nick Phinn got in a shot that was blocked. Andy Kirk picked up the pieces but was offside when he shot from eight yards.
Four minutes later Harper pushed the ball through the Ross County six yard box but there were no takers. Two more crosses were sent in by Harper and Bayne required treatment after the second one as he clashed with Boyd.
Dunfermline looked comfortable without extending their lead. Kirk and McCann supplied further crosses into the box but alas nothing came from them.
Paul Gallacher was kept involved with a fine punched clearance on a 34th minute Hart free kick from the left touchline and then the former Caley Thistle player won cheers for hitting the third back row of the McCathie Stand with his attempt to convert Daal`s lay off.
Bullock was relieved to be able to chase back and retrieve the ball as he was closed down by Bayne on the left side of his box and County switched play to the other end but with little to show for it. Gallacher easily held a back flick from Steven Craig and despite a Bayne cross and a vain attempt to walk the ball through the opposition defence by Harper, it looked like there would remain just one goal of a difference at the break.
Kevin Harper had other thoughts and his next ball into the box was firm. Kirk didn`t connect but Nick PHINN was right behind him to turn the ball into the net from seven yards.
Half Time: Dunfermline 2 Ross County 0
From a Dunfermline viewpoint the second half was slow to start. There was plenty time to reflect that the autumn colours were beginning to tint the trees in the neighbouring cemetery as the team in red on the park appeared to be more prominent too. Both Macca and Gerry McCabe could be heard bellowing instruction to keep it simple as Gardyne popped a shot from outside the box that whizzed by Gallacher`s right post.
The Pars first chance of the second 45 came eight minutes after the restart when Phinn broke through on the right to cut the ball back for Kirk but Bullock did well to beat the shot away. County continued to exert pressure winning corners that were cleared in not always the most convincing manner.
The County threat finally produced a goal in 58 minutes when Steven CRAIG got away from Scott Wilson and with a low diagonal shot tucked the ball past Gallacher into the bottom left.
Kirk forced a corner off Boyd in 66 minutes and when Simon Wiles who had come on for Kevin Harper swung that in Thomson`s header returned the ball into the six yard box but somehow Bullock`s goal survived. Kirk got two bites at it before sending the ball narrowly wide of the left post.
Derek Adams side were reduced to ten men five minutes later when Richie Hart collected a second yellow for a challenge on Steven Bell. Hart could hardly have reached the dressing room when his team went a further goal behind.
Wiles cut in from the right and shot left footed on target. Bullock parried the stinging shot but the 30 year old keeper could do nothing to stop BELL hitting the net with a headed effort from six yards.
With 15 minutes remaining, the latest Pars loan signing, Ross Campbell from Hibs, replaced Andy Kirk and he was unlucky not to make his mark almost right away when Bell squared the ball for Bayne to thrash at Bullock from 25 yards. The ball spilled loose from the keeper but he recovered it just before Campbell could connect.
County kept trying with Craig continuing to be the main danger. He came close to turning in a Higgins cross in the final minute but this was a comfortable Dunfermline win without creating too many chances. Three goals and three points, what`s more Scott Wilson broke his run of seven yellow cards in seven matches.
DUNFERMLINE: Paul Gallacher; Scott Thomson, Greg Shields, Scott Wilson (c), Austin McCann; Kevin Harper (Simon Wiles 61), Nick Phinn, Steven Bell, Alex Burke; Andy Kirk (Ross Campbell 75), Graham Bayne.SUBS NOT USED: Scott McBride, Lee Graham, Callum Reidford (GK)
SCORERS: Thomson (6), Phinn (45), Bell (71)
YELLOW CARD: Bell (85)
ROSS COUNTY: Tony Bullock; Mark McCulloch, Andy Dowie, Scott Boyd, Alex Keddie; Richie Hart, Michael Gardyne (Adam Strachan 61), Richard Brittain, Martin Scott; Dyron Daal (Sean Higgins 87), Steven Craig.
SUBS NOT USED: Derek Soutar, Steven Watt, Scott Morrison
SCORERS: Craig (58)
YELLOW CARD: Hart (5), Scott (42)
RED CARD: Hart (71)
REFEREE: Chris Boyle
WEATHER: Overcast 19°C
ATTENDANCE 2631
NEXT MATCH: (home) Co-operative Insurance Cup v St Mirren
Tuesday 23rd September 2008, kick off 7.45pm
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Preview Ross County
Wednesday, 17th Sep 2008County have been in the league since season 1994-95 but this is their first league match against Dunfermline Athletic
Saturday`s First Division match against Ross County, the most Northerly League Club in the country, is only the second between them in competitive action. The sole previous meeting was in the Scottish Cup on 25th January 1997 when County were knocked out 4-0 courtesy of goals from Harry Curran, Hamish French and a Andy Smith brace.
A hard fought campaign in a highly competitive First Division saw Ross County relegated in Season 2006-07 with a points tally of 37, enough to avoid the drop in any other league. Undeterred by this set back and confident in the knowledge that their youth programme was working, County bounced back at the first time of asking, winning the 2007-08 Second Division with a month to spare.
| Dunfermline | Ross County |
| Current League Position | |
| 6 | 9 |
| League Points | |
| 8 | 4 |
| This Season`s League Form | |
| LWWDLD | LLDWLL |
| Home/Away Record | |
| P3, W1, D1, L1 | P4, W1, D1, L2 |
For Dunfermline this will be their fourth home league match of the season having managed a win, a draw and a defeat so far. County will travel to their fourth away match of the league campaign; so far on the road they have won at Partick Thistle drawn at Clyde but lost to Livingston and Queen of the South.
| Form this season | ||||||
| Dunfermline | Ross County | |||||
| Dundee (A) | D | 0-0 | St Johnstone (H) | L | 1-2 | |
| Livingston (H) | L | 1-2 | Queen of the South (A) | L | 0-1 | |
| Airdrie United (H) | D | 0-0 | Partick Thistle (A) | W | 1-0 | |
| St Johnstone (A) | W | 3-0 | Clyde (A) | D | 2-2 | |
| Queen of the South (H) | W | 2-1 | Livingston (A) | L | 0-2 | |
| Partick Thistle (A) | L | 0-1 | Dundee (A) | L | 1-2 | |
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Dundee): Paul Gallacher; Calum Woods, Scott Wilson (c), Greg Shields, Austin McCann; Simon Wiles (Scott Thomson HT), Nick Phinn, Stephen Glass (Steven Bell 26), Alex Burke; Andy Kirk, Graham Bayne.
SUBS: Ryan Thomson, Jordan White, Callum Reidford
ROSS COUNTY (v St Johnstone): Tony Bullock; Mark McCulloch, Alex Keddie, Andy Dowie, Scott Boyd, Paul Lawson (Martin Scott 55), Richie Hart (Dyron Daal 84), Richard Brittain, Sean Higgins, Steven Craig, Scott Morrison (Adam Strachan 55)
SUBS: Derek Soutar, Steven Watt
Former Pars Mark McCulloch (33) and Scott Morrison (24) started the last game. Another familiar face to look out for on the bench is ex Pars striker, Ross Jack who is the Assistant to Derek Adams.
Referee for this match will be Chris Boyle. This will be his first ever visit to East End Park on league duty. He has officiated twice before and on both occasions the Pars ended up with ten men. Chris Boyle sent Tam McManus off at Inverness and next time showed Sol Bamba red at Livingston.
The History
In 1929 a group of officials from the amateur side Dingwall Victors were disbanded and from their ashes arose a new team - Ross County FC. Based in Dingwall they were the only Highland League team from Ross and Cromarty.
As a nod to their predecessors, the home ground established in Dingwall was given the name Victoria Park, while for a badge they chose the Caberfeidh or Stag`s Head from the regimental badge of the Seaforth Highlanders - the regiment in which many locals had fought and died during the Great War. The badge decided the team`s nickname, and to this day they are affectionately known as the Staggies. The first game played by Ross County was against a Highland League select and was watched by over 1,200 spectators - ample demonstration that the newly formed club had the support necessary to become a force in the League.
In their first season Ross County lifted the North of Scotland Cup, and over the years gained a reputation for playing attractive and high quality football as they lifted several further trophies both before and after the Second World War.
It was not until Season 1966/67 that the club succeeded in winning the Highland League Championship. The next League success was not to come until 1990/91, but the team then successfully repeated the trick the following season. It was these back to back successes which gave the club`s then Chairman Hector MacLennan the confidence to apply for membership of the Scottish Football League when restructuring saw a requirement for new teams to be admitted for the 1994/95 season.
Thanks to the skills of Hector and Club Secretary Donnie MacBean as well as the countless people who had worked behind the scenes to prepare the bid, Ross County succeeded in gaining admission to the Third Division along with near neighbours Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The club then began a programme of building both on and off the park. A programme of Stadium works saw capacity and seating increased as well as adding additional functionality to the ground by providing rooms for use as Conference venues as well as Matchday Hospitality.
The strengthened team rose to the new challenges presented by the League and in Season 1998-99 they won the Third Division Championship. Although there must have been some doubt as to whether the team could survive in the Second Division, they did more than just survive and the following Season Ross County again benefited from League reconstruction, the expansion of the SPL to 12 teams meaning that the Club won promotion to the First Division even though they had only finished third in the table.
Since their arrival in the First Division, Ross County have worked hard to develop as a club. Having secured survival in the First Division, the work began to develop the team and facilities to a standard where SPL football was an attainable goal. Although under soil heating and increased seating would still be required, the Board of Directors have put plans in place to ensure that when the dream becomes reality, the Club is ready for it.
One time Pars player and subsequently Manager, Dick Campbell, also played with Ross County and became their manager for Season 2007-08. He had gained promotion no fewer than six times in his career and this experience, coupled with the talents of the younger players, should have been exactly what Ross County needed. Unfortunately, this partnership didn`t work and Dick left the Club after only 3 months in charge.
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