Ross County 2
Aberdeen 1
League (SPL)


Ross County
2 - 1
Aberdeen 

League (SPL)
Saturday, November 3rd, 2012
GlobalEnergy Stadium. Att. 6,094
7:00 PM Kick-off

Goalscorers
Mark Reynolds (o.g.) (37)
Steven Ross (49)
Niall McGinn (77)

Team Managers
Derek Adams
Craig Brown

Starting Eleven
Michael Fraser
5. Scott Boyd
Grant Munro
Mihael Kovacevic
3. Marc Fitzpatrick
Steven Ross
7. Stuart Kettlewell
29. Mark Fotheringham
11. Iain Vigurs
Richard Brittain
12. Rocco Quinn
James Langfield
Russell Anderson
Andrew Considine
Gary Naysmith
Mark Reynolds
Gavin Rae
Niall McGinn
Isaac Osbourne
Stephen Hughes
Ryan Fraser
Scott Vernon

Bench
25. Mark Brown
6. Ross Tokely
Adam Porritt
14. Martin Scott
Alex Cooper
Colin McMenamin
20. Gary Glen
Danny Rogers
Clark Robertson
Christopher Clark
Jonny Hayes
Jordon Brown
Josh Magennis
Cameron Smith

Substitutions
Colin McMenamin for Steven Ross (80)
Alex Cooper for Iain Vigurs (81)
Christopher Clark for Stephen Hughes (9)
Cameron Smith for Andrew Considine (57)
Jonny Hayes for Scott Vernon (69)

Cautions
Rocco Quinn (8)
Stuart Kettlewell (15)
Marc Fitzpatrick (83)
Colin McMenamin (90)
Gavin Rae (44)

Red Cards
None. None.
Match Officials

Craig Thomson (Referee)


Match Report


Source unknown.

Ross County maintained their impressive start to life in the Scottish Premier League with a hard fought victory at home to Aberdeen. The Dons made the trip North looking to increase their unbeaten run to eleven matches, in this the first ever SPL meeting between the side’s at the Global Energy Stadium.

With more than 2,000 Aberdeen supporters making the trip to Victoria Park, the scene was set for a classic encounter, with the visitors knowing that a victory over County would see the Dons elevated to top spot in the table. The Dons made two changes from the side which had defeated Dundee the previous week, with Andrew Considine, and Gary Naismith replacing Chris Clark and Clark Robertson respectively, while the Home side made a single change from the side which had held Hearts 2-2 at Tynecastle with Steven Ross coming back in to replace Gary Glen.

The match was a personal triumph for youngster Steven Ross, who was making only his second top team appearance for the Ross-shire side. The young striker capped a superb performance with a sweetly struck second counter for the home side early in the second half.

With four points from their two previous matches against Edinburgh giants Hibernian and Hearts, County went into the match confident they could continue their impressive run and turn over Craig Brown’s side, who last tasted defeat at the hands of Celtic on the opening day of the season.
The visitors started the match well, with County defending against the early pressure, in which keeper Michael was rarely tested. The first real chance of the match came in the 25th minute when Dons keeper Jamie Langfield made a mess of a back pass from Andrew Considine and the ball fell for Rocco Quinn whose header looked net bound until the keeper recovered to push over the bar at full stretch.

The home side had a let off, when three minutes later, Gavin Rae crashed a drive of the underside of the crossbar after a mistimed headed clearance from County defender Marc Fitzpatrick. That missed opportunity was to prove costly for the visitors, when with ten minutes of the first period remaining County punished the Pittodrie side. Skipper Richard Brittain swept over a free kick for Aberdeen defender Mark Reynolds to head past his own keeper for the opener.

The home side now had their tails up, and six minutes later Rocco Quinn went close with an effort that drifted wide of the far post as the home side looked to extend their advantage. With only four second half minutes on the clock, County doubled their advantage when Quinn found youngster Steven Ross down the inside right channel with a superb through ball, and the youngster sprinted clear of the Aberdeen rearguard to crash home his side’s second with a right foot drive from the edge of the box for his first Senior goal for the club.

Fourteen minutes from time the match was back in the melting pot as the visitors reduced the leeway. Replacement Cameron Smith released Hayes down the right, and the former ICT winger weaved past three challenges on the byeline to set up Niall McGinn to net his sixth goal in as many matches.
County withstood the late onslaught to make it three matches unbeaten – following three defeats which had posed certain questions regarding their staying power in the top flight.

Youngster Steven Ross deserves special mention for another fine performance capped with a super strike. Defender Grant Munro was named as the sponsors man of the match.



Squad Statistics (as at November 3rd, 2012)


2012/13 All Time
Age
Michael Fraser (GK)29 12 - 55 -
Grant Munro32 121543
Scott Boyd26 13 - 19911
Marc Fitzpatrick26 13 - 48 -
Mihael Kovacevic24 6 - 6 -
Steven Ross19 3131
Rocco Quinn26 102435
Richard Brittain29 11318435
Iain Vigurs24 12313517
Mark Fotheringham29 5 - 5 -
Stuart Kettlewell28 1021118
Alex Cooper (sub)20 2 - 4 -
Colin McMenamin (sub)31 1215221






League Table (as at November 3rd, 2012)


No league table has been added for this season.