It’s been a wee while since we’ve got anything out on this site, but as the goals keep flowing and the wins keep coming, I thought I’d share some thoughts after County edged clear at the top of the League One table and booked their place in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup.
Finally shaken off Hamilton
The continued relentlessness of Ross County and Hamilton just built more and more anticipation towards last week’s encounter under the dark October sky. As the new £300,000 floodlights shone down on the blue tinsel around the hallowed turf there was a feeling around the place that a big win for County could kill off any real fear for the rest of this season. However, that did not happen.
I said before the game it’s all well and good if we win every game 5-0 but if we then fall apart in the two games against Hamilton then it quickly becomes all for nothing. It was hard to tell how Accies would look on the night as despite their equally fantastic results they have not been blowing teams away anywhere near the level we have.
We definitely looked the sharper of the two sides in the opening exchanges and deserved to take the lead when Dylan Smith fired it in on the half-hour mark. However, a big error from Brad Foster allowed Stuart McKinstry to equalise shortly after.
The confident free-flowing opening wasn’t replicated throughout the second half and after a real battle we finished the evening in the exact same position as we started.
Given the next game against them will be away from home it was essential we didn’t fall behind and thankfully we got back to winning ways with a spooky trip to East Kilbride on Saturday.
Roared on by an army of minions and tenuous Staggie-themed costumes, a couple of Simon Curries, Witchard Brittain, Scott CowBoyd, a traitor (Ryan Duncan) and Yan Bananda, East Kilbride got boiled by the Kettle with a 2-1 win for the highlanders.
Brian Graham rounded the keeper just as I was getting back from the burger queue before Kieran Phillips fired into the bottom left corner to double the advantage.
A late goal from East Kilbride made it a little nervier than it could’ve been and cost a banana £100 on a win by two or more bet, but County stood firm and sealed the three points.
As if that wasn’t enough for us, word trickled round the terracing that Montrose had equalised against Accies. Not quite as exciting as if Caley had conceded a sixth but gives us a well-earned bit of breathing space at the top at least.
The highlight of the game of course was Si Ferry’s red card and subsequent walk past an amused 300-strong travelling support who didn’t hold back. I thought Ferry took it quite well but the Sun clearly disagreed, branding him as “seething” after jokingly pretending to grab Gaz’s phone. A bit of give and take is welcome in my book.
Goals galore in Challenge Cup fitness games
If there’s anything to remind us about how far we have fallen in the past couple of seasons, aside from being at a level where we can demolish sides 8-0, it is when you looked at the fixture list and realised there was yet another Challenge Cup league-stage tie coming up.
Thankfully we have now completed our group/league campaign in KDM Evolution Trophy (formerly known as the SPFL Trust Trophy, formerly known as the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup, formerly known as The Irn-Bru Cup, formerly known as the Petrofac Training Cup, formerly known as the Ramsdens Cup, formerly known as the ALBA Challenge Cup formerly known as the Bell’s Cup, formerly known as the B&Q Centenary Cup) and an unsurprising 2-0, going on 8-0, win over Celtic B (despite their trio of first-team “talent”) has sealed our place in the last 16.
I think the introduction of B teams was summed up perfectly by the attendance of 55 at the encounter between Formartine and Dundee United. No one is interested in these games.
Fortunately, with our squad size this has given us several games to rotate the squad and keep our fringe players fit in competitive games. I do wonder who these league games are meant to benefit though as forcing part-time teams to play another six games on top of an already busy schedule seems a bit pointless to me.
Where it has clearly benefited us, though, is in attack, with 32 goals scored across the seven games. Next up is a home tie against Stenhousemuir who are on a bad run of form. This should give us a chance at a second win over a Championship team and hopefully keep alive the prospect of that dream trip to the trolls under the Kessock bridge.
Four home games and a title decider?
November is shaping up to be another busy one in Dingwall as four home games including two cup ties await. The already-mentioned Stenny tie and a visit from Brora Rangers will finish the month. Before we worry about that though, we face Hamilton away sandwiched between Peterhead and Cove Rangers in the league.
Obviously, all eyes will be on that BBC Alba showdown in Lanarkshire, and I certainly hope the later kick-off time won’t deter any supporters who certainly helped make a difference at East Kilbride.
It won’t be an easy game given last week’s showing and there’s plenty of football still to be played but if we can edge out a win, dare I say we can start Championship preparations?
