Queen of the South 0 - 2 Ross County: County make light of league struggles to earn cup win

Published on Sunday 10 April 2011 19:12

Queen of the South 0 Ross County 2 Barrowman (8), Vigurs (39)

Ross County won the Alba Challenge Cup for the second time in their history yesterday as the 20th final of the SFL knockout competition was played out in spring sunshine at St Johnstone's McDiarmid Park - as opposed to the usual early winter gloom.

Jimmy Calderwood's side belied the form that sees them stuck in relegation trouble to triumph in front of a healthy 5,124 fans thanks to first half goals from Andrew Barrowman and Iain Vigurs and give the 56-year-old the first trophy of his managerial career.

Calderwood, referring to Aberdeen's embarrassing Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Queen of the South, said: "It feels good especially when you consider I had one of my worst times as a manager against Queen of the South back in 2008 . This was a completely different experience where we started the game really well, dominated early on and deserved to be in front by half time."

It was the former Dunfermline, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock manager's first-ever Challenge Cup game and he said: "I feel a bit of an imposter as I had done nothing to get us to a cup final. This was really for Derek Adams (now the assistant manager at Hibs] as it was his work that got the side here.

"We can enjoy the day and then get back to our fight to avoid relegation with everyone at the club, fans and officials having had a great lift. We showed the quality we have in this game and need to do that between now and the end of the season."

• Weekend's football in pictures

County looked to dominate early and they forced a corner after just 90 seconds when Daniel Carmichael hacked the ball clear, but Derek Holmes rose highest to head clear with Ryan McGuffie completing the clearance.

Calderwood's side also had the first attempt on goal when Iain Vigurs and Andrew Barrowman combined, but David Hutton confidently clutched the ball.

However, the Queen of the South goalkeeper, who suffered Challenge Cup final heartache against County when he was between the posts in November 2006 for Clyde's 5-4 penalty shoot-out defeat, then erred badly for the opening goal after eight minutes.

David Lilley played the ball back to his goalkeeper from the edge of the box, and rather than kicking clear as Barrowman closed in, Hutton tried to control the ball on the six-yard line. The striker's presence seemed to unsettle him and after feigning to return the ball to Lilley he allowed the County striker to rob him and run the ball into the unguarded net.

It was a sickening start for the Dumfries side and County quickly tried to press home their advantage.Gary Miller fired in a shot from 20 yards two minutes later and Hutton needed two attempts to grab the full back's shot.

The traffic continued in the one direction and Vigurs fired a drive wide with the winger failing to spot the run by full-back Marc Fitzpatrick that had left him free on the wing.

Hutton did deny Barrowman on 28 minutes when he saved his header after Michael Gardyne had worked his way free on the right before crossing.

Allan Johnston finally sniffed an opportunity for Queen of the South ten minutes from the break as he reached the ball ahead of County goalkeeper Michael McGovern. Referee Norris correctly ruled that a corner was the outcome of their clash and not the penalty that was claimed for.

From the corner, Stephen McKenna had a header knocked away and County took charge again, increasing their lead six minutes from the break. Gardyne got free on the right, his low cross was left by Barrowman and Vigurs arrived on cue to side-foot home a left-foot shot.

County almost put the game to bed in the opening minute of the second half as Jonathan Flynn headed in a Gardyne corner only for Daniel Carmichael to pop up on the line to clear.

Hutton had another nervous moment just after the hour mark when he sent another kicked clearance into Gardyne, but on this occasion the ball fell to safety.

With time running out for Queen's they pushed forward and McGovern was brave eight minutes from time as he blocked an effort from Paul Burns. However, the play quickly swung to the other end with another mistake by Hutton causing panic in his defence. The goalkeeper raced out to meet a Richard Brittain free kick and missed the ball, with Gardyne firing an effort over from six yards out.

Defeated manager Kenny Brannigan said: "The players gave us effort but in terms of ability some of them let themselves down. I am not going to slate anyone and County were better than us but we cannot give away goals like we did. After the first goal we just could not get back into things.

"It would have been great to have put on a better display for the fans."

Queen of the South: Hutton, Reid, Harris, McGuffie, Lilley, McKenna, Carmichael (Degnan 72) Burns, Holmes, Johnston, McLaren. Subs not used: McShane, Black, Smillie, McKenzie.

Ross County: McGovern, Miller, Fitzpatrick, Lawson (Morrison 90), Boyd, Flynn, Gardyne (Milne 86), Kettlewell, Barrowman (Wood 89), Brittain, Vigurs. Subs not used: Craig, Malin.

Referee: E Norris

Attendance: 5,124