Ross County fury after being told to replay Queens game

Published on Thursday 21 April 2011 21:41

ROSS County are furious after the Scottish Football League ordered them to replay the twice abandoned league match against Queen of the South.

The First Division clash at Palmerston on Tuesday night fell victim to a blown fuse box and power failure with County leading 2-0 after 69 minutes.

It was a bizarre repeat of the same problem that led to abandonment of the tie after 63 minutes on February 22nd.

County demanded the points be awarded to them after twice making the 12-hour round trip in vain. But the SFL board meeting yesterday ruled the game should be replayed on Tuesday.

County now theoretically have ten days to lodge an appeal that could potentially throw the closing weeks of the league campaign into disarray.

George Adams, Ross County director of football, last night held a hastily-arranged meeting with chairman Roy MacGregor to discuss whether to take further action.

With the Dingwall club battling it out with Cowdenbeath to escape the relegation play-offs, the three points would be vital to the Highland club.

Adams said: "It's fair to say I'm very disappointed. And having just spoken to Roy, I know he is certainly far from happy with the decision.

"We've got a right of appeal and the board will discuss it.

"The bottom line is there are no guarantees the same thing wouldn't happen with the floodlights for a third time.

"Ross County have been very straight in all of this and we are the innocent party. We certainly feel this is unfair on the club."

There is further fall-out from the abandoned game for County. Skipper Richard Brittain had been serving the second game in a two-match ban at Palmertson on Tuesday, but is now ineligible for the visit of Dundee on Sunday.

County are also aggrieved that Queens' Stephen McKenna, who was suspended for Tuesday's game, will now be clear to play in a rescheduled match against the Dingwall side.

Yet in a clear anomaly in the rules, County defender Johnny Flynn's booking on Tuesday against Queens will stand and may affect his disciplinary points tally before the end of the season.

But Queen of the South manager Kenny Brannigan insists the SFL have done the right thing. "If I was with Ross County I would be saying the same thing and they were well within their rights to ask for the points," said Brannigan. "But I don't think there was ever any chance of that happening. The league have done the right thing.

"It's like a game being postponed due to the weather and a team asking for the points. It's not going to happen.

"It's crazy but we'll just have to play the game again."