Scottish Cup 3rd Round, Saturday 24th November 2007

Ross County 4 Whitehill Welfare 0

WHITEHILL'S Scottish Cup trail came to an end in the Highlands as they found Ross County too strong in their third-round encounter.

Two goals in either half secured victory for the Dingwall side at Victoria Park but Whitehill's performance was no disgrace, as manager Raymond Carr hopes to draw upon what has been a worthwhile experience.

"We knew coming up here it was going to be a mammoth task with Ross County top of the Second Division and going well," he said. "The main thing was that the players went out and gave a good account of themselves and made a game of it. We were taught a wee bit of a lesson and we couldn't have done much more."

Whitehill held their own in the opening period, but a free kick in 16 minutes heralded the first goal. Mark McCulloch took it quickly and the Whitehill defence were caught napping as Dene Shields slipped in with a cool, low finish from six yards out.

Whitehill retained their composure and threatened twice in quick succession. Pryde's short corner was teed-up by Scott Gormley, only for Stevie Swanson to lash his shot over the bar.

County were then caught on the counter, as Doig found Kidd on the right flank. Gormley launched forward in support, but as he pulled the trigger the ball hit his standing leg and rebounded wide.

From that scare, County began to press for a second, with Shaun Woodburn close to sliding Shields' cross into his own net and Martin Scott curling a 25-yard effort just over.

The half-time scoreline had a more respectable look for County as they went two-up two minutes from the break. Shields' cross found Lawson who hooked across goal for Martin Scott to bundle in at the left post - despite the best efforts of Woodburn.

County made it 3-0 ten minutes after the restart. Lawson, pressing forward, picked out Shields at the left post, but McGurk blocked well. Stewart Petrie drilled a low follow-up, but Lee denied him on the line. Shields, however, made no mistake - third time lucky for his third goal in two games.

McGurk stood up well to prevent another Shields strike, but County sub Craig Gunn burst clear moments later allow fellow sub Sean Higgins to score from close in.

Ross County: Bullock, McCulloch (Miller 70), Boyd, Dowie, Golabek, Lawson, Brady, Scott, Campbell (Gunn 77), Shields, Petrie (Higgins 60). Subs not used: Barrowman, Curtis (GK).

Whitehill Welfare: McGurk, Cornett, Johnston, Wooburn, Lee, Swanson (Calvey 64), Kidd, Pryde (Wilkes 81), Doig (McDonagh 67), Christie, Gormley. Subs not used: Rennie, Russell (GK).

Above: Pre-match v Ross County.