County prove too much for Pars
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Ross County 3 (Mullin, Gardyne, Watson)
Dunfermline 1 (Longridge)
Ross County reaffirmed their billing as one of the pre-season promotion favourites with a fine victory over Dunfermline.
County took full advantage of their opponents’ early profligacy to take the lead.
Ross Draper drove forward and laid the ball off to Josh Mullin wide on the right. It looked easier for the winger to pick out a team-mate but he got his head over the ball and smashed an unstoppable first-time shot into the top corner.
It was a stunning goal but if the visitors were hoping it would be a hammer blow to their opponents, they were to be disappointed as the Pars immediately hit back.
The defence failed to clear a ball into the box and Louis Longridge picked up possession, shifting the ball onto his left foot and crashing his shot high into the net to level the scores.
Moments before the break the Staggies regained the upper hand. Gardyne went on a mazy run, beating several players before clipping the ball past the helpless Robinson to restore the advantage.
The Staggies then got their third minutes later from an unlikely source. Mullin’s corner was flicked on by Draper, and Keith Watson reacted quickest to hook the ball home for his first County goal.
Dunfermline failed to seriously trouble the visitors after that, and County saw the game out comfortably to lay down a real marker in the opening exchanges of the season.
