Record crowd for women’s game in Dingwall watch Ross County in Scottish Cup thriller
ROSS County made history when their women’s team played their first ever game at the Global Energy Stadium as they took on Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic in the Scottish Cup second round.
An estimated attendance of 650 saw a five-goal thriller where Ross County came up just short in a 3-2 defeat in Dingwall on Sunday afternoon.
Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic took the lead after just 15 minutes when a long range effort from Gabby Anderson curled into the net.
They doubled their advantage nine minutes later when Caitlin Lowe pounced on a loose ball to fire into the net.
Ross County pulled one back three minutes before half time when Keira Syrjanen played a low pass through to Abi Coltherd who charged into the box and then fired into the net.
The Staggies equalised in the 58th minute when Syrjanen launched a stunning volley which left the Bonnyrigg goalkeeper no chance of stopping.
Despite an end to end second half, it was the visitors who found the winner when Lowe got on to the end of a cross from Kazya Stevens and fired home.
Ross County head coach Iain MacIver said he was proud of how his players performed on such a big occasion.
He said: “We wanted them to do themselves justice in this match to show they could compete against these teams and leave the pitch with their heads held high.
“Also to play against a team who are a league above us and are top of that league with a game in hand.
“We put in a performance we can be proud of and take this into the league.
“I felt if we performed to the best of our abilities we could take something from this game. We ran them really close and on another day we could have got one step further.
“Perhaps the opposition weren’t expecting us to be at the level we were. But it was a game we thought we could have progressed in if we performed to the best of our abilities. It was a narrow game that could have gone either way, but one we are really proud of.”
MacIver says his players relished the opportunity of playing at the Global Energy Stadium for the first time.
He hopes the squad can take the experience into the rest of the campaign as they look for success in the league and hopefully return to the stadium soon.
He said: “They were buzzing about playing here and were really excited.
“It made us feel more professional playing in a Premiership venue and not having the chance to do previously. They really enjoyed the occasion and hopefully they will be back one day.
“We want to bring this performance into the league campaign and try and get another game here if we are going for the title.
“When we normally play at the football academy or Alness, there are only small numbers who watch us. But there was big publicity for this game. A lot of people came who wouldn’t normally watch our matches. I thought there would be around 150, but I heard around between 600 to 650.
“We have a home game at the Highland Football Academy at 1pm next Sunday, so hopefully we can see a group of these fans to cheer them on.”
Read: Dingwall Academy pupil speaks of her pride scoring on historic day for Ross County.
