Derby day was once again upon us and we were looking to overcome Ross County for the first time in the league this season.  We made the short trip over the Kessock Bridge with Richie Foran the only absentee due to suspension.  Manager Terry Butcher made one change from the team that defeated Morton last Saturday, with goalscorer Nick Ross dropping onto the place and Nauris Bulvitis coming in.

It was County that started the game better and on three minutes a Gary Miller long pass was helped on by Paul Lawson into Michael Gardyne's path but the striker shot wide of Ryan Esson's goal.  A minute later and Russell Duncan picked up the first yellow card of the afternoon from referee Mike Tumilty.

With 24 minutes played County threatened again when a Richard Brittain free kick found it's way through to defender Scott Boyd but his header was poor and went wide.

On 40 minutes a Michael Gardyne shot from 20 yards took a deflection up off an ICT defender and the ball spun up and looped over Ryan Esson and the bar and sat on the roof of the net.  From the resulting corner kick Alex Keddie got his head on the ball but his effort was straight at Ryan Esson.

At half-time we made a substitution replacing Nauris Bulvitis with Robert Eagle and that meant Ross Tokely moving into centre half with David Proctor going to right back.  Six minutes later and Ross Tokely became our second booking of the afternoon.

We started the second half brightly ,keeping better possession of the ball and we began to exert some pressure on the Ross County goal.  Substitute Robert Eagle came very close on 68 minutes to netting the opener when his volley hit the inside of the post volley.  The rebound almost fell to Adam Rooney but he couldn't connect properly with the ball and the chance was gone.

Robert Eagle linked up well Jonny Hayes at the edge of the box but the Irishman's snap shot went just past Michael McGovern's post.

We made our second change with eight minutes left for play with Dani Sanchez coming on for Eric Odhiambo.  Despite both teams pushing men forward in the final stages neither team could find a way through and the game finished with a point a piece.  With the result putting us just three points behind leaders Dundee as our unbeaten league run continues.

Full-time score: Ross County 0 - ICT 0

ICT Team

Esson

Tokely, Bulvitis, Munro, Golabek

Proctor, Duncan, Cox

Hayes, Rooney, Odhiambo

Subs: Allison (GK), Sanchez for Odhimabo (82 mins), Eagle for Bulvitis (46 mins), Ross, Stratford