William hill scottish cup
ROSS COUNTY 6 Routis (6, 76), Quinn (16), Chow (28), Boyce (30), O’Brien (90) DUNDEE UNITED 2 Andreu (14, 45)
ROSS COUNTY’S six-shooters booked a place in the last 16 of the William Hill Scottish Cup after an action-packed third round tie at fog-bound Global Energy Stadium.
County boss Jim McIntyre was delighted with the victory, County’s first against the Tangerines in the national competition. It was also pay-back for a quarter-final defeat at the hands of United in Dingwall last season.
He said: “We saw what happened last season when they put out us out of the cup. That was a sore one and in the back of our minds going into this game.”
McIntyre felt his side got a bit sloppy after going 4-1 up in the first half. He said: “Sometimes when you get three or four goals, you can get a bit casual – and I felt that’s what we did.”
County took the lead in spectacular style in the sixth minute when a Martin Woods corner fell for the unmarked Christopher Routis who fired an unstoppable shot high into the net.
It was all-square in the 14th minute when Tope Obadeyi drove into the box and cut the ball back for Tony Andreu who volleyed the ball past County goalkeeper Scott Fox.
United were penalised a couple of minutes later when Charlie Telfer was booked for a challenge on Ryan Dow on the edge of the area. Alex Schalk’s powerful free kick was parried by United keeper Cammy Bell but County skipper Paul Quinn was on hand to steer home.
County made it 3-1 when Routis got to the byline and his chip into the box was slotted away by Tim Chow.
The home side then opened up a three-goal lead on the half-hour mark when Woods played the ball out to Boyce and he cut inside and fired a low drive into the far corner of the net.
But United reduced the deficit in first-half stoppage time when Routis gave the ball away at the back and Andreu took full advantage and raced clear to score.
The goal gave United a boost but County soaked up all the pressure and killed the tie as a contest in the 78th minute when O’Brien set up Routis who scored at the second attempt.
The home side added to United’s agony when Boyce teed the ball up nicely for Jim O’Brien to roll the ball into the net for a debut goal.
A disappointed United boss, Ray McKinnon said: “We gave away a cheap free-kick and didn’t deal with the second phase after Cammy Bell saved the free-kick. That was disappointing – as were the next two goals.”