No. 250 puts Sir Bobby in shade
ROSS COUNTY 6 Routis (6, 76), Quinn (16), Chow (28), Boyce (30), O’Brien (90) DUNDEE UNITED 2 Andreu (14, 45)
Wayne Rooney broke Sir Bobby Charlton’s scoring record for Manchester United and rescued a point at Stoke. See report
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 against Dundee United.
The tie was in serious doubt before kick-off due to the murky conditions at the Global Energy Stadium but visibility improved nearer kick-off time and referee Kevin Clancy rightly gave it the green light.
County boss Jim McIntyre was delighted with the victory, County’s first against the Tangerines in the national competition.
It was also payback 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 us out of the Cup to make the semi-final.
“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.”
Visibility might have been poor but it did not seem to affect the players from both sides who found their way to goal, with six goals scored in the first half, four of them for the home side.
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 from just inside the 18-yard box.
But 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 a header.
County made it 3-1 when Routis got to the byline and his chip into the box was slotted away by Tim Chow from six yards.
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 for his second of the afternoon.
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 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.
“But I thought at 4-2 it was important we came out in the second half and upped the intensity and I thought we did that for 30 minutes.
“We were good in the second half, but just couldn’t get that third goal.”