Match Report - By Steven Mew

City’s winning run came to an end on Tuesday night but they were always up against it when they faced runaway league leaders Ross County.

The match had all the ingredients of a cracker, with City winning their last 5 matches and County recording an impressive 9 wins on the trot prior to the game.

Brechin got off to the worst possible start when they conceded a goal after only 50 seconds. A high through ball from Dene Shields bounced over the heads of the City defence and County striker Sean Higgins took full advantage, striking a rasping volley past Nelson and into the net.

City fought back well however and started putting the County defence under some pressure. On-loan striker Michael Paton was proving to be a real thorn in the flesh and he just failed to connect with a Willie Dyer cross before he volleyed over from a Charlie King cross.

The pressure paid off in the 34th minute when a Kevin Byers corner was headed down by Scott Walker, bounced off the pitch and struck high on the post for Paton to force the rebound over the line.

County came out with all guns blazing in the second half and Nelson did well to palm away a 25 yard strike from Andy Barrowman.

The County striker continued to trouble the City defence and it was his cross on the edge of the 6 yard box which had Willie Dyer in a tangle before Sean Higgins slotted the ball past Nelson from close range.

City plugged away with Kevin Byers looking most likely to test keeper Allan Creer, but it was not City’s night.

Charlie King was upended just outside the County penalty area and he smacked his free kick against the defensive wall.

In the 65th minute Creer made a match-winning save to keep out a Darren Smith volley and in the dying second Iain Diack broke clear only to shoot weakly and give the keeper a comfortable save.

Overall, City probably deserved a point but they didn’t test the County goalkeeper enough. Next up for City is a home match against fellow play-off chasers Alloa Athletic at Glebe Park on Saturday. Kick off is 3:00pm.

Other Results - Irn Bru 2nd Division

Peterhead 2 Alloa Athletic 2

Last minute equalier for Peterhead earns a point.