Ross County ran out 14-0 winners over Hearts B in the Scottish Challenge Cup on Saturday, breaking a 33-year-old club record in the process. The KDM Evolution Trophy match saw Hearts reduced to 10 men before the interval, with a Robbie Flockhart red card opening the door for further damage.
First-half blitz and red card
Six goals were put past Hearts B in the first half. Kieran Phillips scored four times in the opening 45 minutes, while Ricco Diack also bagged a brace before the break. The red card for Flockhart came when the score was 4-0, according to Ross County manager Stuart Kettlewell.
Second-half records tumble
After the interval, Phillips added a fifth goal, and Diack completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot. Chris Hamilton also scored three in the second half, Luke McCarvel found the net twice, and Jamie Lindsay added a solitary strike to make the final score 14-0.
The victory was County's fourth in the KDM Evolution Trophy, lifting them to second in the league standings. They trail leaders Clydebank by a single point, with a goal difference of +22. The club's previous highest win was an 11-0 victory over St Cuthberts Wanderers in 1993.
Manager's reaction and next fixture
Stuart Kettlewell praised his team's professionalism after the match. "I think my biggest focus, as always, is my team. I think that they treated the game exactly how it should be treated," he said. "Fully professional performance. Obviously, it seems a bit bizarre at the number of goals that were scored in the game."
He added: "The fact that Hearts go down to 10 men, I think it was at four at the time, they just continued to do what I asked them to do, which is play the game at fast pace, play to go and score goals, play to go and get the ball into wide areas to look to get crosses in."
The overall record for the highest margin of victory in the competition remains out of reach, with Arbroath's 36-0 win over Shotts Bon Accord in 1885 still standing. Ross County's next fixture in the Scottish Challenge Cup is a final league phase match against Forfar Athletic on Tuesday, October 13.
