Ross County were dealt a harsh lesson as they went down 6-0 to Rangers at Hampden Park.
The Staggies were brushed aside in chastening fashion at the National Stadium, with the defeat bound to hurt in the days to come.
First half goals from Cyriel Dessers and Rabbi Matondo had County trailing 2-0 at the interval. The Dingwall men could not withstand a further push after the break, with both Dessers and Matondo doubling their tally, while Tom Lawrence and Danilo also added to the scoresheet.
It equals County’s biggest Premiership loss, which they suffered in a 6-0 reverse to Celtic at Parkhead in 2019.
On the back of the previous weekend’s Premier Sports Cup exit to Spartans, the heavy defeat comes as another major blow to the Staggies.
Cowie said: “I’m really disappointed we managed to allow it to get to the score that it finished at.
“We were playing against a very good team, and we recognise that.
“I felt in the first half, despite us being fortunate at times, I would have been very happy to get in at 1-0. It was really disappointing to concede the goal right on half-time, which gave Rangers the two-goal lead.
“It was a big challenge in the second half but we still had to face that, and be prepared and ready for it. I was disappointed with the goals we conceded in the second half.
“You can lose games of football, it happens. It’s how you respond and react to that.
“We don’t want to get into a habit of doing it, but this club has shown time and time again that when you lose games of football, you react and go again.
“That’s what we will do next week.”
Cowie resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes from the side which suffered a shock loss to Spartans the previous week.
There were recalls for Akil Wright, Michee Efete and Jack Grieves, with James Brown, Ryan Leak and Noah Chilvers dropping out.
New signing Josh Nisbet was on the bench after the Staggies completed a deal to sign the Australia international through the week.
The Staggies were able to draw belief from their historic first victory over Rangers, which came when the sides last met in April.
Cowie’s men showed early promise, looking to exploit space down the left channel which led to a great opportunity on eight minutes. Jordan White threaded in Ronan Hale who strode forward before taking aim from the edge of the box, but he was denied by an excellent clawed save by Jack Butland.
The Gers took the lead with their first meaningful goal threat on 18 minutes when Lawrence played a neat through ball which played Dessers in on goal, with the striker making no mistake with a composed low finish past Ross Laidlaw.
County had to guard against further early damage and were fortunate not to go two goals down just three minutes later when Dessers carved the Staggies defence wide open with a ball to Lawrence, who failed to hit the target with only Laidlaw to beat.
County had to withstand pressure, with Matondo hitting the bar from an acute angle, while Laidlaw tipped over from a John Souttar header.
The Staggies looked to see out the remainder of the first half with just a one-goal deficit, and they even threatened on the breakaway through Aidan Denholm who shot straight at Butland.
County suffered a blow in stoppage time when their backline failed to track a late Matondo run from a James Tavernier cross, with the winger bundling home at the near post to heighten the challenge facing Cowie’s men in the second half.
Grieves made way for James Brown at the interval as the Staggies reverted to a back three but the Staggies came unstuck again on 58 minutes when the ball broke for Matondo to cross for Dessers to turn home from close-range.
County shook up their side with an attack-minded triple change which saw Chilvers, Alex Samuel and Scott Allardice introduced.
Rangers broke incisively to add a fourth on 65 minutes with Lawrence tucking home after being played in by Matondo.
With 20 minutes still remaining, County’s afternoon got even worse when Matondo nodded home his second from a Vaclav Cerny cross from close-range, with Brown unable to keep the ball out on the goalline.
There was still time for the Gers to add a sixth in stoppage time when further slack defending allowed Mohamed Diomande’s cross to land at the feet of Danilo to tuck home.
Player Ratings
RANGERS (4-3-3): Butland 7; Tavernier 7, Souttar 7, Balogun 5 (Diomande 45), Jefte 7; Lawrence 7 (Dowell 66), Barron 7, Sterling 7; Cerny 7 (McCausland 75), Dessers 8 (Danilo 66), Matondo 8 (Fraser 75).
Subs not used: Kelly, King, McKinnon, Rice.
ROSS COUNTY (4-3-1-2): Laidlaw 6; Efete 5 (Samuel 62), Wright 5, Nightingale 5, Harmon 6 (Reid 81); Grieves 5 (Brown 46), Randall 6, Loturi 5 (Allardice 62); Denholm 5 (Chilvers 62); White 5 (Nisbet 70), Hale 6.
Subs not used: Hamilton, Leak, Brophy.
Referee: Ross Hardie
Attendance: 48,832
Man of the Match: Rabbi Matondo
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