Criminal proceedings.

Inverness paid the penalty for one too many pass backs. Ryan Christie was the perpetrator, choosing the wrong option aided by poor execution, but the real sinner was Brian Graham who cheated his way to a penalty, diving as Brill came out to block his run. To rub salt into the wound, he took the resultant spot kick and hammered it into the opposite side of the net to where Brill had moved for what proved to be the only goal of the game. Who said that crime doesn't pay!

He was caught on CCTV and you can view the footage below.

This robbery has seen Inverness drop from second to fifth after the Sunday game which saw United beat leaders Celtic handsomely.

Inverness had won the previous four encounters with St Johnstone, but with the Perth side on a three game winning streak and Inverness smarting from a 4-0 thumping by Partick, this was always going to be a tight affair. And so it proved although Dean Brill was made to work much harder than his counterpart in the Saints goal, making a handful of excellent saves whilst Mannus was a part-time spectator.

Yogi rang the changes in his starting eleven with Ryan Christie and Aaron Doran starting ahead of Danny Williams and Marley Watkins. A strange one considering the impact Watkins has had this season, unless of course he was carrying a knock. As expected for Perth, James McFadden missed out and Lee Croft and David Wotherspoon filled in again, with Murray Davidson starting from the bench.

Enough from me, let's get down to the nitty gritty and dish the dirt on one or two.

The Sloth had slowly made his way to Perth with Caley Away to witness the robbery and here is his debut report....................

With Christmas jumpers and Santa hats being the main attire in the stands for the match between Inverness and St Johnstone, and Inverness fans on their Christmas day out, the Caley Jags were hoping to leave Perth with a win and all 3 points as an early Christmas present from the big man in red.

Inverness had a changed line up from the team that were beaten 4-0 by Partick Thistle the week before, with Marley Watkins and Danny Williams being dropped to the bench while Ryan Christie and Aaron Doran were slotted into the remaining space. St Johnstone only had one change from the game with Kilmarnock with Lee Croft being brought in for the injured James McFadden.

This unfortunately was not going to be the Christmas present that the Inverness fans were hoping for. The game began quite lively with large possession periods of the ball being kept by each team but at the end of the first half neither team were on top, however Christie and Shinnie came closest to giving the visitors the lead while Croft had the best effort for the home side.

Half Time 0-0

However, a moment of controversy in the second half tilted the game in St Johnstone's favour. In the 62nd minute, Dean Brill was alleged to have taken down Brian Graham within the Inverness box and the referee awarded the spot kick, although the decision didn't go without the voices of the Inverness players suggesting that he went down a little too easily, or as the fans saw it, a dive which Tom Daley would have been proud of. After winning the penalty, Graham converted as well, putting the ball in the net whilst sending Brill the opposite way.

It got worse for Inverness after a foul in the 66th minute by Ross Draper on Simon Lappin, where it was apparently seen by the referee that Draper threw an elbow out, Brian Colvin decided that it was a red card offence and sent him packing.

Although down to 10 men, Inverness didn't give up and in a scrappy end to the game, David Raven came closest by shaving the post in the dying moments, dashing all hopes of anything coming out of this game for Inverness.

Full Time 1-0

Here's the full highlights...........

At the end of the game, Inverness fans let their opinions be known on Colvin's refereeing performance. Just a hint, it wasn't the kindest of feedback. However, after a fantastic year so far, ICTFC fans won't let this result hang over them and will hopefully spend the upcoming days to the New Year happy whilst looking for a win over Aberdeen before the end of year. After that, along comes the first game of 2015, where we move onto the derby against our neighbour across the bridge on New Year's Day.

MotM for Inverness has to be keeper Dean Brill who did his best to keep out the St Johnstone attack with a string of superb saves. A great comeback for him personally after a lapse last week.

Inverness, who now haven't won in two and now moved down into 5th in the table while St Johnstone remain in 6th. Inverness next play Aberdeen at home on the 28th of December while St Johnstone are hosting Dundee United on the 27th.

Merry Christmas to all ICTFC fans and I'll see you all at the Aberdeen game.

The Sloth

Subs (not used):  Banks, McDonald, Caddis, Brown, McLaren

Scorers: Graham (pen.62)

Booked: none
Sent Off: none

Inverness CT: 0

Lineup: Brill, Raven, Meekings, Warren, Shinnie, Tansey, Vincent (Watkins 56), Christie (Williams 84), Draper, Doran (Ross 80), McKay

Subs (not used):  Esson, Devine, Tremarco, Polworth

Scorers: none

Booked: Doran (27), Raven (60), Shinnie (62)
Sent Off: Draper (66)