Articles: Reports 2007-08

Kilmarnock 4-1 Inverness CT - SPL

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:00:00 +0000

A humiliating 4-1 defeat today against Kilmarnock makes it 6 defeats in a row and 10 games without a win. The solitary win in 2008 came against freefalling Gretna in early January.

Its time for changes at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium but will anyone have the balls to step up and make them......

22/03/08	Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
KILMARNOCK	4 Wright (38), Bryson (50, 56), Flannigan (64)
Team: Combe, Lilley, Hay, Wright, Clancy, Fowler, Bryson, Flannigan, Taouil, Invincible, Fernandez SUBS: Di Giacamo, Wales, Hamill, Morgan, Johnston, O'Leary, Harpur
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE	1 Black (14pen)
Team: Fraser, Tokely, McGuire, Munro, Proctor, Vigurs (Hart 62), Black, Duncan, McBain (Imrie 73), Bayne, Niculae (McAllister 77) SUBS: Cowie, Kerr, Hastings, Malkowski
Referee	Stephen Finnie
Attendance	5100

tm4tj said:

I did some hoovering, washed some dishes, picked the wife up from the shops, sat down and we had gone from 0-1 to 4-1. I almost left early, then I realised I was already at home....

From CTO: That long trip up the M77/A9 in the snow seems an awful lot harder when your team has just had a 4-1 pasting!

I can't fault the team for effort. They tried but there was a big hole in front of the defenders which allowed Killie to run riot in the second half. Also, there seems to be an understandable lack of confidence with all the recent defeats and this was obvious in the last third of the field. Bursting forward from the halfway line didn't seem a problem but as soon as there was any pressure from the Killie defence, ideas would run out and the ball would be given away cheaply - again and again. My usual moan is that they are afraid to have a shot from distance but I couldn't fault them for that on this occasion (not that it happened often).

There was a clear lack of cohesion today, set-pieces were wasted, second-half passing was atrocious and our team look like a mid-table First Division outfit struggling against better quality players in a genuine SPL team. As someone said above, we have made a habit of signing lower league players who will never be SPL standard. Can't fault the effort - just the quality is not there with a number of them. Our first half performance was reasonable though and I thought David Proctor had a very good first 45 minutes.

We were doing fine before Christmas but I genuinely think all this contract signing hoo-haa has seriously affected team spirit and individual performances and has allowed certain players to think they are an awful lot better than they actually are. When these players have 26 caps for their country then I will understand why they should be holding out for a similar deal to the one Marius Niculae has.

On the positive side - I was really impressed with the Rugby Park stadium (my first visit there). I thought the Killie folk (including the stewards) were really friendly. And the Killie pies ARE indeed as good as they are hyped up to be. I also had a chat with Jim Jeffries when he stopped to give my wee fella an autograph. He most definitely rates as one of the nicest and most pleasant guys I have ever met in football - a real gentleman!!

Resident analyst Alternative Maryhill said:

Amazed A96 managed to draw any positives out of that at all. It was deeply humiliating. We were just about passable in the first half, but having said that, we looked like we were playing a team even lower in confidence than us. Killie looked tentative whenever they had the ball. There was a bit of luck about their equaliser, but the moment their second went in it just felt like that they, their fans and our fans knew we were there for the taking. After 4 it looked like it was going to be 6 or 7. I have to disagree with the comment about not being able to fault the players for effort too - I didn't see too many throwing themselves into tackles, chasing every 50-50 and looking determined to rescue the game. McBain seemed to be hiding and I don't recall Bayne, surprisingly, doing much chasing back. Duncan set himself new standards for the ineptitude of his passing. Niculae and Black, as usual, started brightly and looked inventive but by half time had been dragged into the mediocrity of it all. Still wouldn't have subbed Niculae, but as the whole occasion was characterised by tactical idiocy from Mr Brewster, at least he was being consistent when he hooked Marius. Just three examples of Brewster's cretinous tactics:

1. If anyone can explain to me the wisdom of dropping Cowie and forcing Tokely, in effect, to have to run the entire length of the touchline for the whole game, I'd be happy to listen. Tokely did fight for the shirt yesterday, but he's too one-dimensional going forward to bring any real invention, and we did look exposed at the back. This 3-5-2 thing stops working when you're behind and both having to defend and trying to get goals back - all you end up with is knackered wide players who are neither fish nor fowl.

2. Why put Vigurs into a team which is already so low on confidence? There's no way he was going to make a significant difference. At times yesterday he looked quite classy on the ball and certainly looked like he was trying to make passes, but there didn't seem to be anyone really looking for it. Hiding, as I said earlier. If we had to change things, and we did, yesterday was surely a day for players with some experience but something to prove - Hart (who at least showed the right attitude when he did get on), Markus, Dennis.

3. Can anyone point to an occasion when the Bayne - Niculae partnership has been an unqualified success? I've not been to any home games this season so I may have missed occasions when they looked good together, but I've never seen it and it certainly isn't working now. The best performances I've seen this season have all, to my recollecton, had Marius partnering Wyness up front and Rankin wide left. So why not go back to tha... oh, I forgot. We can't. Because you sold Rankin and you've effectively pushed Wyness out of the club. Nice one.

The second half was, I think, in 12 or 13 years of attending games, the most spineless and depressing performance I've witnessed from a Caley side, and that includes the Morton and Airdrie circuses mentioned by Arbroath Awayday. That bad. Don't know if there's any point in getting shot of CB now, purely because I don't see a replacement and it would be folly to panic and stick any old applicant in, but the thought of him still being here next season makes me shudder and relegation, on yesterday's evidence and given the recent travesties in man-management, would be highly likely.

Inverness CT 0-1 Falkirk - SPL

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Caley Thistle lose to an 86th minute Billy Clarke goal in a game that could certainly not be described as a classic.

That's still only 1 win in 2008 for the Caley Jags and if Gretna go to the wall before the end of the season, that solitary win might even be expunged from the records !!!

15/03/08	Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
INVERNESS CT	0
Team: Fraser, Tokely, Munro, McGuire, Hastings, Duncan, Black, Cowie (McAllister 80), McBain (Imrie 80), Niculae, Wyness (Bayne 53) Subs: Proctor, Kerr, Vigurs, Malkowski
FALKIRK	1 Clarke (86)
Team: Olejnik, Aafjes, Scobbie, Barr, Milne, Cregg (Riera 57), McBride, Arfield, Moutinho (Clarke 70), Barrett, Finnigan (Latapy 57) Subs: Bradley, Stewert, Ross, Supple
Referee	Calum Murray
Attendance	4012

ICT’s wretched run of form continued unabated as Billy Clarke‘s late strike gave visitors Falkirk a deserved win. The visitors had to work rather harder for a victory than Hearts did a fortnight ago, but otherwise there were few positives for Craig Brewster to find after yet another lukewarm, passionless performance. Caley had only a single victory, against Gretna, to show for their first ten matches of 2008 and Brewster reverted to a 4-4-2 after the defeat to the Jambos two weeks previously. Dennis Wyness and Roy McBain were recalled, with Dougie Imrie dropped to the bench and Markus Paatelainen left out of the matchday squad altogether. Falkirk, meanwhile, continued with the same eleven that drew with Motherwell in their last match, with John Hughes continuing to go with an attacking triumvirate of Moutinho, Barrett and Finnigan.

Under the backdrop of a clear blue sky and some unseasonable warmth, it was the Bairns who dominated possession throughout the opening period, with Hughes clearly upset that his side, clearly missing the injured Michael Higdon, had few chances to show for it. Carl Finnigan had the best of them, but his stabbed effort from six yards was blocked by a spread-eagled Michael Fraser when a corner caused chaos in Caley’s box. The first forty-five minutes followed a familiar pattern, with Falkirk given licence to knock the ball about and Inverness happy to sit deep and soak up pressure. Robert Olejnik was briefly called into action to turn a Niculae shot round the post, though the shot was drifting wide anyway. That was the exception, though, as the Austrian keeper saw very little action in a first half best described as uninspiring. The only thing the sides had to show for their stalemate was a bit of a suntan.

Half Time: 0-0

Unfortunately for the increasingly frustrated home support, there was little change in proceedings after the break, leading both managers to make early substitutions; Caley hooking Wyness for Graham Bayne and Falkirk replacing Cregg and Finnigan with Latapy and Riera. Caley finally found some impetus, with Bayne inches away from reaching McBain’s ball across goal, then somehow managing to head wide from six yards while unmarked. Ultimately, though, it was the introduction by Falkirk of their veteran Trinidadian schemer that decided the game. Caley threw on McAllister and Imrie as they looked to nick the win, but instead got caught on the break. Receiving the ball in the centre circle, Latapy waltzed through the Caley defence, dummied Phil McGuire with a lovely body swerve, and squared the ball for another substitute, Billy Clarke to tap home for his first goal for Falkirk. Clarke was booked for over celebrating, but his delight was understandable with the three points keeping his side in the driving seat for a top six place. In the remaining four minutes Caley never looked like grabbing an unlikely equaliser, and the home support vented their fury at another dour, pointless performance with a cacophony of boos at the final whistle.

Full Time: 0-1

They now head to Rugby Park next week with any hopes of finishing in the top half well and truly extinguished, and aware that their campaign is now increasingly in freefall.

Inverness CT 0-3 Hearts - SPL

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Inverness Caledonian Thistle were deserving losers in what has to be one of the worst performances they have ever put together since joining the SPL. The display on the park today was so bad it was verging on the comical and at times it was hard to know whether to laugh or cry. 0-3 going on 0-6 and we had nothing to respond with.

01/03/08	Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
INVERNESS CT	0
Team: Fraser, Tokely, McGuire, Munro, Hastings, Cowie (McAllister 83), Black (Proctor 73), Paatelainen (Wyness 46), Duncan, Imrie, Niculae Subs: Vigurs, McBain, Kerr, Malkowski
HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN	3 Karipidis (22), Elliot (33, 47)
Team: Banks, Neilson, Karipidis, Berra, Wallace, Jonsson, Palazuelos, Driver (Ivaskevicius 64), Mikoliunas (Screpis 72), Nade (Beniusis 84), Elliot Subs: Glen, Tall, Zalukas, Ridgers
Referee	Alan Freeland
Attendance	4489

With only one win under our belt since Craig Brewster and Marius Niculae picked up Manager and Player of the month awards you could be forgiven for thinking that our demise is some kind of sick conspiracy. ICT seem to be on self-destruct and nobody seems to know what to do other than watch as the clock tics away!!! Recent results against Hibs and Celtic weren’t the best, but at least the team showed some willingness to fight and attempt to battle back in those matches, but against Hearts it was an entirely different kettle of fish.

We got off to not too bad a start and were the ones applying pressure to Hearts in the first 20 minutes, albeit it phases and without much in the way of an end product. The only shot I can remember going in the direction of the goal was Duncan around the 15 minute mark, but even that sailed harmlessly high over the bar. We weren’t playing brilliant football, but we seemed to be edging it over what looked like an equally mediocre Hearts team….that was until the 22nd minute. Hearts won a corner and Driver delivered a high ball in to the middle of the box which Fraser looked to be coming to collect with ease, but for some reason he stopped and decided to back pedal towards his line giving Karipidis all the time in the world to pick his spot and head the ball in to the back of the net. This was the moment when the wheels really fell off for ICT, our midfield started to sit so deep they had the defence in their back pockets and even when we did manage to avoid tripping over each other and get the ball up the park, we had nobody to keep it there and it came straight back at us. The only time our midfield seemed willing to cross the half way line was when Fraser was taking a goal kick. To rub salt in the wounds, Referee (I use the word in it’s loosest form) Alan Freeland seemed to be making it up as he was going along. Despite Mikoliunas diving about like the Sugar Plum Faerie for most of the game it wasn’t until he tried to break the legs of Hastings that he caught the refs attention…and even then he got a yellow card for what was clearly a dangerous challenge and would have seen any other ref give a red without hesitation. On the few occasions we did push forward we were slow to get back and defend once we gave up possession and that was a regular occurrence during this match. Hearts second goal, and the first for Elliot in 2 years came when ICT were caught napping. We had lost possession on the left and failed to break down a run on the right before the ball was played down the line to Nade. Nade then made it look like he was out for a stroll in the park as he nutmegged Munro, stepped over a fresh air challenge by Duncan and then cut the ball back past McGuire who had left Elliot standing alone in the middle of the box….0-2 Hearts. The best efforts for Caley Thistle came towards the end of the first half when Niculae was unfortunate not to have stuck 2 half efforts away to level the scoring. The first chance came from a cross ball deep in to the box, but it was a little too high for Niculae to get above it to head it done and he nodded it over. The second chance saw Niculae again make a break deep in to the box as Tokely crossed the ball from the right. Niculae stuck out a leg, but the ball took a bounce and even at full stretch he couldn’t get enough on it to put it in to the net. 2 Goals down at half-time, but a glimmer of hope that we could actually create something up front and might be able to come back in to this if we could send out the real Caley Thistle team for the second half. For the first time I can remember in long enough, we actually made a tactically sound substitution at half time.

Half Time: 0-2

Paatelainen made way for Wyness to give us 2 strikers up front. It wasn’t long before all hopes of a comeback were dashed though and on 47 minutes Black made the biggest error of the game. He attempted to pass the ball back through a crowd of players to Fraser, but he failed to get enough on the ball and it forced the Caley Jags goalkeeper to come out to the edge of his area to make the challenge. He was first to the ball but failed to clear it and was slow to get back to his line….this gave Elliot time to pick himself up off the ground and float the ball over the sauntering Fraser to make it 0-3 for Hearts. At this stage most of the team seemed to give up, even those who might have been accused of putting in some effort just weren’t bothering and the only people who seemed to be playing with any passion were Niculae and Tokely…we hadn’t exactly been peppering the Hearts goal, but for the bulk of the second half nobody seemed to be interested in having a go, even from distance. Freeland’s catalogue of ridiculous decisions continued to grow when he failed to book Mikolionas for diving, even after gesturing that is what he had done and telling him to get up. He also produced his card from his pocket in another tussle, but seemed to change his mind after much remonstrating from the Hearts players. The most bizarre decision of all came when the nearside linesman made what felt like the first correct decision of the game in awarding ICT a corner, only for Freeland to overrule it and give the goal kick. In all honesty, the poor refereeing had no effect on the outcome, but it’s no wonder other teams don’t want Freeland officiating their matches when you see such a poor and incompetent display as that…it really was a performance of the lowest order. Rory McAllister replaced Don Cowie on 83 minutes and showed that he was at least hungry to prove himself and win a starting place in the team on a more regular basis. A late drive from 25 yards would have had the Hearts Keeper beaten but it inched narrowly over the bar to put an end to what should have been a more comprehensive loss.

Full Time: 0-3

“I Believe” is the adopted motto of the ICT fans, and they tried their hardest to lift the team throughout the match, but it becomes difficult when it is obvious to all that the team have lost belief and that the Manager and ICT Board are making decisions which are having a serious negative effect on the performances on the park.

Celtic 2-1 - Inverness CT - SPL

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Caley Thistle could not end their winless streak that now stretches to seven games, but on the plus side, this was not a capitulation in the same manner as the last two games.

Unlike previous games where certain players appeared to just be going through the motions, the Caley Jags fought hard to get back into this game and almost succeeded.

After holding out for most of the first half, the Caley Jags went in at the break down by a goal after Scott McDonald scored on the stroke of half-time. On the hour mark, Samaras extended the Celtic lead but Caley Thistle fought back with a goal from Marius Niculae with 20 minutes to go. Despite several good chances, the equaliser wouldn't come but it was a far better performance than recent games.

27/02/08	Celtic Park, Glasgow
CELTIC	2 McDonald (45), Samaras (61)
Team: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Nakamura, Donati, S. Brown, McGeady, McDonald (Killen 83), Samaras Subs: Hartley, Riordan, Sno, Robson, O'Dea, M. Brown
INVERNESS CT	1 Niculae (70)
Team: Fraser, Tokely, Munro, McGuire, Hastings, Cowie, Black (McBain 78), Duncan, Imrie, Paatelainen (Wyness 78), Niculae Subs: Vigurs, Kerr, Proctor, Gillespie, Malkowski
Referee	William Collum
Attendance	56787

Ian Black made his 100th appearance for Caley Thistle in this game but Craig Brewster did have an enforced change with Graham Bayne dropping out through injury and he was replaced by Markus Paatelainen. Former Caley Thistle and Dundee United midfielder Barry Robson was on the bench for Celtic.

Caley Thistle started with a 4-5-1 formation that has become familiar throughout parts of this season and were forced to soak up enormous amounts of pressure in the first half as Mike Fraser performed heroics in the ICT box.

Donati was the first with a shot from the edge of the box in 8 minutes that Fraser held well, then Samaras twice went close either side of the 20 minute mark with a 15 then a 20 yard drive and in 28 minutes McGeady came close with an effort that Fraser caught at the second attempt with McDonald nearby. A minute later and it was Nakamura who shot wide of the post.

All this before Caley Thistle had even had a sniff of a chance. However, as the half wore on, Caley Thistle did manage to get a little further forward. In 31 minutes Niculae made a break, found Paatelainen who in turn found Imrie but the recent signing could only put it wide. Imrie had another chance just before the break when an Ian Black free kick was headed back across the box but his volley went over the bar.

Right on the stroke of half-time Celtic took the lead. Hinkel was fouled on the right by Paatelainen and from the resultant free-kick, Nakamura fired in a dangerous ball. His kick was met by the head of McDonald on the six yard line and Fraser had no chance at stopping him scoring his 25th goal of the season.

Half Time: 1-0

Into the second half and Celtic went looking for the goal that would kill the game off. The first effort came in 51 minutes when Samaras hit the post but it was the same player who would extend the lead on the hour mark courtesy of some good work by Aiden McGeady. He beat a couple of players on the left then curled a cross into the box. Samaras was there to bullet the header past Fraser. 2-0

Caley Thistle got back into the game in the 70th minute through Marius Niculae with an assist from the Celtic defence. Scott Brown made a poor pass across his box that was pounced on by Niculae and he curled an excellent effort past Boruc. 2-1

From then on in, Caley Thistle tried hard to get an equaliser but it just wouldn't come. In 87 minutes Wyness came agonisingly close when his curling effort just went past the post and despite a late flurry of corners and free-kicks for ICT the ball didn't find its way into the net.

Full Time: 2-1

A disappointing defeat but a lot of heart to be taken from this match as the Caley Jags once again looked like a team who were giving 100%. Lets hope that continues.

Hibernian 2-0 Inverness CT - SPL

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:00:00 +0000

In midweek against Motherwell, the game was lost in the first 10 minutes. Caley Thistle's slump in form over the last few weeks helped them to go one better today and cut the time taken to lose a match to only five minutes !!!

Despite a better effort in the second half, the 3rd minute goal from Nish and 5th minute goal from Fletcher were enough to seal all three points in a game where the Caley Thistle attack was as effective as a marshmallow carving knife.

23/02/08	Easter Road, Edinburgh
HIBERNIAN	2 Nish (3), Fletcher (5)
Team: Ma-Kalambay, Gathuessi, Hogg, Jones, Zarabi (Hanlon 85), Beuzelin, Rankin, Zemmama (Morais 65), Nish, Shiels (Murray 75), Fletcher Subs: Chisholm, Kerr, Canning, McNeil
INVERNESS CT	0
Team: Fraser, Tokely, Munro, McGuire, Hastings, Cowie, Black, Duncan (Paatelainen 72), Imrie, Bayne, Niculae Subs: Wyness, McAllister, Vigurs, McBain, Kerr, Malkowski
Referee	Kenny Clark
Attendance	12552

Difficult to know what to make of this weeks game. Despite the fact that the CaleyJags were the first on the stats sheet with a shot on goal which came from a Bayne Volley from the edge of the box which had to be pushed wide it was Hibs who were to get on the score sheet first….and second.

With Colin Nish and Steven Fletcher putting Hibernian 2 goals ahead within the first 5 minutes it was tempting to head back to the pub. Both goals were one on one and Shiels looked certain to add a third and probably would have had he not tried to nutmeg Michael Fraser when he had the entire goalmouth to aim at. There’s been a lot of rumour about tension in the ranks and you could have been mistaken for believing every word of it having watched the first 10 minutes of this game.

It was a nightmare start, but Caley Thistle somehow managed to get themselves composed and started to come on to a game as Hibs looked to sit back. We had loads of corners and plenty scrambles on the goal line but somehow we always needed a touch too many and none of us really believed we would ever score. Delivery was dreadful from dead balls, usually over hit. The conditions weren’t ideal, the wind was making it difficult to play accurate balls in to the area and at one point it looked like we might need to call for someone to stick a finger on the ball to allow Imrie to take a corner as the ball kept getting blown away. Added to this, the pitch seemed to cut up really early which meant that the ball was bobbling everywhere. As the saying goes “it’s the same for both teams”, but with Hibs managing to get a couple of goals on the board early, they really had given themselves that extra advantage.

Half Time: 2-0

Hibs were just as bad as us a lot of the time and their fans got restless in the second half, there were even a few boos. Hibs just had more quality than us and those wee shouts you heard were Bayne asking if somebody could get him out of Jones' back pocket….he was battling hard but winning very little. If Marius had Fletcher or even Nish alongside him instead of Bayners we would probably have won it. That's without mentioning Shiels, Beuzelin and Zemmama.

For me, Niculae was our best player on the day. He put in a good shift and chased back. I would also give Rossco, Black and Fraser pass marks. Cowie did OK too, and with a little more service he may have found the net - A couple of times he was wide in space and screaming for it and nobody had the vision, or maybe he's got leprosy!!! Marcus did OK when he came on. Imrie looked like he's off the pace for the SPL, though I must say against St Mirren he looked star quality. It’s a pity Proctor is still out injured as I would like to see him replace Tokely at right back and Tokely replace McGuire in the middle alongside Munro.

We did have plenty of chances but they always fell to the wrong man or just resulted in the ball bouncing about in a crowded penalty box. Russell will have to hope no big Scandinavians were at the game. Did a lot of chasing and mopping up as usual, but his passes were far more over the place than normal. Just sign it Russell, while it's still on the table. Best moment for us was the chant of 'there's only one John Rankin' after he nearly sliced it into his own net. P.S. - To the young blonde lassie who got a surprise comp in her hand at 5 to 3, I know you were trying to pass me your mobile no but it's OK, really...lol

Motherwell 3-1 Inverness CT - SPL

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Caley Thistle's 500th senior game ended in defeat as Motherwell ran out 3-1 winners at Fir Park.

2-0 down after only 10 minutes, Caley Thistle had an uphill struggle to get back into the game but despite Don Cowie's 19th minute goal, it was not to be.

There were plenty of talking points in this game - from tactics and team selection to a "stonewall" penalty claim near the end.

20/02/08	Fir Park, Motherwell
MOTHERWELL	3 Clarkson (7,42), Porter (10)
Team: G Smith, Quinn, Craigan, Reynolds, Hammell, D Smith (Lappin 53), Lasley, Fitzpatrick, Clarkson, McCormack (Maguire 73), Porter (J Murphy 89) Subs: McLean, D Murphy, Archdeacon, Daniels
INVERNESS CT	1 Cowie (19)
Team: Fraser, Tokely, Munro, fMcGuire, Hastings, Duncan, McBain (Paatelainen 76), Cowie, Imrie (Black 76), Wyness, Bayne Subs: Watt, McAllister, Kerr, Vigurs, Malkowski
Referee	John Underhill
Attendance	4526

Manager Craig Brewster made two changes to the side that had managed a 1-1 draw with Dundee United. Out went Marius Niculae and Ian Black with Dennis Wyness and Graham Bayne replacing them. Russell Duncan made his 250th ICT appearance in this game.

Motherwell started brightly and within 10 minutes had established a 2-0 lead.

A couple of early chances came to nothing but in 7 minutes Ross McCormack found David Clarkson in the box with a pass and he took a touch before sending a powerful shot past Fraser. Three minutes later it was number two, this time down the left. Stevie Hammell crossed to the back post and Chris Porter was there to head home his 13th of the season.

Caley Thistle at this stage were not in the game at all and further chances fell to Motherwell with McCormack, Porter and Clarkson combining to run the Caley Jags ragged.

The only bright spot for Caley Thistle up to this point was a Don Cowie effort that had gone well wide but in 19 minutes he was to get one on target well and truly against the run of play. A flick from Wyness fell just nicely for him and he blasted a dipping, swerving shot past the helpless Graeme Smith from 25 yards. 2-1

The game was a little more open after this but Motherwell were definitely in the ascendency and in 25 minutes Mike Fraser did well to get down and push away a Ross McCormack effort that looked goal-bound.

It all went pear-shaped again in 41 minutes when the ever impressive David Clarkson got his second and Motherwell's third. A corner was floated in by Hammell and headed out of defence but it only got as far as Clarkson on the edge of the box and he volleyed it into the roof of the net giving Fraser no chance.

Caley Thistle almost got one back immediately through Dougie Imrie as play raged to the other end but Smith got the better of him in a one-on-one situation and Dennis Wyness couldn't connect with the rebound.

Half Time: 3-1

The second half started brightly, with Porter hitting the bar just 30 seconds after the restart and a couple of minutes later, Ross Tokely heading the ball onto the junction of post and bar from a Don Cowie corner with the keeper well beaten.

In 51 minutes, Caley Thistle hit the bar again. This time it was Grant Munro getting on the end of another Don Cowie corner.

The first half, and the early stages of the second half were full of pace and action, but inevitably, when that happens things eventually slow right down and so they did. As the pace of the game dropped, so it seemed did Caley Thistle's chance to come back into it.

In fact, one of the few highlights of the second half was the substitution of the referee. John Underhill was injured and 4th official Frank McDermott had to take over in 75 minutes.

McDermott didn't have a lot to do but did have a moment of controversy five minutes from the end. In what looked like a stonewall penalty claim, Duncan went down in the box but the referee waved away the claims and the game fizzled out without any further action.

Full Time: 3-1

Inverness CT 1-1 Dundee Utd - SPL

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Midfielder Markus Paatelainen came off the bench to grab a late equalizer for Caley Thistle.

A match of few chances appeared to be heading in the visitors’ favour, after Prince Buaben struck midway through the second period but the home side managed to nick a point when the Finnish midfielder struck with only six minutes left on the clock.

16/02/08	Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
INVERNESS CT	1 Paatelainen (84)
Team: Fraser, Tokely, McGuire, Munro, Hastings, Cowie, Black (Paatelainen 80), Duncan, McBain, Niculae (Bayne 61), Imrie Subs: McAllister, Vigurs, Kerr, Watt, Malkowski
DUNDEE UTD	1 Buaben (68)
Team: Zaluska, Dillon, Kenneth, Wilkie, Grainger, Flood (Swanson 58), Kerr, Buaben, Gomis, O'Brien, De Vries (Hunt 46) Subs: Odhiambo, Conway, Robertson, Dods, McLean
Referee	Stephen Finnie
Attendance	4087

Craig Brewster made two changes for the clash with his former side, with Douglas Imrie making his first start and Phil McGuire returning from suspension to compensate for the loss of the injured David Proctor. Imrie was preferred to Dennis Wyness, conspicuously absent from the bench, in a 4-5-1 formation. Craig Levein, meanwhile, clearly felt the need to freshen things up after the midweek cup defeat by St. Mirren, making five changes, the most notable being the decision to leave ex-Caley skipper Darren Dods on the bench, with Garry Kenneth partnering Lee Wilkie in defence. United also relegated Noel Hunt and David Robertson to the substitutes, with Mark De Vries partnered up front by winger Jim O’Brien.

It was the home side who started brightest on a cold, icy afternoon in the Highlands, as first Ian Black fired high and wide, and then Don Cowie raced clear but pulled his shot wide of the post. Unfortunately, this proved to be the best chance of an opening period that could be only be described as mediocre, as neither team proved capable of keeping or using the ball, and the match descended into a midfield scrap. Cowie had another half-chance, shooting straight at Zaluska in the United goal, while Michael Fraser was required to make two fairly routine stops from long range Prince Buaben efforts. Caley got little joy in the crowded midfield area, with only Imrie offering a spark with some darting, incisive runs, while Marius Niculae was left isolated and lonely up front for much of the half.

Half Time: 0-0

It was United who attempted to change things, bringing on Hunt at the interval for the ineffectual, and possibly injured, De Vries. And though the second half began in much the same vein as the first, it was the Irishman’s tenacity which broke the deadlock, as he side-stepped Ian Black and fired a low ball across the face of goal for Ghanaian midfielder Buaben to tap in. By this point, Caley had tried to find a spark of their own, bringing off Niculae and replacing him with Graham Bayne. Bayne brought a save out of Zaluska with a tame half-volley, while Imrie then had an effort deflected past the post. However, with his side looking impotent in their search for a goal, Brewster threw on Paatelainen for Black and the move paid quick dividends, the leggy Finn latching onto a Roy McBain pass and lashing the ball into the top of the net with time running out. Having looked comfortable, United were rocked and suddenly looked vulnerable as Caley looked for the winner. Don Cowie nearly provided it, his late lob catching Zaluska off his line, but Kenneth headed clear the danger.

Full Time: 1-1

In the end, it would have been harsh, for this was a game where the draw was very much the right result.