Off night for Grantie as ten man Inverness wilt.
Not many outwith the secret society of referee's, male or female, know the answer to this one, but for some reason Grant Munro was sent off for what at this moment can only be described as an off the ball incident. The stand side lines person flagged the referee and after consultation, Munro was singled out as Maguire lay nursing his face on the edge of the Inverness box. Even Penn & Teller had to concede this one. Worse was to come as the half time cuppa brewed when Jack fired a ferocious shot off the underside of Esson's bar on the stroke of half time from one chain and a bit. Great strike, but harsh on Inverness who had started brightly with Hayes taking the game to Aberdeen. Shortly after half time Blackman turned the ball in with the aid of a deflection which left Esson flat footed, and it was game over. Inverness battled gamely, especially Adam Rooney who was unlucky on a couple of occasions after he fashioned out his own openings.
This was a much improved performance from Inverness, but with the sending off of Grant Munro, it made the task much more difficult and in the end it proved to be just out of reach, despite a number of half chances for the home side to gain a foothold in the match. Adam Rooney was the target for most of the homesters attacks and with a bit of fortune he might have scored a couple of goals. Comeback man Jonny Hayes also shone brightly but the scything Aberdeen henchmen made it an early bath for him as well when he limped off injured in the second period.
So, unfortunately, the stats will show that is ten games without a win, but this was a game that turned on a split second decision by the officials. A decent away support for a midweek game will no doubt go home happy that they close the gap on the top six, and Inverness will rue another home game without a point.
26th January 2011
Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
INVERNESS CT
0 -
TEAM: Esson, Tokely, Munro, Innes, Shinnie, Duff (Doran 82), Hayes (Odhiambo 73), Ross, Foran, Rooney, Sanchez (Proctor 46)
SUBS: Tuffey, McBain, Duncan, Sutherland - Booked: none - Sent Off: Munro (18)
ABERDEEN
2 - Jack (44), Blackman (49)
TEAM: Langfield, McArdle, Diamond, Considine, Vujadinovic, Hartley, Jack, Milsom, Maguire (Young 75), Vernon (Magennis 65), Blackman
SUBS: Howard, McNamee, Robertson, Pawlett, Paton - Booked: McArdle (38)
Referee
Steve Conroy
Attendance
4468
Davie will unveil the full report when he gets home to warm up and reflect on another pointless exercise.
And so it goes on. The run of 10 games without a win is becoming tedious and just a bit alarming. After the joy and verve of early season, how did it come to this? Last night's game went a long way to providing at least some answers to that. As the ambling preamble from TM4TJ said, the game opened brightly enough although it was obvious from kick off that these were a different prospect completely from the one that played under Mark McGhee. But we did start brightly, Chris Innes heading in a Jonny Hayes cross that was held by Langfield. Hayes was back to his impetuous best, turning Considine at will in the early stages although when he tried a carbon copy of his goal of the month strike (the rangers' one) it went out for a throw in. It wasn't long before the inevitable first foul arrived, but Hayes is resilient if nothing else. Hayes also tested Langfield with an on target drive, but there were also efforts from Aberdeen that pointed to this being a close game of not inconsiderable quality. The fact that this didn't happen was entirely due to Messrs. Conroy & Bee, who spotted something in the Caley Jags penalty area that involved Grant Munro and Chris Maguire and ended with Maguire on the turf. The linesman flagged for something and Munro saw red. The blatant simulation involved from the Aberdeen player was obvious from the outset, the referee was conned and Munro walked. Curiously, violent conduct (Munro allegedly punched him) is deliberate foul play but no penalty was awarded. It might as well have been as ICT then struggled to adapt to the new shape they were required to adapt to. TB had no arguments with the decision, but it seemed less than obvious from the North Stand. Aberdeen were still troubled to the extent that Blackman was booked for hoofing Hayes (again) before McArdle was punished for an appalling "tackle" on Graham Shinnie that was designed purely to injure. Mr Conroy could have redeemed himself there and then but chose not to, to his shame. He proved himself as yellow as the card he brandished. Just before the break Rooney, playing his best game in ages, missed narrowly, and right on 45 minutes JACK drifted into the space where Munro would have been and scored with a drive off the bar. He then launched into a singularly graceless and inflammatory celebration that should have seen him booked. That he wasn't was no surprise.
Half time: Inverness CT 0 Aberdeen 1
Again, the half started brightly, with nearly all of ICT's chances falling to Rooney. Time and time again he fashioned chances, his hold up play was excellent as was his tackling. Missing Sanchez, who had been replaced by Proctor, his options around him had been sacrificed to expediency. His likewise immense work rate was obvious, but the fates conspired against him, and we were punished again after a missed chance resulted in a break up the field and a goal for BLACKMAN which sealed the game. That heads went down slightly was no surprise, but a goal back was never far away. Bickering replaced honest enjoyment in the stands and the game slipped away. That Hayes limped off after 73 minutes to be replaced by Odhiambo was no surprise, but no less depressing for that. There is little chance of him staying fit if other teams are allowed to literally kick him off the park as a counter to his skill. How Adam Rooney must have felt when Diamond cleared off the line after a slaloming run that had left everyone in his wake is beyond me, but it summed it up. There was a bright note as Inverness was treated to their first sight of another Irish winger, Aaron Doran. He showed enough to suggest it won't be their last sight. As the fight in Inverness receded, Ryan Esson showed again and again why Craig Levein should pay this boy some attention. One save, a one on one with Blackman, was sublime. Thanks again Ryan.
Full time: Inverness CT 0 Aberdeen 2
MotM was Adam Rooney by a length from Ryan Esson. Low light was Richie Foran, again off the boil but struggling manfully. Villain was the referee, ably abetted by the stand side assistant and general irritation was provided by the local constabulary, videotaping all and sundry and earnestly pointing out people who appeared to commit no offence other than support their team. Roll on next Wednesday.
