Inverness CT 1-1 Dunfermline - Report
Inverness fell behind after twenty minutes when some pinball ended with McInroy drilling the ball home from inside the box. Sutherland was unlucky when his header crashed off the bar with the keeper beaten. Miles Storey scored with a stunning left foot shot high past a despairing Fon Williams to level the game with around 25 minutes left and that's how it ended, all square in the final game of 2020, a year we all want to forget. Happy New Year when it comes.
Second placed Dunfermline Athletic came North for this 6:30pm kick-off at the Caledonian Stadium as we moved into the second phase of this seasons shortened Championship. No fans of course as we have now been plunged into tier 4 for covid 19, but live streaming was available from ICTFC. The Pars were looking to build on some good results which has them second in the Championship behind Hearts, we were looking to get back on track after a poor performance at Alloa and a day off last Saturday when we should have been at Cappielow.
John Robertson went for a more experienced squad with Sean Welsh, Aaron Doran and James Vincent returning to the starting XI. James Keatings missed out with a thigh strain. Wallace Duffy and Davis Carson were on the bench with young guns Roddy MacGregor and Kai Kennedy
Kevin O'Hara started this one with DecLan McManus on the bench along with Fraser Murray and Ryan Dow.
After a minute silence in memory of Jim McLean the game went ahead and it was five minutes in before Robbie Deas broke forward on the left side before firing a shot from distance which was easy enough for Fon Williams to gather.
Euan Murray was next to try his luck but he headed over. Captain Murray was always going to be a threat from set pieces.
A great ball into the box from Cammy Harper saw no takers as the game approached 15 minutes with defences on top in an open game.
The Pars opened the scoring with a rather fortunate goal. Nothing wrong with the strike, but the ball fell kindly for them twice before it was put behind Ridgers by Kyle Turner just after 20 minutes.
Moments later, Kerr McInroy flashed a snapshot wide as we all held our breath, the ball whistling just wide.
We almost responded immediately but a tremendous cross from Harper was headed strongly off the bar by Shane Sutherland with the keeper well beaten. He rose well to power his header but it was a fraction too high and smacked the crossbar.
Sutherland brought out a brilliant one handed diving save from the keeper soon after as he shot from distance following a defensive slip by the Pars, the ball being tipped over for a fruitless corner.
Ten minutes before the break we had a Devine intervention in the six yard box to deny a certain tap-in goal at the back post as a low ball across the box was cleared over the bar at full stretch by Danny Boy with Kevin O'Hara lurking with intent.
The goal apart, there was little between the sides as the interval approached with Inverness winning a couple of corners and a header went harmlessly wide from the returning ball into the box after the second corner.
A rare burst forward after we gave away the ball in the visitors half saw Kevin O'Hara test Ridgers right on the break, the big keeper down quickly to his low shot from the edge of the box to save comfortably.
HALF TIME 0-1
Kai Kennedy replaced Aaron Doran at the interval. Doran had taken a knock in the first half and continued after treatment but had remained in the dressing room.
Ridgers saved a deflected shot eight minutes into the second half as The Pars looked dangerous on the break at the start of the half.
Sean Welsh fired wide as the hosts responded but the play was getting untidy and Miles Storey might have done better when he was set free inside the left side of the penalty box, instead his half hit shot rolled meekly into the keepers hands. However, his next major involvement was stunning when it came along.
Fon Williams cut out a dangerous cross after good work down the left flank, Kennedy injecting a bit of urgency about proceedings since he was introduced after the interval.
Sean Welsh entered the referees book for a scything tackle in midfield as we looked to break down a resolute Pars defence but with around half an jour left it was not looking too good.
Out of the blue, Inverness scored a screamer with 66 minutes on the clock. Miles Storey turned on a long throw-in from Brad Mckay just outside the box and lashed a powerhouse of a shot into the keepers top right corner. What a strike by Storey from around 25 yards across the keeper and into the roof of the net with Fon Williams clutching at thin air.
A bit of ball flapping in the home box led to a corner as Allardice deflected the eventual strike for the Pars but the ball was headed tamely over from the set piece.
Into the final ten minutes and still all to play for as the Pars pushed for a winner.
The visitors pressed hard as the clock ticked down and with Danny Devine going off injured it was backs to the wall in a frantic finish. A couple of yellow cards later and it was all over, a hard earned point for both sides.
What the managers said on BBC Sport
Dunfermline manager Stevie Crawford: "Really pleased with the first-half performance. We created a number of chances. Inverness had a decent spell and put us under pressure in the second half, but we responded well and tried to win the game."
Inverness CT manager John Robertson: "It was a very good game. We started slowly and didn't quite get going. We battled back into it. We tweaked the system at half-time and it was a different game, we totally dominated the second half."
Match Highlights, look out for the Glory Storey thunderball @66mins
A point each right eenuff...
Date: 29/12/2020 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 000 Referee: Euan Anderson
Inverness CT: 1
Lineup: Ridgers; B Mckay, Deas, Devine, Harper, Doran (Kennedy 45), Welsh, Allardice, Vincent, Sutherland (D Mackay 88), Storey (Todorov 85) Subs (not used): C Mackay, Duffy, Carson, MacGregor Scorers: Storey (67) Booked: Welsh (64), B Mckay (87), D Mackay (90+4) Sent Off: none Dunfermline Ath: 1
Lineup: Fon Williams; Comrie, Mayo, Watson, E Murray, Edwards, Wilson, McInroy (Dow 66), McCann (McManus 69), Turner, O'Hara (Thomas 80) Subs (not used): Gill; Whittaker, Berry, F Murray Scorers: Turner (23), Booked: Turner (90+5) Sent Off: none a
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