December’s busy programme finished with an unbeaten run and 9 points from 5 games. This result was a repeat of last year’s equivalent fixture and, as in 2004, it was an exciting end-to-end game.

Craig Dargo dropped out of the Caley Thistle line-up following his concussion against Hibs and a surprise replacement was Rory McAllister who made his first SPL start. Aberdeen had several injured absentees including midfielder Scott Severin who had just signed a three-year contract extension.

ICT had an excellent first half but Aberdeen came back strongly after the break and overall had the best chances. At the final whistle a draw was about right.

Russell Anderson had to be sharp in the second minute to head clear a deep Barry Wilson cross from the right then in nine minutes McAllister hit the side netting.

Ian Black and Wilson set up a chance for Craig Brewster in 11 minutes – Wilson’s cross from the right reached Brewster off the head of McAllister but his angled shot was too high.

The best chance of the half fell to Aberdeen’s John Stewart in 34 minutes. He broke through the defence and was well placed left of centre – he chose to shoot early but hit low and wide. Two minutes later Scott Muirhead was well placed in the box but just failed to connect with a cross from the right. Just before the interval Ross Tokely sent a cross from the right and McAllister touched it for Brewster – the player/manager sent a bouncing shot wide but it was close and many fans thought it was in.

Half Time: 0-0

Former ICT player Darren Mackie came on for Aberdeen in the second half and they improved greatly. Caley Thistle held out but the Dons put them to the test on several occasions. Seconds into the half Mark Brown made his first real save when he dealt comfortably with a Jamie Smith angled shot from the left. In 52 minutes Jamie Langfield raced out of goal as McAllister chased a through ball – the ‘keeper was there first and cleared from just outside his area.

A Smith free kick in 54 minutes was deflected for a corner then Chris Clark beat four men in 63 minutes before Brown pushed away his angled shot. A disputed corner in 69 minutes led to Brown saving well from a Stewart header.

Barry Nicholson broke through the middle in 74 minutes and really should have done better with only Brown to beat – the keeper narrowed the angle and Nicholson hit wide of the post.

Caley Thistle’s best second half effort came from substitute Dennis Wyness in 84 minutes. A Brewster pass allowed Wyness to close in on goal from the right but his angled shot was well saved by Langfield.

Full Time: 0-0

Both sides did have late flurries but nothing came off. Motherwell beat Livingston and moved above ICT so the year ended in seventh place.