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A pretty even match finishes as a 1-1 draw. Falkirk scored in the 80th minute but John Rankin equalised 6 minutes later (his 4th against Falkirk this season) to save a point for Caley Thistle. Club Historian Ian Broadfoot reports on the game from the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. ICT 1-1 FALKIRK |
| 7th April 2007 | Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, Inverness |
| INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE FC | 1 (Rankin 86) |
Team: Fraser, Tokely , McCaffrey, Munro, Hastings, Wilson (McBain 66), Duncan (McAllister 82), Hart, Rankin, Dargo, Bayne
Subs: Paatelainen, Wood, Soane, Sutherland & Ridgers |
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| FALKIRK | 1 (Finnigan 80) |
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Team: Schmeichel, Ross, Holden (Scobbie 48), Barr, Milne, Cregg, Latapy (Craig 75), Thomson, O'Donnell, Moutinho (Finnigan 68), Gow
Subs: Lima, McStay, Uras & Lambers |
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| Referee | Crawford Allan |
| Attendance | 4435 |
| Man of the Match | Richie Hart (ICT) |
Not a great game but it had its exciting moments. Caley Thistle could have had it sewn up by half time but nothing quite came off and it was Falkirk who opened the scoring with ten minutes left. John Rankin came to the rescue with a late equaliser.
Ian Black’s suspension continued and Darren Dods missed one game as a result of his red card at Ibrox. Stuart McCaffrey came into central defence, Markus Paatelainen dropped to the bench, Barry Wilson came back into the starting eleven, Richie Hart continued in midfield, Roy McBain returned from injury to a bench slot and young striker Garry Wood joined the squad for the first time. Falkirk striker Carl Finnigan came back from suspension but started on the bench.
ICT could have taken the lead in two minutes when an attack led to a loose ball which broke well for Wilson and left him one-on-one with Kasper Schmeichel – his low shot was saved by the legs of the ‘keeper and Wilson hit the rebound wide.
A minute later and there could have been a goal at the other end. Alan Gow sent a high free kick from the right and Dean Holden headed goalwards from the back post. It ran parallel to the goal line and over for a goal kick at the far side.
Schmeichel once more rescued Falkirk in 14 minutes when he tipped over a 25 yard dipping volley from Hart. In 34 minutes Rankin produced the shot of the match when he sent an angled ball from long distance on the left towards the top right corner. It curled beautifully but went just past the angle of the bar.
Half Time: 0-0
Falkirk had clearly been spoken to firmly at half time as they came out with more determination. Despite this Mike Fraser had little to do as the defence held firm under early second-half pressure. In 59 minutes Schmeichel did well to dive and hold a Hart ball across goal then in 69 minutes a good home move led to a blocked Craig Dargo shot from 20 yards.
The Bairns took the lead with ten minutes left when substitute Finnigan took a pass on the right wing and was allowed to continue despite strong offside claims. He raced ahead and hit an angled shot low into the net for 1-0.
Rory McAllister was sent on for Russell Duncan as the home side played three up front in search of an equaliser. It came in 86 minutes when a long Grant Munro throw from the left was returned to him and he sent a high ball into the box – Rankin managed to get a good touch on it and send the ball into the top corner for the equaliser.
There was a hectic finish and Caley Thistle nearly snatched a late winner when Dargo rounded Schmeichel on the left but a defender cleared the danger. Twice in added time Schmeichel had to punch clear but the final whistle went and it ended 1-1.
Full Time: 1-1
Caley Thistle moved up one place to ninth. Dunfermline beat Hibs 1-0 and the relegation issue has not quite been settled.
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