"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

I couldn't have put it any better, so why even try...

Richard Hastings was sidelined today leaving Roy McBain to fill in at left back, a situation in itself that highlights the need for us to be bringing in players to provide competition and cover for places on the back row. Other than that the team lined up pretty much as expected and Caley Thistle got off to the better start playing some nice football and stringing together some great plays.

Dundee Utd were the first to record a shot on target in the 11th minute but the half-volley was taken comfortably by Fraser. ICT seemed to take a grip on the game at this stage however and Utd Goalkeeper Grzegorz Szamotulski had his work cut out for him as he was forced in to some brilliant saves. Graham Bayne had a shot tipped round the post; Marius Niculae got his head on a Ross Tokely cross only for it to be saved at the near post before setting up Stuart McCaffery with a ball which should have ended in the back of the net. The players could be forgiven for feeling a little unlucky going in at half-time without having registered anything on the scoreboard.

Half Time: 0-0

It wasn’t long into the second half when the deadlock was broken. The ICT fans watched on in disbelief as a Dillon cross into the box failed to find a chasing Robson or Wilkie…unfortunately it didn’t fail to find the net and it was Inverness CT 0 – 1 Dundee Utd. Bayne had a header saved at the other end, but from this point in it was Utd who were in command of the match. The second goal came by way of a penalty in the 58th minute and ICT were lucky not to have a man sent to the stand. Following a foul on Kerr, referee John Underhill seemed to be only too aware of recent incidents of mistaken identity and preferred to keep his cards in his pocket rather than risk sending the wrong man for an early shower. Robson slotted the ball home from the spot, Inverness CT 0 – 2 Dundee Utd. It was a sick feeling of de-ja-vu 20 minutes later when Grant Munro was adjudged to have brought down Wilkie inside the area. Robson stepped up for the spot kick and sent the ball into the net at the exact same spot as his previous one. Inverness CT 0 – 3 Dundee Utd. The game couldn’t have come to an end quick enough for Caley Thistle and other than a run on goal and a well saved shot from Niculae we had nothing else to show for ourselves.

Full Time: 0-3

One can only imagine what must be going through the heads of the players right now and we can only call on the fans to get right behind the team on Tuesday Night when they take to the pitch against Arbroath in the CIS Cup