Killie pay the penalty

It was a game that had everything, but most importantly it was a game that had more goals for Inverness Caledonian Thistle than it did for Kilmarnock.  Strikes from Imrie and Wood put the Caley Jags 2 up in the first half with Killie offering little in response.

Kilmarnock's half time talk seemed to fire them up and the second half saw them come more into the game.  However, it took them until the 85th minute for Gibson to pull one back, but Killie failed to capitalise when they missed a penalty shortly afterwards.

Wood should have perhaps had a third for ICT and Kilmarock may have scored more if not for Caley Thistle Keeper Ryan Esson who continues to repay Brewster for giving him his chance.

Alternative Maryhill rounded it up like this:

Great game of football for the neutral - it's been a while since I spent the last 10 mins doing the "can we hang on?" jack-in-the-box routine. But over the piece we deserved it, although if Killie had scored the penalty there would have been harsh questions asked about our players farting about and being far too casual when they had several chances to nail Killie on the break in the second half.

The midfield was excellent and this was where the game was won. Imrie was up for it from the start, beat a lot of players and got the ball into numerous dangerous positions; Vigurs again showed composure and the ability to see passes and also made a few decent runs; Duncan closed down well and didn't give it away too often; Blackie had a quieter game than usual but didn't get drawn into situations where he was likely to get sent off after being booked in the first minute; Cowie worked hard and was one of our most dangerous players in the second half, although I think his natural strengths are beng sacrificed by Brewster to allow Imrie to play wide right.

The defence also played well, although Tokely struggled badly against Taouil until he was moved up front. Proctor was better in the air than I remember him being and Granty avoided too many long balls. Esson was excellent - it's been a good move to get him in. The forward line, on the other hand, is definitely still an issue. Wood worked really hard and held the ball up well, but never really got into any threatening positions: his goal, from where I was sitting, was a bit of a freak and more down to the the keeper than good finishing. On the other hand, Barrowman, when he came on, did nothing except get caught offside. For a player whose only strength seems to be hanging around and playing the last man, that is unforgiveable. I have no idea why Rooney wasn't given his chance.

Choice of striker aside, I can't criticise Brew for his team selection today, nor can I criticise the players for their effort, apart from a too-casual approach in the last fifteen minutes. At the same time, today suggests that the SPL is simply full of mediocre teams and that some teams' approaches just play into the hands of other teams. Whatever they were trying to do may work against other sides, but today Killie just allowed players like Imrie and Vigurs space to create and they were punished for it. If they had been more aggressive and closed down earlier, both these players might have got frustrated and we might have been on the end of another defeat