Steelmen win thriller

Motherwell won the battle to retain third spot in the SPL winning by the odd goal in three.  Gow and a deflected Blackman effort put Well on their way to victory in an entertaining match.  A crisp Stuart Duff strike reduced the deficit in the last quarter, but it was too little too late again as the Manager of the Month curse left Butcher's men pointless despite a late surge which almost earned them a point.  But it was not to be as Motherwell held on to ensure they remained the best of the rest.  Referee's are in the spotlight just now, and it is no wonder when you see some of the baffling decisions being dished out.

Davie got the short straw and his forfeit is todays match report

Beer and football. After a couple of weeks absence, those two inseparable goodies returned to be sampled at or around Tulloch Caledonian stadium. Fans turned out in their thousands, and a week that saw Terry Butcher manager of the month and awarded a doctorate would surely culminate in Caley sitting proudly in third place in the SPL.

As is so often the case, these things never go to plan. Within five minutes, it had turned to fear and bootball as the claret and amber set out their stall. For such an archaically described side, there was nothing old fashioned about their play as they employed a system that spread play wide to Humphrey and Blackman who provided quality ball to Sutton etc. Such was the ease that they did this with in the first half that Caley fans grudgingly found much to admire about them. Ryan Esson could not have shared their point of view, being called upon to muster the first of several excellent stops from Sutton within the first ten minutes. The pressure continued, the aforementioned Humphrey's being the first SPL player this season to cause Shinnie such grave concern as he was ripped apart down the right. It wasn’t all one sided, however, and Foran passed up a glorious chance on twenty minutes. It heralded a spell of Inverness pressure that culminated 5 minutes later in a scrambled clearance from a Hayes corner. That was about as good as it got in the first half, as in 32 minutes, Gow drifted into the six yard box to power a header low to Esson’s left. The keeper somehow clawed the ball back out, but the stand side linesman had signalled a goal which the ref concurred with. It will be interesting to see a replay, as it seemed a goal from a North stand vantage point but if it was a save, it was of the Gordon Banks/ Pele variety. Whatever, there were no complains about 0-1. Things were to get worse however, as in 42 minutes, Blackman clattered into a challenge come shot with Munro, all of thirty yards out. The ball squirted upwards off both, over Esson and came to rest in the Caley net. 2-0, and the seeds of defeat were sown.

Half Time 0-2

As ever, half time brings an opportunity to reflect, ignore reality and substitute it with hope. This Inverness fans duly did, until the second 45 restarted in a carbon copy of the first. Butcher responded with the first change of the game, Morrison coming on for Odhiambo in 51 minutes. A change of shape was evidently called for, with Foran playing up front with Rooney. An almost immediate improvement commenced, with Motherwell being pushed back for the first time in the game. Half chances came and went, Foran being pulled up for offsides and Hayes going reasonably close. For all that Caley huffed and puffed and Rooney and Foran created space, it was hard to see where any end result would come from. Foran was pulled on 68 minutes, and looked slightly miffed as he trotted standwards. Shane Sutherland arrived, but his fireworks were a day late. They were effective though, as he produced a great meandering run and pass to put Rooney in on 65 minutes. The finish deserved better. It looked as if pressure would come to naught when, of all people, Duff unleashed a tremendous howitzer of a shot from near 30 yards in 74 minutes that buried itself happily beyond Randolph. Game most definitely on. Inverness started their best period of the game after that, with equalising opportunities falling to Rooney and Hayes. Nick Ross went close and Inverness pressed until the 90 minutes had come and gone. In truth, their goal had come too late to haul a result out of the fire.

So the match finished 1-2, and the overwhelming opinion from around the north stand was that it was a close affair against the best footballing side to visit these parts this season. In the end, what separated the sides was a fluke of a goal that on another day would have landed in the car park. Man of the match was most definitely Ryan Esson (again) How many goals has he prevented this year? I'm sure though, he would trade all manner of MotM awards for one little bit of well deserved recognition from the national side. C'mon, Levein, there's a friendly coming up against the Faroes. Do the right thing.

At least we don’t support Aberdeen.