Xmas Turkeys

A bad day at the office for Caley Thistle today.

Lee Cox opened the scoring for the CaleyJags but two goals from Steven Thomson, one in each half, saw St Mirren head down the A9 with the perfect Xmas pressie - all three points !!!  But for Ryan Esson, St Mirren could have gone in at half time well on top.  One particular save from Esson was out of this world, the rest were just spectacular.  Inverness got what they deserved, zilch.

As davie will define below, like the Xmas turkey, we were stuffed by the Saints, and in all honesty that was what we deserved after another poor home display left the Inverness fans bewildered and angry.  Angry after yet another poor display at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, and bewildered as to why our home form does not match our excellent away form.  Too much talk of Europe, top six and even third place seems to have got to a few heads and after taking an unlikely lead early in the game, we then camped on the edge of our own box, inviting St Mirren to have a go.  This they did as we seemed incapable of creating an opening.  Saints on the other hand took up the challenge and carved us open three or four times in the first half, as easy as slicing a turkey.  Instead of a football feast, we were unfortunately dished up some tripe.

davie's reluctant report

Fair enough, I don’t usually wait until next day before I post my report. Teenagers, drink and the Wife intervened. After Caley’s “abject” display against St. Mirren, I don’t think anyone is going to mind. The day started well enough, with a decent turnout of 3,800 or so sales, party and family gathering refugees sounding optimism from three corners of the ground. Pre-match predictions in the Caley Club ranged from 1-0 to 4-1 and that included the hardy band that had ventured up the A9 from Paisley. No one imagined or contemplated a home defeat in this one. After all, the recent run of form has been impeccable. It had to come to an end, though and it did in quite stunning style as the wheels fell off the ICT bandwagon in front of us.

Jonny Hayes was, as anticipated, absent and his place filled somewhat implausibly by Shane Sutherland. The smart money for that change appeared to be on Dani Sanchez, but the Spaniard again had to be content with a place on the somewhat cold looking bench that hid behind a substantial pile of snow. In the first few minutes, that view might not have looked too bad, as St. Mirren played pretty patterns and got nowhere. The home side were looking the sharper of the two sides early on, and took an early lead through midfielder Lee Cox. Right time, right place as the whipped ball smacked off a buddy backside, the crossbar and Lee’s right boot in that order. 1-0 after 8 minutes and the Caley faithful were looking for a result that they most emphatically were not going to get. Instead of kicking on, they stopped playing at this point and handed the initiative back to the men in black and white. Sure the effort was there, but the guile and vision of recent weeks had gone and in truth the score line was preserved only by a one man act of defiance called Esson. ICT could and should have been 3-1 down by the interval, but for him. Saves from Dargo in 20 minutes, Higdon in 27 and Higdon again in 40 minutes were class, the last being of international class. Going the wrong way, Esson adjusted and parried a netbound shot that he had no right to reach, utter brilliance. The other two were merely excellent. I entertained a sneaking thought that we might make it to half time with the lead somehow intact, like a blindfolded egg and spoon race but in 43 minutes the inevitable happened and Steven Thomson pinged a lovely wee effort into the right side of the goal after good work by Dargo. Not a surprise and the rest of us strained to hear the volume of the tirade that Butcher would surely unleash . 

Half Time 1-1 and happy with it.

Half time was enlivened by another blindfolded race, this time to allow the escape of a couple of pre-match pints in a crowded loo with no lights. Friendships were made and broken in there, I’m sure of it.

Of course, not having the same quality of half time banter ICT started the second half in the same vein as the first. Badly. The same pattern as the first half was repeated, except without the benefit of a sneaky goal against the run of play. The midfield had given up the ghost by this time, with Cox, Duncan and Sutherland creating nothing. Butcher recognised this (although with some unwillingness you suspect) Blumenshtein or the equally creative Sanchez should have been on at the break. I’m not going to detail the substitutions – the guilty know who they are. Foran looked out of sorts, Adam Rooney missed a couple of good chances, and Nicky Ross couldn’t deliver at the end of a couple of those languid runs of his. It came as no surprise then, that in 84 minutes the excellent Dargo fed Thomson again and 2-1 duly arrived. On other days, the siege of the Alamo would have replaced the sense of resignation that appeared at this point. Pass points were achieved by the aforementioned Esson but that’s it.

Full Time 1-2

Roll on Wednesday and a quick shot at redemption and realism. After a quick bout in the confessional, there is a chance to appease the Gods (well, Butcher at least) and get back on track. If we play like that again though, it could be a long night. Europe? Maybe next year.