The Adam Rooney cameo show downs sorry Saints.

He was only on the park for a few minutes when he hit the first of his hat-tricks, Lionel Messi eat yer heart out.  What a display from Rooney.  Woodwork hat-tricks that is.

His first attempt was an audacious overhead kick that smacked the bar, absolutely brilliant attempt when he whipped the ball off the defenders head whilst facing Jonny Tuffey.

His next two woody's were impeccable, apart from entering the net.  His fourth bash almost burst the net after he muscled in on goal and unleashed a ferocious shot from six yards.  Take a bow Adam Rooney, and please sign a new contract.

On the down side, Russell Duncan's swansong ended in tears as he was red carded after a bit of shenanigans when he was upended in the box.  This was a terrible way for a club legend to end his career here.  Shame on you Saints.  Chin up Russell, I'm sure the offers will flood in.

 The day was set, bright sunshine and a cooling breeze, one team free from hassle, the other needing at least a point to help their cause.  With so much at stake for the Buddies, one has to wonder at their seemingly tentative approach to this game.  Was Danny Lennon holding out in the hope of gaining one point instead of trying to win all three, something they achieved around Santa Clause time.

With the teams announced you would have thought that Terry Butcher was also trying to help Saints out.  No two keeper Jonny Tuffey was given a run out as were Gavin Morrison, Eric Odhiambo and Alex MacDonald. 

The last throw of the dice was club legend Russell Duncan being given a start in front of the home fans, his 352nd appearance and possibly his last after he left the field distraught and with much dubiety over the incident that saw him depart the field of play.

The first half was a hugely disappointing affair with Saints reluctant to open play out and Inverness lacking the urgency to have a go, although Alex MacDonald almost nicked a goal when Gallacher blocked his flick goalwards, but Foran could not take advantage of the rebound.

Eric Odhiambo tried his luck with a header which flew wide, but that was it, not enough action in a listless first half to fill an A5 sheet.

Half Time 0-0

News would have filtered through to the dressing rooms that Hamilton were leading Hibs, surely that was enough incentive to sting St Mirren into action.

Tuffey and Gallacher were in action early in the second half, justifying their wages, but the best was yet to come as Adam Rooney entered the fray in the 53rd minute, replacing the luckless MacDonald.

This was the start of the Adam Rooney show.  A ball into the box waiting for the defenders to head clear showed us another dimension to Rooney's game as he acrobatically pinched the ball from literally right under the defenders nose.  Unfortunately this tremendous overhead effort smacked back off the bar with Gallacher beaten.

Saints were stung into action and Tuffey beat away a powerful McGowan drive from 15 yards.  With Hamilton still ahead, they needed to pull something out of the bag.

Still, it was disappointing that they resorted to simulation to try and stay in the SPL.  Russell Duncan was upended in the box by Mair, and in the ensuing tangle, brought down again.  Handbags at dawn is the best description I have of the incident, as Mairs' throat grab was countered by Russell's hand off................with his belly.  Astonishingly what at best was a pair of yellows was seen by the standside linesman as a straight red card for a distraught Russell, bringing the curtain down on his ICT career in tears.  To add injury to insult, no penalty awarded either, all a bit bemusing and embarrassing for the officials and Lee Mair.

Back to the football and Rooney was just warming up.  He rattled the junction of post and bar with a ferocious shot on the run from 18 yards and seemed to be giving the defence a horrendous time.  His next effort looked in all the way as he hit a low shot across Gallacher only for it to hit the base of his left hand post and rebound to safety.  A hat-trick of woody's, no luck Adam.

Dargo tried his best to breathe some life into sad Saints with a couple of efforts but it was too little too late for them, and Rooney had the final say when he brilliantly controlled Tuffey's long kick out after Doran flicked it on.  He raced into the box leaving the defenders trailing in his wake and lashed a shot high past the despairing keeper, what a goal and no more than he deserved for his one man show.

Still time for wee Dargo to scoop a shot over from 15 yards, but in all honesty it would have been an injustice had Saint's taken anything from a game they put so little into, considering their predicament.

Full Time 1-0

Best for Inverness were Rooney, Tuffey, and Gillet.  However, my MoM goes to once again Grant Munro, so reliable at the back and kept the bustling Higdon at bay.

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Ginger Jaggy saw the days events unfold like this....

After the euphoria of Wednesday night the game on Saturday definitely failed to live up to expectations. At half time I sat in my seat thinking that this report would be easy as nothing happened in what was a dire first half. But thank god for small mercies with the second half making the game a bit more attractive. It was a typical end of season affair but St Mirren to most peoples surprise didn't go at Caley Thistle and it was in fact the home team that played the better throughout. Caley Thistle made a number of changes to the starting 11 giving a few fringe players a chance to say goodbye to the fans as well as give a few squad players a run out. Johnny Tuffey replaced Ryan Esson in goal; the back line was mostly the same as Wednesday with Ross Tokely moving into central defence alongside Grant Munro. It was basically a whole new midfield with Nick Ross, Shane Sutherland, and Lee Cox dropped to the bench being replaced by the departing Russell Duncan, Eric Odhiambo and Gavin Morrison. Skipper Richie Foran returned after suspension to partner Alex MacDonald who replaced the benched Adam Rooney.

The first half was an awful affair with both goalkeepers pretty much being unemployed for the whole half. It was Inverness who settled the quicker and started playing some nice passing football, even though with Foran back in the side temptation to revert back to the long ball returned. Defences were on top with both teams attacking players struggling to make any impact on goal. In fact the first time one of the goalkeepers had to make a decent save was after 25 minutes. Aaron Doran who was part of the team to perform so well in midweek played a delightful through ball to Alex MacDonald. The on loan striker miss hit his little lob and weekly chipped it into the midriff of Buddies keeper Paul Gallacher. MacDonald did well to keep the rebound in play and tried to cut it back to Foran who failed to convert after being put under pressure from a host of St Mirren defenders. That was as good as it got with St Mirren's only attempts on goal being poor free kicks which failed to test Tuffey in the Inverness goal.

The start of the second half had signs that a football match was about to break out. First Michael Higdon's shot was well saved by Tuffey and then Gallacher at the other end comfortably held onto a Foran drive. MacDonald was getting no change out the St Mirren defenders and so was replaced by Rooney. And the Irish striker made an impact straight away. After bullying Charlie Mulgrew and Daniel Majstorovic, the saint's defenders suddenly found what lay in store. Within minutes of coming on Rooney acrobatically did an overhead kick under pressure,which crashed against the face of the bar. Rooney was trying to emulate his name sake in the Manchester derby and had it come off would have been goal of the season for sure. With the game suddenly coming to life the game was going to make a big turn in favour of the Paisley club. Russell Duncan was juggling with the ball on the edge of the Buddies area and was clumsily fouled by Lee Mair. The officials got it so wrong but were about to make matters even worse. Mair reacted furiously to claims of a penalty and grabbed Duncan by the throat which brought a reaction from Duncan. On the video it looked like Duncan just shoved Mair to the floor and probably deserved a yellow but with some great play acting forced the ref to get a red card out of his pocket. It was a sad end to a great Caley Thistle career and he was visibly upset as he trudged off to a rousing applause.

After that incident the onus was now on St Mirren to get a winner with news of Hamilton beating 10 men Hibs at New Douglas Park. Tuffey made an excellent stop from McGowan when he managed to make room in the box. It was the first time in the game that St Mirren found space in the Inverness box and created a real good chance. But after that moment it was Caley Thistle who looked like getting the decisive winner. It was Rooney again who hit the woodwork again with a fierce strike from a lovely through ball from Foran. Substitute Nick Ross was next to play Rooney through onto goal and the striker again beat Gallacher but was again denied by the wood work with the face of the post denying him this time. It looked like it was not going to be Inverness' day. Finally Rooney scored the elusive goal with 5 minutes to play. A Long ball from Tuffey was flicked on by Doran and his flick on found Rooney who controlled the ball so brilliantly before smashing the ball into the top corner. That looked like it would be the winner but there was still time for Ex Caley Jags striker Craig Dargo to miss a glorious chance to get a priceless equaliser.

As it was, Caley Thistle picked up three more points in the quest for 50 points. It also confirmed us as 7^th place as it is mathematically impossible for anybody to overtake us now which is a great achievement for the club. As for St Mirren they are in major trouble now with their healthy gap over Hamilton now diminished to 3 points with two games to play.

Cheers ginger, great minds think alike.