Record defeat leaves Inverness with red faces

Inverness slumped to their worst ever SPL defeat at the hands of a rampant Motherwell who were reportedly feeling under the weather prior to this televised fixture, but it was the hosts who were left sick as a parrot as The Steelmen went nap.

It looked as though the Inverness players were believing all the hype about them in recent weeks, but Motherwell took them back down to earth with a bang as they brushed Inverness aside effortlessly. The home side could not muster a decent attack in the first half and were lucky to go in only two down at the interval.

Goals from Higdon and Murphy exposed a fragile Inverness defence before the break. Foran gave Butcher's side false hope before we shot ourselves in the foot again as Cummins, Ojamaa and Daley capitalised on more defensive shoddiness to set a record home defeat for Inverness in the SPL in front of a poor attendance of under 3000 and a watching telly audience.

Ross Draper missed out again and Foran continued his comeback with Gavin Morrison replacing the recently subdued Phillip Roberts.

Not a lot to shout about in the opening exchanges but Inverness seemed to start where they left off against Hearts, on the back foot once more. Billy McKay got into good space from the edge of the box but shooting from distance is not his forte and the chance went wide.

Nicky Law broke free on the right and his chipped ball sat up for Higdon to climb all over Raven and nod the ball into the net past an exposed Reguero from six yards.

It went from bad to worse only three minutes later when Murphy pounced on a loose defensive header by Meekings to volley the ball low through the keeper after Humphrey had sped clear.

Inverness were rocked by this, but offered nothing as an attacking unit, unlike Motherwell who could easily have been five up at half time. Murphy grazed the bar with a great effort and Reguero kept Inverness interested with a couple of good saves to deny Humphrey and Murphy with Law shooting just over after a neat step over from Lasley.

Half-Time 0-2

No sooner had the second half begun when David Raven fired a cross to the front post and Richie Foran snapped up a half chance to dink the ball past Randolph from a tight angle to reduce the defecit, but Motherwell quickly re-established their superiority and killed the game off.

The overworked home defence had toiled all afternoon to clear their ranks and when Hateley got a second chance after a corner, his cross landed at the feet of Cummins who had more than enough time to control and lash the ball high into the net from twelve yards.

With Inverness throwing caution to the wind, Well were able to pick them off at will as they burst forward with pace on both flanks. Only Reguero once more came to the rescue as he blocked an Ojamaa raid.

The fourth goal was inevitable and the unfortunate Reguero was wrong footed as Ojamaa sclaffed a shot through him to make it 4-1 to the visitors.

Inverness then had their best spell, but the result was beyond them. Doran was unfortunate when he crashed a twenty yarder off the crossbar, Randolph getting a touch to the ball as it passed him, and Shinnie and Foran came close to a consolation as Motherwell took their foot off the gas.

They still threatened on the break and a fifth goal was no more than they merited, although Toni Reguero will not want to see it again as substitute Omar Daley's half hearted effort squirmed under the Spanish keeper to complete the rout.

It was all too much for the dispirited home support who were rapidly dwindling away long before referee Steven McLean saved Inverness from further punishment.

Full Time 1-5

The recent fine run was going to come to an end sooner or later, but the manner in which it manifested itself was embarrassing to say the least and form like this will not see us playing in the SPL for much longer. We may just have to put it down to a bad day at the office, but the fact that it was a continuation of the second half of the Hearts game is a bit worrying. We need to go back to basics and with tough games coming up over the next few weeks it could be season defining time before Xmas. They must be rubbing their hands together in Dingwall after watching this shambles on the telly and rightly so. Us, we need to get our finger out before the cup game or it will be a long season.

As for Motherwell; they seem to be somewhat of a bogey team for us at Inverness and their performance today was as good as has been seen at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium this season, so well played to them, we are your bitches.

Terry was as philosophical as ever, although the disappointment was clear to see, but he did try and remain upbeat and hopes to write this game off as a bad day at the office.
tm4tj MotM:- Difficult choice with most players having an off day, but keeper Antonio Reguero kept us within touching distance before a couple of late lapses, but he kept the score in single figures and for that we can be grateful.

18th Nov 2012	Scottish Premier League	Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
Inverness C.T.	1 - Foran (46)
	TEAM: Reguero, Raven, Warren, Meekings, G.Shinnie, Doran, Morrison (Pepper 67), Tudur-Jones, Foran, McKay (Sutherland 59), A.Shinnie.
	SUBS: Mathieson, Oswell, Polworth, Roberts, Cooper
	Booked: none
	Sent Off: none
Motherwell	5 - Higdon (18), Murphy (21), Cummins (52), Ojamaa (72), Daley (89)
	TEAM: Randolph, Hateley, Hutchinson, Cummins, Hammell, Humphrey (Daley 82), Lasley, Law, Murphy (Carswell 89), Higdon, Ojamaa (McHugh 79)
	SUBS: Hollis, Kerr, Francis-Angol, Hetherington
	Booked: none
	Sent Off: none
Referee	Steven McLean
Attendance	2948