Inverness Brush Well Aside



Inverness kept their excellent start to the season going after brushing Motherwell aside with some sweeping moves in a scintillating first half that gave them a cushion to defend in a more even second forty-five. Two superb goals from the head of captain Richie Foran and the foot of Billy McKay made it three out of three to maintain our 100% record and another clean sheet was an added bonus in a highly entertaining match.

A blustery day saw Motherwell visit Inverness with a much changed squad from the one that ripped us apart in the early games last year. Gone were Jamie Murphy, Michael Higdon, Henrik Ojamaa, Chris Humphrey, Nicky Law, and keeper Darren Randolph. James McFadden remains, but new signings Iain Vigurs and Paul Lawson will need to show more, although Henri Anier looks a useful addition and John Sutton should fill the Higdon shaped hole up front for the Steelmen.

As expected, Inverness were unchanged from last week with Dean Brill once more in the nets and James Vincent pulling the strings. Agdestein, Polworth and Williams would come off the bench in the latter stages as Butcher freshened tired legs up and a disappointing crowd of just over 3,000 settled in their seats ready for action, some 250 of them in the away end.

It was the home fans who were given the opportunity to get off their bums first and with only four minutes on the clock, the brisk Inverness attackers scored the opener, and what a goal it was. Motherwell boss McCall might well be disappointed with his defence, but when Graeme Shinnie's curling free kick swung into the box, Foran bulleted a diving header across the keeper and into the net from around twelve yards. Brilliant start to the game for Inverness and just what the home fans needed to erase last seasons drubbing from the memory banks.

Inverness turned the screw and Vincent had a shot charged down with the goal at his mercy and the lively McKay likewise, McManus and Hutchinson doing their utmost with last ditch blocks. However, it was one way traffic and the dazzling attacking display from the home side was a joy to behold.

With Inverness very much on the front foot, a brilliant team goal ended the scoring, but not the entertainment. Doran and Raven combined beautifully to tee up Billy McKay who finished superbly by stroking the ball into the bottom corner from fifteen yards.

McKay was causing the big Well defence all sorts of problems with his darting runs and clever flicks and one such move saw him set up an opportunity for Vincent who spectacularly volleyed narrowly wide of the mark.

Inverness were rampant now and Motherwell worked hard to contain the eager home side and but for some timely interventions we could have been looking at a cricket score but the referee intervened and blew for half time for McCall to get to work over the interval.

Half Time 2-0

McCall rang the changes after the break and introduced Carswell and the strapping Henri Anier who looks a decent player and it was the latter who was denied by a crucial Raven block as he was about to pull the trigger on a McFadden cross.

The game was more even now and Inverness had a lucky escape as Hutchinson headed over after Brill missed a cross from the Well left. Another scare soon after when Vigurs crumbled in the box as Raven slid in but Brines was not interested. Shame. Anier almost scored a consolation with five minutes left but he hammered a close range effort just over the corner of the bar, and that was the closest Motherwell came to breeching the Inverness rearguard.

But, it was not all about Motherwell and Foran and McKay passed up glorious chances to extend the lead as the Steelmen chased the game. Aaron Doran forced Hollis into making a great save to deny the Irishman as he sprinted into the box, but his high angled drive was pushed away by the keeper.

Full-Time 2-0

Motherwell had run out of ideas before the end and Inverness held on for a well deserved win to keep them at the right end of the table. Make no bones about it, this was an excellent performance from Inverness who stroked the ball around confidently and scored a couple of cracking goals. I expect Celtic will offer a much stiffer test next week, but lets just wallow in the glory of our opening three games for now.



tm4tj MotM:- Well, I concurred with the sponsors who had Richie Foran as their pick. He scored a fabulous goal and was dictating the flow of the game. In the second half when Well pushed for a foothold, he was at the heart of the defence mopping up everything, great captains performance from him. Mckay and Doran caused all sorts of problems for Motherwell and in the second half Warren got better and better as the game wore on. Overall just a great team performance