Exciting Draw with League Leaders

Inverness came from behind to grab a point from league leaders St Mirren in a dramatic game at the Caledonian Stadium in the Highlands.

It looked bleak after the Buddies took an early lead when Harry Davis converted a penalty in the fourth minute. We fell further behind in the 70th minutes when Lewis Morgan scored a second for the visitors with a free kick. However, we are more resilient now and two goals in three minutes turned this game on it's head. Firstly Gary Warren headed home then Liam Polworth scored direct from a free kick. No further scoring but it was a game where Mark Ridgers kept us within touching distance in the first half and made a terrific save from a second St Mirren penalty.

A substantial away support were on hand to see the Buddies Championship Express roll into town and they were looking to get over the finishing line sooner rather than later.

RIG was on hand to witness this game and here are his thoughts.............

Deserved that today. We more than matched Saint Mirren for large parts of the game in terms of possession but our lack of a cutting edge in the final third really came back to haunt us. The best example of this was probably when Polworth broke clear with Doran to his left and Austin (I think) to his right and he passed the ball out of play for a goal kick  That said Ridgers made some outrageous saves to keep us in it so over the piece a draw was a fair result.

Saints went ahead after some sloppy defending from Donaldson. He was asleep when Mullen burst past him into the box and as Donaldson tried to get back with him he started clawing at Mullen's shoulders and he went down. Bit of a theatrical fall maybe but still a clear and stupid foul from Donaldson. Davis coolly slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the net. As mentioned above any potential ICT attacks usually broke down outside the Buddies box as we struggled to find a killer final ball. Whilst we had more of the ball it was Saint Mirren who looked more likely to get the next goal as they had the clearer cut chances of the two sides. Morgan passed up the best one of these when his fierce shot was turned behind by Ridgers.

Then we had an incredible few seconds of play as Ridgers somehow managed to claw a goal bound header off the line and ICT scrambled the ball away only for a wicked cross to be sent back in from the left and MacKenzie (I think) threw himself up in the air under pressure from Tremarco and the referee gave a penalty which led to mass protests from the ICT players. Looked incredibly theatrical from the Saints player but arguably justice was done as Ridgers saved the spot kick with his foot giving ICT a big boost just before half time.

Vigurs almost got ICT back on level terms when he sent a wicked left footed shot towards goal but with Samson already having given up on getting near the ball it crashed off the bar and behind. With ICT continuing to control most of the ball but Saints still a potent threat on the counter the referee denied ICT what looked like a stonewall penalty when Doran dinked the ball over a defenders foot only to be barged over. Incredibly Doran was booked for diving leading to yours truly having an almighty heads gone moment in the North Stand.

With about 20 minutes to go Lewis Morgan struck an utterly ridiculous free kick into the net off the post to put Saints firmly in the driving seat. It really needs to be seen to be believed, a truly awesome hit. Limbs AOTS in the away end.

With ten minutes left on the clock ICT got a goal back. Polworth floated a corner into the box and with Samson static in his goal line Warren sent what looked like a pretty tame header into the ground. Samson looked like he sort of fell over instead of saving the ball and it squirmed past him to give ICT a big lift going into the final moments of the game. That faint hope was nearly extinguished seconds later when Morgan broke clear of the ICT defence and again sent in a powerful shot which Ridgers dealt with well.

Saints were made to pay for that missed chance when ICT were given a free kick about 25 yards to the right of the away goal. Polworth somehow smashed a free kick past a despairing Samson into the net leaving the home fans dreaming of the impossible come back. Both sides then had opportunities to claim what would surely be the final goal and the three points. First Mackay stretched to get on the end of a chipped ball into the box but he couldn't get enough height on his header to lift it over an advancing Samson. Then the lively Morgan was again denied by last ditch block from Tremarco before the loose ball was blazed over.

Full Time 2-2

A quite incredible game, frenetic and end to end for almost the entire 90 minutes. Ridgers kept us in the game with some great saves whilst Vigurs performed well in the middle seemingly feeding off the sense of injustice felt by the home side with some of the referees decisions. For Saints Morgan was just sensational. He's an easy player to pick out but even if you had been sleeping under a rock for the last few months you would have left being impressed by the guy. He tore Mckay apart on several occasions and I suspect Brad will be quite glad the game is over. A really good away support in attendance, about 800 odd, who never stopped singing for almost the entire game save for the few minutes when we finally found our shooting boots.

Referee was laughable. Clearly not a fan of playing advantage. 

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