Cup Tie

It's off to Cappielow in midweek for a cup replay on Tuesday 7th December after these two sides served up a 1-1 draw at the Caledonian Stadium. Billy Mckay opened the scoring in the twelfth minute after what appeared to be a gift from keeper Hamilton, and as is our current trend we failed to capitalise on our good fortune and fell away in the second half which allowed Morton to snatch a deserved late equaliser after we returned the compliment and Gavin Reilly took the game to a replay. To be brutally honest, simply not good enough, too many players not producing the goods.

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This was the third Scottish Cup clash between these sides with Morton looking for their first cup win over Inverness. The Caley Jags won the previous games 5-1 and 4-0. Poles apart in the Championship, but the Cup is a different kettle of fish. 

Adding more fuel to the fire, Michael Gardyne was missing, presumably having left the building? David Carson was at right back with wishy washy Welsh and Walsh on the bench.

The hosts started the game in spritely fashion with Reece McAlear blazing a 15 yard volley over the bar from a corner kick.

Moments later, Kirk Broadfoot made a hash of clearing the ball and when it was passed into the middle, Gary Oliver would have scored but for a 'Devine' intervention as the ball deflected off Danny and onto the post with Ridgers stranded.

Aaron Doran shot from distance but it was plucked out of the air by Jack Hamilton with ease and Shane Sutherland saw a close range header clawed away by Hamilton with an instinctive save before  McAlear again had another effort deflected just wide of the post by a defender.

Therefore it was no surprise when Billy Mckay poached a goal from the fingertips of the keeper as he tried to gather a header back into the box from Sutherland.

Could we put the tie to bed? Well, the answer was no, as has been a familiar trait of late.

Ridgers blocked Ugwu on the right side of his six yard box as the big forward tried to shoot twenty minutes into the half and five minutes later he drilled a shot over the bar from the inside right position  with Ridgers watching closely.

Four minutes before the break a massive scrambulation in the Inverness box saw the ball blocked about half a dozen times before it was hoofed clear much to the relief of the North Stand. McAlear had at least two of these with possibly Devine again, Deas and pick any one from ten other bodies who threw themselves in front of the ball to keep Morton out as the interval neared. Almost hidden in the midden was another fluffed Broadfoot clearance. Strewth, wtf is going on.

HALF TIME: 1-0

The start of the second half saw more bodies getting in the way of Morton scoring as we thwarted them again and again, the pressure easing when Reece Lyon curled his shot over from the edge of the box.

Sutherland forced Hamilton into a decent, but relatively comfortable save as he tipped his header over the bar and a couple of minutes later Devine headed wide as we looked for a second goal.

Ugwu dragged a shot wide when he forged his way towards the box as the visitors responded.

After 81 minutes the visitors forced a replay as Broadfoot completed his hat-trick of blunders when he was muscled off a long clearance from Hamilton by Gavin Reilly who strode forward to drill the ball behind Ridgers. Foul was the obvious decision, apart from referee Colin Steven. Anyway, Broadfoot had been pushing his luck all afternoon and was found wanting when it really mattered.

FULL TIME:1-1

Oh dear, another occasion where we let the lead slip from our grasp compounded by our own inability to put the ball into the net. Billy Mckay was probably the pick of the Inverness players with keeper Jack Hamilton doing his job sufficiently for the visitors.

Looks like the Gardyne issue has been resolved with Carson at right back and Gardyne not in the building... the silence from the club is deafening.

The Goals

Full Highlights from ICTV

Sort it Billy

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