McMullan strikes

Dundee came North as one of the form teams in the championship over the last half dozen games. Naughty boy Paul McGowan was not in the squad. Inverness were still without 75% of their first picks but Daniel Mackay made his comeback last week and Ryan Barrett made his debut against Stirling in the Cup. Paul McMullan opened the scoring midway through the first half after cutting in from the left before curling past Cammy Mackay. Almost a second as the ball deflected onto the bar before Mackay picked up the rebound after the half hour. George Oakley missed what appeared to be a sitter from eight yards as half time approached as Aaron Doran swung in an inviting cross. With no further scoring in the second half, Dundee took the three points and Inverness remain in sixth place, but starting to slip off the pace.

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Inverness were still missing a squad of players with Billy Mckay and Sean Welsh also added to the list. Dundee had no major issues and a full bench, unlike ours which was filled by youths.

Inverness enjoyed plenty of the ball in the opening exchanges without threatening Legzdins in the visitors goal.

Dundee began to push forward and Paul McMullan opened the scoring when he cut in on the left wing to fire a beauty into the far post area. 

A second almost followed when a low cross into the box was deflected onto the bar and a relieved Mackay turned round to gather the ball as it bounced menacingly near the goal line.

A similar effort to the opening goal later in the half saw Mackay save and the defence mopped up the loose ball.

A neat burst forward saw Doran curl a great ball onto Oakley's head. However the striker headed wide when it looked easier to score but French's intervention meant it was a corner given, and that was little consolation after our best move of the half.

Half Time: 0-1

On the hour David Carson shot wide followed by Aaron Doran's dipping effort going a yard over the bar. Dan Mackay saw Legzdins save in the bottom corner as we looked to get on level terms, but for all our possession, the visitors still looked likelier to increase their advantage on the break. Cammy Mackay saved from Luke McCowan as Dundee swarmed forward after we went with three at the back. Mulligan had one effort saved by Mackay as Dundee searched for a cushion and with three minutes left he shot high over when he should have hit the target. George Oakley turned in the box and shot wide between these efforts and Dan Mackay almost got the leveller in the final minutes but his low daisy cutter from the left went across goal and just outside the keepers far post.

Full Time: 0-1

Another frustrating day for the home fans who could only watch in silence as the vocal away support backed their team to the hilt. All to often an extra touch was taken or the wrong choice when better options looked to be available. More often than not it was down to lack of vision and poor passing. We were unable to make the keeper work often enough on a day when we really needed to stay in touch with the top teams. McMullan took his goal well, unlike Dan Mackay who tried the same on two or three occasions only to shoot wide. His driving runs have always been a problem for our static midfield and defence even from his days at Tannadice. Ben Williamson was another that caught the eye as he drifted past defenders at will.

From BBC Sport - Billy Dodds: "I'm disappointed with the result but I thought we brought so much to the game. It was a bit of quality that won it and that's what we're lacking, not just forward players, but in general."We're a good team. We're missing so many players and still gave Dundee a game and probably deserved to take something from it."

Gary Bowyer: "A tough place to come. The game was tight. But I'm delighted we can send a wonderful support home happy. And it was settled by a wonderful goal. "[McMullan] He is in a rich vein of form. It's not just his goals, it's his work rate and delivery. His delivery was excellent for us."

Right Billy, let's put our current plight into perspective..... Here's the recent form table>>>

Oh look, only Hamilton are worse than us, and even they beat us last time we met!

The long knives are out as the long suffering fans have had enough on CTO: Time for Billy to go and take the backroom staff with him. We need to have a fresh team at the club with new ideas.

And here is food for thought: "Destroying the product on the pitch and milking the club off it with suspect recruitment and failed ventures with little transparency where the money went. Once its ****** and there's nothing left to take they will all walk away with bellies full...

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