Hamilton Hammer Hapless Hackers
The season begins in earnest now with most sides having recruited in the January sales and squads should now be optimised for the last third of the season. For Inverness that's not so much about bringing new players in, it's more about getting injured players back on the park. This game is the first of a double header against Accies with six points up for grabs, but we have found Hamilton difficult to get point from of late.
Billy Mckay was in a rich vein of form lately, 8 goals since New Year and just like magic, Austin Samuels appeared on the bench alongside Robbie Deas. Accies had Connor Smith on from the start after he had been cup-tied since his loan deal from Hearts and Rheagan Tumilty started as well.
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First Half
Inverness started the game on the front foot with Nathan Shaw involved in most things good, however the final ball would be elusive. Unbelievably, Billy Mckay of all people missed an open goal from around six yards after being teed up by Daniel Mackay, his simple roll into the net hit the post when it was easier to score. Accies eventually grew into the game midway through the half without troubling Ridgers. In fairness, Fulton in the Accies goal wasn't over exerted either and it was little surprise that it was goalless at the interval.
HALF TIME:0-0
Two minutes after the interval Accies took the lead and once more it was self inflicted. Nathan Shaw who had been prominent in the first half passed the ball to the opposition around the halfway line. Lewis Smith and Jean-Pierre Tiehi burst forward but they were blocked and Lucas De Bolle got the break of the ball after the initial burst forward broke down and he buried the loose ball behind Ridgers.
Match Reaction on CTO
Every week I think to myself, this is rubbish, it can't get any worse than this, and every week ICT manage to do it. I have watched football in Inverness for around 50 years, and I can honestly say that I've never seen such rubbish. Dodds needs to resign if he has any degree of respect left for the club. To be beaten at home by the bottom club is unacceptable. We started well, first 20 minutes I thought if we keep this up we could win this, then we went to our default position, lose the ball cheaply, can't string passes together, defend badly, don't work their keeper and revert to Hoofball. I really can't wait for this season to be over. We need a total clear out in all departments, starting with Dodds and his coaches.
Abysmal result. Defeat was fairly predictable as we usually struggle against Hamilton - 3 wins for them in their last 4 trips here - but the margin of this defeat is an absolute shocker.
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
F
A
Pts
TABLE NOT LOOKING SO GOOD FOR US NOW
1.
Queens Park
25
13
5
7
49
34
44
2.
Dundee
24
12
6
6
40
27
42
3.
Ayr United
24
11
6
7
46
32
39
4.
Morton
24
10
7
7
35
28
37
5.
Partick Thistle
24
11
3
10
43
38
36
6.
Raith Rovers
25
9
7
9
33
33
34
7.
Inverness CT
24
8
8
8
34
35
32
8.
Cove Rangers
25
6
8
11
32
51
26
9.
Arbroath
25
4
10
11
24
40
22
10.
Hamilton Ac.
24
5
6
13
22
40
21
Date: 18/02/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2171 Referee: Mathew MacDermid
Inverness CT: 0
Manager: Bily Dodds
Lineup: Ridgers, Carson, Duffy, Devine, Harper, Henderson, Welsh (Boyd 79), Allardice,
Shaw (Cairns 76), D Mackay (Samuels 69), B Mckay
Subs (not used): C Mackay; Deas, Thompson, Delaney, Hyde, Doran
Scorers: none
Booked: Allardice (63) Devine (72)
Sent Off: none
Hamilton Accies: 3
Manager: John Rankin
Lineup: Fulton; Tumilty (Lawson 73), Owens, D McGowan, O'Reilly (McGinn 87), L Smith (Stephenson 58),
Shiels, C Smith, Martin, De Bolle (Winter 73), Tiehi (Zanatta 87)
Subs (not used): J Smith; Easton, Newbury, Latona
Scorers: De Bolle (47), Tiehi (80), C Smith (87 pen)
Booked: O'Reilly (13), Tumilty (30)
Sent Off: none
a