Scotty

Just Like Buses Absolutely. You see none for long enough then three come along at the same time. Partick rubbished their recent poor form to hand Inverness their first defeat of the season. Not only that, but our first goal conceded, then another, and another in a 3-1 reverse. Aaron Doran had given Inverness an early lead but before the interval Partick had ended our goals against record with strikes from Steven Lawless and Abdul Osman. Danger-man Kallum Higgenbotham completed the scoring with a second half goal which was sufficient to knock Inverness off our perch at the top of the table and hand the onus to Hamilton Academical. Partick had the luxury of missing a late penalty, but were never threatened by Inverness who were obviously afflicted by the curse of the Manager of the Month award. RossP has a full match report ready for us................... Manager of the Month curse strikes... In a week where many of the country have filed complaints to the bias reporting of our BBC (with regards to a certain vote coming up), I would anticipate a similar level of grievance from the ICT fans watching today's refereeing performance. John Rowbotham lookalike Stephen Finnie spent the game awarding a variety of baffling decisions, from turning a blind eye to Partick players' dangerous challenges and time wasting tactics; whilst also strangely letting the likes of Watkins and Warren away with very physical retaliation! This was a game that reminded me of the semi-final against Hearts last season where we were naive, conceding cheap free kicks and allowing Partick to disrupt the tempo of the match. Inverness began in a positive fashion however, where we took an early lead - an outstanding interchange between Raven and the forward players, leaving Doran with a chance to sweep the ball into the bottom corner. An excellent goal where we moved the ball up to the final third quickly and incisively. Unfortunately that was one of the very few times we showed that level of urgency. Partick were soon on level terms with an equaliser from the diminutive Lawless. Shinnie was hugely at fault for not noticing early on that Lawless only had a left foot. This lack of a awareness led to him giving the right midfielder the freedom of Firhill to come inside and aim a shot into the bottom corner of the net. Incredibly disappointing to lose such a cheap goal after so many minutes of resolute defending. A few minutes later ICT had an excellent opportunity to equalise with Tansey dithering over a shot from outside the box, with Fox stranded after a failed attempt to dispossess Mckay. Immediately following this chance, Partick won a corner and edged ahead with a powerful header from Abdul Osman who rose above his markers. Several children in the crowd voiced their dismay at the lack of cover on the post... I'm sure there was a tactical reason for Hughes to leave it empty that us armchair tacticians (and infants) wouldn't understand. Chances for both teams came and went before the end of the half, with Mckay failing to convert Doran's wayward chip and fashioning a weak overhead kick. The whistle to complete the half was met with boos from the away crowd, directed at the antics of Higginbotham and the reluctance of Finnie to discipline his behaviour. Half Time 2-1 ICT came onto the pitch early for the second half, eager to atone for the poor first half. It was clear however that Draper was not fit to continue, feeling his right knee/thigh while he moved. Despite this, it took 10 minutes for Williams to take the place in the centre of midfield. This was the moment that ICT then lost the middle of the pitch, allowing Partick to collect the loose balls and keep the majority of play in our half. The writing was further on the wall with Osman losing control of his legs after getting an elbow injury, Higginbotham not able to move one metre to the byline when grounded and Fox time wasting from the very beginning of the half. Partick sealed the result with an opportune 3rd goal, where villain of the day Higginbotham converted a cut back following a wild clearance from our defence. Chances to get back into the game were few for ICT and tended to come from the cross field passes from defence to the wide midfielders. Watkins had a goal rightly ruled out for offside and Shinnie was one of many players to dither too long on the ball near the 18 yard box. A cheap penalty was conceded by Warren in the final moments, with Brill saving well from the Partick No. 9, Kris Doolan. Full Time 3-1 A deserved loss, where Partick were by far the more effective team. We were lackadaisical in possession and when closing down the opposition. Christie found himself dropping very deep to get possession and Mckay didn't display the same kind of movement and sharpness he'd shown earlier in the campaign. Naive defending and reaction to 'sportsmanship' led further to our demise. Very few players achieved pass marks today, with only perhaps Raven and Watkins on the right hand side performing to our high expectations. This was the game for Hughes to use the likes of Ross, Williams and Polworth to freshen up the team. Now he has a selection headache for Tuesday v Rangers in the cup, where he has to decide whether to keep a team that showed lethargy today or bring in fresh legs against a team full of confidence. Whatever his decision, this game will likely have a huge baring on getting our season back on track. Date: 13.09.2014 Venue: Firhill Stadium, Glasgow Attendance: 2917 Referee: Stephen Finnie Partick Th: 3 Lineup: Fox, McMillan, Seaborne, Balatoni, Carroll, Higginbotham (Elliott 84), Bannigan, Osman, Lawless (McDaid 90), Doolan, Stevenson (Craigen 76) Subs (not used): Gallacher, O'Donnell, Muirhead, Wilson Scorers: Lawless (19), Osman (23), Higginbotham (72) Booked: Bannigan (45), Higginbotham (51) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Brill, Raven, Warren, Meekings, Shinnie, Watkins, Draper (Williams 56), Tansey, Christie (Polworth 72), McKay, Doran Subs (not used): Esson, Tremarco, Devine, Sutherland, Ross Scorers: Doran (13) Booked: Draper (11), Watkins (80) Sent Off: none

Another Clean Sheet Inverness eased past a lifeless Kilmarnock with relative ease as they built on another clean sheet to pull away in the second half with a superb team goal from Aaron Doran and a thunderous strike from Greg Tansey that eventually found the net off the keepers back. The first half was verging on tedium with Inverness always holding the trump cards, but defences were on top and chances were at a premium. The second period saw Inverness move smoothly through the gears whilst Kilmarnock remained in neutral and there was only going to be one winner. This result sees Inverness sitting on top of the league, unbeaten, unbreached, and understandably chuffed. Capital Caley will have a report for us before he turns into a Heed Army disciple............Or maybe not, you'll have to put up with me again. A miserably wet night and early morning gave way to some rays of solar luminance and by the time kick off arrived at 3:00pm the ground was swathed in bright sunshine for what promised to be an entertaining game. Dean Brill and the defence are setting new standards at Inverness this season with their fourth clean sheet in a row, could they make it five and total 600 goal free minutes. Still no Richie Foran or Danny Devine for the home side and James Vincent was also absent again. Aaron Doran featured from the start, but Gary Warren pulled a late sickie and Ross Draper dropped into a defensive role. Kilmarnock had the giant Michael Ngoo on from the start with the impressive Robbie Muirhead dropping to the bench alongside former Scotland International Lee Miller and the elegant but somewhat overweight Alexei Eremenko. Aaron Doran has a long way to go to catch up with 'Tubby' Eremenko. To say this game took a while to warm up is a bit of an understatement. Inverness weaved some pretty patterns around the pitch as Killie seemed intent on not conceding. Neither side made much headway to be honest and it was about ten minutes before half time when Doran curled an effort just over from his trademark position on the left side of the box. Five minutes before the break and Ngoo headed over from a good position but he had been well marshalled by makeshift defender Ross Draper and his partner Josh Meekings. Half Time 0-0 Right from the restart there looked to be more urgency about Inverness and Doran raced onto a long through ball but the keeper just beat him to it. The passing was slicker and more direct with Killie struggling to get a hold of the ball and a good passing move ended with Shinnie firing a 25 yard effort on target, unfortunately too straight at the keeper who palmed the ball to safety. The passing game was in full flow now and a slick combination saw Watkins skip into the box and although there appeared to be a tangle of legs, no penalty was given with Watkins spread-eagled on the turf. An eight man move ended with Doran clipping a tidy ball to the back post where Raven met it with his head only for Letheren to dive full length to turn the ball round the post for a corner. Better was yet to come and a ten man move started on the edge of Brill's box ended with Shinnie threading Doran through on goal and the cheeky chappy deftly dinked the ball through Letheren's legs for a sensational team goal. Doran seemed delighted by this and celebrated with the fans behind the goal at the foot of the North Stand which earned the Irishman a yellow card, but it was worth it. Another swift move saw substitute Nick Ross involved, but not in the way he would have liked. Watkins sprinted into the box and teed up McKay who hit a shot towards the top corner, however it was nasty Nick this time as he blocked the ball with his chest sending him onto the turf. But wait, fortunately for Nick, the ball eventually rebounded to the feet of Greg Tansey some forty five yards out. Now Greg, as we know likes to crack the ball pretty hard. He looked up, took a few strides forward and absolutely leathered the ball towards the postage stamp corner of the goal. Letheren flew across his line but the ball crashed of the junction of bar and post and ricocheted onto Letheren's back, from there it bounced behind him into the net for a stunning second Inverness goal. Full Time 2-0 A comfortable and comprehensive win for Inverness after a slow start where both teams jostled for possession. Inverness upped the anti after the break and Killie were second best from there on in. Two stunning goals and another clean sheet, not a bad afternoon for Yogi's slick side. Kilmarnock never looked like scoring and can have no complaints about the manner of the defeat which leaves Inverness sitting on top of the league with thirteen points from five games. Highlights can be seen here and Calum Tomato put Yogi through his paces after the Killie game...... tm4tj MotM:- Plenty of good performances once more from the home side. Ross Draper could have a career as a centre back when he gets fed up of being a midfielder. Greg Tansey is spraying the ball around and his goal was a belter. Josh Meekings showed once again that he is one of the best centre backs in the division and some of the interplay between midfield and front was a joy to behold in that second half. For me, Ross Draper just nicks it for a tremendous display in an abnormal position, but what a great team performance in that second period. One man who gets few points from today's game was Dean Brill who could have sat in the North Stand for all he was asked to do, but the fifth clean sheet has set a new club record and that is fantastic reward for solid displays from Dean and the defence. Date: 30/08/14 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3830 Referee: John Beaton Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Brill, Raven, Meekings, Draper, Shinnie, Watkins, Tansey, Williams, Doran, Christie (Ross 76), McKay Subs (not used): Esson, Devine, Horner, Tremarco, Polworth Scorers: Doran (75), Tansey (80) Booked: Tansey (67), Doran (76) Sent Off: none Kilmarnock: 0 Lineup: Samson, Barbour, Connolly, Pascali, Chantler, McKenzie (Johnston 46), Hamill, Clingan (Miller 78), Slater, Ngoo (Eremenko 55), Magennis Subs (not used): Brennan, Cairney, Ashcroft, Muirhead Scorers: none Booked: Eremenko (86) Sent Off: none