Scotty

Something did give We mentioned in the preview that something has to give, and it did. Both sides lost their winning streak as the village side from Perth snatched a last gasp point with a piece of agricultural play from the foot of keeper Mannus. His long punt forward in the dying embers of the game saved Gregory Tade's boast about his new employers, as his replacement David Robertson netted a soft equaliser to level Billy McKay's opener. They came in numbers from the farming community around the lowland town which became Scotland's seventh city in 2012 with ex-Inverness forward Gregory Tade extolling their virtues and no doubt giving false hope to his followers. At the end of the ninety three minutes Mr Tade was nowhere to be seen, possibly still inside Josh Meekings' pocket, his presence more noticeable for his absence throughout the ninety minutes. The first blasts of winter descended on the Highlands as snow caused havoc on many of the higher routes around the area and the game was played out in Baltic conditions, not a great day for brass monkeys it has to be said. With both sides on winning runs, it was always going to be a tough decision to call, as is sometimes the case with these games, the expectation is greater than the game itself, and this was apparent here as both sides cancelled themselves out in the first forty-five. Inverness started with the same side that trounced Dundee last week and St Johnstone were unchanged from their encounter with Kilmarnock. This meant that Ryan Esson was on the bench and Richie Foran remains injured, possibly for up to another month. Inverness started brightly and pressed forward from the start, but Meekings made his only error after six minutes when a long through ball escaped him and allowed Gregory Tade to run in on goal. The away fans thought this was to be their moment, but the home fans knew better as Reguero did well to grasp the ball after it bounced off Tade's shin and kept the score at nil-nil. He did have another glorious chance to score with a header after half an hour from six yards as he rose highest in the box, but he nodded it over the bar when he should have made the keeper work. There endeth the bold Tade's involvement in the game. Reguero was more fortunate after Rowan Vine lashed a shot goalwards from the right edge of the box but it bounced downwards off Reguero and then up over the bar for a narrow escape for the Spaniard. It was mostly all cat and mouse in the first half and while the visitors enjoyed plenty of possession, they had no cutting edge and David Raven was so under exerted that he managed to forage forward and try a couple of long range efforts but to no avail. Inverness had gone back into their shell somewhat and were offering St Johnstone the ball at every opportunity but they did not know what to do with it and gave it back to us; and so it continued up to half time with our only attempt of note being a Draper header that was easily gathered by Mannus. Half Time 0-0 The second half begun in the same manner and little of note happened before Fraser Wright left the field with a nose bleed, and Hasselbaink shortly after. His replacement was due to his lack of success against the Inverness back four. David Raven was having one of his best games for Inverness, especially going forward, and there were no takers as he fizzed a dangerous ball across the box, but the action was about to warm up in the seventieth minute. Aaron Doran played a neat reverse ball into the box and Graeme Shinnie was second favourite to get on the end of it, but a tremendous burst of pace saw him get there ahead of Vine who tripped him as he burst through, and picked up a booking for his troubles. No doubt about the award but plenty of doubt about the strike from Andy Shinnie as he blazed it high over the bar, an effort that would have looked good at Murrayfield, but not at the Caledonian Stadium. The ball ended high at the rear of the stands as the fans vented their frustration and searched for the ball in row ZZZ. Shane Sutherland was introduced for the ineffective Roberts and like last week, this move paid dividends. Some intricate play on the edge of the box saw McKay being played in by Draper and he whistled a great strike below and behind Mannus from the left side of goal to put Inverness ahead. From that point on, there looked to be only one winner as Inverness pummelled the Perth goal. Tudur-Jones took time off from dictating the play to get a shot away but it was charged down by the now desperate Saint's defence and Billy McKay almost doubled the advantage as he turned neatly in the box on the right side to curl a shot goalwards with his left foot. Unfortunately for him Mannus dived full length to prevent a goal as Inverness turned the screw. A sporadic break forward almost produced a goal for St Johnstone but Reguero guessed right and threw himself at the feet of the Millar to prevent an equaliser. It was only a matter of time before Inverness stretched their lead as they burst forward in a throwback to the Pele era and Andy Shinnie almost atoned for his penalty miss. Jones outjumped Tade to nod the ball to the far post where Andy Shinnie lurked, however, he contrived to lash the ball over the bar from a couple of yards when it was easier to score. An unbelievable miss which would come back to haunt the Inverness team on Halloween. Aaron Doran had been woken up by the sudden Inverness activity and he was unfortunate to see a whipped shot narrowly miss the keepers right hand post. Shinnie's misery was complete when he thrashed another effort just over the bar from twenty yards for what would have been a spectacular goal and he was replaced soon after, but not before the now invisible Gregory Tade had left the field. He had been missing for most of the match, outplayed by young Josh Meekings. As the clock ran down Liam Craig lifted a shot over the bar to keep Inverness ahead for now, but those misses were going to take their toll before the end. Doran was strangely adjudged to have committed a foul deep into stoppage time and from the resultant free kick a long ball was launched into the Inverness box from eighty yards away by keeper Mannus. It bounced high to the back post where Tade's replacement David Robertson sneaked in uninvited behind the defence to head the ball past Reguero for an undeserved equaliser with barely fifteen seconds of the additional three minutes left to play. Full Time 1-1 This felt like a defeat after dominating the latter stages of the second half with so many excellent opportunities to put the game beyond the big team from Perth, alas we were caught out by a hopeful ball into the box and a point each it was. tm4tj MotM:- Owain Tudur-Jones was immense in the heart of the midfield spraying balls all over the park. He has the look of a great player, always appearing to have time to control and play the ball as though he was having a kick about with the kids on a Sunday afternoon down the Bught. He was closely followed by Meekings who put Tade in his place and Warren and Draper who had fine displays once again. Reguero will take some shifting from between the sticks and Esson may need to sit on the bench a bit longer. tm4tj Moan of the Match:- Andrew Shinnie had a great game until it came to putting the ball in the opposition net. The penalty miss was a bad one, but the miss from a few yards out was much much worse and although we didn't know it at the time, it was one that was going to prove crucial to the outcome of this game. My second moan was the poor home attendance. What more do the Inverness public want. Scoring goals every week, top scorers in the SPL, only two defeats in eleven games and still general apathy reigns supreme. Come on folk, get off yer erses and get behind yer local team, we are playing as attractive football as we have since Butcher came to Inverness, but that is seemingly not enough to tempt the stayaways out of the pub or away from the Xmas shopping. Hell mend ye! 27th Oct 2012 Scottish Premier League Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness C.T. 1 - McKay (72) TEAM: Reguero, Raven, G.Shinnie, Tudur-Jones, Warren, McKay, Draper, A.Shinnie (Morrison 88), Meekings, Doran, Roberts (Sutherland 71) SUBS: Esson, Oswell, Polworth, Pepper, Cooper Booked: none Sent Off: none St Johnstone 1 - Robertson (90) TEAM: Mannus, MacKay, Wright (Scobbie 60), Anderson, Millar, Murray Davidson, Tade (Robertson 82), Craig, Hasselbaink (MacLean 64), Miller, Vine SUBS: Tuffey, Caddis, Kane, Rodger Booked: Davidson (8) Sent Off: none Referee John Beaton Attendance 3154

Dens Park first for Inverness Inverness recorded their first win at Dens Park with an emphatic scoreline that saw off a spirited Dundee. The game was won in two bursts that saw the visitors score an early double and another late spell of dominance that ended the game as a contest. Billy McKay opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Gary Warren added a second three minutes later. Dundee pressed hard to get back into the game and scored a deserved goal through Colin Nish (who else) but late goals from MotM Andrew Shinnie and Billy McKay sealed the victory. Friday night was deemed to be the most suitable time to play this fixture after the fiasco in the summer with Govan football club departing the SPL to be replaced by Team 12 which turned out to be Dundee after a series of debates and coin tossing. Sadly, for Dundee, this has left them short of time which has restricted their ability to gather a strong enough squad at present and little time to adapt to the rigours of the SPL. The game being as live on BBC Alba at 10:00pm saw many fans lock themselves in darkened rooms waiting to watch the drama unfold without any knowledge of the final score. Richie Foran took a knock against County and missed out with Irishman Billy McKay starting up front and that was the only change for Inverness, as Reguero continued between the sticks. Friday night football seems to be appealing to Inverness after the recent rout of County when we flew out of the blocks to take an early lead against them in the derby. We did the same at Dens Park as we stormed forward from the bell and in only four minutes McKay took advantage of shambolic defending to grab his first goal after Aaron Doran's shot was pushed out by Rab Douglas. No time to settle into your seats as Inverness kept the pressure on the Dundee defence and in seven minutes centre back Gary Warren popped up at the back post to slam the ball high into the net from close range when Doran swung in a free kick after Roberts was upended. Just the start Inverness were looking for and disaster for Barry Smith as he looked on in despair at his struggling defence. I'm no lip reader, but I don't think he was shouting at his players in Gaelic. Captain for the night Graeme Shinnie surged forward and tried his luck from distance and Douglas managed to grab it at the second attempt, that was shortly after his brother had the worst ever attempt at a shot which crossed the bye line level with the eighteen yard box. Meh. Dundee were forced into action and Nicky Riley should have done better than to slice his shot wide of Reguero's left hand post. Colin Nish brought Reguero into action with a header that the Spaniard dealt with comfortably, but a goal was imminent and some shambolic defending of our own saw Nish left with an easy task to score for Dundee. It was the turn of the Inverness management to look on in horror. Billy McKay passed up a tremendous opportunity to restore the two goal cushion immediately but shot wide from a good position, however Dundee were now right back in the game and McAlister forced Reguero to block his angled drive as the home side probed for an equaliser. It almost came just before half time as the ever troublesome Nish turned in the box and volleyed goalwards, but Reguero made a superb diving save to keep Inverness just ahead at the break. Half Time 1-2 Milne was first to try his luck at the start of the second half as Dundee looked to get back on level terms but Inverness were always dangerous going forward. Andy Shinnie, Roberts and Shinnie again failed to test Douglas with lengthy efforts as the game evened out, and on the hour mark Inverness introduced Shane Sutherland for his first game since his ankle injury, this was to prove a shrewd move by boss Butcher. Dundee seemed to run out of ideas as the game wore on and the away side looked ever comfortable dealing with the diminishing goal threats. With fifteen minutes left Ross Draper almost sealed the win when he smacked a close range shot off the face of the Dundee bar when he really should have scored. The clinching goals were merely delayed though as Inverness pulled away in the last ten minutes to ensure the points went back up the A9. Sutherland raced into the box only to be blocked by Iain Davidson. Penalty no doubt about it and Andrew Shinnie calmly rolled the ball down the middle as Douglas dived to his right. That goal tore the stuffing out of Dundee and it was no surprise when Inverness completed the scoring. Andy Shinnie drove hard at the tiring Dundee defence and he released Billy McKay on the right side of the box. He showed great composure to skip inside the defender and despite a couple of desperate defensive lunges at McKay, he confidently placed the ball behind Douglas to end the scoring and gain Inverness' first ever win at Dens Park. Full Time1-4 Andy Shinnie was MotM for an all round composed midfield display and capped it with a cool penalty finish. Reguero pulled off a sensational save to keep Inverness ahead before the break and that proved to be crucial to the outcome as Dundee were on a bit of a roll at that point. Gary Warren once again showed his versatility for a big lad and scored into the bargain, great acquisition to this seasons squad. Billy McKay got amongst the goals and his confidence will be on a high and all this was achieved without captain fantastic Richie Foran. Plenty reasons to be cheerful, onwards and upwards to third in the table, even if it was for only one day. 19th Oct 2012 Scottish Premier League Dens Park, Dundee Dundee 1 - Nish (13) TEAM: Douglas,Irvine, Lockwood (Conroy 74), McGregor, Grassi, Davidson, Riley, Kerr, Milne (Baird 74), McAlister, Nish SUBS: Baird, Benedictus, Gallagher, McBride, Boyle Booked: Davidson (23), Riley (64) Sent Off: none Inverness C.T. 4 - McKay (4, 85), Warren (7), A.Shinnie (pen.81) TEAM: Reguero, Raven, G.Shinnie, Warren, Meekings, Tudur-Jones, Draper, A.Shinnie, McKay, Doran, Roberts (Sutherland 64) SUBS: Mathieson, Cooper, Morrison, Polworth, Pepper, Oswell Booked: none Sent Off: none Referee Craig Thomson Attendance 5006

Still in the shadows An exciting first SPL Highland Derby ended with the hosts taking all three points in a pulsating match at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. Inverness had taken an early lead when Ross Draper scored from a corner and as the game levelled out Andrew Shinnie stroked the second home near the half hour. An Ian Vigurs free kick brought County right back into the mix but a sensational volley from Aaron Doran sealed the points near the end. A big away support was expected and the County fans delivered as they filled the away end, and the usually apathetic home support came out of the woodwork to welcome those from over the bridge to the SPL derby. It had been a bright sunny day but as the game loomed, rain clouds were getting closer and the match kicked off with a damp atmosphere above, but there was plenty of energy on and around the park. Inverness made one change from the side that trounced Dundee United with big Owain Tudur-Jones replacing Gavin Morrison in the starting eleven where the Welshman's experience would prove invaluable as the game wore on. There was I suppose another alteration, Terry Butcher sat this one out in the stand with his walkie-talkie for company. For County, Richard Brittain and Colin McMenamin were included from the start after missing last weeks games and Derek Adams was looking for a return to winning ways having lost the last two. The half started with a bang inside the first minute. Legendary Inverness man Ross Tokely almost scored an astonishing opener at the wrong end for his new club as he crashed a tantalising cross from Doran against his own bar with Michael Fraser well beaten. And it was the home side that almost broke the deadlock a few minutes later as Jones broke into the box and flicked the ball goalwards with the outside of his boot only for Grant Munro to make a timely intervention to keep the ball out with Fraser once more beaten. At this early stage it looked as though County were going to do well to keep the score down and it was no surprise when Inverness opened the scoring in the ninth minute. A Roberts shot was blocked by Tokely and from the resultant corner taken by Graeme Shinnie, Ross Draper rose highest to nod the ball into the top corner with some part of his body for a deserved opener. County had been stung by this goal and they eventually wandered forward and they almost snatched an equaliser. Mark Fotheringham jinked across the defender and unleashed a superb curling shot that smacked back off the crossbar with Reguero beaten. Brittain struck a free kick narrowly over as County looked more positive now but the second goal was to come at the other end. The visitors had almost weathered the early storm and were beginning to find there way, but it had taken them fifteen minutes to settle and just as the tide looked to be turning Inverness scored a sucker second. Unfortunately for Granty Munro, he won't want to see the video replays of that one again. He missed what looked like a comfortable clearance just inside his own half which allowed Richie Foran to scamper down the right wing. Foran on a great run of form just now unselfishly looked up and picked out the advancing midfield run from Andy Shinnie and he stroked the ball home from fifteen yards for a tidy second goal from the attackers point of view, but a defenders nightmare for County. Munro almost atoned for lapse and turned a shot towards the Inverness goal, but Reguero pulled off a TV save, clutching the ball out of the air to thwart the ex-Inverness captain. The next goal was going to be crucial and as County pressed for an opening, Inverness almost caught them out again. Phillip Roberts released Doran with a brilliant through ball but as Doran entered the box Fraser came out and diverted the ball away from goal with an outstretched leg. Was this going to be another blank day for Doran after yet another one-on-one miss from the Irishman. As a contest, the game was more level now as half time approached but it was Inverness that had the all important statistic, and that was how it finished after the first forty five. Half Time 2-0 I don't know what was said at the interval, but it appeared that the visiting players had the County managers voice ringing in their ears. Referee Brines was to play a vital part as early as the third minute of the half when he awarded a free kick to County some twenty five yards from goal. Josh Meekings clearly had made a clearance and the County striker then collided with the defender. However Brines intervened and County took advantage. No complaints about the standard of the free kick though as Vigurs got it up, down and around the wall to leave a slightly mis-positioned Reguero clutching at thin air. Game On! The Jaggies seemed to have handed the initiative to the Staggies and they now enjoyed the lions share of the game. We looked content to give them the ball and see what they could do, and they tried hard enough but our defence held firm and the County storm eventually blew over. It had been a frenetic second half punctuated by frequent stoppages for free kicks from ever the annoying Mr Brines. Draper could have put the game beyond Dingwall as he latched onto a ball on the edge of the six yard box, but Fraser again stuck out a leg to push the ball away. Quinn made Reguero work with an angled drive, but the keeper was always favourite to block it as County pressed the game. It looked as though an equaliser was coming as the game progressed with the ball fizzing around the Inverness box, the home fans were starting to look through gaps in their fingers when a goal fit to win any competition sealed the victory with three minutes of normal time left. Graeme Shinnie lofted a long free kick forward to diminutive target man, substitute Billy McKay. Now he is not the tallest of players but he has a big heart. He out jumped two defenders to nod a hopeful ball in the direction of Doran who had already missed two glorious chances. He would not miss a third. As the ball dropped from height around twenty one yards out, he volleyed a thunderous low shot that went like an arrow into Fraser's net right inside his post and the keeper had no chance, despite a full length dive, to keep the ball out. Cue scenes of joy at the North Stand as the South Stand began to empty. There was still time for a couple more efforts from both sides and a mazy wee run from McKay, but no further goals were forthcoming and Inverness Caledonian Thistle owned the Highlands once more to keep County in their shadow. It had been a superb advert for the SPL with both teams showing plenty of skill and the wider TV audience were surely treated to some special goals tonight, none moreso than Doran's clincher. Full Time 3-1 5th Oct 2012 Scottish Premier League Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness C.T. 3 - Draper (9), A.Shinnie (28), Doran (87) TEAM: Reguero, Raven, Meekings, Warren, G.Shinnie, Doran, Tudur-Jones, Draper, Roberts (McKay 85), Foran (Pepper 60), A.Shinnie (Morrison 75) SUBS: Mathieson, Cooper, Polworth, Oswell Booked: Draper (35), Raven (64), Pepper (89), Doran (90) Sent Off: none Ross County 1 - Vigurs (48) TEAM: Fraser, Tokely, Fitzpatrick, Boyd, Munro, Quinn, Vigurs, Brittain, Scott (Kettlewell 76), Fotheringham (Glen 76), McMenamin SUBS: Brown, Kovacevic, Macphee, Ross, Dingwall Booked: Scott (32), Fotheringham (65), Brittain (89) Sent Off: none Referee Iain Brines Attendance 6766