Scotty

Boxing Day Drama Inverness missed the chance to stay on their own in second place, but if truth be told, a draw was a bonus after St Mirren twice went in front only to be pegged back on both occasions in a pulsating match that was not good for the heart, but it was certainly entertaining and good value for the three and a half thousand Boxing Day fans. Can't top Rig's excellent report, so here it is in it's entirety Smashing game of football today. Disappointed that we dropped two points but by the end of the game a draw was definitely a fair result. Both teams played some great stuff and there was some fantastic performances from the likes of Andrew Shinnie for Inverness and Teale for St Mirren who turned Graeme Shinnie inside, out and inside again throughout the game. ICT lined up with the familiar 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 formation with Matthew Cooper coming in for Josh Meekings. St. Mirren looked like they were set up as a 4 - 5 - 1 with Steven Thompson the lone forward with support from McGowan in behind him. After what seemed to be only a few seconds Dougie Imrie got the ball on the ICT left midfield and moved towards goal before taking an opportunistic shot that seemed to catch Reguero off guard and found its way into the net across the keeper to put the Buddies one up. After this goal ICT started to dominate in terms of ball retention without actually threatening Samson in goal. Saint Mirren defended deeply and were easily blocking the ICT route to goal. Tudur Jones, after long range efforts against Hearts and Dundee, found himself with a bit of space at the edge of the box and rifled in a shot which drifted wide of goal. Foran then had a header saved by Samson before McGowan thundered in a free kick which cracked off the cross bar with Reguero beaten. Andrew Shinnie was denied a shot at goal following a last ditch tackle by Mair I think it was and then Samson then pulled off a wonderful save down to his right as he pushed a header from Aaron Doran round the post. Andrew Shinnie grabbed the equaliser for ICT after he gathered the ball on the ICT left and drifted infield. He glided past two men just outside the area and struck his shot fiercely into the top right corner with Samson only able to watch the ball fly past him. Gary Teale was having a fantastic battle with Graeme Shinnie on the ICT left and was regularly beating his marker and it was from one of his crosses that Steven Thompson was picked out but hew fired high over the bar with a very uncomposed effort. McKay, going for a goal in his 8th consecutive game, connected well with a cross from the right but his volleyed effort was just wide of the goal. Half Time 1-1 St. Mirren started the second half quickly and Imrie scurried to the byline before fizzing a cross all the way across the box but no one was on hand to tap it in. After that ICT started to turn the screw and passed up a great chance after some good work from Andrew Shinnie led to a half chance to McKay who opted to shoot instead of play in Foran who had a clear run at goal. McKays shot was weak and trundled wide of goal. Thompson headed St. Mirren back into the lead after more good work from Teale on the right and his cross was bulleted home by Thompson from around 8 yards out. By this point the game had swung back and St. Mirren were dominating proceedings as ICT struggled to get a foothold and resorted to some aimless punts forward as they abandoned some of the nice passing play that had been on show from both ICT and St. Mirren. Foran saw a header droft over the bar and Andrew Shinnie volleyed goalwards but Samson dealt well with his effort. However an equaliser soon came and it was the result of St. Mirren being unable to clear the lines from an ICT corner. Aaron Doran meet a high clearance and volleyed an effort back towards goal. Samson was only able to parry the shot and Foran was first to react and bundled his header into the goal. Suddenly ICT were on top again as the fantastic Andrew Shinnie was thwarted by a one handed Samson save after he had drifted through the St. Mirren defence and Doran also passed up a good chance with a very weak effort that trundled wide. However, going into the final few minutes of the game it was St. Mirren who suddenly looked like they could grab a winner as Lewis Guy met a wonderful cross and cracked an effort off the post with Reguero stranded. Two goals were ruled out for offside for St Mirren and St Mirren also had a penalty claim waved away as Carey (I think) was booked for diving. Full Time 2-2 Quite an incredible match with plenty of chances for both sides. It was great to see two teams, for the most part, try and play some good passing football. St. Mirren were more defensive for most of the game but when they stifled an Inverness attack the strode forward from the back with some great passing and movement which carved open the ICT defence on several occasions. Teale and McGowan had good games and Matthew Cooper struggled against Thompson who gave him all sorts of problems. For ICT Andrew Shinnie was fantastic. His close control and dribbling were top class and he was at the centre of most of our attacks. He came in for some rough treatment from some of the St. Mirren players who found him hard to stop. Crowd announced as 3,506 with around 150 - 200 St. Mirren fans. I didn't realise that there were no trains running today so fair play to those fans that did travel today. Bit poor from the ICT support again but I thought there was a bit more than was announced. There's been some discussion on Collums performance and I have to say I thought he was absolutely rotten. My favourite decision today that he got wrong was when Draper was "tackled" from behind by a St Mirren player who didn't play the ball and caught Drapers leg. For some inexplicable reason Collum gave a free kick to St. Mirren. A very poor performance. 26th Dec 2012 Scottish Premier League Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness C.T. 2 - A.Shinnie (38), Foran (67) TEAM: Reguero, Raven, G.Shinnie, Warren, Cooper, Doran, Draper, Tudur-Jones, A.Shinnie, McKay (Roberts 83), Foran SUBS: Mathieson, Sutherland, Morrison, Laing, Polworth, Pepper Booked: none Sent Off: none St Mirren 2 - Imrie (02), Thompson (55) TEAM: Samson, Barron, McGinn, van Zanten, Mair, Imrie, Teale, Robertson, Carey, McGowan (Guy 65), Thompson SUBS: Smith, Parkin, Kelly, Yaqub, Brady Booked: Guy (75), Carey (78), McGinn (86) Sent Off: none Referee Willie Collum Attendance 3506

Xmas Cheer for Inverness Inverness returned to second spot in the SPL after a comprehensive victory over a spritely Dundee who had come to the Highlands to have a go but were turned over by the free scoring Inverness squad. The 4-1 scoreline may have flattered Inverness in October, but there was nothing to be embarrassed about this time after a ruthless display sent Dundee deeper into the drop slot. Billy McKay from the spot opened the scoring after Foran was bundled over, and Owain Tudur-Jones rifled home the second before the break. McKay showed that he can even score when lying down, nae problem, and Andy Shinnie rounded off the scoring after some deft footwork. Nicky Riley scored Dundee's counter. Dundee Stuffed It's Xmas time, the turkey's getting fat, the presents are under the tree, the reindeer are ready to go and the kids can't sleep at night. But wait. Where's Santa? Sorry kids, he might be in the nick after some festive cheer saw Santa's being ejected from the South Stand as their team, like the turkey got well stuffed. Hopefully, these were just imposters, and Xmas will go ahead as normal, but the Caley Jags got their presents early with an emphatic victory to send the home fans off to start their festivities after the final whistle. Don't worry children, Santa will be coming down your chimney soon. A chilly breezy day saw another dismal crowd of just over three thousand forgo the Christmas shopping, the long queues at Tesco and the horrific sound of endless Xmas songs wherever you go to witness an entertaining enough match with five goals and plenty to cheer. It was widely predicted that Dundee might be able to offer stern resistance to the free scoring Inverness attack, and for most of the first half this was the case. An even opening to the game as both sides looked capable of hitting swiftly on the break and Lockwood had the first attempt on target after six minutes but Reguero saved comfortably. A couple of minutes later and Garry Warren made an error of judgement as a long punt forward bounced of the slippy turf and over his head to let Colin Nish through on goal, but he tried to bend the ball into the bottom corner and Reguero smothered his weak effort with ease. It was a warning for Inverness that Dundee were not just here to make up the numbers and Nicky Riley, as expected was teasing Graeme Shinnie on the flank. However, in the twelfth minute, Inverness took the lead after some persistent foraging up front with Rab Douglas and his post keeping the ball out brilliantly from Foran and McKay before Richie Foran was taken down going wide for the rebound. Who else but he scores when he wants Billy McKay slotted the spot kick home expertly, sending Douglas the wrong way. Just the lift Inverness needed and McKay's scoring exploits continued, eleven goals in his last seven games, good by any standards. Dundee were not disheartened by this and still looked lively. Surprise surprise, an Inverness throw in broke down inside the Dundee half and they neatly transferred the ball up the left side before James McAlister switched the ball to the right wing where tricky Nicky Riley was in acres of space after Inverness had pushed forward. He controlled the ball well before advancing into the box and sent an angled drive across Reguero and in off the post for an excellent equaliser. This heartened Dundee once more and after twenty minutes Baird and Riley exchanged passes before Baird thrashed a rising shot goalwards and Reguero took no chances, tipping the ball over for a corner. Inverness went one better though as Tudur-Jones, Raven and Foran passed the ball around the Dundee defence before Jones unleashed one of his now trademark distance shots from twenty eight yards, hammering a low curling shot beyond the outstretched arms of veteran keeper Rab Douglas. Twenty four minutes gone and Inverness were back on the ascendency and saw out the game comfortably to the break. Half Time 2-1 McKay was at it again within three minutes of the restart. He does like a goal does our Billy, this time while nonchalantly lying on his side, chipping the ball home off the arse of a defender after being played in on goal, courtesy of a loose Davidson backpass which Douglas did his best to keep away from goal. Dundee were almost down and out, but not before Riley and McAlister had teed up Baird who flashed a low shot just wide, and that was about their last piece of resistance. Andy Shinnie should have scored the fourth when put through after an exquisite pass from Jones, but Douglas palmed away his curler from the edge of the box and it skewed agonisingly the wrong side of the post. He would not be denied however, and with twenty minutes left Shinnie scored a beauty after being fed into the box by brother Graeme. He still had a bit of work to do, but he effortlessly coasted past two defenders and thumped a shot across big Rab into the far corner from the left side to put Inverness on easy street. The scoring should not have ended there though as Shinnie turned provider for Draper, but the big midfielder curled his shot too close to the overworked Douglas to deny the hosts a fifth goal. Full Time 4-1 This was a pretty comprehensive gubbing from a confident Inverness side who looked as though they could score when they wanted. McKay does that anyway and notched his eighteenth goal of the season with a superb bit of improvisation and it was good to see Andy Shinnie get back on the goal trail. Tudur-Jones is showing his class now after an inglorious start to the season and his lengthy injury lay off and it really is just a great time to be an Inverness fan. I doubt it get's much better than this, which is why it must be hard for the players to motivate themselves when only the palindromic 3003 turn out to watch the most entertaining side in the SPL so far. Shame on you Inverness. The wee man talks to the Long Man after the game.....and Terry Scrooge gives us his views of the proceedings as well tm4tj MotM:- A few contenders, easier to say who is not in contention. Aaron Doran seems to be out of sorts these days, not able to get to the byeline often enough, but an honest days work from him and Garry Warren won't be wanting to make more errors of judgement like that one today. But we can forgive these guys who have done their bit over the last few weeks to lift Inverness into second spot in the SPL, just in time for Xmas. Plenty of candidates as I said, and Jones, McKay and Foran were superb, but for his close control and excellent link up play from midfield, not to mention a stunning goal, Andy Shinnie get's my vote, although McKay get's a special mention for his laid back approach to goal scoring. Another man worthy of a mention was Dundee keeper Rab Douglas, at 41 still able to perform heroics and he kept the score down with some fantastic saves, but was helpless with the ones that counted and not helped by his tiring defence. 22nd Dec 2012 Scottish Premier League Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness C.T. 4 - McKay (pen12, 48), Tudur-Jones (24), A.Shinnie (70) TEAM: Reguero, Raven, G.Shinnie, Warren, Meekings (Cooper 73), Doran (Pepper 87), Draper, Tudur-Jones, A.Shinnie, McKay (Roberts 86), Foran SUBS: Esson, Sutherland, Morrison, Polworth Booked: none Sent Off: none Dundee 1 - Riley (19) TEAM: Douglas, Irvine, Lockwood, Benedictus, Gallagher, Riley (Conroy 83), Davidson, McBride, McAlister, Nish, Baird (Stewart 65) SUBS: Baird, O'Donnell, Boyle, Toshney, Easton Booked: none Sent Off: none Referee Kevin Clancy Attendance 3003