Scotty

Seasonus Horribilis endeth Inverness wrapped up their seasonus horriblis with a comfortable win over a reserved Hibernian. Two second half set pieces sealed the points for the homesters to ensure they stayed above the Cup finalists. Greg Tansey and Jonny Hayes supplied the finishes in a brighter second half against an understrength Hibs side. The Highland Marchers made it to Inverness on schedule despite the weather doing it's best to scupper their efforts. A ten mile detour did not deter the marchers who actually enjoyed trekking 170 odd miles through wind, rain, sleet and snow in the name of fun. Nutters! Well done to all, now get yer feet up for a wee rest. The darts in the Innes were bolstered by the return of Showaddyaddie, or fruitbat, if you preferred, and the Highland Marchers and Clan members were enjoying some light refreshments, unfortunately we all had to cut that short to go and watch a football match. A bright and breezy afternoon tempted over 4000 fans out of their homes to give the season from hell a decent send off. It was a day when some players were bidding farewell to the Highlands with Tuffey and Golobart looking like definite departures given their respective tweets and comments on facebook. Hibs rested as many as they could without completely fielding a pub side, with young 19 year old Paul Grant replacing our old keeper Mark Brown in the Hibs goal. One or two did start but were keen to ensure they never put themselves out of contention for next weeks Capital Cup Final. Garry O'Connor was one of them, swapping places with Leigh Griffiths after the break and Ian Murray played what will probably be his last game for Hibs. The first half was basically a non event with neither side able to sustain any pressure, although Esson did save smartly from Tom Soares after 35 minutes, diving full length to get a strong palm on a low shot from distance. Inverness were unable to make the debut keeper work in that first half and he could not have wished for an easier first 45. Half Time:- 0-0 The second period started a bit more briskly and Grant made his first meaningful contribution stopping a Hayes shot, and shortly after Gillet fired one a couple of yards over from thirty yards. Greg Tansey has been much maligned this season after coming here with a reputation for scoring spectacular free kicks. Well, he made amends today as he fired a 25 yarder up and over the wall before it nestled neatly behind Grant to open the scoring. No more than Inverness deserved at this point as they were now getting on top of there struggling opponents. Hallelujah! A second penalty of the season for handball, with Matt Doherty being the culprit and it looked like a parting gift for Jonny Hayes as he placed the ball on the spot and smartly drove the ball into Grant's goal, the keeper going the wrong way. There endeth the scoring, but not before Ryan Esson showed us why he is our number one keeper with a couple of comfortable stops from second half sub Leigh Griffiths. Grant fluffed a couple of hasty clearances but nobody was alert enough to take advantage and the game petered out with Inverness just having enough in the tank to see off the pub side from Leith. Full Time 2-0 tm4tj MotM for me goes to man mountain and local superman Ross Tokely. Never put a foot wrong, or a head wrong and will be needed for at least another season. Let's hope a deal can be thrashed out for our last surviving member of the supercaleygoballistic side. Greg Tansey ran him close and scored a super free kick, but the young Hibs goalie might think he could have been positioned better, still at least this one was on target from Greg, and Ryan Esson showed a couple of flashes as to why he has kept Jonny Tuffey on the bench for most of the season. So, the season did finish with a minor flourish but overall there were too many disappointments along the way, the exception being the 6-3 thrashing dished out to Kilmarnock. Derby games to look forward to next season so it's out with the old, and bring on the new. I asked my old dart playing buddy Caley100 to give me a short overview of his season through his ICT eyes. Well, he gave me one........ A short overview that is and here is how he saw it. Caley100's view on the season. Well maybe my reputation preceded me, I had been asked to complete a Hibs match report but perhaps my sometimes negative view on our season might have shown through, so I'll give a short view on this season through today's hangover eyes. As always, we approach matches with a mostly positive manner, helped in my case with a few plenty beers and a game of darts in the Innes bar with my mates, and mostly this season its been disappointment and in some cases, (Dee utd/Hibs) weekend spoilers. As I reflect whilst walking the bloody happy looking dog through the woods on sunday mornings, can't he see I'm not up for chasing and stick throwing? There has been some rays of hope and perhaps a wee sign of things to come, however the next match sorts that out as we contrive to shoot ourselves in the foot once again as defensive errors and spectacular own goals leave us shaking our heads in disbelief. Of course the injury thing has been a huge problem for TB & MM to contend with, the constant changing of the starting eleven has led to an unsettled team, especially in defence where we have had some howlers. As we stumbled over this seasons finish line with a points margin that was going to be harder for Pars to gain on than us to lose, I'm hoping next season will be better, albeit as I hear with a smaller budget, I'm also hoping that we see more Scottish players in the team. Not for one minute have I considered not buying a ticket for next season, I'm a fan and supporter and I think I always will be. Players will leave, Jonny will be off, (not to Dons I hope), Tuffey will go for regular football, players come in (hopefully someone to score goals), and we will gather next to the Moray Firth and await the caravan hordes from the bleak north. Cheers Caley100, thanks for the words and let's all hope we can put this season to bed and build for the future, oh, and when you learn to fetch the stick and bring it back to Archie then you will get some treats. Hope you have enjoyed all our previews/reports for this season and thanks to the numerous wordsmiths who have given up their time to contribute to the website. We'll all be back for pre-season, see you soon. tm4tj 12th May 2012 Scottish Premier League Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness C.T. 2 - Tansey (62), Hayes (pen.71) TEAM: Esson, Tokely, G.Shinnie, Gillet, Piermayr, Hayes (Ross 85), Tansey, A.Shinnie (Sutherland 63), Foran, Tade (Tudur-Jones 63), McKay SUBS: Tuffey, Meekings, Golobart, Proctor Booked: none Sent Off: none Hibernian 0 - TEAM: Grant, Doherty, O'Hanlon, Murray, Stephens, Francomb, Wotherspoon, Soares (Stanton 60), Sproule, O'Connor (Griffiths 46), O'Donovan (Doyle 72) SUBS: Brown, Towell, Booth, Monaghan Booked: Francomb (33), Stephens (61) Sent Off: none Referee John Beaton Attendance 4457