Scotty

Inverness Nick a point Nick Ross scored a 73rd minute leveller to snatch a vital point at East End Park to maintain the eight point gap between the sides. Joe Cardle had opened the scoring on the stroke of half time after a Martin Hardie free kick came back off the bar, against the run of play. A draw was probably the fairest result, and considering that all four previous encounters this season had ended all square after ninety minutes then it was no surprise that the points were shared. David Proctor found himself starting ahead of Ross Tokely in the absence of Steve Williams and Kenny Gillet partnered him in central defence with Graeme Shinnie at left back. What became evident from the start was that we were playing with no out-and-out strikers with Shane Sutherland asked to plough the lone furrow and Winnall and McKay warming the bench. Capital Caley will spill the beans when he gets back home............and here he is. It’s difficult to report on a match that had few flash points. Most Caley Thistle fans were wanting a win before the game. By full time, I think that we were happy to take the point. We were close to getting nothing at all. As usual, the Elizabethan had a number of Caley Thistle fans congregated pre-match. There were even more Caley Thistle fans in the bar at the stadium hopeful of a win. Caley Thistle started brightly and were pressing towards the Pars goal for most of the first half. They could not get past the stuffy Pars defence and were limited to long range shots. However, even then, Caley Thistles first shot on goal came on the 20th minute. Claude Gnakpa's shot from the edge of the box trickled well wide of goal. Ten minutes later, and Shane Sutherland tried an almost identical shot to Gnakpa, again going painfully wide. Both teams were struggling to cope and for every pass that a Caley Thistle player would intercept, a Dunfermline player would then re-intercept. This certainly wasn’t a game of silky passing football. Out of the blue, the Pars were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Caley Thistle box right on the stroke of half time. From where the Caley Thistle fans were located, it looked like a clear dive from Joe Cardle from a Kenny Gillet tackle. Of course, I don’t hide the fact that I have red and blue tinted glasses on but I’ll have to look at the replay again to be sure. Martin Hardie's free kick rattled the cross bar and with the Caley Thistle defence sleeping, Joe Cardle lost his man and slotted the ball into the net. It was a cruel set back as Caley Thistle had most of the possession in the first period and Dunfermline had no other chances. Dunfermline nearly doubled their advantage just after half time when Patrick Boyle out jumped the Caley Thistle defence but his header went wide of goal. The Pars appeared to have the upper hand at the start of the second half. Andy Kirk's shot on the hour mark had Esson diving but it was a weak shot and Esson saved well. Soon after, and Terry Butcher made a substitution. Clauide Gnakpa came off for Billy Mckay. Claude had worked hard all match but his inability to pass or shoot at the right moment let him down. Foran was his usual commanding self and gave his heart and soul into the quest for an equaliser. Moments after MacKay came on, and it looked like the substitution was an effective one. He crossed over to Shane Sutherland who headed it but yet again, it went nowhere near goal. Shane Sutherland was then replaced with Owain Tudur-Jones, shortly before Joe Cardle was replaced by Paul Burns. On the 73rd minute we got the equaliser. Jonny Hayes collected the ball, ran along parallel to the sideline and crossed over to Nick Ross, who powered the ball into the top corner. There was a huge sense of relief within the Caley thistle support. We had struggled to create anything in the second half and the support did not want Pars first home victory of the season to come against us. Martin Hardie was then replaced by Liam Buchanan shortly after the goal. The goal seemed to give us the push that we needed and there was faint optimism that we could now go on and win the game. We had a fair amount of possession in the last 15 minutes but the final touch was letting Caley Thistle down badly. They looked disjointed and weary of the Pars counter attack. On the 80th minute, Ryan Thomson came on for Gary Mason as the Pars made their final change. Caley Thistle won a couple of corners towards the end as they looked to snatch victory. Unfortunately, Hayes corners were very weak and did not trouble the Dunfermline defence. Then it was time for the Caley Thistle support to really panic. A very late flurry by Dunfermline saw them awarded a corner. Paul Burns crossed in and Liam Buacanan's header should have found the target but somehow it went wide. It was a let off for Caley Thistle. For all Caley Thistles first half possession, they lost control of the ball far too many times. Too many crosses going wide. Too many passes intercepted. Too many shots going out for near throw ins! It was a bad day at the office, but could have been worse. However, I’m sure Terry Butcher will be happier with the point more than Jim McIntyre is. One thing is for sure though, Terry Butcher will not be happy with the performance. My MotM goes to Richie Foran. Not his best game, but his leadership qualities and sheer effort was impressive. Lets look at the bright side. There’s still 8 points between Caley Thistle and Dunfermline. We came out of that game after a hard fought scrap. We got a point, now it’s time to move on. We need to improve next week if we’re to beat relegation threatened Rangers. Butcher has a big job to do. 18th Feb 2012 Scottish Premier League East End Park, Dunfermline Dunfermline 1 - Cardle (45) /media/images/club_badges/dunfermline.png TEAM: Smith, McMillan, Rutkiewicz, Keddie, Boyle, Cardle (Burns 72), Hardie (Buchanan 74), Mason (Thomson 80), Hutton, Graham, Kirk. SUBS: Goodfellow, Dowie, McCann, Willis Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness C.T. 1 - Ross (73) /media/images/club_badges/inverness.png TEAM: Esson, Meekings, Proctor, Gillet, G.Shinnie, Ross, Tansey, Hayes, Gnakpa (McKay 62), Foran, Sutherland (Tudur-Jones 68). SUBS: Tuffey, Piermayr, Tokely, Morrison, Winnal Booked: none Sent Off: none Referee Bobby Madden Attendance 2881