Scotty

St Johnstone too slick for bumbling Inverness Inverness turned in another woeful home display as a slicker St Johnstone went back down the A9 with all three points. Fransisco Sandaza smartly converted a penalty before half time after Tade and McKay had missed golden opportunities to put the home side ahead. Unfortunately our performance only got worse in the second half as we struggled to put more than two passes together and Saints could have finished the game off in the second half on the break but chances went abegging. Gnakpa smacked the bar late on but it was a familiar tale of too little too late. The scene was set for an entertaining evening, both sides having excellent wins at the weekend and even the weather was on it's best behaviour. St Johnstone's miserly away defence are one of the reasons for their lofty position and it was going to take more than Inverness' schoolboy attempts to make them break sweat. What was about to unfold was as predictable as Neil Lennon complaining about referees .............. ajsict92 will tell us how he saw it, but there's not a lot of happy bunnies out there tonight. Same old Story... This was real huff and puff stuff tonight. Having already observed the first half performance I had a funny feeling that at half time Sandaza's penalty was probably going to be the only goal of the game. Against Kilmarnock two and a bit weeks ago there was a lot more enthusiasm about the team and chances were being created at a premium coupled with the usual lack of conversion rate rising during the game but tonight there was a real lack of passion in this ICT side and as a result they lacked any real desire to push on and grab a result. ICT definitely started the brighter of the two sides. Billy McKay was all over the shop, chasing after lost causes and tracking down any chances he got to get the ball to his feet and it was his hard work that helped carve out ICT's first chance of the game, the ball broke to him and he raced into the penalty area, attempting to go round Mannus who managed to divert it into the path of Gregory Tade who had an open goal at his mercy but somehow managed to scuff it wide. I remember a Raith fan commented on CTO when we signed him in the summer saying he would miss as many as he scored but that one tonight was by far the worst. We continued to press though and again missed a great opportunity when Bill McKay cut inside and shot low and hard, it seemed to go under Mannus but the ball was slowed down enough for him to get back and clutch it in his grasp. That really was as good as it got. While ICT seemed to have more of the ball, St Johnstone seemed to be more composed when they had it and also seemed to have better control of the play and with former Premier League players like Lee Croft and Jody Morris at the teams disposal it was no suprise to see them spraying the ball about the park, creating some nice little passing triangles but the lack of production in the final third suggested that St Johnstone perhaps were not hitting top form either tonight. However like our last outing it seems to be common courtesy for us to gift the visiting side a goal, 2 weeks ago it was an OG and this time it was a penalty and to be honest at the time I didn't have many qualms about it. Tade had a stinker of a game tonight and the fact he conceded the penalty just summed it up, and for me he did seem to push Liam Craig over and Sandaza dispatched the penalty very sweetly, firing it into the corner, shading the post as it went in. The first half simply saw itself out to a minor chorus of boos as the players and officials left the pitch. Half time - ICT 0 - 1 St Johnstone Whatever the half time team talk was it did little to unhinge the players from the mediocrity they were producing in the first half and the game just seemed to turn into a frustrating sequence of misplaced passes, high balls to Billy McKay and St Johnstone hitting us on the break on a few occasions. It really didnt get much better than that. Our lack of quality on the width became very telling in the second half. Shinnie and Piermayr were pushing forward alot but really struggled to find Tade and Sutherland (two players who are actually strikers to trade) as they were continually drifting inwards and watching passes to them head towards nothing more than empty spaces. St Johnstone always proved a threat on the break as well and there were one or two occasions where ICT were almost caught short with Sandaza firing just wide and Ross Tokely making a couple of excellent last ditch tackles to prevent more opportunites developing for the away side. As the game wore on the players did seem to get more of a grip of the ball. Nick Ross was brought on for a less than effective Tade and Richie Foran was shifted up front along side Billy McKay and the two of them conjured up a decent chance when Foran brought the ball down for McKay who struck first time on his left foot only to find it drift just wide of the post. ICT continued to press and Billy McKay was again the one involved in the action he was found just outside the area, turned his man smartly and attempted to find Foran at the back post but his ball across goal was cleared. Foran himself came close when his header flew just over the bar for a good position six yards out. In the latter stages of the game Sandaza broke clear of the defence again and went down close to the penalty area rather softly under close watch from Golobart and Willie Collum saw it this way and awarded ICT a free kick. As the game drew towards the 90th minute Ross Tokely was placed in the makeshift centre forward role and Claude Gnakpa was then summoned from the bench to replace Sutherland, and with injury time beckoning managed to swing in a beautiful cross which forced Mannus to punch clear with the aerial threat of Foran looming. Gnakpa himself then produced arguably the best moment of the game when he caught a lovely strike on the half volley only to find it rattle the crossbar junction and all but end our chances of taking anything from this game. Full Time:- ICT 0-1 St Johnstone To Summarise :- I mentioned in the preview that I thought it was essential to build on the win against Aberdeen and try to finish this season as strong as possible and this is why. Most of our wins this season have all been followed up by defeat (excluding 3 straight wins in January). I don't know if it's complacency setting in or if tonight it was down to not recovering quick enough from Aberdeen but there is no real excuse for it, this was a very poor, dejected performance against a St Johnstone side who have had a terrific season but really were not firing on all cylinders for this game. I can only hope that Terry Butcher can pick the team up from this game with another home game looming so soon after. ajsict92's MOTM - Billy McKay Was at the centre of everything tonight. Ran himself into the ground, chased down the ball if he had even the slightest chance of winning it, carved out chances for teammates and was unlucky not to score himself. In a game that cried out for more effort his high work rate really showed. Certainly the only player who could have been described as a threat throughout the game. 28th March 2012 Scottish Premier League Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness C.T. 0 - /media/images/club_badges/inverness.png TEAM: Tuffey, Tokely, Golobart, G.Shinnie, Piermayr, Tudur-Jones, Tansey, Foran, Tade (Ross 74), Sutherland (Gnakpa 83), McKay SUBS:Mathison, Proctor, Williams, Morrison, Winnall Booked: Tudur-Jones (48), Tokely (81) Sent Off: none St Johnstone 1 - Sandaza (pen.41) /media/images/club_badges/stjohnstone.png TEAM: Mannus, MacKay, Wright, Maybury, McCracken, Morris (Anderson 88), Millar, Croft, Craig, Sheridan (Robertson 84), Sandaza SUBS:Enckelman, Gray, Oyenuga, Compton, Keatings Booked: Millar (37), Sandaza (47) Sent Off: none Referee Willie Collum Attendance 3035

Ten man Inverness hold out for all three points After Josh Meekings received his second yellow card it was all hands to the pumps for Inverness as Aberdeen surged forward in the second half. However Inverness held out for all three points after Gregory Tade scored the only goal of the game early in the first half to ease the Highlanders relegation squeaks. He also squandered a great opportunity to seal an easy victory after scuffing a shot past Brown's post in the second half, but as time would tell, the Dons misfiring strikers were unable to trouble Jonathon Tuffey and we held out comfortably........................ Terry Butcher had to reshuffle the pack just before kick off as regular goal minder Ryan Esson tweaked his groin and will be a doubt for this Wednesday against St Johnstone. His place was taken by Jonny Tuffey who proved to be an adequate replacement for Esson as he kept a clean sheet whilst keeping Aberdeen at bay during the second half siege, especially after Josh Meekings walked for his second bookable offence. Nothing sinister, just a tad clumsy from young Josh. Esson's absence catapulted young keeper Scott Mathieson out of the stands and onto the bench. Ross Tokely partnered birthday boy Roman Golobart in the heart of the defence and Graeme Shinnie fitted in at left back in place of the injured Kenny Gillet. Owain Tudur-Jones made his long overdue start with Tansey, Foran and Sutherland in the engine room and Tade and McKay were the front runners. Coastal fog kept the sun away, but it never stopped Inverness from making a bright start to the game and as our Marchers will tell you, our bright start got even brighter after 10 minutes. The marchers will provide the full match report when they regroup, and sober up after a hectic week..................and here is Gringo Junior with a double header for you. "A Meaningless Encounter" - This was how this match was described by some in the media in the build up to this fixture, but both Aberdeen's Craig Brown and our very own Terry Butcher were quick to dismiss that notion. It's not too difficult to see their own reasons as to why. Jim Jefferies has been appointed as the new manager at Dunfermline following the sacking of Jim McIntyre, in an effort by their board to instill a little end of season spark to their campaign. With Hibernian just five points behind Inverness at the start of play, Terry Butchers men would be looking to increase the gap between themselves and the bottom pairing. With Aberdeen 9-points away from 6th-placed Hearts with 3 games to go before the split, Craig Browns men would be looking to hold on to the very slim hope of gaining that final top six spot with a victory over ICT, or at least look at being 'best of the rest' come the end of the season. A good number of fans travelled along the A96 to Aberdeen for what Jeff Stelling called 'a Highland Derby'. The Sky Sports presenter, who is usually so knowledgeable when it comes to his football trivia, should perhaps save that terminology for our near neighbour's arrival into the top flight next season. A 1-0 win for them away to Partick Thistle means they need just 6 points from their remaining 7 fixtures to secure the First Division title! Onto the match itself and what a day for football it was. The weather over the week had seen temperatures in the area reach the high teens, but the hint of mist and a slight breeze off the North Sea made the playing conditions almost perfect. The pitch didn't look too bad either! Ryan Esson, who has been fantastic all season for Inverness, was injured in the warm-up and replaced by International goalkeeper, Jonny Tuffey. Johnny Hayes and Kenny Gillet didn't make the trip to Aberdeen due to Injury, and Owain Tudor Jones was to make his first start since recovering from his own injury nightmares. Aberdeen made just one change to the side that lost to Motherwell last week, as Rory Fallon was dropped to the bench in place of Mitch Megginson. The away support were in full song from kick-off, and it wasn't long before they had something to really shout about. Despite a fantastic save by Jonny Tuffey in the Inverness goal following a cross-come-shot by McArdle in the first minute of the game, it was Inverness that broke the deadlock after some fine play between Gregory Tade and Billy McKay. The tall Frenchman neatly flicked on a clearance to the feet of McKay who did well to nip past his marker, round Jason Brown and slot the ball square to Tade. Tade simply bundled the ball, and himself, into the Aberdeen net to put Inverness 1-0 up after less than 10-minutes! Aberdeen didn't seem to get into the game and more chances were forthcoming for Inverness. Tade, who was winning most of the headers against his marker, was able to create a few snippets with his delecate flick-ons, and Billy McKay was having one of his best performances for the club since signing on from Northampton Town. Greame Shinnie was fantastic at left-back, and even had the confidence on one or two occasions to take on the Aberdeen midfield. ICT Captain Richie Foran commanded the midfield well and even got in on the action in front of goal. With only one goal to his name this campaign, he could have doubled his tally, and the score, when he found himself inside the box and should have done better with an effort that was well cleared by Kari Arnason on the goal-line. A cleaner strike either side of the Aberdeen defender and it would have been 2-0. Penalty decisions have eluded Inverness for in excess of 12 months and they were again to miss out in the first half after Sutherland was tripped in the box following a through-ball from Foran. With referee Finnie waving away the players' claims and a weak Scott Vernon effort the only noticable points of the first half, the Caley Jags ended the half the better team. Halt Time:- Aberdeen 0-1 Inverness CT As much as Inverness were the more dominant of the sides in the first half, they were a far cry from watching Brazil. They would certainly need another goal to provide a little comfort and settle any nerves. Unsurprisingly there was to be no substitutions for Inverness CT at half time, although Arnason was replaced by Pawlett in an effort to tighten up the Aberdeen midfield. Aberdeen came out of the blocks in the second half and reduced Inverness to just the rare break, consisting mostly of the famous Caley Thistle long-ball punt up the park, with Tade and McKay trying to latch onto the end of it. A bombardment of balls into the box saw Golobart and Tokely worked fully for the first time in the match. Golobart in particular, who celebrated his 20th birthday mid-week, was solid in clearing the Inverness lines, much to the joy of the travelling supporters who would chant his name with every touch! Graeme Shinnie, who had also performed well in the first half, was lucky to get away with not conceding a free kick on the edge of the box as he appeared to push the ball away with his hands after slipping over under pressure. But Aberdeen were not to be denied a little fortune when Josh Meekings saw red for two second half yellows, both of which were received following clumsy late challenges. The second being on Scott Vernon as he skipped the ball past Meekings, and his trailing leg was caught by the Inverness number 26. There was certainly no complaint from Meekings as he turned immediately towards the tunnel, head bowed. With Inverness now reduced to 10 men, Aberdeen had half and hour to make their extra man count. Piermayr replaced McKay for Inverness as Terry Butcher tried to tighten the back line and keep the Dons at bay, shortly after Craig Brown had put on an extra forward, Chalali in place of midfielder Clarke. Although Aberdeen were pressing and Caley Thislte were down to 10-men, it was Gregory Tade who came closest to changing the score-line after he latched onto a long ball from Golobart. Cutting inside and with his eyes on goal, he scuffed his effort straight at Jason Brown and Tade's frustration was clear to see. The travelling fans were in full voice despite the Aberdeen pressure and after Tade went off for treatment, he returned to the park with a change of shirt, without name or number printed, to chants of 'The Man With No Name'. Chalali and Vernon were beginning to link up well for Aberdeen, yet they continued to misfire as shot after shot failed to trouble Jonny Tuffey. Chalali was, however, to have Aberdeen's best chance for an equaliser by creating space just inside the Inverness box and driving a shot hard towards goal. Jonny Tuffey was equal to the challenge and got a strong fist to the shot to see the ball out of danger. As the game drew to a close, the Inverness fans were still in full song and encouraging their side to push out after every clearence. It was a credit to the stewards to allow the travelling fans to stand and chant for more or less the entire fixture. With Fallon replacing Megginson for the final 10 minutes, Steve Williams replaced Owain Tudur-Jones for the away side to keep the back line solid. Aberdeen became desperate, with even goalkeeper Jason Brown taking throw-ins whenever the ball went out in the Aberdeen half, and a dive from Chalali on the corner of the box saw him yellow carded as Inverness held out for a hard fought victory. Full Time:- Aberdeen 0-1 Inverness CT Delight surrounded the travelling supporters as cries of 'Inverness, Inverness' echoed around the stadium. With each player that approached to show their appreciation, their name was chanted, and not a single soul left their seat until the last player had ventured down the tunnel. A truly fantastic result, and with the Pars and Hibs both dropping points, this 'meaningless encounter' clearly meant something to the Inverness faithful. Next up for Inverness is their re-arranged fixture with St Johnstone which was initially meant to be played at the turn of the year. The 3-points gained from this win sees Inverness close to within 2 points of the Dons and 6 points of Kilmarnock who take up 7th. I wonder if the media again will see Wednesday as another meaningless affair, considering the Saints have already consolidated their place in the top-six? Great report from Rob and as a bonus, here is the Highland March Training Report: I had the pleasure of walking to this game from Elgin as part of my training for the forthcoming Highland March, which sets off in 6 weeks time. CapitalCaley (Mark MacRae), who took part in last year's venture, joined me on the jaunt to Aberdeen which would see us cover a distance of nearly 70 miles. Initially planning to follow Cycle Route 1 all the way (90+ miles), we had to take into consideration the fact we were doing this without a support vehicle. The plan was to camp each night so as to keep costs down, and the added weight certainly slowed us down. We set off from Elgin railway station at 0645 on Wednesday morning and headed along the A96 for 2 miles before turning off on the back roads to Garmouth. Our back packs were pretty heavy and with the sun beaming down on us for the entire day, it was tough going. Despite this, we managed to reach Cullen well in advance of our intended arrival time. Cullen was our planned over-night stop, but with more hours of daylight ahead, we continued on for a further 10-miles and bunked down at Cornhill. A special mention here to the 'Peggy Duffs' bar (Gordon Arms) in Cornhill. The landlady and her customers were more than accommodating and extremely friendly! After waking to noisy crows on Thursday, the pace was extremely slow as the aches, pains and blisters of Wednesday didn't want to let off. The planned end of stage was Turriff, yet with this being just 13 miles away, we had again revised our intentions and looked to make Oldmeldrum instead. Unfortunately, for myself at least, my legs couldn't seem to carry me much further and we wisely called it a day after our lunch stop in Turriff. We did, however, make the most of our afternoon by skipping the next few miles and getting much needed rest, sorted out the feet, grabbed a beer and enjoying the shade. It was again a good decision to ditch the tents and take the opportunity for a comfy room and a shower, yet the price tag per single room left a little to be desired! Sceptical here that 'the last two rooms' were in fact the last ones, as we didn't see anyone else around the establishment for the entire time we were there. Oh well! We knew we could make Dyce, or even Aberdeen, by the end of Friday, but our concern at this time was for the busy main road linking Turriff with Aberdeen. In typical Highland March style, we simply went for it and made our way along the grass verges. At Tarves we were able to once more link up with the cycle route and we followed this all the way into Dyce, making sure we sampled a pub lunch (and a cold pint) upon reaching Newmachar. In typical 'Bear Grylls' style, we headed to the Britannia Hotel on the A96 at Bucksburn for a cheap nights kip and must again praise the bar staff who were doing well to keep the beer flowing in the busy village bar. Our final jaunt was a 6 miles trip to Pittodrie via the railway station (so we could dump Capital's baggage), and it was great to see some friendly faces disembark on the train from Inverness as we arrived at the station. Pre-match drinks at the Caledonian were very welcome, and I must admit it was great to get a seat on the Travel Club bus home. This was only a training walk for the pair of us, but thanks to social networking, we were able to keep people up to date, receive words of encouragement, and ultimately place our bets for the 10p Bowling antics of which we take part Thank you to those that wished us well for this tough training session. It's certainly kicked me into touch before the main event on May 5th. I just hope we avoid Kilmarnock and St Mirren!!! 24th March 2012 Scottish Premier League Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen Aberdeen 0 - /media/images/club_badges/aberdeen.png TEAM: Brown, McArdle, Reynolds, Considine, Robertson, Clark (Chalali -58), Arnason (Pawlet -46), Jack, Rae, Vernon, Megginson (Fallon -68) ; SUBS: Langfield, Mawene, Mackie, Magennis; Booked: Mcardle, Chalali, Rae Sent Off: none Inverness C.T. 1 - Tade (10') /media/images/club_badges/inverness.png TEAM: Tuffey, Meekings, Tokely, Golobart, Shinnie, Tudur-Jones (Williams -83), Tansey (Proctor -68), Foran, Sutherland, Tade, McKay (Piermayr -60)- SUBS:Mathieson, Ross, Morrison, Winnall Booked: Shinnie, Meekings Sent Off: Meekings Referee S Finnie Attendance 8939