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Academicals taught a lesson in second period. Inverness were looking to end a dismal record against the Accies in their SPL encounters, and they did it in style. Once again Dougie Imrie scored the opener in the first half to make the visitors task more difficult, but a superb second half from the Highlanders saw an Adam Rooney double and a single from Jonny Hayes make the points secure and extend the fantastic away run to 17 games unbeaten in the leagues. This victory keeps Inverness inside the top six, only one point behind fourth placed Motherwell. 13th November 2010 New Douglas Park, Hamilton HAMILTON ACADEMICAL 1 - Imrie (29) TEAM: Cerny, Graham, Buchanan, Elebert, Mensing, Goodwin, Imrie, Kirkpatrick (M. Paixaio 57), Routledge (Lyle 75), Casalinuovo, Hopkirk (F. Paixao 57) SUBS: Murdoch, Canning, McLaughlin, Skelton - Booked: Imrie (48), Mensing (88) INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE 3 - Rooney (49,59), Hayes (52) TEAM: Esson, Tokely, Munro, Shinnie, McCann, Duff, Hayes, Morrison (Cox 64), Ross, Foran (Odhiambo 89), Rooney SUBS: Tuffey, Golabek, McBain, Sanchez - Booked: Foran (44), Shinnie (85) Referee Steve McLean Attendance 2019 A couple of milestones were reached today, Ross Tokely made his 500th start out of 531 appearances, and Eric Odhiambo created his own little piece of news gaining his 50th appearance when he came on as a late sub near the end. More for the stato's next week as the Hibs game will be the Inverness clubs 600th league match, and take that a week later to Parkhead, and Adam Rooney will make his century of appearances for ICT with a tremendous return of 43 goals from 100 games, barring injury of course. Alternative Maryhill is your reporter for this game, and I believe he kept his shoes on this time. Hamilton Academical 1 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 So the amazing away run is preserved, for at least another two weeks. At half time yesterday, however, it looked as though it might just peter out against a team that has been a thorn in ICT’s side since its return to the SPL. Yesterday was a day of contrasts: between an ICT side that was at best tentative and at worst feckless in the first half, and one that was absolutely commanding and clinical in the second, and between a support that was subdued and fatalistic at half time and one that was dancing in the little lego stands at the final whistle. However he does it, it seems Terry Butcher had managed to inspire the players to turn things round once again. Another contrast was between the Chambers that I visited last time out in Hamilton, and the one I experienced yesterday. Anyone who was in there prior to the Shoegate match in 2009 would be forgiven for having a fixed impression of the place as a world-class centre of entertainment. Even without the boost given by an invasion of Highlanders hungry for the manager’s head, you might expect to find a few rows of flat-capped ex-miners and the occasional whippet, but when I arrived slightly later than usual yesterday, the place was deserted apart from a dozen of the ICT Away hardcore. The mood was muted: unusually civilised conversation and the occasional snore emanating from Red Card in Warsaw. What sort of person falls asleep in a pub?... Anyway, although we weren’t boosting his profits as much as we did last time, Douglas behind the bar was as gracious and welcoming as ever, and if, as is conceivable, yesterday turns out to be the last time we visit Hamilton for a while, he deserves thanks for his hospitality. The next challenge was to find the ground. On paper, New Douglas Park looks like a gentle ten-minute stroll from Chambers; in reality it is better hidden than Saddam Hussein’s bunker, surrounded by a network of supermarkets, car parks and railway lines, from within which the floodlights taunt you as you make yet another fruitless attempt to find the correct way through. After several false starts, we made it into the ground just in time for kick off. Despite a reported stomach muscle injury to Richie Foran and the availability of Lee Cox, Terry Butcher stuck with the team that won against Aberdeen in midweek, with Gavin Morrison and Nick Ross playing in central midfield alongside Stuart Duff, and the holy trinity of Foran, Hayes and Rooney in the attacking areas. As with much of the game against Aberdeen, however, the players struggled to impose themselves on the game in the first half, and Hamilton looked the more composed and dangerous side. There were few clear-cut chances in the early part of the game, apart from a drive from Jordan Kirkpatrick that Ryan Esson had to beat away, but most of Hamilton’s good play came through Dougie Imrie, who gave Graeme Shinnie a difficult time and won three free kicks against the young Inverness left back in the first twelve minutes. I’ve got to say that I agree with Naelifts’ point on the matchday thread that the nature of some of the abuse dished out to Imrie by the ICT support is pretty unnecessary. For one thing, it trivialises an issue that is too important to be trivialised for the sake of winding up a footballer; for another, it only seems to succeed in making Imrie play better against us. There was an inevitability about the fact that it was Imrie who opened the scoring yesterday, with a beautifully-judged first-time lob over Ryan Esson from the edge of the penalty area from Damian Casalinuovo’s headed flick-on, and throughout the first half he was the most effective player on the pitch and also got the better of a little personal duel with Richie Foran, eventually goading the Caley Thistle captain into earning himself an unnecessary yellow card for a frustrated retaliatory challenge on Imrie just before half time. Half time arrived without ICT having made a serious attempt on goal apart from an early Foran header wide and with the unbeaten record looking under threat. As mentioned earlier, the Caley Thistle away support was a little quieter and more subdued than at most recent games, but despite this, the stewards still felt the need to make an example of somebody and picked on interthenet jnr seemingly at random. Happily, the two-stands-and-a-wigwam design of New Douglas Park means that being huckled does not necessarily spell the end of your footballing afternoon, and within five minutes of being thrown out, itn jnr had reappeared on top of a container in the loading bay of Sainsbury’s: the best seat in the house. If the petty stewarding was typical of Scottish football, however, big kudos has to go to the Hamilton match-day DJ for his originality. Not for him the anodyne MOR supporters are normally subjected to at half time: instead, we were treated to a rich stew of funk, soul and jazz that was more redolent of a summer night in Manhattan than a chilly afternoon in South Lanarkshire. Half Time : 1-0 Into the second half, then, and Caley Thistle started with more purpose than they had shown in the whole first half. There was, nevertheless, a large slice of luck about the opening goal. Grant Munro sent a chest-high, bouncing ball speculatively in the direction of the Hamilton penalty area from deep inside his own half; it looked like it would be an easy clearance for David Elebert, but somehow he misjudged the flight of ball almost completely, allowing it to bounce off his knee and behind him for Rooney to run on to and fire past Tomas Cerny from about sixteen yards. A gift of a goal, in truth, but it demonstrated that Rooney had not lost any of his coolness or composure in front of goal despite making a few bad decisions against Aberdeen on Tuesday night. From the moment the goal went in, the fight seemed to go out of Hamilton and ICT took control of the game. Within four minutes, they were in the lead, and again the Hamilton defence did not look very clever. Nick Ross, one of ICT’s best players yesterday, turned on the left hand side and slung a cross into the box. It didn’t seem a particularly dangerous ball, but Adam Rooney’s presence seemed to confuse the defenders and Jonny Hayes pounced on the loose ball before it could be cleared and blasted it home from just outside the six yard box. Billy Reid’s response was to take off two of the youngsters that had started the game, striker David Hopkirk and midfielder Jordan Kirkpatrick, replacing them with Jedward the Paixao twins, but just two minutes after the change, Caley Thistle scored the goal that effectively killed off the game. Jonny Hayes, who had a superb second half after having drifted in and out of the game in the first, took a pass from Duff and floated over a cross from the right hand side and Adam Rooney, on the left hand side of the penalty area, outjumped his marker to head powerfully back over Cerny and into the net. Three goals in ten minutes, and now no-one in the stands was in any doubt that ICT would extend their unbeaten away run. For most of the rest of the match, ICT remained firmly in control. There was one genuine scare in the Inverness penalty area when Esson had to block a Flavio Paixao effort from close range, and Dougie Imrie had a curling shot from outside the area held easily by Esson, but in the last fifteen minutes any Hamilton challenge simply faded away. One pleasing aspect of the closing period was the opportunity afforded to Lee Cox to make his comeback from injury. He had a solid half hour which included one glorious touchline tackle on Dougie Imrie that cleaned out ball and man; the sort of steel that we had been missing in the first half. A more worrying detail was the substitution of Richie Foran a couple of minutes before time, apparently with an ankle injury. He had already looked to be struggling with the stomach injury, and had had one of his quieter games: perhaps it is time for the manager to consider resting him, in the hope that he will be back to full fitness for the Celtic game in two weeks, when his experience will be vital. Full Time : 1-3 And so to the final contrast of the day: the one between the feeling at full time last time ICT played in Hamilton, and the feeling at the final whistle yesterday. In January 2009, it was boiling frustration, fear of relegation (justified as it turned out) and anger at a manager who seemed oblivious to the fact that he had alienated supporters and players to an extent that his reputation at the club could never recover; yesterday, it was satisfaction, pride, optimism and a real sense of respect and unity between fans, players and management, with Terry Butcher conducting the fans in a chorus of cheers before disappearing triumphantly up the tunnel. To refer again to Naelifts’ post on the matchday thread, something special is going on with ICT at the moment, and I really hope that the club can sell out its allocation for the Celtic game and that we can make it a proper party for a year unbeaten on the road.

ICT looking to banish Hamilton Hoodoo. Inverness Caledonian Thistle make the long trek to New Douglas Park, Hamilton, to face their bogey side from their last SPL season. Hamilton Academical dealt Inverness some harsh lessons two years ago winning eight points with the Caley Jags gaining only two. These points lost proved crucial as Inverness were relegated at the end of the season. Hamilton again showed that they have mastered our style of play by winning the first fixture this season at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, Dougie Imrie thrashing the ball into the home net before most bums were on their seats. Scoring goals is at a premium in these contests, neither side scoring more than one in any SPL match. You would have to cast your mind back to season 2002/2003 when Inverness put a few past the Accies in a Scottish Cup meeting. That was our last victory over Hamilton and it came in the Scottish Cup 4th round. Hamilton had opened the scoring in the second minute in that match, but we cruised into the quarter-finals, banging home six goals into the bargain. Alternative Maryhill looks ahead to this SPL clash. He has a more in depth analysis of the game and it's surroundings. Heres hoping there's no need to take our shoes off during this game as Inverness look to extend the unbeaten away run for another week. Hamilton Academical v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, 14th November 2010. Two of Scottish football’s more distinctive names clash at New Douglas Park on Saturday. It is a little-mentioned fact that Hamilton Academical shared the honour (with Heart of Midlothian) of having the longest club name in Scottish football until Inverness Caledonian Thistle entered the league and claimed the title outright. For this presumption, Hamilton Accies have been punishing us ever since. For reasons that will become apparent, the South Lanarkshire burgh of Hamilton is a place that is relatively unfamiliar to most Caley Thistle supporters: many probably perceive it as just another Buckfast-addled satellite of Glasgow. So, in the interest of improving understanding and empathy among Scottish football fans, here are a few more fascinating facts that you may or may not have known about Hamilton: • Hamilton is home to the world’s largest known mausoleum outside the pyramids at Giza. It was built for celebrated Scottish pharaoh Alexander Douglas-Hamilton. • Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton, was also responsible for much of the construction of Hamilton Palace, at one time Scotland’s largest and grandest stately home. It was demolished in 1921 after it began to sink into the ground as a result of the mine workings underneath it. This could be taken as a metaphor for the fate of several Scottish football clubs. • In contrast to rugby, where every second club seems to have its roots in sweaty congress in a school pavilion, only one Scottish football club is known to have originated from a school team. The name of the club? Hamilton Academical. • Many illustrious Scots can boast a Hamilton nativity. These include Jackie Bird, James MacPherson (Jardine from Taggart) and Barry Ferguson. History of the Fixture One of the most surprising aspects of this fixture is that despite both teams having spent the decade between 1994 and 2004 touring all three of the lower Scottish divisions, the clubs did not meet on league business until season 2008-09, when Hamilton joined Caley Thistle in the SPL. During the period that ICT were ascending through the third and second divisions, Hamilton were an established first division side, but in season 1998-99, when Caley Thistle achieved promotion to the first division for the first time, Accies were relegated to the second, and they followed that with relegation to the third the next season after being deducted 15 points for failing to fulfil a fixture against Stenhousemuir. By the time Hamilton had climbed their way back to the first division for the start of season 2004-05, Caley Thistle were beginning their first spell in the SPL. So these two clubs were, until relatively recently, the proverbial ships that pass in the night. And on the basis of results between the teams since they finally became direct league rivals, Inverness supporters would be justified in wishing Hamilton’s ship had sunk to the bottom of the Clyde, as Caley Thistle have yet to record a league win against the Lanarkshire side in five meetings. Indeed, the only wins ICT have ever recorded against Accies came in a pre-season friendly in 1998, when Duncan Shearer and Scott Mclean scored in a 2-0 home win, and in round four of the Scottish Cup in 2003, when doubles from Dennis Wyness and Barry Robson and further goals from Paul Ritchie and Stuart McCaffrey secured a 6-1 win that set up Caley Thistle’s second historic Scottish Cup victory over Celtic. Not much to celebrate then, but the five league games between the clubs have had their share of memorable moments. The first game of 2008-09, in Inverness, finished 1-0 to Accies, after a horrible error by Jamie Duff just before half time allowed Richard Offiong to run through on goal and score. The next fixture, in Hamilton, will go down in history as the game that brought the curtain down on Craig Brewster’s disastrous second spell in charge of ICT. The match itself was depressingly predictable: Caley Thistle’s players fought hard but lacked any composure, Accies calmly soaked up the pressure and gained the victory through a 39th-minute penalty from Simon Mensing after Grant Munro’s foul on Joel Thomas. The occasion, however, was something else. One of Caley Thistle’s biggest travelling supports in recent seasons marshalled itself defiantly in Chambers Bar, determined to see either dramatic improvement or managerial change, and after it became clear that the former wasn’t going to happen, the shoes came off in the stands and the shoogly peg supporting Craig Brewster’s thermal anorak finally plopped to the floor. One entertaining by-product of this was the Shoegate scandal which occupied the local press in the Highlands for the next few days; the more significant outcome was the appointment of Terry Butcher to the Inverness manager’s position. Even Terry and Mo were not able to break the Hamilton hoodoo, and two 1-1 draws only three weeks apart went a long way to sealing Caley Thistle’s relegation, but the silver lining was, of course, that the ICT that spent a season in the first division appear to have come back a much stronger team. Stronger, that is, except where Hamilton are concerned. Caley Thistle went into the first game between the teams this season buoyant after a superb 4-0 victory against Dundee Utd, while Hamilton were reeling after successive 4-0 defeats to Aberdeen and Hearts. Invernessian optimism lasted exactly 38 seconds before former ICT player Dougie Imrie rifled a 25-yard drive past Ryan Esson. Thereafter Caley Thistle huffed and puffed to little effect, and the most noteworthy aspect of the afternoon was the disproportionate amount of abuse handed out to Imrie, a player who served ICT reasonably well but who was ultimately deemed surplus to requirements by Terry Butcher. Here’s hoping that on Saturday, Imrie is simply ignored by the supporters in the stand and overshadowed on the pitch by the quality Caley Thistle have to offer. Current Form and Team News On paper, Caley Thistle should go into this game as firm favourites. Unbeaten away from home since November 28th of last year, with Tuesday’s disciplined win against Aberdeen the most recent game in that sequence, ICT have amassed 18 points from their first 12 SPL games and sit comfortably in fifth position, seven places and nine points ahead of bottom club Hamilton. Accies, moreover, have yet to win at home this season. Yet recent history tells us that form goes out the window where this fixture is concerned. Caley Thistle’s great start to the season has been achieved in spite of some potentially debilitating injury problems, with young players like Nick Ross, Graeme Shinnie and most recently Gavin Morrison having risen to the challenge of SPL football impressively. For this game, ICT are still likely to be without Russell Duncan, Kenny Gillet, David Proctor, Chris Innes and Gil Blumenshtein. A defence of McCann, Tokely, Munro and Shinnie more or less picks itself, then, and Butcher is unlikely to rest any of the attacking trinity of Hayes, Foran and Rooney, even though none of them were at their best against Aberdeen. The manager’s biggest decision will be how his midfield lines up. Will he retain the personnel that ground out the victory against Aberdeen, will Gavin Morrison make way for recent injury rehabilitee Lee Cox, or might the manager opt for a more attacking line-up and restore Eric Odhiambo to the starting eleven? Half a wasted evening of trawling through the official Accies website and various other online resources has yielded very little information about the current extent of Hamilton’s injury problems; indeed, every official match preview in the last month has announced brightly, ‘Billy Reid has no fresh injury problems to concern himself with’, which begs the question, how many points would Hamilton have if they did have more injury problems? Two likely factors in Hamilton’s poor form this season, though, are the absence of their captain Alex Neil, who has been out since pre-season with a damaged hip, and the transfer of James McArthur to Wigan during the summer. Aside from that, players who made a big impression last season, such as the Paixao twins and the aforementioned Dougie Imrie, have failed to find the same form this year, signings such as Gary McDonald and Damian Casalinuovo have yet to make any impact and veterans such as Mark McLaughlin and Simon Mensing are, according to supporters on various websites, struggling to maintain any solidity in the Accies defence. One player who has caught the eye of many is attacker Nigel Hasselbaink, who scored the winner recently in a surprise 1-0 away win against Motherwell, yet for all his skill, he has only two league goals this season, and having been substituted in only 23 minutes in Hamilton’s midweek defeat to Kilmarnock with an apparent hamstring injury, it is possible that he will miss the Caley Thistle game and that the Accies website will, at long last, have a fresh injury to report. ***Latest Team News*** Inverness have a new doubt over Shane Sutherland who has been suffering from tonsilitus. The young striker made an impact coming on against Motherwell and almost brought about an equaliser, but he is struggling to make this one. Duncan and Cox have been back in training this week, although it may be too early for either of them to start the game. Butcher acknowledges the lack of victories over the Accies and is looking to rectify that. Hamilton will be without captain Alex Neil and long term absentee James Gibson. Nigel Hasselbaink looks set to join them on the sidelines with a hamstring injury. The nineteen year old striker gave Inverness defenders a torrid time in the reverse fixture and will be sorely missed by Accies. He may well be out for a couple of weeks. This should allow Damien Casalinuovo an opportunity to establish himself in the starting eleven. Billy Reid has targetted Jonny Hayes as the danger man and will be looking for his defence to contain him. Prediction For a fixture that would defy rhyme, reason, logic and the late-lamented psychic octopus, I can only follow my heart: Hamilton 1 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2