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3 league games, and two Europa League games into the season and it is clear that Caley Thistle are certainly not firing on all cylinders up top ! After 270 league minutes and 180 European ones its a tally of only a single goal from Ryan Christie. This time last year we had amassed a solid 7 points from 3 games scoring 4 times in the process and conceding none. Its going to be a long hard season ...... @ICTRoughi provides the report from this game ..... Inverness shared the points with Partick Thistle which again like last Saturday could have been all three. Caley Thistle added to the squad before the game in the shape of former ICT player Iain Vigurs. Caley Thistle started the game well with a quick surge of attack but like most of the first half it didn’t really mount to much and we unfortunately had no end product in the final third. In the first 15 minutes Mathias Pogba was forced off due to an injury in which they replaced him with Kris Doolan who can be quite a handful up front but Ross Draper and Danny Devine like the St Johnstone game combined for a good defensive pairing. Since Gary Warren and Josh Meekings have been out of the side since their injuries, I have been particularly pleased with the performance that Devine has been giving - very intelligent defending. After Pogba went off, the game seemed to open up and the two teams looked evenly matched. Kris Doolan nearly made it a perfect start for him after found space to drill the ball however Owain Fon Williams was quick to react and pushed past the post. Where I was positioned in the north stand, it looked like an outstanding save. Half Time: 0-0 Caley Thistle again started the half in frantic fashion and then gaining a corner but unfortunately it never mounted to much. The two teams continued to battle in the middle of the park and Dani Lopez nearly got his first goal for the club with a shot outside the box but unfortunately went to the right of the goal. Partick Thistle nearly got the opener when Steven Lawless’s powerful shot forced Owain Fon Williams into another top notch save which bounced off the crossbar. On the hour mark, John Hughes made the substitution of bringing on Iain Vigurs replacing Lewis Horner. After 30 seconds of Vigurs being on the pitch, he received a booking for pretty much annihilating Abdul Osman - good start. Around about 10 minutes later, Inverness got a free kick in dangerous territory. Caley Thistle fans had previously stated that his free kicks will become an asset to the club and they were nearly proven right when his free kick was drilled low and fizzled past the post. For the final 20 minutes of the game Inverness started to bombard Partick Thistle with attack after after attack in which Danny Williams was the starting point of the attack. You would actually be forgiven if you thought that Graeme Shinnie was playing left back tonight because Williams was that good. Unfortunately like the game itself, chances were being wasted. Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo done really well in the dying minutes of the game to get the past the Thistle defenders but unfortunately Tomas Cerny got the better of him, it just wasn’t going to be our night. Full Time: 0-0 I suppose it will only get better for us unless you have to go to Celtic Park after they themselves dropped points - gulp! Date: 12/08/15 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3141 Referee: Stephen Finnie Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Draper, Devine, Tansey, Horner (Vigurs 64), Williams, Polworth, Christie, Mbuyi-Mutombo, Lopez Subs (not used): Esson, Tremarco, Brown, Sutherland Scorers: none Booked: Tansey (63), Vigurs (66) Sent Off: none Partick Th: 0 Lineup: Cerny, Miller, Welsh, Booth, Osman, Amoo (Wilson 75), Bannigan, Lawless, Frans, Lindsay, Pogba (Doolan 18) Subs (not used): Scully, Seabourne, Stevenson, Hendry, Fraser Scorers: none Booked: Osman (34), Bannigan (48) Sent Off: none

Third time’s a charm Next up for Inverness Caley Thistle is Partick Thistle at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in this week’s midweek fixture card. Caley Thistle currently sit 9th place in the table only gaining 1 point from the first two games of the season. Partick sit in at 11th having also started in similar style to Inverness where they only picked up 1 point however Thistle have failed to score a goal so far. Both teams will be eagerly looking to get their first win of the season which should make for a good game to watch for the spectators. Last Saturday saw Caley Thistle earn a hard a fought point which could have easily been all three. The performance at McDiarmid park was undoubtedly a massive improvement from the previous week and Yogi got the boys fired up for this one from the off as it only took a mere 9 minutes for Ryan Christie to drill the ball into the back of the net. I was pleasantly surprised with the ‘makeshift’ defence as I felt that Ross Draper and Danny Devine combined for a good defensive pairing. Liam Polworth got the nod ahead of Nat Wedderburn and it proved to be the correct decision by Yogi as he put in a good shift in the middle of the park with a range of very good passing play from the local lad. As the game went on the Inverness players started to tire and Tommy Wright brought on Graham Cummins who headed a bitterly frustrating equaliser for St Johnstone. Partick Thistle hosted last year’s league champions Celtic at Firhill. Celtic got all three points in what seemed to be a dominant 2-0 victory for the parkhead side. It was also said that the Jags played the game without a real striker and a couple of important players in defence were missing through injury/suspension - sound familiar? Tomorrow night’s game will see Pogba grace the highlands for the first time. Fortunately for the Caley Jags it will not be Juventus superstar Paul Pogba, it will be his older brother Mathias Pogba brought in from Crawley Town following his release. All the eyes will be firmly on how Pogba will fare against Inverness especially with the ‘makeshift’ back four. Alan Archibald has also added David Amoo from Carlisle United, Callum Booth and Tomas Cerny from Hibernian and also Gary Miller from St Johnstone. Thankfully for Caley Thistle, Partick Thistle will be without winger Kallum Higginbotham after he departed for Kilmarnock. Conrad Balatoni, James Craigen, Ryan Finnie, Scott Fox, Dale Keenan, Stephen O’Donnell and Ben Richards-Everton also left the club in the summer window. Last season’s results against Partick do not really paint a good picture for Inverness especially in the home fixture. Since Partick Thistle got promoted back up to the top flight in 2013, Caley Thistle have only won once against them at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. Inverness New signing Iain Vigurs could make his second debut for the club tonight. Aaron Doran, Carl Tremarco and James Vincent could make a return to the side. Richie Foran, Josh Meekings and Jordan Roberts remain doubtful ahead of the game. Dean Brill and Gary Warren remain on the sidelines due to long term injuries. Partick Thistle Frederic Frans returns from his one match suspension. Steven Lawless and Danny Seaborne are injury doubts. Christie Elliot will be unavailable for the visitors. ICTRoughi’s prediction:- I honestly think we will pick up our first win of the season here. Partick Thistle always had our number last season in the league but I think the tides will change and we will get a good hard fought win.

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