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Mission Accomplished A tremendous effort from Inverness as they won their fifth game in a row to put pressure on Dunfermline ahead of the game on Saturday, where a bumper crowd will be expected to see if Inverness can keep the dream alive. Iain Vigurs scored the only goal of the game to take all three points North. He will be a big miss over the next couple of games as bookings catch up with him Dumbarton forked off the water and it was game on at the Your Radio 103FM Stadium, or to put it another way, The Rock. Tuesday nights game was put on hold for another day as surface water led to the game being postponed for 24 hours. Coll Donaldson returned to the starting XI after suspension with Collin Seedorf dropping to the bench alongside Carl Tremarco, Charlie Trafford and Jake Mulraney. Stevie Aitken reinstated Dimitris Froxylias from the bench............... Riccardo Calder had to make a timely tackle to thwart Mark Stewart as he raced through on goal in the early exchanges and at the other end Iain Vigurs played in hat-trick hero Nathan Austin who saw his effort saved by Gallacher. Minutes later Calder found Vigurs in the box but he shot over. Tom Walsh blew a good chance for the Sons with a header but he put it just wide. Bright start by both sides and Dumbarton looked more intent than they were at the weekend taking the game to the visitors at every opportunity in the first quarter. Gary Warren had to be replaced midway through the first half after going down off the ball and Collin Seedorf entered the fray. Just after the half hour Vigurs went close after being set up in the box by George Oakley but the score remained blank. Polworth took out Dougie Hill as he blocked a shot from the Inverness man. Ouch! Seedorf did likewise at the other end as Stewart threatened to offload. Despite Inverness ramping up the pressure on the home goal, few clear chances were created and it's all square at the break. As expected, this was a much tougher experience than the rout at Inverness. Half Time 0-0 Aaron Doran had the first chance of the second half after Polworth fed him but he shot over the bar. Iain Vigurs broke the deadlock after Gallacher failed to deal effectively with a Calder cross and the midfielder slashed the ball low into the net from the edge of the box ten minutes after the break. Calder fired over soon after and Doran saw the keeper gather his attempt as the visitors looked to get some breathing space. Dumbarton had to exchange keeper Gallacher after he appeared to go over his ankle and he was replaced by Jamie Ewings with sixty-seven minutes gone. Inverness took the opportunity to swap Doran for Carl Tremarco at the same time. Inverness won a spate of corners to no avail. Connor Bell replaced Nathan Austin and Ewings saved a twenty yard effort from Polworth as the game entered time added on. Donaldson saw an effort blocked out for a corner but at the other end Brad Mckay had to look lively to stop Dumbarton bursting through. Inverness got what they wanted though and the game ended with the visitors taking all three points North. Full Time 0-1 It might have been more comfortable for the guys on the park, but it was certainly much tighter than the game in the Highlands. A single goal lead is never easy to manage and the balance between looking for a cushion or shutting up shop is a fine one. We did just that and could easily have extended our lead but it was imperative that we kept Dumbarton out at the other end. Mission accomplished and the game on Saturday is now a massive one. Three wins to get into the play-offs, who would have thought. Comedy genius was provided by the stewards who felt the need to make Gary Warren drink out of a cup instead of a bottle. Gary had come to sit in the stand to watch the second half after going off injured. However, he got a telling off from the steward for having a bottle of water and has been required to put it in a plastic cup. Tut tut Gary, you really should have known better. Always a bother with water at Dumbarton. Robbo talks after the narrow win at Dumbarton Date: 18/04/2018 Venue: Your Radio 103FM Dumbarton Attendance: 0392 Referee: Don Robertson Dumbarton: 0 Lineup: Gallacher; (Ewings 67), McLaughlin (Hutton 74), Dowie, G Gallagher, Carswell, Stewart, (Gallagher 62), Walsh, Hill, Froxylias, Burt, Barr. Subs (not used): D Wilson, Handling, Nisbet, Stirling. Scorers: none Booked: Hill (47), Hutton (76) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Ridgers; Mckay, Warren (Seedorf 25), Donaldson, Calder, Chalmers, Vigurs, Polworth, Doran (Tremarco 67), Austin (Bell 88), Oakley. Subs (not used): Esson, Mulraney, Elbouzedi, Trafford. Scorers: Vigurs (56) Booked: Mckay (57), Donaldson (87) Sent Off: none a

Vigurs Screamer Rescues Point A tremendous strike from Iain Vigurs earned Inverness a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie after Niall McGinn had opened the scoring soon after the break with an angled drive that found the far corner of Fon Williams' net. Inverness came off the bottom of the table with a hard fought draw against Aberdeen, but I suspect that next weeks visitors to the Highlands will prove to be a tougher nut to crack with Celtic overwhelming the Rangers 5-1 in the first Old Firm League game since the blue teams demise some four or five years ago. Richie Foran handed Brad Mckay his debut at right back with Alex Fisher chosen to lead the line and Lonsana Doumbouya a substitute. Jonny Hayes returned for Aberdeen but Peter Pawlett started on the bench along with new signing James Maddison. The opening minutes were somewhat scrappy. Misplaced passes from both sides were in abundance as the ball exchanged hands, or more correctly, feet, at regular intervals. Inverness were first to serve notice that there was a game on and when the ball came to Polworth inside the box, he smashed a shot off the top of the bar from twelve yards. That was after around fifteen minutes of slackness. That was the nearest either side came in a cagey first half, more akin to a chess game where it ended in stalemate at the break. Half Time 0-0 Inverness started the second on the front foot and Ross Draper was unlucky to see a volley deflected just wide as we surged forward. However it was the Dons that opened the scoring in slightly controversial circumstances. Liam Polworth looked to be fouled in the centre of the park. Crawford Allan saw it differently and play continued as Polworth lay prostrate on the grass. The ball reached Niall McGinn wide on the left and he stepped inside before hitting a low drive right across the keeper from a wide angle but the ball nestled in the bottom corner to give the Dons the lead. That was a goal that came out of the blue and it unsettled the visitors for a while. Wes Burns showed his pace as he drove at the Caley Jags defence which had parted momentarily, but his shot went wide with others expecting a pass. Vigurs was robbed outside his own penalty box and Adam Rooney almost replicated the opening goal. This time, Fon Williams read the script and dived headlong to keep the ball out as the Dons started to turn the screw. But, as we showed last week, we are not beaten until the fat lady sings. Draper won a tussle in the midfield and when the ball came to Vigurs some twenty five yards out, he crashed an unstoppable shot off the underside of the bar, despite the acrobatics of keeper Lewis. What a strike, as Arthur Montford would say, he absolutely blootered the ball into the top corner. Aberdeen upped the pressure in the final ten minutes looking for a winner but our defence held firm reasonably comfortable apart from one final push from the hosts where the ball was not cleared properly but Meekings was on hand to keep the ball out. Full Time 1-1 A well deserved share of the points and you will be hard pushed to see a better goal than Iain Vigurs effort. Although statistics will show that there were few shots on target, this was always an intriguing contest with plenty of wee cameo roles going on. We looked fairly solid at the back for most of the game and the midfield competed well. If any criticism can be given, then we lacked the defence splitting pass and gave away possession too easily in the final third. However, a point at Pittodrie is not to be scoffed at and we would have taken that prior to kick off. Video from https://www.youtube.com/user/splofficial Brad Mckay put in a decent shift on his debut and will be difficult to drop on that performance. Fon Williams was more assured as were the whole back line and the middle men kept the Aberdeen play-makers quiet. Alex Fisher battled tirelessly with little service and it was great to have Doran on the park showing flashes of sublime control and the bustling style from Doumbouya will reap rewards throughout the season. Plenty to look forward to for the rest of the season and Celtic will be prudent to be wary of us next week, despite everyone writing us off. Only downside at Pittodrie was the local stewards getting heavy handed with some young upstarts just after we scored. Cromwellian attitudes are alive and well at Pittodrie. Date: 10/09/16 Venue: Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen Attendance: 11,356 Referee: Crawford Allan Aberdeen: 1 Lineup: Lewis, Logan, O'Connor, Taylor, Considine, Shinnie (Maddison 33), Burns (Pawlett 77), McGinn, Hayes (Stockley 84) McLean, Rooney. Subs (not used): Alexander, Storie, Storey McKenna. Scorers: McGinn (51) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, B Mckay, Warren, Meekings, Tremarco, Tansey, Polworth, Draper, King (Horner 90+4), Vigurs (Doran 75), Fisher (Doumbouya 63) Subs (not used): C Mackay, Raven, Mulraney, Boden. Scorers: Vigurs (68) Booked: Tansey (31) Tremarco (45), King (45+1) Sent Off: none