Livingston 0 - 1 Inverness CT

League Match
Tuesday, April 24th, 2018, 3:00 PM at Tony Macaroni Arena, Livingston
Attendance: 740
Referee: Colin Steven
Livingston Inverness CT

Goalscorers
None. Liam Polworth (46)

Team Managers
David Hopkin John Robertson

Starting Eleven
Gary Maley
Jack McMillan
Jackson Longridge
Gregor Buchanan
Declan Gallagher
Josh Mullin
Adam Frizzell
Raffaele De Vita
Jordan Thompson
Ryan Hardie
Scott Robinson
Mark Ridgers
Coll Donaldson
Carl Tremarco
Brad Mckay
Collin Seedorf
Joe Chalmers
Charlie Trafford
Aaron Doran
Liam Polworth
George Oakley
Connor Bell

Bench
Neil Alexander
Shaun Byrne
Scott Pittman
Nicholas Cadden
Keaghan Jacobs
Lee Miller
Craig Halkett
Ryan Esson
Jack Brown
Riccardo Calder
Jake Mulraney
Zak Elbouzedi
Daniel Mackay
Nathan Austin

Substitutions
Lee Miller -> Jack McMillan (71)
Nicholas Cadden -> Josh Mullin (58)
Craig Halkett -> Adam Frizzell (71)
Jake Mulraney for Aaron Doran (60)
Zak Elbouzedi for Connor Bell (86)

Bookings
None. None.

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 43 apps -
Coll Donaldson 32 apps1 goal
Collin Seedorf 18 apps -
Brad Mckay 72 apps3 goals
Carl Tremarco 138 apps12 goals
Joe Chalmers 44 apps5 goals
Aaron Doran 195 apps27 goals
Charlie Trafford 27 apps -
Liam Polworth 159 apps15 goals
George Oakley 43 apps10 goals
Connor Bell 35 apps7 goals
Jake Mulraney (sub) 64 apps2 goals
Zak Elbouzedi (sub) 4 apps -

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Connor Bell (21 years 288 days)
Oldest Player:Carl Tremarco (32 years 203 days)
Average Player Age:25 years 48 days
Domestic Players:5 (45.45 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Jack Brown (16 years 275 days)
Oldest Player:Ryan Esson (38 years 45 days)
Average Player Age:24 years 100 days
Domestic Players:8 (44.44 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

All down to the final game: Despite beating Livingston 0-1, Inverness have left themselves too much to do on the final day of the season and will be in the Championship for another year........ unless miracles do happen and Dumbarton beat Dunfermline.

Robbo made one change from the side that agonisingly drew with Dunfermline at the weekend. Nathan Austin made his way to the bench with Connor Bell starting. Iain Vigurs sat out the second of his two game suspension, no doubt pleased that he has scooped the CTO Player of the year award as well as Players Player and Fans Player award.

Having secured second place in the Championship, David Hopkin rested one or two players with play-off games getting close. Neil Alexander, Craig Halkett, Nicky Cadden and Scott Pittman were all on the bench.

Plenty of posturing in the opening few minutes and a couple of free kicks for the visitors but nothing doing.

Early opportunity for the Caley Jags but Maley parried Polworth's free kick and grabbed the loose ball from Tremarco.

Frizzell forced Ridgers to save with his feet as Livi ventured forth and Robinson went close shortly after. From a corner, Tremarco cleared a goalbound effort and at the other end a Polworth effort was deflected just over.

Livi were racking up the corner count and Buchanan went close with a powerful header just over as the hosts set the pace.

Near the interval Mullin picked up the ball in the box and snapped a volley just wide, however we made it to the oranges without conceding, but playing second fiddle for most of the half. As it stands at the break, the play-offs are beyond Inverness. It looks as though Robbo will need to introduce a bit of width for the second half as the narrow approach was just not working.

Half Time 0-0

There must have been something good in the oranges. Less than one minute after the break a Tremarco cross came loose off Oakley and Polly drilled the ball low and hard into the net to open the scoring from twenty five yards. Superb strike from Polly. His next effort a couple of minutes later was less flattering. New balls please.

Jordan Thompson tried to replicate Liam Polworth's strike but missed the target. McMillan did likewise soon after.

Livi made their first change with Cadden replacing Mullin. Inverness reacted by bringing on Hearts target Jake Mulraney with Aaron Doran going off on the hour mark.

Polworth broke forward and his cut back found Chalmers but his low shot was gathered by Maley in the Livi goal. Polly becoming more prominent and he combined with Bell but his close range effort went over.

Livi made a double change with McMillan and Frizzell being replaced by Halkett and Miller as they tried to get back on level terms, but it was Oakley that went close for the visitors, his shot deflected behind for a corner with around twenty minutes left.

Ridgers did well to deny Ryan Hardie and from the corner, Declan Gallagher almost netted an equaliser.

Polworth blazed a thirty yard free kick wide and at the opposite end Craig Halkett fluffed his lines and shot wide. Livi were cranking up the pressure in the final ten minutes looking to preserve their eight game unbeaten home run, De Vita looking the likeliest to make the breakthrough. A Cadden corner was headed wide by Halkett as the clock ticked slowly towards the end, and we all know what happened at the weekend.

Oakley broke the home possession but his powerful shot was palmed away by Maley, and with five minutes left Zak Elbouzedi came on for Connor Bell.

Coll Donaldson took a knock in the last couple of minutes but Inverness held on to take the points and extend the season to the final game against Morton.

Full Time 0-1

So, it all boils down to the last scheduled day of the season after we beat Livingston to set up the play off qualifier against Morton. Unfortunately, after their late equaliser against us last weekend, Dunfermline can get the job done by taking a point from the visit of Dumbarton as we would need to score something like eight or nine goals to replace them in the play-offs.

Great result for Inverness who have given everything over the last hectic month and what a strike from Polworth to win the points.

Match report written by tm4tj



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. St. Mirren 35 23 5 7 63 35 28 74
2. Livingston 35 17 11 7 56 35 21 62
3. Dundee Utd 35 17 7 11 50 42 8 58
4. Dunfermline 35 15 11 9 56 35 21 56
5. Inverness CT 35 15 9 11 50 37 13 54
6. Queen of the South 35 13 10 12 54 52 2 49
7. Falkirk 35 11 11 13 44 49 -5 44
8. Dumbarton 35 7 9 19 27 59 -32 30
9. Brechin City 35 0 4 31 19 85 -66 4