Inverness CT 1 - 1 Ayr United

League - Championship
Saturday, October 24th, 2020, 3:00 PM at Caledonian Stadium
Referee: Alan Muir
Inverness CT  Ayr United

Goalscorers
Nikolay Todorov (86)
Innes Cameron (57)

Team Managers
John Robertson Mark Kerr

Starting Eleven
Mark Ridgers
Robbie Deas
Wallace Duffy
Cameron Harper
Daniel Devine
Brad Mckay
Scott Allardice
Roddy MacGregor
Nikolay Todorov
James Keatings
Daniel Mackay
Viljami Sinisalo
Aaron Muirhead
Jack Baird
Sam Roscoe
Patrick Reading
Andy Murdoch
Joe Chalmers
Cameron Smith
Michael Moffat
Michael Miller
Bruce Anderson

Substitutes
Cameron Mackay
Ryan Fyffe
Lewis Hyde
Kai Kennedy
Shane Harkness
Jordan Houston
Innes Cameron
Michael Hewitt
Ellis Hare-Reid
Mark McKenzie
Mark Kerr
Paul Smith

Substitutions
Kai Kennedy for James Keatings (71)
Ryan Fyffe for Brad Mckay (75)
Innes Cameron -> Joe Chalmers (57)
Jordan Houston -> Michael Moffat (79)
Michael Hewitt -> Cameron Smith (90+2)

Bookings
Daniel Devine (54)
Scott Allardice (68)
Wallace Duffy (91)
Michael Miller (62)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 128 apps -
Robbie Deas 4 apps -
Wallace Duffy 4 apps -
Brad Mckay 142 apps7 goals
Cameron Harper 13 apps -
Daniel Devine 86 apps4 goals
Scott Allardice 4 apps -
Roddy MacGregor 31 apps -
Nikolay Todorov 35 apps9 goals
James Keatings 33 apps7 goals
Daniel Mackay 31 apps3 goals
Ryan Fyffe (sub) 1 app (debut) -
Kai Kennedy (sub) 1 app (debut) -

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Roddy MacGregor (18 years 312 days)
Oldest Player:Mark Ridgers (30 years 84 days)
Average Player Age:23 years 269 days
Domestic Players:9 (81.82 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Lewis Hyde (18 years 106 days)
Oldest Player:Mark Ridgers (30 years 84 days)
Average Player Age:22 years 140 days
Domestic Players:14 (87.50 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts
Kai Kennedy(Signed October 4th, 2020)
Ryan Fyffe(Signed July 1st, 2018)

Milestones

All square with Ayr.

Better late than never, the live stream burst onto the laptop 15 minutes before kick-off and it was game-on. Inverness had the first chance when Allardice headed off the underside of the bar, the ball adjudged not to have crossed the line. Todorov slid one just wide and young keeper Silisano made a couple of good saves to deny the eager hosts. Mark Ridgers made one great save and the ball ricocheted around the box like a game of bagatelle, but at the break it was 0-0 with Inverness making most of the running. Substitute Innes Cameron opened the scoring seconds after replacing Joe Chalmers before the hour. Nikolay Todorov squared matters with five minutes left. Ridgers denied Ayr at the death and a point apiece it was.

It's the first live streamed match from the Caledonian Stadium and Ayr United were the visitors on a blustery October Saturday afternoon. It's another covid restricted game so no spectators allowed into the stadium.

Nikolay Todorov was deemed fit enough to start, but Inverness were without Miles Storey, Sean Welsh, James Vincent, Aaron Doran, Lewis Toshney, Kevin McHattie, and David Carson. Shane Sutherland never made the squad either but Kai Kennedy would be available. Not a great start to the season for Inverness injury wise. That is possibly an award winning statement.

Ayr have Luke McCowan suspended and Tom Walsh is out with a hamstring injury. New signing Cammy Smith started with Innes Cameron on the bench.

What could possibly go wrong in the first live streamed game from the Caledonian Stadium. Well, that's another debate, it was watchable suffice to say. Maybe the camera's will be moved to the West side gantray as the low Autumn sun was causing as much havoc as the assistant referee's hairless head.

On the park Todorov rattled the bar with a powered header and the ball bounced down and away in the first five minutes. Great effort from the midfielder, the ball appeared to hit the bar, line, bar, line then scrambled away. Ooft!

Ridgers made a superb one handed save in the 17th minute and from the following scrambulation, the ball ricocheted around before Brad Mckay popped up on the line to scoop clear.

Cameron Harper fired a powerful free kick round the wall from the edge of the box but the keeper kept it out as Inverness controlled the pace of the game.

Toddy went through on goal on a great ball forward but managed to hit the stanchion behind the goal instead of bulging the net. Good power from the big man, pity bout the finish. A loose ball on the angle of the box was curled wide as the hosts looked likeliest to open the scoring and a wonderful swift break from our own box saw Harper fed through on the left. Unfortunately his powerful shot rose just over the bar. Cammy redeemed more than his voucher moment later when he hooked one off his own line following an Ayr raid. That was a mere distraction from the attacking intent of the hosts and Daniel Mackay sent a swerving shot on target from distance that the Ayr keeper saved brilliantly.

Half Time 0-0

However, we were undone by our own sloppiness just before the hour. Ayr substitute Innes Cameron slotted home calmly after an Inverness foray forward broke down tamely. Some shoddy backtracking and good speed from Ayr saw Cameron stroke the ball home tidily. Harsh on the hosts.

The goal spurred Ayr on and Ridgers stooped to gather a shot from 25 yards comfortably.

Kai Kennedy was introduced and he sent a long ball onto Toddy's head but the keeper gathered easily.

Some frantic defending kept Inverness at bay as we probed for an equaliser. It would come in the 85th minute as Toddy wheeled on a super cross into the penalty area from substitute Ryan Fyffe and he wheeled before hitting it early, low behind a static keeper. Great goal and no more than we deserved.

Into time added on and we had Ridgers to thank for pulling off a tremendous diving one handed save (think Mike Fraser against Celtic) to keep the score level. Top corner, top drawer.

Considering our circumstances this was a good result with eight players missing. The debate about the streaming rages on elsewhere......

Match report written by tm4tj



None.

Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Raith Rovers 2 2 0 0 8 2 6 6
2. Dunfermline 2 2 0 0 7 2 5 6
3. Hearts 2 2 0 0 7 2 5 6
4. Ayr United 2 1 1 0 3 2 1 4
5. Morton 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3
6. Dundee 2 1 0 1 3 6 -3 3
7. Inverness CT 2 0 1 1 2 4 -2 1
8. Queen of the South 2 0 0 2 3 7 -4 0
9. Alloa Athletic 2 0 0 2 1 5 -4 0
10. Arbroath 2 0 0 2 0 4 -4 0