Inverness CT 1 - 1 Hibernian

League Match
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008, 3:00 PM at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
Attendance: 4,022
Referee: E Smith
Inverness CT  Hibernian

Goalscorers
Don Cowie (21)
Nish (46)

Team Managers
Craig Brewster Mixu Paatelainen

Starting Eleven
Michael Fraser
Richard Hastings
Ross Tokely
Jamie Duff
Phil McGuire
Roy McBain
Ian Black
Don Cowie
Dougie Imrie
Andrew Barrowman
Adam Rooney
McNeil
Van Zanton
Hogg
Jones
Hanlon
Keenan
Shiels
Rankin
O Brien
Fletcher
Nish

Substitutes
Ryan Esson
Lionel Djebi-Zadi
Barry Wilson
Zander Sutherland
Iain Vigurs
Rory McAllister
Garry Wood
Grof
Murray
Campbell
Canning

Substitutions
Lionel Djebi-Zadi for Dougie Imrie (57)
Iain Vigurs for Roy McBain (65)
Barry Wilson for Andrew Barrowman (80)
Morais -> OBrien (65)
Stevenson -> Hanlon (80)
Pinao -> Keenan (89)

Bookings
Ross Tokely (69)
Ian Black (84)
Richard Hastings (90)
None.

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Michael Fraser (GK) 62 apps -
Phil McGuire 28 apps -
Richard Hastings 339 apps3 goals
Ross Tokely 443 apps30 goals
Jamie Duff 2 apps -
Don Cowie 44 apps10 goals
Ian Black 109 apps4 goals
Roy McBain 303 apps19 goals
Adam Rooney 2 apps -
Andrew Barrowman 3 apps1 goal
Dougie Imrie 18 apps2 goals
Lionel Djebi-Zadi (sub) 1 app (debut) -
Iain Vigurs (sub) 5 apps1 goal
Barry Wilson (sub) 341 apps83 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Dougie Imrie (25 years 27 days)
Oldest Player:Phil McGuire (2010 years 24 days)
Average Player Age:28 years 224 days
Domestic Players:10 (90.91 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Iain Vigurs (20 years 113 days)
Oldest Player:Lionel Djebi-Zadi (2010 years 24 days)
Average Player Age:28 years 191 days
Domestic Players:17 (94.44 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts
Lionel Djebi-Zadi(Signed )

Milestones
Don Cowie reached 10 goals for the Club.

Caley Jags Held:

Caley Thistle came in to this match looking to put last weeks poor performance behind them and it looked like they were set to do just that when McBain laid off the ball to Cowie who cut in from the right hand side to fire home the opener with his left foot.

Hibs had never scored in a competitive match at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, but Nish put an end to that when he stole into the area only 45 minutes after the break to level the game at 1-1.

That's how the game finished, a share of the points in an open but sometimes scrappy game where neither team looked like they wanted to settle for the draw.

Hibernian travelled north to face an Inverness side whom they had never beaten in the Highlands. Worse still, the side from the Capital hadn't even managed to put the ball in the net when playing the Caley Jags in Inverness. Former Inverness midfielder John Rankin was a familiar face in the Hibs side that started the game which seems to have settled down after a woeful pre season which saw relative newbie manager Mixu Paatelainen placed under a certain degree of pressure, particularly following their defeat to IF Elfsborg in the Intertoto Cup.

Craig Brewster shuffled the Inverness pack with the injured Duncan dropping out and Adam Rooney, fresh from an encouraging debut against Hamilton last week, coming in to partner Andy Barrowman up front in a two man attack. Youngster Jamie Duff, who was at fault for the Hamilton winner in last weeks 1 - 0 defeat to the Accies, retained his place in the centre of defence with Phil McGuire with the rest of the starting eleven looking to pick themselves up from a poor display last Saturday.

And Inverness gave the Home crowd something to shout about in the first few minutes of the game. Ian Black sent a free kick to the Hibs pack post which found Adam Rooney lurking and the battling forward sent a header back across goal for right back Tokely to bullet in a header that saw Andy McNeil pull off a spectacular flying save to deny Rossco the opening goal. The flame haired Rooney was next to threaten as he attempted a cheeky flick that almost caught out MacNeil but the Hibs keeper was equal to the effort.

Midfielder Rankin, was being booed by a small section of the Home support, burst into the box to chase a through ball from Fletcher but luckily he pulled his shot wide as Fraser rushed to close down his former team mate. ICT took the lead with a spectacular counter attacking goal. Deep inside his own half Imrie played the ball back to Hastings who sent a long ball up field that was worked to Ian Black who sprayed the ball wide to the right to Don Cowie who drove towards goal. As Cowie cut back inside onto his left foot he fired in a shot that took a wicked deflection off Chris Hogg, past the despairing McNeil and into the net.

Hibs upped themselves and Colin Nish, who has a prolific record against Inverness, wasted a glorious chance when played through. Nish inexplicably lobbed the ball over the bar with Fraser stranded and out of position. Hibs then looked to have a claim for a penalty waved away. Mike Fraser was unable to hold a long range shot and the ball fell to the impressive Dean Shiels who was unable to finish under pressure from Hastings. The Hibs attacker claimed he was held back by the Inverness left back but Eddie Smith waved away his shouts.

With Inverness managing to hold firm until half time and still creating openings of their own the Home fans sensed a continuation of their good record against the green half of Edinburgh. However Nish was to score yet another goal against ICT as early as the first minute of the 2nd half. A scramble around the Inverness box saw a Shiels shot cannon off McGuire and into the path of Nish. While the Inverness back line appealed for offside Nish didn't hang around and slotted the ball beyond Fraser to bring Hibs level.

Nish then set about getting a 2nd for his side but was foiled when his header thumped off the post. An Alan O'Brien cross found Nish lurking at the back post and he was easily able to out jump McGuire to the ball but Inverness were saved by the woodwork. McGuire was to threaten at the other end of the pitch as Inverness sought a 2nd goal for themselves. Roy McBain's long corner was headed back across the goal by Barrowman with the ball being met by McGuire who forced McNeil into a fingertip save to deny the former Aberdeen defender a goal.

Both managers threw on substitutions to try and find that killer 2nd goal. The under performing Imrie was replaced by Djebi Zadi who struggled to get into the game and was caught on the ball as Hibs pressed harder to get a winner. Ian Vigurs, who replaced Roy McBain, coped much better and the youngster, highly regarded by the ICT management, coolly strode past more experienced players in the Hibs team as he linked well with Black in the midfield. Veteran Barry Wilson, who recently celebrated his testimonial against a Liverpool XI, was also thrown on to inject some fresh legs in the wide areas but by now the game was becoming increasingly scrappy towards the end as both sides looked to find the elusive winning goal and it was Hibs who came closest when Dean Shiels found himself in space in the box but he sliced his effort wide. One further chance fell to Inverness when Ian Black seized upon a lose ball and sent in a 25 yard attempt which whizzed past MacNeil's right hand post and into the stand.

A 1-1 draw was a fair result but a section of ICT fans in the 4,022 crowd, lower than other games against Hibs, greeted the final whistle with boos. Perhaps our excellent record against Hibs had led to some sections of the Home fans expecting more than just a draw. In fairness though, one of the most open games in the last few months in Inverness saw plenty of goal mouth action and some fantastic passing football, some even from the home side who showed once more that they can play other teams off the park when the ball is on the ground. Hopefully we will see more of this in games to come.

Match report written by tm4tj



None.

Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Celtic 3 2 1 0 5 1 4 7
2. Rangers 3 2 1 0 4 1 3 7
3. Kilmarnock 3 2 1 0 2 0 2 7
4. Hamilton Academical 3 2 0 1 4 2 2 6
5. Hearts 3 2 0 1 5 5 0 6
6. Inverness CT 3 1 1 1 3 2 1 4
7. Hibernian 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
8. Aberdeen 3 1 1 1 2 3 -1 4
9. Dundee Utd 3 0 2 1 3 5 -2 2
10. Motherwell 3 0 1 2 3 5 -2 1
11. St. Mirren 3 0 1 2 1 3 -2 1
12. Falkirk 3 0 0 3 2 7 -5 0