Dundee 1 - 1 Inverness CT

League Match
Saturday, March 9th, 2013, 3:00 PM at Dens Park, Dundee
Attendance: 4,144
Referee: Craig Thomson
Dundee Inverness CT

Goalscorers
John Baird (13) Billy Mckay (83)

Team Managers
John Brown Terry Butcher

Starting Eleven
Rab Douglas
Gary Irvine
Davide Grassi
Lewis Toshney
Brian Easton
Ian Davidson
Nicky Riley
Ryan Conroy
Gary Harkins
John Baird
Jim McAlister
Ryan Esson
Josh Meekings
Gary Warren
David Raven
Charlie Taylor
Graeme Shinnie
Aaron Doran
Andrew Shinnie
Owain Tudur Jones
Ross Draper
Billy Mckay

Bench
Alex Baird
Kyle Benedictus
Declan Gallagher
Kevin McBride
Carl Finnigan
Colin Nish
Mark Stewart
Antonio Reguero
Daniel Devine
Nick Ross
Liam Polworth
Jordan Gibbons
Richie Foran
Shane Sutherland

Substitutions
Carl Finnigan -> Gary Harkins (85) Nick Ross for Charlie Taylor (58)
Richie Foran for Aaron Doran (72)

Bookings
Brian Easton (25)
Ian Davidson (36)
Graeme Shinnie (66)
Richie Foran (84)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Ryan Esson (GK) 158 apps -
Josh Meekings 54 apps -
Charlie Taylor 4 apps -
David Raven 36 apps -
Gary Warren 36 apps6 goals
Aaron Doran 65 apps4 goals
Graeme Shinnie 93 apps2 goals
Andrew Shinnie 57 apps21 goals
Owain Tudur Jones 47 apps2 goals
Ross Draper 33 apps4 goals
Billy Mckay 61 apps26 goals
Nick Ross (sub) 98 apps7 goals
Richie Foran (sub) 161 apps40 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Aaron Doran (21 years 306 days)
Oldest Player:Charlie Taylor (2014 years 223 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 257 days
Domestic Players:6 (54.55 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Liam Polworth (18 years 153 days)
Oldest Player:Charlie Taylor (2014 years 223 days)
Average Player Age:24 years 225 days
Domestic Players:12 (66.67 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Edging closer:

Billy McKay rescued a point for Inverness with a late header to edge us closer to the top six finish that has eluded us for a few years now.  John Baird scored his fourth goal in the last eight matches to set the ball rolling as Dundee looked to claw back the points towards safety, but neither club could fashion out a winner and the draw was seen as a fair result overall.  Gary Warren came close with a header cleared off the line and Andy Shinnie smacked the bar but there was little hope of another four goals coming our way as we stutter towards the split.

A couple of early pitch inspections were required before this game got the go-ahead, and the reason for that became apparent as the game progressed, the pitch being very heavy and cutting up quickly.

Richie Foran started on the bench as did Nick Ross.  Graeme Shinnie was pushed further forward with Charlie Taylor at full back in his first start.  Dundee, buoyed by their win over St Mirren in midweek had left our Nemesis Colin Nish on the bench with former Raith Rovers striker John Baird the man on form up front.

Inverness started brightest and Shinnie and Doran set up McKay, but the cross was just too high for the wee man and his header went wide.

On form John Baird raised the Dundee expectations with an excellent twenty yard strike as he cracked the ball past Esson on the end of a slick four man move, Ryan Conroy being the final provider.

This goal perked Dundee up and Nicky Riley fired a shot narrowly over from twenty yards.

Centre back come goal scorer Gary Warren almost equalised but his header was desperately cleared off the line twice as the Dee's defence scrambled the ball to safety, ooooohhh.

Birmingham target (allegedly) Andy Shinnie was out of luck as he saw his dipping shot from distance beat Rab Douglas but cannon back off the crossbar, great effort from him though.

Inverness were having the better of the first half in every way apart from the scoreline and frustration was beginning to show on and off the park.  The visitors dugout felt the wrath of Terry as he Butchered the perspex cover after another move stuttered to a halt around the half hour, his displeasure available for all to see.    That was a warning for his own players that the half time chat was going to be colourful.

Baird almost scored his second of the day, but Esson blocked his point-blank effort although I'm not sure he knew much about it after Riley had swung in a strikers dream cross.  Dundee were dangerous on the counter seemingly able to cut open the Inverness defence at times, but it was the visitors who were creating and controlling most of the play without troubling Douglas, and this was riling Terry.

Half Time 1-0

Whatever Butcher said at half time, it never worked unless he asked them to let Dundee control the pace.  Riley was once more causing us problems with his pace and trickery and Doran was trying his best at the other end.

Billy McKay caused some panic in the Dundee defence but he was crowded out and the ball was eventually gouged clear by a mortified defence.

Esson had to be at his best to tip an Iain Davidson back head flick over the bar from a Conroy corner, and at the opposite end, Owain Tudur-Jones bobbled a ball towards Douglas but he might have got a fingertip to it and it went round the post.

However, the goal was coming and when Jones hit a ball long, Foran gathered it and fed Graeme Shinnie who flighted a ball to the far post where Billy McKay made ground to nod past a helpless Douglas.  Good build up, good goal.

Both sides tried to win the game in the last ten minutes but there was no further scoring and a point each was a fair result.

Full Time 1-1

This was never going to be the same outcome as the previous two fixtures this season.  Both sides will see this as a couple of points dropped rather than a point gained.  Probably the result that neither wanted, but for us it's a point closer to the top six finish, but we do seem to be doing this the hard way recently.  Good to see Billy McKay scoring again and he will be crucial in our run in to the split.

David Raven is leading the way in the MotM votes for this one, and Ross Draper gets some good reviews online for his endeavour.

Now then..... ....Ross County came out of the shadows yesterday after beating Celtic to jump above us in the league.  How dare they! This will get the pulses racing for next weeks Highland Derby in the battle for supremacy in the Highlands. Bring it on   I hope it's more thunder in the glens than blunder in the glens.

Match report written by tm4tj



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Celtic 30 19 5 6 70 26 44 62
2. Motherwell 30 13 8 9 47 39 8 47
3. Ross County 30 11 12 7 39 36 3 45
4. Inverness CT 30 10 14 6 54 47 7 44
5. St. Johnstone 31 11 11 9 38 37 1 44
6. Hibernian 29 10 9 10 38 38 0 39
7. Dundee Utd 30 9 12 9 45 49 -4 39
8. Kilmarnock 30 9 11 10 43 40 3 38
9. Aberdeen 30 9 11 10 33 36 -3 38
10. St. Mirren 30 8 9 13 36 47 -11 33
11. Hearts 30 8 9 13 29 41 -12 33
12. Dundee 30 4 7 19 19 55 -36 19