Inverness CT 2 - 1 Ross County

League Match
Saturday, March 16th, 2013, 3:00 PM at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
Attendance: 5,750
Referee: Iain Brines
Inverness CT  Ross County

Goalscorers
Andrew Shinnie (5)
Billy Mckay (pen.) (59)
Paul Lawson (35)

Team Managers
Terry Butcher Derek Adams

Starting Eleven
Ryan Esson
Josh Meekings
Gary Warren
David Raven
Charlie Taylor
Aaron Doran
Andrew Shinnie
Owain Tudur Jones
Ross Draper
Richie Foran
Billy Mckay
Michael Fraser
Grant Munro
Scott Boyd
Evangelos Ikonomou
Michael Kovacevic
Stuart Kettlewell
Paul Lawson
Iain Vigurs
Rocco Quinn
Ivan Sproule
Sam Morrow

Substitutes
Antonio Reguero
Daniel Devine
Nick Ross
Liam Polworth
Conor Pepper
Jordan Gibbons
Shane Sutherland
Sean McCarthy
Andre Hainault
Archibald Macphee
Alex Cooper
Ross Stevens
Steffen Wohlfarth
Gary Glen

Substitutions
Antonio Reguero for Ryan Esson (41)
Nick Ross for Andrew Shinnie (79)
Steffen Wohlfarth -> Ivan Sproule (49)
Alex Cooper -> Stuart Kettlewell (72)
Gary Glen -> Grant Munro (82)

Bookings
None. Stuart Kettlewell (70)
Paul Lawson (80)
Iain Vigurs (83)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Ryan Esson (GK) 159 apps -
David Raven 37 apps -
Gary Warren 37 apps6 goals
Charlie Taylor 5 apps -
Josh Meekings 55 apps -
Ross Draper 34 apps4 goals
Aaron Doran 66 apps4 goals
Owain Tudur Jones 48 apps2 goals
Andrew Shinnie 58 apps22 goals
Billy Mckay 62 apps27 goals
Richie Foran 162 apps40 goals
Antonio Reguero (sub) (GK) 21 apps -
Nick Ross (sub) 99 apps7 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Aaron Doran (21 years 313 days)
Oldest Player:Charlie Taylor (2014 years 230 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 264 days
Domestic Players:6 (54.55 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Liam Polworth (18 years 160 days)
Oldest Player:Charlie Taylor (2014 years 230 days)
Average Player Age:24 years 232 days
Domestic Players:12 (66.67 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

The Seethe, Episode Five, Series one:

Poor Derek.  Everybody is against him.  Even Richard Brittain has had enough and Neil Lennon is now a Saint judging by Derek Adams' gait.  According to Derek we will be disappointed to win the game like that.  Aye Derek, we are absolutely gutted!  

Not content with stating his displeasure about this derby day, he is still harking on about the last one.  In fact, he is still seething from the cup game.  Derek Derek, get over it man, the Highlands are ours, and by virtue of completing three wins over your team this season, then it's official that we now get to keep County.  Try this number 08457 909090

This game was settled on the hour by a Billy McKay penalty.  No question about the decision, but Derek saw it differently.  Andy Shinnie had opened the scoring as early as the fifth minute and Paul Lawson replied after thirty-five minutes with a superb strike which saw an unsighted Esson clutching at thin air.

It was always going to be a tight affair and a draw looked the best bet, but we just shaded it, especially in the second half when County were found wanting and in truth we could have picked them off but for some counter attacks breaking down all too easily.

Billy McKay looked lively early on and his impeccable twists and turns almost paid dividends but Fraser was equal to the first one, beating away the ball as McKay turned Munro, the next ones his efforts were misdirected.

Not too much to get over excited about really as the game, like the last one, turned a bit scrappy with defences on top.  None of the three keepers had much to do.  Reguero replacing Esson before half time after Ryan pulled up with a recurring niggle.

My MotM was Richie Foran, and yes, he does make County look *****

Guest reporter I M Seething from Shadowlands has a tidy report for us.

Well there you are. The last scheduled derby of the season and Ross County have yet to win one. They might feel hard done by, they might feel as if the fates were against them, but Inverness deserved this.

The missing Shinnie (G) was replaced by Charlie Taylor as Inverness opened with a pace that threatened to flatten County. 5 minutes in and a Taylor corner was knocked on by Foran. Whilst Fraser and his defence dithered, Andrew Shinnie slotted the goal from less than a yard out. Not bonny, but the Inverness support cared not a jot, at least until later in the half.

Billy McKay looked in the mood as he could have made it two, twisting and turning in the box before shooting narrowly wide. Doran could have added to the total but things stayed the same for half an hour until a free kick from Vigurs was knocked to Lawson. Whilst we looked at him, he dispatched a curling effort past Esson to equalise. Ryan must have been well hacked off at this point, because the next thing was that he was well, carted off. He seemed to pull a muscle and after a quick “hola!” Antonio Reguero appeared for a somewhat unexpected day at work.

Half Time 1-1

The second half started well for Inverness, mainly due to the withdrawal of the pestilential Sproule, replaced by the altogether more lumbering Wolfarth. Iain Brines began to struggle a bit in maintaining control as the usual derby tackles began to fly in, but his main and enduring contribution to this game came in 58 minutes as Taylor cut in from the left and drove into the county penalty box. A sliding challenge by Kovacevic contacted Taylor first and he collapsed faster than Lehman’s bank. Dramatic? Yes. Penalty? Yes. Once the ball was handed to Billy McKay and the referee had sorted out the earnest discussion on the merits of the award, the outcome was never in doubt.

County huffed and puffed, substituting Munro for Glen to give them perhaps the most immobile front line in the SPL, but they could do nothing. Bookings arrived for Kettlewell, Lawson (who was lucky it wasn’t red) and Vigurs for one girn too many.

Of course no Highland derby would be complete without the now customary ill grace that Derek Adams shows.   Give it up Derek, your club’s better than that.

Full Time 2-1

Thanks for that Mr Seething, much appreciated.

And by 2:00pm on Sunday, we had cemented out Top-Six place after Dundee and Dundee United played out a 1-1 draw which ensured United could not displace us at the split.

Congratulations to all at ICT

Match report written by tm4tj



None.

Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Celtic 31 20 5 6 74 29 45 65
2. Motherwell 31 14 8 9 51 40 11 50
3. Inverness CT 31 11 14 6 56 48 8 47
4. Ross County 31 11 12 8 40 38 2 45
5. St. Johnstone 31 11 11 9 38 37 1 44
6. Hibernian 31 10 10 11 39 42 -3 40
7. Dundee Utd 30 9 12 9 45 49 -4 39
8. Kilmarnock 30 9 11 10 43 40 3 38
9. Aberdeen 31 9 11 11 36 40 -4 38
10. Hearts 31 8 10 13 29 41 -12 34
11. St. Mirren 30 8 9 13 36 47 -11 33
12. Dundee 30 4 7 19 19 55 -36 19