Dundee 1 - 2 Inverness CT

League Match
Saturday, December 6th, 2014, 3:00 PM at Dens Park, Dundee
Attendance: 5,400
Referee: Willie Collum
Dundee Inverness CT

Goalscorers
Greg Stewart (21) Billy Mckay (55)
Ryan Christie (88)

Team Managers
Paul Hartley John Hughes

Starting Eleven
Scott Bain
Paul McGinn
Thomas Konrad
James McPake
Gary Irvine
Kevin Thomson
Jim McAlister
Martin Boyle
Gary Harkins
Greg Stewart
David Clarkson
Dean Brill
Josh Meekings
Gary Warren
David Raven
Graeme Shinnie
Greg Tansey
Ross Draper
James Vincent
Danny Williams
Marley Watkins
Billy Mckay

Bench
Arvid Schenk
Willie Dyer
Kevin McBride
Simon Ferry
Philip Roberts
Luka Tankulic
Craig Wighton
Ryan Esson
Daniel Devine
Carl Tremarco
Nick Ross
Aaron Doran
Liam Polworth
Ryan Christie

Substitutions
Simon Ferry -> Greg Stewart (39)
Luka Tankulic -> Martin Boyle (62)
Kevin McBride -> Kevin Thomson (71)
Ryan Christie for James Vincent (71)
Aaron Doran for Billy Mckay (71)
Nick Ross for Ross Draper (84)

Bookings
Simon Ferry (60)
Luka Tankulic (85)
Ryan Christie (88)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Dean Brill (GK) 63 apps -
Gary Warren 95 apps11 goals
David Raven 93 apps1 goal
Josh Meekings 122 apps3 goals
Ross Draper 97 apps7 goals
Graeme Shinnie 161 apps6 goals
Greg Tansey 77 apps12 goals
Danny Williams 42 apps2 goals
James Vincent 37 apps2 goals
Marley Watkins 50 apps6 goals
Billy Mckay 133 apps57 goals
Ryan Christie (sub) 34 apps6 goals
Aaron Doran (sub) 130 apps17 goals
Nick Ross (sub) 155 apps11 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Marley Watkins (24 years 56 days)
Oldest Player:Graeme Shinnie (2016 years 130 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 92 days
Domestic Players:6 (54.55 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Ryan Christie (19 years 289 days)
Oldest Player:Graeme Shinnie (2016 years 130 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 70 days
Domestic Players:10 (55.56 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones
Marley Watkins played his 50th major competitive game for the Club.

Late show at Dens Park:

A late counter from Ryan Christie nicked the points for Inverness in a close encounter at Dens Park. Greg Stewart tapped in at the back post to open the scoring after 21 minutes, but who else, Billy McKay squeezed in the equaliser before the hour with Christie's goal coming just before the ninety minutes were up.

On form David Clarkson failed to keep his sensational scoring spree going and Inverness came from behind to take all three points back up the A9. This result tucked Inverness in below Celtic in second place and Dundee slipped just out of the top-six.

Reporters were in short supply this weekend, but our own Inverness fans have their say on how the team performed at Dens Park.............

Rig thought we were a bit below par, but still went home chuffed:- Fantastic result for us. I don't think we played that well but to not perform that well and still get the three points is a great outcome. Good chances for both sides seemed to be few and far between. Dundee, as others have said, edged the first half whilst we had the better of the second.

Disappointing goal to concede for the opener from an ICT perspective. Free kick looped to the back post and we seemed to lose track of the ball and the Dundee players which let Stewart steal in at the back to side foot home. We didn't really get going in an attacking sense in the first half. Perhaps our best chance was from a Tansey corner which was met by Meekings and his header crashed off the bar.

I'm still not sure how we equalised to be honest. Mckay found himself with space to pick a shot which Bain seemed to save then it came off Mckay and or a Dundee defender and ended up in the net.

After this we upped our game and the substitutes swung it for us. Doran and Christie gave us more of a spark up front and the latter grabbed the winner when Watkins beat McPake to a ball down the touchline and crossed for Christie and it looked like he stuck out his foot to poke the ball in beyond Bain.

Aside from our goals and the Meekings header I felt we were relatively toothless going forward. Especially after our recent attacking performances against Motherwell, Hamilton and St Mirren. Dundee marshalled us pretty well and I felt we did likewise with the likes of Clarkson barely getting a sniff.

AJS observed the proceedings similarly:- Game was not a classic in terms of quality. We struggled to keep our shape and found it hard to get in behind Dundee in the first half. They are not much of a team to watch themselves, relying heavily on set pieces to create chances which they got their goal from, players like Tansey and Williams were struggling to get time on the ball to knock it about.

2nd half saw us making better use of the wings, huge chunk of luck for Billy's goal but when you play well you get the breaks like that, the introduction of Doran and Christie was well timed, we really took the game to Dundee late on and grabbed the chance that came our way, good ball in and a great finish from Ryan to create some late scenes in the away end.

Given his current form Clarkson was in the thinking im sure but thought Warren and Meekings did well to keep him quiet. He showed some decent touches but never got a sniff at goal.

Signs of a great team when you play poorly but win, we ever stopped trying and got rewarded for our efforts. Yogi deserves credit for the double change. It's what won us the game.

Davie added:- Pace of the game was a bit slower, mainly because Dundee had to overload the midfield to snuff us out. That and the fact that it was really windy out on what was a pretty scabby looking lumpy pitch. We did really well to win this one. It seems Ryan Christie got booked for leaving the field of play whilst celebrating. Presumably Mr. Collum didn't see how greasy that area of the pitch was and if Ryan had tried to stop or turn he would have been on his arse in double quick time. Never fear.

CTO fans had Marley Watkins once again as our most valuable player with Danny Williams also producing another busy performance. Warren and Makay were others who got nods of approval. John Hughes though is gaining more fans as the season grows and it's hats doffed for Yogi as humble pie gets scoffed in copious amounts every week.

Match report written by tm4tj plus fans comments



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Celtic 15 11 2 2 29 9 20 35
2. Inverness CT 15 10 2 3 24 13 11 32
3. Dundee Utd 15 10 1 4 28 17 11 31
4. Aberdeen 15 9 1 5 23 17 6 28
5. Hamilton Academical 15 8 3 4 27 17 10 27
6. Kilmarnock 15 6 3 6 17 20 -3 21
7. Dundee 15 5 5 5 20 19 1 20
8. St. Johnstone 15 6 2 7 13 17 -4 20
9. Partick Thistle 15 4 4 7 18 19 -1 16
10. Motherwell 15 3 1 11 9 25 -16 10
11. St. Mirren 15 2 2 11 10 26 -16 8
12. Ross County 15 2 2 11 15 34 -19 8