Aberdeen 1 - 1 Inverness CT

League Match
Saturday, September 10th, 2016, 3:00 PM at Pittdrie, Aberdeen
Attendance: 11,356
Referee: Crawford Allan
Aberdeen Inverness CT

Goalscorers
Niall McGinn (51) Iain Vigurs (68)

Team Managers
Derek McInnes Richie Foran

Starting Eleven
Joe Lewis
Shaleum Logan
Andrew Considine
Ashton Taylor
Anthony OConnor
Graeme Shinnie
Wes Burns
Niall McGinn
Jonathan Hayes
Kenneth McLean
Adam Rooney
Owain Fon Williams
Josh Meekings
Gary Warren
Carl Tremarco
Brad Mckay
Iain Vigurs
Liam Polworth
Greg Tansey
Ross Draper
Alex Fisher
Billy King

Bench
Peter Pawlett
Jayden Stockley
Craig Storie
James Maddison
Scott McKenna
Neil Alexander
Miles Storey
Cameron Mackay
David Raven
Aaron Doran
Lewis Horner
Jake Mulraney
Scott Boden
Lonsana Doumbouya

Substitutions
James Maddison -> Graeme Shinnie (33)
Peter Paulette -> Wes Burns (77)
Jayden Stockley -> Jonathan Hayes (84)
Lonsana Doumbouya for Alex Fisher (63)
Aaron Doran for Iain Vigurs (75)
Lewis Horner for Billy King (94)

Bookings
None. Greg Tansey (31)
Carl Tremarco (45)
Billy King (45)
Gary Warren (51)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Owain Fon Williams (GK) 54 apps -
Gary Warren 161 apps13 goals
Josh Meekings 177 apps7 goals
Brad Mckay 1 app (debut) -
Carl Tremarco 84 apps5 goals
Greg Tansey 157 apps25 goals
Iain Vigurs 71 apps16 goals
Liam Polworth 86 apps7 goals
Ross Draper 169 apps16 goals
Alex Fisher 11 apps -
Billy King 9 apps2 goals
Aaron Doran (sub) 158 apps20 goals
Lewis Horner (sub) 25 apps1 goal
Lonsana Doumbouya (sub) 2 apps -

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Liam Polworth (21 years 339 days)
Oldest Player:Billy King (2018 years 44 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 272 days
Domestic Players:7 (63.64 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Cameron Mackay (16 years 280 days)
Oldest Player:Josh Meekings (2018 years 44 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 28 days
Domestic Players:11 (61.11 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts
Brad Mckay(Signed August 31st, 2016)

Milestones

Vigurs Screamer Rescues Point

A tremendous strike from Iain Vigurs earned Inverness a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie after Niall McGinn had opened the scoring soon after the break with an angled drive that found the far corner of Fon Williams' net.

Inverness came off the bottom of the table with a hard fought draw against Aberdeen, but I suspect that next weeks visitors to the Highlands will prove to be a tougher nut to crack with Celtic overwhelming the Rangers 5-1 in the first Old Firm League game since the blue teams demise some four or five years ago.

Richie Foran handed Brad Mckay his debut at right back with Alex Fisher chosen to lead the line and Lonsana Doumbouya a substitute. Jonny Hayes returned for Aberdeen but Peter Pawlett started on the bench along with new signing James Maddison.

The opening minutes were somewhat scrappy. Misplaced passes from both sides were in abundance as the ball exchanged hands, or more correctly, feet, at regular intervals.

Inverness were first to serve notice that there was a game on and when the ball came to Polworth inside the box, he smashed a shot off the top of the bar from twelve yards. That was after around fifteen minutes of slackness.

That was the nearest either side came in a cagey first half, more akin to a chess game where it ended in stalemate at the break.

Half Time 0-0

Inverness started the second on the front foot and Ross Draper was unlucky to see a volley deflected just wide as we surged forward.

However it was the Dons that opened the scoring in slightly controversial circumstances. Liam Polworth looked to be fouled in the centre of the park. Crawford Allan saw it differently and play continued as Polworth lay prostrate on the grass. The ball reached Niall McGinn wide on the left and he stepped inside before hitting a low drive right across the keeper from a wide angle but the ball nestled in the bottom corner to give the Dons the lead. That was a goal that came out of the blue and it unsettled the visitors for a while.

Wes Burns showed his pace as he drove at the Caley Jags defence which had parted momentarily, but his shot went wide with others expecting a pass. Vigurs was robbed outside his own penalty box and Adam Rooney almost replicated the opening goal. This time, Fon Williams read the script and dived headlong to keep the ball out as the Dons started to turn the screw.

But, as we showed last week, we are not beaten until the fat lady sings. Draper won a tussle in the midfield and when the ball came to Vigurs some twenty five yards out, he crashed an unstoppable shot off the underside of the bar, despite the acrobatics of keeper Lewis. What a strike, as Arthur Montford would say, he absolutely blootered the ball into the top corner.

Aberdeen upped the pressure in the final ten minutes looking for a winner but our defence held firm reasonably comfortable apart from one final push from the hosts where the ball was not cleared properly but Meekings was on hand to keep the ball out.

Full Time 1-1

A well deserved share of the points and you will be hard pushed to see a better goal than Iain Vigurs effort. Although statistics will show that there were few shots on target, this was always an intriguing contest with plenty of wee cameo roles going on. We looked fairly solid at the back for most of the game and the midfield competed well. If any criticism can be given, then we lacked the defence splitting pass and gave away possession too easily in the final third. However, a point at Pittodrie is not to be scoffed at and we would have taken that prior to kick off.

Brad Mckay put in a decent shift on his debut and will be difficult to drop on that performance. Fon Williams was more assured as were the whole back line and the middle men kept the Aberdeen play-makers quiet. Alex Fisher battled tirelessly with little service and it was great to have Doran on the park showing flashes of sublime control and the bustling style from Doumbouya will reap rewards throughout the season.

Plenty to look forward to for the rest of the season and Celtic will be prudent to be wary of us next week, despite everyone writing us off.

Only downside at Pittodrie was the local stewards getting heavy handed with some young upstarts just after we scored. Cromwellian attitudes are alive and well at Pittodrie.

Match report written by tm4tj



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Celtic 4 4 0 0 15 5 10 12
2. Hearts 5 3 1 1 11 5 6 10
3. Rangers 5 2 2 1 7 9 -2 8
4. Ross County 5 2 1 2 7 7 0 7
5. St. Johnstone 5 2 1 2 7 7 0 7
6. Dundee 5 1 3 1 6 5 1 6
7. Aberdeen 5 1 3 1 4 6 -2 6
8. Motherwell 5 1 2 2 5 6 -1 5
9. Hamilton Academical 5 1 2 2 5 7 -2 5
10. Kilmarnock 5 1 2 2 5 7 -2 5
11. Inverness CT 5 1 1 3 6 12 -6 4
12. Partick Thistle 4 1 0 3 4 6 -2 3