Inverness CT 1 - 2 Motherwell

League Match
Wednesday, December 28th, 2016, 7:45 PM at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
Attendance: 3,097
Referee: Barry Cook
Inverness CT  Motherwell

Goalscorers
Greg Tansey (90)
Craig Clay (50)
Scott McDonald (87)

Team Managers
Richie Foran Mark McGhee

Starting Eleven
Owain Fon Williams
Josh Meekings
Gary Warren
Carl Tremarco
Brad Mckay
Iain Vigurs
Liam Polworth
Greg Tansey
Ross Draper
Larnell Cole
Lonsana Doumbouya
Craig Samson
Richard Tait
Steven Hammell
Ben Heneghan
Stephen McManus
Carl McHugh
Louis Moult
Chris Cadden
Lee Lucas
Craig Clay
Scott McDonald

Substitutes
Ryan Esson
Aaron Doran
Alasdair Sutherland
Jake Mulraney
Alex Fisher
Scott Boden
Billy King
Dean Brill
Ryan Bowman
Lionel Ainsworth
David Ferguson
Dylan Mackin
Jack McMillan
Allan Campbell

Substitutions
Aaron Doran for Larnell Cole (55)
Alex Fisher for Lonsana Doumbouya (58)
Jake Mulraney for Liam Polworth (70)
Lionel Ainsworth -> Chris Cadden (25)
Jack McMillan => Steven Hammell (62)

Bookings
Larnell Cole (35)
Brad Mckay (39)
Alex Fisher (77)
Iain Vigurs (88)
Louis Moult (58)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Owain Fon Williams (GK) 68 apps -
Josh Meekings 191 apps7 goals
Brad Mckay 14 apps -
Carl Tremarco 98 apps7 goals
Gary Warren 175 apps14 goals
Greg Tansey 171 apps27 goals
Iain Vigurs 85 apps16 goals
Ross Draper 184 apps16 goals
Larnell Cole 10 apps1 goal
Liam Polworth 97 apps10 goals
Lonsana Doumbouya 17 apps5 goals
Aaron Doran (sub) 169 apps21 goals
Jake Mulraney (sub) 21 apps -
Alex Fisher (sub) 19 apps1 goal

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Liam Polworth (22 years 83 days)
Oldest Player:Josh Meekings (2018 years 153 days)
Average Player Age:28 years 16 days
Domestic Players:7 (63.64 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Alasdair Sutherland (20 years 105 days)
Oldest Player:Josh Meekings (2018 years 153 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 92 days
Domestic Players:12 (66.67 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Absolutely Brutal:

Inverness slumped to another defeat, this time at the hands of relegation rivals Motherwell. That's nine games without a win and this result leaves us as firm favourites for the drop.

If this was a boxing match, the referee would probably have taken both boxers aside and reminded them they would have to show some intent or risk losing their purse. However, Clay delivered a sucker punch with a bit of a freak blow as Fon Williams did not cover himself in glory, the wind aided strike catching him unawares. Another body blow from Scott McDonald ended the contest. Despite a late flurry of activity, probably borne out of embarrassment we only had a scrambled effort from want away midfielder Greg Tansey to show for it. We had plenty of possession in the second forty-five, but similar to most games this season we were unable to capitalise on it. Ross Draper had what looked like a decent claim for a penalty turned down and Aaron Doran struck the crossbar, but as is the norm these days, nothing went for us and in the end the three points left Inverness destined for North Lanarkshire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Old Caley Girl will have a full report for us when she thaws out and her anger subsides........ and here it is.

Not sure where to start here to be honest. However, the hard luck excuses this season are wearing a bit thin. The Caley Thistle line up was unchanged from the last game at Ibrox. As mentioned in the match preview McHugh returned to the Motherwell line up following a lengthy spell out with concussion. A decent crowd, for a cold post-Christmas midweek match were in good spirits led by a noisy young team in the north stand. However, this optimistic mood was to be misplaced.

Motherwell had the first chance of the game with a free kick from Hammell taking a deflection forcing Owain Fon Williams to make a save. However, this led to Caley Thistle having chances of our own with Polworth and Cole coming close. It was end to end chances with Tansey forcing a great save from Samson from a 25 yd free kick.

There was bit of drama when Cole had a hefty challenge on Lucas earning a yellow card. Arguably he was perhaps lucky it wasn’t a different colour. This flashpoint kicked off Scott McDonald into a rage and it seemed like everyone on both sides piled in. Tansey tested Samson again on the stroke of halftime but without result.

Half Time 0-0

ICT started the 2nd half with a great chance with Doumbouya crossing the ball right across the goalmouth but Cole could not connect. However, in 50 minutes the game changed completely with a Clay shot from the edge of the box catching the wind and finding itself right in the top corner of the net. Not much Owain Fon Williams could do about it as just a freak shot. This did however, change the game with ICT panicking and reverting to the “hoof and hope” tactic. We did have chances to pull the game back with Vigurs and Doran forcing good saves and a possible call for a penalty when Draper was pushed over in front of goal. Draper also had another claim turned down a few moments later but it would have been soft. We continued to press for the equaliser but to no avail and indeed there was the worry that we would be caught on the counter which indeed proved to be the case when Moult stormed down the right passing to McDonald who shot past a static OFW who seemed unwilling to move off his line. Motherwell 2-0 up and the home fans left in droves. Tansey did bundle the ball over the line in the dying minutes but too little too late for the home team.

Full Time 1-2

Worrying times. Motherwell looked a poor side but we just couldn’t get our act together. Bottom of the table with just one win in 13. Only 2 home wins this season with only one clean sheet. Apparently we also have the lowest points total at this stage, in any division, in our history as a club. The stats also show that most clubs bottom at the turn of the year go on to be relegated. Richie Foran also a bit fortunate in the lack of criticism coming his way, at the moment, in my opinion. County up next and it really really is a must win but I’m personally not full of confidence. We do have the personnel to sort this and it really is time for some leadership on the field from the experienced players and a bit of backbone to show what they really are capable of. Bad luck maybe but let’s make our own luck. An ugly 1-0 on Saturday will do fine.

OCG MotM – To be fair to the match sponsor there really wasn’t a lot of choice. However, the choice of Iain Vigurs drew audible gasps then boos in the north stand. Personally I wish he would roll up his sleeves and stop being a passenger for most of the game. I’m going with Tremarco for the simple reason that I can’t remember him doing much wrong.

Match report written by tm4tj/OCG



None.

Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Celtic 19 18 1 0 52 13 39 55
2. Rangers 20 11 6 3 27 19 8 39
3. Aberdeen 19 10 4 5 34 19 15 34
4. Hearts 20 8 7 5 38 25 13 31
5. St. Johnstone 19 7 7 5 25 21 4 28
6. Partick Thistle 20 5 6 9 24 29 -5 21
7. Motherwell 19 5 5 9 24 32 -8 20
8. Ross County 20 4 8 8 20 34 -14 20
9. Dundee 20 5 4 11 18 28 -10 19
10. Kilmarnock 20 4 7 9 16 35 -19 19
11. Hamilton Academical 20 2 10 8 20 30 -10 16
12. Inverness CT 20 3 7 10 24 37 -13 16