Aberdeen 1 - 0 Inverness CT

League Match
Tuesday, April 4th, 2017, 7:45 PM at Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Attendance: 11,507
Referee: Andrew Dallas
Aberdeen Inverness CT

Goalscorers
Ash Taylor (22) None.

Team Managers
Derek McInnes Richie Foran

Starting Eleven
Joe Lewis
Shaleum Logan
Ash Taylor
Anthony O-Connor
Andrew Considine
Ryan Jack
Kenny McLean
Graeme Shinnie
Jonny Hayes
Adam Rooney
Niall McGinn
Owain Fon Williams
Gary Warren
David Raven
Carl Tremarco
Kevin McNaughton
Louis Laing
Liam Polworth
Greg Tansey
Ross Draper
Billy Mckay
Henri Anier

Bench
Neil Alexander
Ryan Christie
Peter Pawlett
Scott Wright
Frank Ross
Bruce Anderson
Miles Storey
Ryan Esson
Brad Mckay
Jamie McCart
Larnell Cole
Alex Fisher
Billy King
Dean Ebbe

Substitutions
Miles Storey -> Adam Rooney (79)
Ryan Christie -> Niall McGinn (80)
Larnell Cole for Ross Draper (61)
Dean Ebbe for Henri Anier (67)
Alex Fisher for Kevin McNaughton (86)

Bookings
None. Billy Mckay (40)
Carl Tremarco (66)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Owain Fon Williams (GK) 80 apps -
Kevin McNaughton 9 apps -
Carl Tremarco 108 apps9 goals
David Raven 161 apps4 goals
Louis Laing 7 apps -
Gary Warren 186 apps15 goals
Ross Draper 195 apps16 goals
Liam Polworth 108 apps10 goals
Greg Tansey 184 apps30 goals
Henri Anier 10 apps -
Billy Mckay 151 apps65 goals
Larnell Cole (sub) 21 apps2 goals
Dean Ebbe (sub) 4 apps -
Alex Fisher (sub) 21 apps2 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Liam Polworth (22 years 180 days)
Oldest Player:Greg Tansey (2018 years 250 days)
Average Player Age:29 years 144 days
Domestic Players:5 (45.45 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Jamie McCart (19 years 293 days)
Oldest Player:Greg Tansey (2018 years 250 days)
Average Player Age:28 years 243 days
Domestic Players:12 (66.67 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Inverness make Dons work hard for the points:

Aberdeen took the lead after 22 minutes when the ball was bundled home from close range following a corner. It was eventually accredited to Gary Warren (og). The Dons looked eager to please but we had a couple of first half chances, a Mckay shot and a Tansey header. Polworth had an effort tipped away for a corner after the break as Aberdeen continued to search for a second. Miles Storey incredibly missed a sitter late on. Only he knows how. It didn't matter at the end though as we failed to score and find ourselves in more trouble than you could shake a stick at.

RIG was at this one and here is his report..........

Went into that game fearing an absolute bumming but came away slightly disappointed we didn't nick something from it. Not saying we deserved a draw but Aberdeen were very flat for most of the match and we grew into it and had some decent chances to get a goal. That said overall Aberdeen definitely seemed to be playing within themselves after their destruction of Dundee on Friday.

Very defensive line up to start with from Foran. Warren, Laing and McNaughton all starting at CB with Tremarco and Raven on the left and right. Tansey, Draper and Polworth in the middle and Mckay and Anier up front. The lack of width in the side was evident throughout the opening period of the game. Any time the likes of Tansey got the ball in the midfield we looked to the wide areas for support and Raven/Tremarco were often too far up the pitch or too far back to offer us the chance to stretch the Aberdeen rearguard.

When Aberdeen attacked they went down the flanks doubling up on our full backs which often meant that one of the midfield three were having to come across to help defend which opened up space in the middle of the pitch for Shinnie, McLean etc to drive into.

Aberdeen goal was pretty untidy from an ICT point of view. Defence struggled to clear a corner and the ball seemed to ricochet in off Warren under pressure from Considine and Taylor. Best chance of the first half for ICT was created by Polworth who surged through the middle and played a nice ball to Mckay inside the box but Lewis was able to save. It was a rare moment of football from ICT in the first half with our main tactic normally consisting of leathering the ball in the vague direction of Mckay or Anier which was easily defended by Taylor and O'Connor.

Half Time 1-0

Second half Aberdeen clearly eased off and we started to grow into the game a bit more as time went on coupled with a change in shape. A couple of long range strikes, including a decent effort from Polworth, and some scrambles in the Aberdeen box gave some hope that we might nick a point but our play in the final third lacked a real cutting edge. During a rare period of play where we actually got the ball down and passed it around we had some success getting in behind the Aberdeen defence particularly down their left and once Fisher came on the long ball started to become a bit more effective with Taylor and O'Connor suddenly finding themselves under pressure in the air.

However the best chance of the second half fell Aberdeen's way in the shape of the inexplicable miss from Storey. Absolutely no idea how he managed to miss it and then he contrived to take the ball away from goal as he tried to get it under control.

Full Time 1-0

ICT players were on the floor at the end. There was certainly no lack of effort from the guys last night but we just don't have the quality to break down teams like Aberdeen and probably most teams in the league just now. Even just having someone like Christie could open up a few goal scoring chances for us which could make all the difference.

I thought Polworth did well in his more natural central midfield position. He was burst by the end of the game though. McNaughton was also excellent at the back for us and I felt Laing had a good game. Draper was poor. Distribution well off and again he was used to try and win some of the long balls with varying degrees of success. Tansey was off the boil too. His short passing was mostly good although he often gave the ball away needlessly. Some of his long passes were off the mark too and he showed a real reluctance to try and attack when in possession even when faced with yards of open space.

Aberdeen, as I said, were playing in first or second gear. They were competent all over the pitch without any real standout performances I felt. Everyone just did their job well. Nothing flashy. A pretty routine win for them.

Whole crowd was very muted. It felt like a post split match with nothing to play for therefore there was zero atmosphere save for one really angry Aberdeen fan in the DD who spent about 20 minutes of the first half calling a bunch of 16 year old ICT fans paedos which was slightly strange.

Match report written by RIG



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Celtic 30 28 2 0 81 18 63 86
2. Aberdeen 31 20 4 7 61 24 37 64
3. Rangers 30 14 9 7 43 34 9 51
4. St. Johnstone 30 12 7 11 39 38 1 43
5. Hearts 30 11 8 11 50 42 8 41
6. Partick Thistle 30 9 10 11 33 35 -2 37
7. Kilmarnock 30 7 12 11 29 46 -17 33
8. Ross County 31 7 10 14 34 51 -17 31
9. Dundee 31 8 6 17 33 50 -17 30
10. Motherwell 30 7 7 16 34 58 -24 28
11. Hamilton Academical 30 5 12 13 27 47 -20 27
12. Inverness CT 31 4 13 14 34 55 -21 25