Livingston 0 - 0 Inverness CT

League Match
Saturday, November 4th, 2017, 3:00 PM at Tony Macaroni Arena, Livingston
Attendance: 1,262
Referee: Gavin Duncan
Livingston Inverness CT

Goalscorers
None. None.

Team Managers
David Hopkin John Robertson

Starting Eleven
Neil Alexander
Alan Lithgow
Craig Halkett
Declan Gallagher
Jackson Longridge
Shaun Byrne
Josh Mullin
Keaghan Jacobs
James Penrice
Scott Pittman
Daniel Mullen
Mark Ridgers
Coll Donaldson
David Raven
Carl Tremarco
Brad Mckay
Joe Chalmers
Iain Vigurs
Liam Polworth
Jake Mulraney
John Baird
Connor Bell

Bench
Nikolay Todorov
Nicholas Cadden
Dylan Mackin
Matthew Knox
Dale Carrick
Gary Maley
Raffaele De Vita
Ryan Esson
Gary Warren
Riccardo Calder
Charlie Trafford
Alex Cooper
Daniel Mackay
George Oakley

Substitutions
Nicholas Cadden -> James Penrice
Nikolay Todorov -> Daniel Mullen
Dylan Mackin -> Josh Mullin
George Oakley for John Baird (60)
Riccardo Calder for Carl Tremarco (69)

Bookings
Daniel Mullen (40)
Jackson Longridge (74)
Coll Donaldson (21)
Carl Tremarco (44)
Brad Mckay (56)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 15 apps -
David Raven 180 apps5 goals
Joe Chalmers 17 apps -
Coll Donaldson 9 apps -
Carl Tremarco 119 apps10 goals
Brad Mckay 46 apps2 goals
Liam Polworth 132 apps13 goals
Iain Vigurs 118 apps20 goals
Jake Mulraney 46 apps -
John Baird 18 apps2 goals
Connor Bell 13 apps4 goals
Riccardo Calder (sub) 14 apps2 goals
George Oakley (sub) 15 apps2 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Connor Bell (21 years 117 days)
Oldest Player:David Raven (32 years 247 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 160 days
Domestic Players:7 (63.64 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Daniel Mackay (16 years 203 days)
Oldest Player:Ryan Esson (37 years 239 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 112 days
Domestic Players:10 (55.56 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

No goals at Pasta place: In John Robertson's 100th game in charge, Inverness made it six clean sheets in a row as they played out a 0-0 draw against Livingston at the Tony Macaroni Stadium.

It was no surprise that John Robertson made no changes to the starting XI from the one that beat Dunfermline Athletic last week. That meant that John Baird was deemed fit enough to continue up front. Gary Warren remained on the bench with Coll Donaldson in his place once more and Alex Cooper returned to the squad after injury.

David Hopkin made three changes to the starting line-up that beat Brechin City last week. Onto the bench went Nikolay Todorov, Rafa De-Vita and Jack McMillan. In came Jackson Longridge, Keaghan Jacobs and Danny Mullen.

1262 paid to witness this encounter with 267 in the away end making themselves heard.

Livi came flying out of the blocks and had two attempts in the first couple of minutes, Josh Mullin testing Mark Ridgers and Craig Halkett heading over from a corner.

Connor Bell had the ball in the net after six minutes from a John Baird cross, but the linesman flagged him for offside.

Coll Donaldson was booked after twenty minutes as Livi looked to threaten and at the other end Jake Mulraney was close to connecting with a Joe Chalmers cross. Five minutes later and Mulraney was fed through on goal by Liam Polworth but Neil Alexander denied the pacey wide player saving low to his left.

Ten minutes before the break Longridge went close after he found some space in the box from a Danny Mullen lay off.

Mulraney turned on the after burners but Alexander foiled him as he lost control having done the difficult bit.

Danny Mullen was yellow carded five minutes before the interval and Carl Tremarco followed him into the book a couple of minutes later after a late tackle. However, we made it to the interval without conceding and still had eleven players on the park. Inverness possibly shaded the first half with Mulraney looking dangerous.

Half Time 0-0

As in the first half, Livi looked intent on breaching our defence and pressed hard without actually creating anything. Brad Mckay is next to have his name taken as the home side threatened to break forward.

Around the hour mark, George Oakley replaced Baird who was reportedly struggling to make this one. Tremarco almost latched on to a Mulraney cross as the visitors made some progress.

Livi subbed Penrice for Cadden. Shortly after, Tremarco was replaced by Riccardo Calder.

Polworth tried his luck from outside the box but his shot ran out of steam and Alexander saved comfortably and at the opposite end Ridgers dealt easily with a cracker from Jacobs with twenty minutes left.

Longridge upended Mulraney and was booked for his troubles. Jake dragged a shot wide moments later.

Hopkin made his final changes and Danny Mullen and Josh Mullin went off, Nikolay Todorov and Dylan Mackin came on.

Chalmers won a corner with ten minutes left but it came to nothing as Polworth fired well over. Moments later Polly fed Bell in on goal but Alexander came out on top once more, managing to get a toe on the ball to divert it from goal.
Todorov and Cadden shot over as Livi tried to nick a winner but we made it six clean sheets in a row to take a hard earned point back up the A9.

Full Time 0-0

Immortal Howden Ender will have the full version of the days events for us in due course......... and here it is.

RETURN TO THE TOEKNEE MACARONI - NO GOALS BUT PLENTY OF POSITIVES

First game I have been to since Dumbarton and it was like watching a brand new team – a much improved and organised outfit – and I was advised that this was below the standards set at Tannadice and against Dumbfarmlife. Well dropped the missus off at the Travelodge, a swift pint in the Hungry Horse at the top of the Hill and down to the petite Stadium Bar and a few swift voddie and cokes with Top Six. And then we were all paraded into the Main Stand. It was packed and we must have had close to 50% of the attendance – and we certainly made ourselves heard.

A 0-0 always conjures up the idea of boredom and a lack of entertainment. Apart from the first 2-3 minutes - when Livi flew out of the blocks and had fashioned two chances – I felt that we were always in control, if anyone deserved to win it was us but most of the play was confined to the middle sections of the pitch. On show were two very well drilled defences but two teams clearly lacking in the necessary firepower to clinch all three points. In many ways we cancelled each other out as Livi’s style and system was almost identical to ours.

We had two good chances to steal three points in both halves. Mulraney had the first half chance after a great through ball from (?) Vigurs, he outpaced the defence but brought out a good save from the veteran Alexander. IMHO Connor Bell had the better chance and really should have tucked it away. And what a through ball from Polworth. So we looked very solid and confident at the back. We won the midfield battle but I felt that we were lacking up front and the two “wee man attack” against the likes of Livi will not work.

But we are getting better and better – fitter and fitter – and all of a sudden a play-off place is very much back on the cards. Only negative was our discipline (again) and picking up three cheap yellow cards – Mckay, Donaldson and Tremarco. And we picked up praise from both coaches.

Inverness manager John Robertson: "That's six clean sheets and something the players should be immensely proud of because they're working their socks off. We had to match a really honest, intense, direct Livingston team and we managed to create a few opportunities. Livingston manager David Hopkin: "Inverness have really picked up defensively and Neil Alexander's pulled off a couple of great saves to keep us in it as well. Before the game I'd have taken a point. We were playing against an experienced and well-drilled side.

Match report written by tm4tj/IHE



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. St. Mirren 12 7 2 3 24 17 7 23
2. Dundee Utd 12 7 2 3 14 12 2 23
3. Livingston 12 6 4 2 20 15 5 22
4. Dunfermline 12 6 3 3 26 12 14 21
5. Queen of the South 12 6 3 3 21 14 7 21
6. Inverness CT 12 3 4 5 13 16 -3 13
7. Dumbarton 12 3 4 5 9 16 -7 13
8. Falkirk 12 1 6 5 9 19 -10 9
9. Brechin City 12 0 2 10 8 25 -17 2