Inverness CT 4 - 0 Brechin City

League Match
Tuesday, November 28th, 2017, 7:45 PM at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
Attendance: 1,801
Referee: Craig Charleston
Inverness CT  Brechin City

Goalscorers
Brad Mckay (7)
John Baird (9)
Connor Bell (52)
George Oakley (87)
None.

Team Managers
John Robertson Darren Dods

Starting Eleven
Mark Ridgers
Coll Donaldson
David Raven
Carl Tremarco
Brad Mckay
Joe Chalmers
Charlie Trafford
Liam Polworth
Jake Mulraney
John Baird
Connor Bell
Graeme Smith
Paul McLean
Euan Smith
Sean Crighton
Euan Spark
James Dale
Finn Graham
Liam Watt
Willie Dyer
Connor McLennan
Isaac Layne

Substitutes
Cameron Mackay
Gary Warren
Collin Seedorf
Riccardo Calder
Aaron Doran
Alex Cooper
George Oakley
Gary Fusco
Chris O Neil
Aron Lynas
Kalvin Orsi
Jordan Sinclair

Substitutions
Aaron Doran for Connor Bell (63)
George Oakley for John Baird (64)
Alex Cooper for Jake Mulraney (81)
Aron Lynas -> Willie Dyer (54)
Jordan Sinclair -> Liam Watt (70)
Kalvin Orsi -> Connor McLennan (76)

Bookings
Joe Chalmers (57)
Willie Dyer (12)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 18 apps -
David Raven 183 apps5 goals
Joe Chalmers 20 apps -
Coll Donaldson 12 apps -
Brad Mckay 48 apps3 goals
Carl Tremarco 122 apps10 goals
Liam Polworth 135 apps13 goals
Charlie Trafford 10 apps -
Jake Mulraney 48 apps -
Connor Bell 16 apps6 goals
John Baird 21 apps3 goals
Aaron Doran (sub) 175 apps21 goals
Alex Cooper (sub) 10 apps1 goal
George Oakley (sub) 18 apps3 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Connor Bell (21 years 141 days)
Oldest Player:David Raven (32 years 271 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 50 days
Domestic Players:6 (54.55 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Cameron Mackay (17 years 359 days)
Oldest Player:Gary Warren (33 years 112 days)
Average Player Age:25 years 161 days
Domestic Players:8 (44.44 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

I was there when John Baird scored: Inverness cruised to victory against bottom club Brechin City thanks to two early goals and another two later in the second half to secure a comfortable 4-0 win. Goals from Brad Mckay, John Baird, Connor Bell and George Oakley secured the points on a chilly winter night, the pitch heavy and proving difficult to move the ball around quickly.

A crowd of 1801 braved the dropping temperatures to witness a rare occasion, a John Baird goal in this re-scheduled fixture, the first one being postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Gary Warren returned to the bench with Brad Mckay re-instated alongside Coll Donaldson after his suspension. The disciplined Iain Vigurs was replaced by Charlie Trafford in midfield.

Brechin were as expected, with Isaac Layne ploughing a lone furrow up front.The same man has the power to carry it off though and caused a few problems with his burly physique.

There was almost a dream start for Brechin as a long ball forward sat up nicely for Connor McLennan on the edge of our box. Ridgers was caught in no mans land and a subtle lob left him stranded, but the ball bounced back out off the base of the post. A let off for Inverness before we got going and a warning we heeded.

In the seventh minute we went ahead, Brad Mckay crashing a close range volley high into the net direct from a Polworth corner.

Two minutes later and it was joy for John Baird. The striker had not scored for over a couple of months, but he capitalised on a defensive mix up by a pair of Smiths to squeeze the ball home from ten yards for number two after it broke kindly to him off the defender and keepers lack of communication.

We dominated the half but the game went quiet, for long periods, akin to a Sunday afternoon kick-about. Isaac Layne made some powerful bursts, but Coll Donaldson and Brad Mckay were equal to him overall.

Jake Mulraney was a menace to the visiting defence throughout and he was unfortunate not to break his duck on a couple of occasions.

Half Time 2-0

Connor Bell headed in number three early in the half to put the game to bed and that allowed us to make some alterations with Aaron Doran getting more game time. Our intricate play was not helped as the heavy pitch deteriorated and made simple things difficult.

Substitute Alex Cooper hit a ferocious shot that Keeper Smith did well to beat away but he was helpless when another sub, Goerge Oakley ran onto a tidy through ball from Trafford to flick it round the advancing keeper. Cool finish from Oakley who is beginning to look the part.

As said earlier, Layne was the one Brechin player that looked mildly menacing but Ridgers was untroubled for the entire ninety minutes as he froze his bells off between the sticks.

Full Time 4-0

A convincing win for Inverness against a side that drew with Dundee United at the weekend. Conditions were not conducive to silky football, and what skill was displayed came from the home side.

Overall, an excellent win in what could have been a potential banana skin game. Best for Inverness were Brad Mckay, Jake Mulraney (first half) Liam Polworth, and my MotM Coll Donaldson. Good in defence, quick and willing to play the ball out of defence when required.

Match report written by tm4tj



None.

Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. St. Mirren 14 9 2 3 29 18 11 29
2. Dundee Utd 14 8 3 3 18 13 5 27
3. Livingston 14 7 4 3 24 18 6 25
4. Dunfermline 14 6 5 3 29 15 14 23
5. Queen of the South 14 6 4 4 23 19 4 22
6. Inverness CT 14 4 4 6 17 18 -1 16
7. Dumbarton 14 3 6 5 13 20 -7 15
8. Falkirk 14 1 6 7 9 25 -16 9
9. Brechin City 14 0 3 11 9 30 -21 3