Inverness CT 3 - 0 Alloa Athletic

Challenge Cup - Rd 4
Saturday, October 12th, 2019, 3:00 PM at Caledonian Stadium
Attendance: 973
Referee: John McKendrick
Inverness CT  Alloa Athletic

Goalscorers
Mitchell Curry (42)
Charlie Trafford (64)
Matheus Machado (88)
None.

Team Managers
John Robertson Peter Grant

Starting Eleven
Cameron Mackay
Shaun Rooney
Cameron Harper
Kevin McHattie
Coll Donaldson
Charlie Trafford
Roddy MacGregor
David Carson
Aaron Doran
Mitchell Curry
Miles Storey
Jamie MacDonald
Scott Taggart
Andy Graham
Kevin Cawley
Jon Robertson
Liam Buchanan
Alan Trouten
Iain Fannigan
Adam Brown
Nathan Gilhooly
Kevin O'Hara

Substitutes
Mark Ridgers
Carl Tremarco
Jamie McCart
Matheus Machado
James Vincent
Jordan White
Chris Henry
Robert Thomson
Cameron O'Donnel

Substitutions
Jordan White for Mitchell Curry (75)
James Vincent for Charlie Trafford (78)
Matheus Machado for Roddy MacGregor (85)
Robert Thomson -> Kevin O'Hara (65)
Cameron O'Donnel -> Adam Brown (86)

Bookings
None. None.

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Cameron Mackay (GK) 13 apps -
Shaun Rooney 55 apps7 goals
Cameron Harper 6 apps -
Kevin McHattie 17 apps -
Coll Donaldson 90 apps4 goals
Aaron Doran 256 apps41 goals
Charlie Trafford 73 apps3 goals
Roddy MacGregor 17 apps -
David Carson 13 apps -
Miles Storey 47 apps15 goals
Mitchell Curry 5 apps1 goal
James Vincent (sub) 82 apps6 goals
Matheus Machado (sub) 3 apps1 goal
Jordan White (sub) 66 apps20 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Roddy MacGregor (17 years 299 days)
Oldest Player:Aaron Doran (28 years 159 days)
Average Player Age:23 years 86 days
Domestic Players:6 (54.55 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Roddy MacGregor (17 years 299 days)
Oldest Player:Carl Tremarco (34 years 9 days)
Average Player Age:24 years 197 days
Domestic Players:9 (52.94 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones
Matheus Machado scored his first goal for the Club.
Mitchell Curry scored his first goal for the Club.

Chocolate cup delight



Inverness made a number of changes for this Challenge Cup fourth round tie against Alloa Athletic but still came out on top after a somewhat listless game where errors were more commonplace than slick incisive football. Less than 1000 fans were in attendance as Mitch Curry scored his first goal for the club just before the interval. Debutant Nathan Gilhooly gave away the ball thirty yards out and Curry ran into the box before cutting the ball back across the keeper and into the net. We got a deserved second when Charlie Trafford crashed a shot goalwards. It took a big deflection to fly high into the net with keeper Jamie MacDonald stranded. Alloa hit the woodwork twice through Trouten and Graham before we wrapped the game up. In the last minute Matheus Machado was on hand at the back post to knock a Miles Storey cross into the net for his first senior goal. Brazilliant!

Five or six non regulars were given the nod in this one, notably, keeper Cammy Mackay, Cammy Harper, Kevin McHattie and Mitch Curry who returned after injury, his first game in eleven weeks.

The Wasps were along more familiar lines and made two or three changes from the side that beat Dundee United last Friday. Nathan Gilhooly was making his first start for the club with Robbie Deas missing. Steven Hetherington also missed out and Liam Buchanan started.

It was a low key game and the performance echoed that in terms of urgency. Inverness were dominant in the first half but wasteful in the final third with some preferring to flatter to deceive rather than go for the jugular.

Mitchell Curry had a couple of efforts as did Roddy MacGregor but either failed to make the keeper work or made it easy for him to gather the ball comfortably. Shooting practice might be on the agenda this week as Aaron Doran fired harmless efforts well over the bar.

Curry opened the scoring just before the break after he cut out a loose ball from Gilhooly. He carried on across and into the box before cutting the ball back across the keeper and into the bottom corner.

He wasted an equally good chance within a minute after bursting into the left side of the box but shot weakly with his left peg at the near post where MacDonald gathered the ball with ease. He would have been better opening his body looking for the far post or squaring to the incoming teammates.

Half Time 0-1

The second period saw our dominance continue and Jamie MacDonald did well to stop a MacGregor shot on the line after a deflection took a bit of the pace off the ball.

Aaron Doran looked as though he had scored with half the North Stand already on their feet. However his dipping volley sliced narrowly wide of the keepers left hand post. Close, but no cigar!

Our dominance eventually paid off but it took a deflected shot from Charlie Trafford to get the two goal cushion. He bludgeoned the ball from outside the box and it deflected high into the net with MacDonald stranded.

We seemed to stir a hornets nest after the second goal and the wasps almost stung us, three times, with Alan Trouten firstly taking forever to pick his spot. That spot was the post and it rebounded back towards the keeper. Adam Brown tried from distance and Cammy Mackay stopped the shot, but as it bounced away from him Robbie Thomson looked favourite to get to the ball first but Cammy dived full length forward to deny the Waspy. Andy Graham also saw a late header come down off the bar as we lost our focus a little.

We rallied again and the normally wasteful Storey managed to get a cross into the box. Jordan White challenged for it and it was met at the back post by young Matheus Machado who tidily and gleefully knocked it into the net. That's his first senior goal for the club, many more to come methinks.

Good end to the contest by the Caley Jags who seemed to be in control but almost undid the good work prior to Alloa's wee revival bid.

Overall we were comfortable winners, but had we taken a more urgent approach could have scored half a dozen goals. Unfortunately we were somewhat pedantic at times with Doran going round in circles and Storey often taking the wrong option when he should be using his best asset, his searing pace and power. Good cross for the third goal though. MacGregor is young and comes across as over eager to score. Very busy player though and will be a great asset once he gets off the mark.

Not easy to spot the MotM. A few contenders with Charlie Trafford in particular having a good day. David Carson was also industrious and at the back Coll Donaldson looks more focussed than he was at the start of the season and Kevin McHattie will be knocking on the managers door very soon. No real failures, but some need to work to their strengths rather than be fancy Dans.

highlights can be seen here
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=392555228366434

Match report written by tm4tj



None.