Queen of the South 0 - 3 Inverness CT

League - Championship
Friday, December 4th, 2020, 7:45 PM at Palmerston, Dumfries
Referee: Steven McLean
Queen of the South Inverness CT

Goalscorers
None. Kai Kennedy (21)
Roddy MacGregor (50)
Miles Storey (80)

Team Managers
Allan Johnston John Robertson

Starting Eleven
Jack Leighfield
Wullie Gibson
Gregor Buchanan
Ayo Obileye
James Maxwell
Aiden Fitzpatrick
Dan Pybus
Joe McKee
Niyah Joseph
Connor Sheilds
Stephen Dobbie
Mark Ridgers
Robbie Deas
Cameron Harper
Daniel Devine
Brad Mckay
Kai Kennedy
Scott Allardice
Roddy MacGregor
James Keatings
Shane Sutherland
Miles Storey

Bench
Nortei Nortey
Tommy Goss
Rhys McCabe
Calvin Mcgrory
Euan East
Keiran McKechnie
Rohan Ferguson
Cameron Mackay
Wallace Duffy
Sean Welsh
Aaron Doran
James Vincent
Daniel Mackay
Nikolay Todorov

Substitutions
Euan East -> Niyah Joseph (56)
Nortei Nortey -> Wullie Gibson (82)
Rhys McCabe -> Aidan Fitzpatrick
Sean Welsh for James Keatings (72)
Aaron Doran for Kai Kennedy (78)
Nikolay Todorov for Shane Sutherland (84)

Bookings
Aidan Fitzpatrick (58) None.

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 133 apps -
Robbie Deas 10 apps -
Brad Mckay 147 apps7 goals
Daniel Devine 91 apps4 goals
Cameron Harper 19 apps -
Kai Kennedy 7 apps1 goal
Scott Allardice 10 apps2 goals
Roddy MacGregor 37 apps2 goals
Shane Sutherland 96 apps5 goals
Miles Storey 76 apps19 goals
James Keatings 39 apps9 goals
Sean Welsh (sub) 48 apps7 goals
Aaron Doran (sub) 284 apps48 goals
Nikolay Todorov (sub) 40 apps10 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Kai Kennedy (18 years 256 days)
Oldest Player:Mark Ridgers (30 years 125 days)
Average Player Age:24 years 282 days
Domestic Players:9 (81.82 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Kai Kennedy (18 years 256 days)
Oldest Player:James Vincent (31 years 76 days)
Average Player Age:25 years 13 days
Domestic Players:13 (72.22 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones
Kai Kennedy scored his first goal for the Club.

Inverness deservedly opened the scoring through Kai Kennedy in the 20th minute, his first goal for the club as he cut in from the left and scored low behind Leighfield from a tight angle, the ball coming off the keepers leg. Roddy MacGregor scored a second with a tremendous finish five minutes after the break to give Inverness a cushion. Miles Storey secured the points with a vicious left footed shot into the bottom corner from fifteen yards. Great three points for Inverness and consolidation in the middle of the table.

Queen of the South were the last side we played back in March before covid19 came along and changed our lives. On that occasion Inverness ran out 3-1 winners.

What happened on the night...

John Robertson had slightly more choice than normal as injuries began to heal thanks to the International break and League Cup second round. Still without Kevin McHattie and Lewis Toshney, but the rest are on the mend and back training although not all back to match fitness.

Inverness looked pretty in pink as they took to the artificial surface at Palmerston.

TV on and tuned to BBC Scotland, James Keatings was first to show with a header that he should have done better with, but he missed the target from a great position. He was involved in the next opportunity when Deas made a great run forward to get on the end of it, but his effort was blocked by Leighfield as he slid in and from that save, Sutherland dribbled across the box but he smothered his shot and it was cleared.

McKee got an effort away as Queens got forward but it was deflected for a fruitless corner for the hosts.

Twenty minutes gone and the brilliant Kai Kennedy opened the scoring for Inverness when he dribbled down the left, cut along the byeline and drove the ball low into the net from an acute angle. First goal for Inverness and what a goal!

Kennedy and Keatings had shots that troubled the Queens defence as Inverness pressed for a second.

Dobbie broke on the left a las Kennedy but Shields effort was just wide of the post from close range. Queens were on a roll just now and another couple of efforts went close.

Attempts at both ends thereafter but both keepers were mainly untroubled before the interval although Dobbie was starting to pull a few strings.

Deas and Devine were intercepting most Queens forays forward and at the interval it remained 1-0 for the visitors.

Half Time 0-1

No changes at the break and five minutes into the half Roddy MacGregor doubled the lead for the visitors. A great ball forward was headed on by Shane Sutherland to Brad Mckay who cut the ball across the edge of the box where Roddy met it perfectly to side foot the ball into the top corner. What a tremendous goal for the Caley Jags and young Roddy.

There were opportunities for both sides, but the keepers were underworked until Inverness stretched their muscles again.

Storey passed up on a great opportunity when he broke clear down the left but was forced wider than he would have liked. His shot hit the side netting when a bit of composure would have seen him score but he would not be denied.

Miles Storey scored a superb third to seal the points as he turned and slotted into the bottom corner with some venom ten minutes from time. No more than Inverness deserved after a long throw in by Brad Mckay found Miles in the box. Miles better as they say around here.

On a night when the clubs saluted Diego Maradona, young Roddy MacGregor wrote a whole new book of skills and capped it all with a tremendous goal. Kai Kennedy was another who impressed again and in truth, there were no flaws in the side tonight. Solid in defence, and playing with some style. The future is bright, the future is pink.

Great result for Inverness who move on to 10 points.

What the managers said on BBC Sport

Queen of the South manager Allan Johnston: "First half I thought we didn't start well at all. Then when we started to actually pass the ball, we created a number of chances, but we obviously weren't clinical. We just never had that spark tonight. We didn't do enough to get anything out of the game."

Inverness CT manager John Robertson: "We're delighted. After such a good performance at home to Raith Rovers, you're worried especially with a young squad that you don't maintain those standards. Our squad's coming back slowly, and we just need to pick up points and keep it going."

Congratulations to Mark Ridgers.

He does like a clean sheet. That's 50 clean sheets in 133 appearances for the Caley Jags keeper and he tweeted this: Delighted to reach 50 and looking forward to many more!! Great result and performance again from the boys! Hopefully be home for sun rise now.

Match report written by tm4tj



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Dunfermline 5 4 1 0 12 5 7 13
2. Hearts 5 4 0 1 13 5 8 12
3. Raith Rovers 5 3 1 1 14 5 9 10
4. Inverness CT 6 3 1 2 11 7 4 10
5. Ayr United 5 2 2 1 7 5 2 8
6. Morton 5 2 1 2 4 8 -4 7
7. Dundee 5 1 2 2 7 12 -5 5
8. Queen of the South 6 1 1 4 8 14 -6 4
9. Arbroath 5 0 2 3 2 8 -6 2
10. Alloa Athletic 5 0 1 4 4 13 -9 1