Inverness CT 1 - 2 Dunfermline

League - Championship
Saturday, November 13th, 2021, 3:00 PM at Caledonian Stadium
Attendance: 2,111
Referee: Grant Irvine
Inverness CT  Dunfermline

Goalscorers
Billy Mckay (22)
Danny Devine og (51)
Dom Thomas (64)

Team Managers
Billy Dodds John Hughes

Starting Eleven
Mark Ridgers
Robbie Deas
Kirk Broadfoot
Daniel Devine
Tom Walsh
Scott Allardice
Michael Gardyne
Reece McAlear
David Carson
Aaron Doran
Billy Mckay
Owain Fon Williams
Aaron Comrie
Mark Connolly
Rhys Breen
Josh Edwards
Kyle Macdonald
Graham Dorrans
Matty Todd
Dom Thomas
Kevin O'Hara
Lewis McCann

Substitutes
Cameron Mackay
Cameron Harper
Roddy MacGregor
Anthony McDonald
Lewis Jamieson
Ross Graham
Craig Wighton
Nikolay Todorov
Ryan Dow
Dan Pybus
Paul Allan
Deniz Mehmet

Substitutions
Roddy MacGregor for Tom Walsh (67)
Lewis Jamieson for Reece McAlear (67)
Anthony McDonald for David Carson (80)
Dan Pybus -> Matty Todd (62)
Ross Graham -> Rhys Breen (74)
Ryan Dow -> Lewis McCann (84)

Bookings
None. Graham Dorrans (49)
Ryan Dow (72)
Rhys Breen (73)
Ross Graham (87)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 173 apps -
Robbie Deas 52 apps1 goal
Daniel Devine 129 apps4 goals
Kirk Broadfoot 18 apps1 goal
Tom Walsh 85 apps13 goals
Aaron Doran 307 apps50 goals
Scott Allardice 52 apps3 goals
Michael Gardyne 15 apps5 goals
Reece McAlear 13 apps -
David Carson 65 apps1 goal
Billy Mckay 171 apps73 goals
Roddy MacGregor (sub) 76 apps4 goals
Lewis Jamieson (sub) 9 apps2 goals
Anthony McDonald (sub) 4 apps -

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Reece McAlear (19 years 279 days)
Oldest Player:Kirk Broadfoot (37 years 106 days)
Average Player Age:28 years 195 days
Domestic Players:7 (63.64 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Lewis Jamieson (19 years 246 days)
Oldest Player:Kirk Broadfoot (37 years 106 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 2 days
Domestic Players:12 (75.00 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones
Billy Mckay reached 75 goals for the Club.

Under Par: Inverness opened the scoring after probing well for over twenty minutes. Michael Gardyne drifted inside and the Pars defence opened up allowing him to get a shot away. It came back off the woodwork and Billy Mckay reacted first to knock the ball into the net. However, Dunfermline got their first win of the season as Inverness fired blanks thereafter, and goals from Kevin O'Hara assisted by a massive Danny Devine deflection and a great solo effort from Dom Thomas won the points for the Pars.

Another bad day at the office continued with Inverness slipping to third following wins for Killie Raith and Partick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inverness were somewhat depleted with only five on the bench and Sean Welsh, Shane Sutherland, Manny Duku and Wallace Duffy all missing. On the bright side, David Carson returned to action at right back and Reece McAlear was in midfield. The Pars had a full bench which included Nicolay Todorov Ryan Dow and Craig Wighton. John Hughes was watching over his new side with Greg Shields taking charge of his final interim game as gaffer.

A wonderful afternoon for football, flat calm and a damp pitch, saw a minutes silence observed for armistice to remember the fallen of the armed forces throughout conflicts around the world.

Inverness were shooting, or more accurately, playing towards the South Stand and they controlled the pace of the game in a manner big Yogi would have been proud of. Retaining possession well, passing sideways and back but seldom threatening.

However, the visitors were happy enough for us to flatter around although Aaron Doran saw an early effort saved by the painter OFW. Billy Mckay was next to try but his shot missed the target and Robbie Deas headed over the bar.

The first real threat came when Michael Gardyne cut across the box from the left wing and curled a beauty towards the opposite top where his shot hit the frame of the goal before rebounding to the ever alert Mckay who knocked in from close range to open the scoring. A minute later Mckay could have scored again had he been able to keep his header down. This should have inspired the hosts to kick on from here but it seemed to have a familiar adverse effect.

With the Pars suddenly realising we were flattering to deceive, they began to get to grips around the half hour and it took an absolutely incredible Devine intervention to deny the Pars a leveller as a Dom Thomas cross dropped into the six yard box. From there on in, it was backs to the wall defending and A superb reaction save by Mark Ridgers denied Breen from close range as the keeper pushed the ball over the bar, all in the North stand gaping with mouths wide open in astonishment. We were finding it difficult dealing with corners and crosses and in one melee there looked like a headed clearance from under the bar as the Pars looked to draw level but our last ditch defending held out until the break.

Half Time: 1-0

Six minutes into the second half and the visitors equalised when they broke on the right after an Inverness attack broke down. Thomas crossed into the box and possibly Kevin O'Hara will get the credit for scoring but it appeared to deflect off Devine before it reached Lewis McCann and caught out Ridgers.

The Pars were now forcing the pace of the game as Inverness looked jaded and it was no surprise when MotM Dom Thomas waltzed into our box and curled an exquisite shot behind a stranded Ridgers for a stunner. A stunner for the Pars, a scunner for the Caley Jags.

We did look more urgent in the last quarter of the game without really looking threatening whereas Dunfermline were always dangerous on the break. We had three or four efforts from distance all whistle wide of the post and the Painter had a relatively quiet afternoon, broken only by slow motion strolls to collect some wayward footballs, much to the chagrin of the home fans. May his easel break and his canvas tear.

One late attack saw Jamieson's shot cleared on the line but as is the norm, it was too little too late on a day when we paid tribute to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice and gave everything for the cause. Lest we Forget ♥️

Full Time: 1-2

Match report written by tm4tj



None.

Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Kilmarnock 14 9 2 3 20 8 12 29
2. Raith Rovers 14 7 5 2 24 15 9 26
3. Inverness CT 14 7 4 3 16 10 6 25
4. Partick Thistle 14 7 3 4 28 14 14 24
5. Arbroath 14 6 6 2 25 13 12 24
6. Ayr United 14 3 4 7 13 23 -10 13
7. Hamilton Academical 14 3 4 7 13 28 -15 13
8. Morton 14 2 6 6 11 18 -7 12
9. Queen of the South 14 3 3 8 12 21 -9 12
10. Dunfermline 14 1 7 6 12 24 -12 10