Hamilton Academical 1 - 2 Inverness CT

League Match
Tuesday, April 18th, 2023, 7:45 PM at New Douglas Park, Hamilton
Attendance: 1,316
Referee: Graham Grainger
Hamilton Academical Inverness CT

Goalscorers
Connor Smith (72) Nathan Shaw (75)
Billy Mckay (88)

Team Managers
John Rankin Billy Dodds

Starting Eleven
Ryan Fulton
Reghan Tumilty
Daniel O'Reilly
Dylan McGowan
Tom Sparrow
Scott Martin
Steve Lawson
Regan Mimnaugh
Jean-Pierre Tiehi
Jamie Smith
Benny Ashley-Seal
Mark Ridgers
Robbie Deas
Zak Delaney
Daniel Devine
Scott Allardice
David Carson
Sean Welsh
Aaron Doran
Nathan Shaw
Steven Boyd
Billy Mckay

Bench
Brian Easton
Lewis Spence
Dario Zantatta
Lewis Smith
Dylan Stephenson
Andy Winter
Lucas De Bolle
Jamie Smith
Chris McGinn
Cameron Mackay
Cameron Harper
Lewis Nicolson
Lewis Hyde
Ben Woods
Daniel Mackay
Austin Samuels

Substitutions
Lucas De Bolle -> Reegan Mimnaugh (62)
Dario Zanatta -> Jean-Pierre Tiehi (68)
Andy Winter -> Reghan Tumilty (69)
Austin Samuels for Steven Boyd (73)
Daniel Mackay for Aaron Doran (73)
Ben Woods for Sean Welsh (89)
Cameron Harper for Billy Mckay (90)

Bookings
Scott Martin (45)
Daniel O'Reilly (59)
Daniel Devine (24)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 233 apps -
Daniel Devine 176 apps6 goals
Robbie Deas 109 apps2 goals
Zak Delaney 36 apps -
Scott Allardice 96 apps7 goals
David Carson 137 apps2 goals
Sean Welsh 131 apps16 goals
Aaron Doran 367 apps53 goals
Nathan Shaw 40 apps9 goals
Billy Mckay 242 apps98 goals
Steven Boyd 39 apps1 goal
Cameron Harper (sub) 114 apps9 goals
Ben Woods (sub) 7 apps -
Austin Samuels (sub) 39 apps6 goals
Daniel Mackay (sub) 93 apps15 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Zak Delaney (21 years 103 days)
Oldest Player:Billy Mckay (34 years 186 days)
Average Player Age:28 years 15 days
Domestic Players:5 (45.45 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Lewis Nicolson (18 years 353 days)
Oldest Player:Billy Mckay (34 years 186 days)
Average Player Age:25 years 163 days
Domestic Players:10 (55.56 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones
Billy Mckay scored his 100th goal for the Club.

He Scores When He Wants: A long trip on a Tuesday night to face your bogey team is not ideal, especially when it gets to the business end of the season. That's what faced the Caley Jags as we looked to win our sixth game on the bounce against struggling Hamilton Accies who have already beaten us four times this season. Inverness could go third, but Accies would be hoping to put some distance between themselves and bottom side Cove Rangers. As it turned out it remained goalless at the interval with Deas seeing a header saved by Fulton just before the break. Connor Smith scored direct from a free kick after the interval but Nathan Shaw equalised three minutes later. Billy Mckay won all three points with a poachers goal in off the post with three minutes left and that's how it ended. Phew!

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

A beautiful evening greeted the sides at the ZLX Stadium for the third last game of the regular season. Billy Dodds had three changes from the side that won at Cove. Deas, Doran and Boyd started with Harper, Samuels and Dan Mackay dropping onto the bench. Fergus Owens missed out for Accies with De Bolle and Winter dropping to the bench. Mimnaugh and JP Tiehi started. Steven Boyd and Billy Mckay combined well early on with Mckay forcing Ryan Fulton into a save as he palmed his shot away. Zak Delaney fired over the bar from the left side as the visitors probed for an opening when Sean Welsh played him in. Billy Mckay was prominent around the hosts box and he intercepted a pass from Ryan McGowan. He managed to get a shot away from a tight angle after rounding the keeper but he could only find the side netting. Accies responded and Connor Smith tried to find the top corner but his curling effort was just a coat of paint too wide. Just before the break Robbie Deas was unfortunate with a header as Fulton saved low down to deny the Caley Jags defender after a Nathan Shaw corner, and Ridgers saved in the last action of the first forty-five.

HALF TIME: 0-0

Aaron Doran brought Fulton into action five minutes after the restart as he met Delaney's cross in the box, the keeper saving well in the bottom corner. Ridgers saved with his legs from Seal as the action went to both ends and Doran shot wide. Boyd followed suit as well, missing the target and did similar again with twenty minutes left. Accies opened the scoring through Connor Smith from a dubious free kick. Nothing wrong with his execution though from 25 yards which was clinical into the top corner. Their success only lasted three minutes when Shaw scored from close range. Substitute Dario Zanatta went close as we entered the final fifteen minutes. It got even better for the visitors in the 88th minute when Billy Mckay scored a typical 'he scores when he wants' goal. In off the post. That's how it all ended as the late run goes on.

FULL TIME: 1-1

ImageWhat a result for Inverness after going a goal behind with twenty minutes left. Nathan Shaw's contribution has been invaluable of late and Billy Mckay should be knighted and given the freedom of the Highlands. That's his 98th goal for Inverness CT. Up to third in the table for now after six wins on the bounce.

Great night for the 161 Caley Jags fans.

Match report written by tm4tj



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Dundee 33 16 10 7 60 36 24 58
2. Queens Park 33 17 6 10 59 45 14 57
3. Inverness CT 34 15 9 10 50 44 6 54
4. Partick Thistle 33 15 7 11 59 41 18 52
5. Ayr United 33 14 9 10 58 42 16 51
6. Morton 33 12 12 9 48 41 7 48
7. Raith Rovers 33 11 9 13 44 45 -1 42
8. Arbroath 33 6 15 12 29 44 -15 33
9. Hamilton Academical 34 7 8 19 29 61 -32 29
10. Cove Rangers 33 6 9 18 36 73 -37 27