Inverness CT 3 - 3 Brechin City

(Won 4 - 3 on pens.)
Challenge Cup - Round 3
Saturday, September 24th, 2022, 2:00 PM at Caledonian Stadium
Attendance: 832
Referee: Barry Cook
Inverness CT  Brechin City

Goalscorers
George Oakley (6)
Nathan Shaw (38)
George Oakley (pen.) (47)
Kevin McHattie (28)
Grady McGrath (72)
Euan Spark (78)

Team Managers
Billy Dodds Andy Kirk

Starting Eleven
Cameron Mackay
Wallace Duffy
Max Ram
Cameron Harper
Zak Delaney
Daniel Devine
Lewis Hyde
Calum MacKay
Aaron Doran
Nathan Shaw
George Oakley
Lenny Wilson
Euan Spark
Nathan Cooney
Kevin McHattie
Michael Cruickshank
Marc Scott
Aaron Arnott
Fraser Macleod
Michael McArthur
Jordan Northcott
Grady McGrath

Substitutes
Mark Ridgers
Matthew Strachan
Robbie Deas
Keith Bray
David Carson
Scott Allardice
Daniel Mackay
Steven Boyd
Billy Mckay
Jamie Bain
Hamish Thomson
Kieran Inglis
Anthony McDonald
Ewan Loudon
Dominic Naglik
Ryan McInnes
Dean Easton

Substitutions
Robbie Deas for Cameron Harper (45)
Scott Allardice for Daniel Devine (45)
Steven Boyd for Calum MacKay (62)
Daniel Mackay for Max Ram (62)
Billy Mckay for Aaron Doran (83)
Ewan Loudon -> Michael McArthur (25)
Jamie Bain -> Aaron Arnott (67)
Ryan McInnes -> Euan Spark (91)
Kieran Inglis -> Marc Scott (92)

Bookings
None. Michael McArthur (13)
Marc Scott (55)
Ewan Loudon (84)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Cameron Mackay (GK) 30 apps -
Wallace Duffy 48 apps2 goals
Max Ram 2 apps -
Cameron Harper 88 apps6 goals
Zak Delaney 12 apps -
Daniel Devine 157 apps5 goals
Aaron Doran 340 apps51 goals
Lewis Hyde 22 apps -
Calum MacKay 2 apps -
George Oakley 73 apps21 goals
Nathan Shaw 12 apps2 goals
Robbie Deas (sub) 94 apps1 goal
Scott Allardice (sub) 77 apps4 goals
Steven Boyd (sub) 12 apps -
Daniel Mackay (sub) 70 apps13 goals
Billy Mckay (sub) 213 apps85 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Calum MacKay (17 years 151 days)
Oldest Player:Aaron Doran (31 years 142 days)
Average Player Age:23 years 150 days
Domestic Players:5 (45.45 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Keith Bray (16 years 180 days)
Oldest Player:Billy Mckay (33 years 345 days)
Average Player Age:23 years 337 days
Domestic Players:12 (60.00 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Brechin pay the Penalty

Prior to today, Brechin had only won twice at Inverness in ten encounters. This was a close one that went to penalties to decide who went into the hat for the fourth round draw. Inverness got off to the perfect start through George Oakley in the fifth minute to open the scoring. However, Kevin McHattie levelled the score with a great strike into the top corner after half an hour. Ten minutes before the break Oakley caught the side netting after being fed through by Duffy. A couple of minutes later Nathan Shaw put the hosts back in front. Half Time 2-1. Oakley scored from the spot just after the break, but it was far from job done. Two late strikes from Grady McGrath and Euan Spark took the game to penalties where Inverness just got over the line 4-3.

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

The first meeting between the sides since 2018 had a low key approach to it. Inverness had Max Ram back in for a start after an early season injury in the League Cup against Kelty Hearts saw him miss the next two months. Billy & Bazza made a number of changes to the side that beat Dundee a week earlier. Cammy Mackay came in for Mark Ridgers with Nathan Shaw, Lewis Hyde and Dan's younger brother Calum all starting. Keith Bray and Mathew Strachan were part of a strong bench for the hosts (Ridgers; Carson, Deas, Allardice, D Mackay, B Mckay, Boyd, Strachan, Bray). Andy Kirk's Brechin had former Inverness players Kevin McHattie and Anthony McDonald in their squad and will be in confident mood after scoring ten goals in their last two games, both away from home. Good to see both these players back performing well on the park after careers disrupted by serious injuries. Aaron Arnott makes his debut for City after coming in on loan from Raith Rovers and Michael McArthur comes back into the starting XI after missing out last week. McHattie started with McDonald on the bench.

An early tap in from George Oakley after a great save by keeper Wilson from a Max Ram header set Inverness up nicely but former Inverness defender Kevin McHattie levelled the scores after half an hour with a great curling strike into the top corner from twenty yards. Ten minutes before the break Nathan Shaw put Inverness ahead after Oakley pressurised defender Nathan Cooney into making a costly error before passing to Shaw to score his second goal for the club and that's how it stood at the interval.

HALF TIME: 2-1

Oakley converted from the spot 3 minutes after the interval when Duffy was fouled in the box by Cooney. Shaw did well on a couple of occasions after the break but it was Brechin that pulled a goal back through Grady McGrath when he slotted in after Scott set him up with twenty minutes remaining. With ten minutes left they were level after Euan Spark knocked home following a corner. Inverness searched for a winner but time ran out and it went to penalties. Cammy Mackay made a crucial brilliant save from Ryan McInnes in the shoot out then Robbie Deas blasted home his spot kick, and that was the difference.

FULL TIME 3-3

Penalties:
Brechin City: Bain❌, McGrath✔️, Loudon✔️, Inglis✔️, McInnes❌ - 3

Inverness CT: B Mckay✔️, Oakley❌, Boyd✔️, Allardice✔️, Deas✔️ - 4

FULL TIME 3-3 ICTFC WIN 4-3 ON PENs
The opening goal was Oakley's 20th goal for the Caley Jags. Incidentally, his first goal was also against Brechin City in a 3-0 league cup win in July 2017 in the 57th minute. Credit to Brechin for making a come back when heads could have dropped just after the interval when Oakley scored his second goal.

By all accounts a miserable performance by a side without a number of first picks starting. The only consolation is that we are in the next round, but performances like that won't see us go far in this competition. School report: Must try harder :shrug:

Match report written by tm4tj



None.