Kilmarnock 1 - 2 Inverness CT

League Match
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008, 3:00 PM at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
Attendance: 4,328
Referee: Stephen Finnie
Kilmarnock Inverness CT

Goalscorers
Willie Gibson (85) Dougie Imrie (14)
Garry Wood (38)

Team Managers
Jim Jefferies Craig Brewster

Starting Eleven
Alan Combe
James Fowler
Frazer Wright
Simon Ford
Garry Hay
Jamie Hamill
Mehdi Taouil
Craig Bryson
Manuel Pascali
David Fernandez
Allan Russell
Ryan Esson
Richard Hastings
Ross Tokely
Grant Munro
David Proctor
Russell Duncan
Ian Black
Don Cowie
Iain Vigurs
Garry Wood
Dougie Imrie

Bench
Damien Rascle
Grant Murray
William Gibson
Gavin Skelton
Iain Flannigan
David Cox
Donovan Simmonds
Michael Fraser
Barry Wilson
Roy McBain
Zander Sutherland
Rory McAllister
Andrew Barrowman
Adam Rooney

Substitutions
Damien Rascle -> Alan Combe (46)
William Gibson -> Allan Russell (59)
Donovan Simmonds -> Simon Ford (77)
Andrew Barrowman for Garry Wood (64)
Roy McBain for Ian Black (74)
Zander Sutherland for Dougie Imrie (90)

Bookings
Garry Hay (28)
Frazer Wright (51)
David Fernandez (55)
Jamie Hamill (82)
Ian Black (6)
Garry Wood (13)
Ross Tokely (56)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Ryan Esson (GK) 7 apps -
Richard Hastings 353 apps4 goals
Ross Tokely 458 apps30 goals
Grant Munro 257 apps6 goals
David Proctor 71 apps4 goals
Russell Duncan 271 apps9 goals
Iain Vigurs 18 apps2 goals
Ian Black 123 apps6 goals
Don Cowie 58 apps12 goals
Dougie Imrie 33 apps5 goals
Garry Wood 13 apps3 goals
Zander Sutherland (sub) 7 apps -
Roy McBain (sub) 315 apps19 goals
Andrew Barrowman (sub) 16 apps2 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Iain Vigurs (20 years 204 days)
Oldest Player:Garry Wood (2010 years 115 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 279 days
Domestic Players:10 (90.91 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Iain Vigurs (20 years 204 days)
Oldest Player:Adam Rooney (2010 years 115 days)
Average Player Age:28 years 72 days
Domestic Players:17 (94.44 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Killie pay the penalty



It was a game that had everything, but most importantly it was a game that had more goals for Inverness Caledonian Thistle than it did for Kilmarnock. Strikes from Imrie and Wood put the Caley Jags 2 up in the first half with Killie offering little in response.

Kilmarnock's half time talk seemed to fire them up and the second half saw them come more into the game. However, it took them until the 85th minute for Gibson to pull one back, but Killie failed to capitalise when they missed a penalty shortly afterwards.

Wood should have perhaps had a third for ICT and Kilmarock may have scored more if not for Caley Thistle Keeper Ryan Esson who continues to repay Brewster for giving him his chance.

Alternative Maryhill rounded it up like this:

Great game of football for the neutral - it's been a while since I spent the last 10 mins doing the "can we hang on?" jack-in-the-box routine. But over the piece we deserved it, although if Killie had scored the penalty there would have been harsh questions asked about our players farting about and being far too casual when they had several chances to nail Killie on the break in the second half.

The midfield was excellent and this was where the game was won. Imrie was up for it from the start, beat a lot of players and got the ball into numerous dangerous positions; Vigurs again showed composure and the ability to see passes and also made a few decent runs; Duncan closed down well and didn't give it away too often; Blackie had a quieter game than usual but didn't get drawn into situations where he was likely to get sent off after being booked in the first minute; Cowie worked hard and was one of our most dangerous players in the second half, although I think his natural strengths are beng sacrificed by Brewster to allow Imrie to play wide right.

The defence also played well, although Tokely struggled badly against Taouil until he was moved up front. Proctor was better in the air than I remember him being and Granty avoided too many long balls. Esson was excellent - it's been a good move to get him in. The forward line, on the other hand, is definitely still an issue. Wood worked really hard and held the ball up well, but never really got into any threatening positions: his goal, from where I was sitting, was a bit of a freak and more down to the the keeper than good finishing. On the other hand, Barrowman, when he came on, did nothing except get caught offside. For a player whose only strength seems to be hanging around and playing the last man, that is unforgiveable. I have no idea why Rooney wasn't given his chance.

Choice of striker aside, I can't criticise Brew for his team selection today, nor can I criticise the players for their effort, apart from a too-casual approach in the last fifteen minutes. At the same time, today suggests that the SPL is simply full of mediocre teams and that some teams' approaches just play into the hands of other teams. Whatever they were trying to do may work against other sides, but today Killie just allowed players like Imrie and Vigurs space to create and they were punished for it. If they had been more aggressive and closed down earlier, both these players might have got frustrated and we might have been on the end of another defeat

Match report written by tm4tj/alternative maryhill



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Celtic 15 13 1 1 39 15 24 40
2. Rangers 15 11 3 1 34 11 23 36
3. Hearts 15 8 2 5 17 18 -1 26
4. Dundee Utd 15 6 5 4 20 17 3 23
5. Hibernian 15 5 4 6 19 22 -3 19
6. Kilmarnock 15 6 1 8 14 21 -7 19
7. Aberdeen 15 5 3 7 15 18 -3 18
8. Inverness CT 15 5 2 8 17 22 -5 17
9. Motherwell 15 5 2 8 17 23 -6 17
10. Falkirk 15 4 4 7 18 21 -3 16
11. St. Mirren 15 3 3 9 10 19 -9 12
12. Hamilton Academical 15 3 2 10 13 26 -13 11