First half disaster for Caley Jags:
ICT slumped to yet another embarrassing home defeat, this time at the hands of Partick Thistle to leave Inverness floundering in the bottom half of the first division. The bounce back ability of Butchers boys seems to be falling apart at the seams as Inverness found themselves three nil down to Partick before half time. This is a team they had put out of the Alba cup only a couple of weeks previously.
ICT handed league starts to Nick Ross and Graeme Shinnie, both of whom did their prospects no harm. Andy Barrowman started up front with Richie Foran, after impressing boss Butcher with his goal at Motherwell. Jonny Hayes was to provide the wing play for the front two, and Russeldinho was to provide the holding play from midfield. Tokely, Golabeck and Eagle were out through injuries but Lionel Djebi-Zadi, Rooney and Sanchez were warming the bench.
The game started tentatively for both sides with Inverness always looking comfortable without testing keeper Tuffey. It took just over twenty minutes for ICT to carve out the first opportunity of the match, a Hayes free kick was met by the head of Bulvitis, but the ball floated harmlessly past. Shinnie had a foray into the Partick box but he dragged his shot well wide. Chances were at a premium at this point until Partick realised that Inverness were just going through the motions. On the half hour Esson had to save smartly under the bar as he tipped over a curling free kick from Hodge, the ball going behind for a corner. Inverness replied with Nick Ross trying his hand but he shot over after cutting across the defence. Thirty five minutes on the clock and Barrowman set up Hayes who thumped the ball over the North Stand. Nobody was prepared for the next seven minutes, especially the Inverness defence. A Hodge corner from the left was not cleared properly by the Caley Jags defence and when the ball found it's way back into the six yard box a static ICT defence looked on in horror as Liam Buchanan did the only thing possible. With his back to the goal he backheeled the ball through the defender and past the hidden Esson into the net. Cheeky goal from Buchanan, and a defensive disaster from ICT. Our hands were barely off our furrowed brows when we were caught up the park. With only Russell Duncan back, he tried to reach a ball over the top but could only succeed in teeing up Buchanan for an Ian Stewartesque exquisite lob over the advancing and stranded Esson. Two nil to Partick, how bad can it get. Well it got even worse just before half time as Partick broke forward as yet another Inverness attack broke down. Hodge and Buchanan ripped the bedraggled Inverness rearguard apart before setting up Archibald who, despite not connecting cleanly, did enough to turn the ball past a helpless Ryan Esson. Three nil and half time cuppa was going to be interesting in the Inverness dressing room.
Half Time: 0-3
Many home fans had given up the ghost at half time, preferring Tesco's to watching this rubbish from the home team. The rest hoped to see a glorious comeback reminiscent of the Ayr United cup game, when ICT overturned a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3.
There was no indication that things would get any better after half time. ICT had swapped Barrowman for Sanchez during the interlude, with tactics being the reason for this change. In fact, if anything, it was going from bad to worse, as Esson kept the score to three with two excellent blocks from Simon Donnelly and Chris Erskine. Inverness at this point with one hour played were merely spectators. Jonny Tuffey had kept his gloves clean so far. Graeme Shinnie was replaced by Adam Rooney on 61 minutes, as Inverness boss Butcher threw caution to the wind. Within a couple of minutes Rooney himself had reduced the deficit from the spot. Jonny Hayes who had been relatively quiet for an hour accelerated into the box and was unceremoniously upended by the outstretched leg of John Robertson. No doubt about the award and Rooney made taking penalties look easy as he thumped the ball home. This sparked a bit of life into the ICT players and suddenly it was game on. Pocket rocket Hayes did well on the left and when he fed Munro, his curling cross to the back post was met by a rejuvenated Foran and his header powered into the roof of the net past the outrushing Tuffey. There were still about fifteen minutes to go, could Inverness complete the comeback? The last quarter of an hour was played out mainly in the Partick third of the pitch as ICT launched ball after ball into the Partick box. But a combination of stout defending from Ian Maxwell and some horrendous crosses from the Caley Jags attackers saw Partick hold on nervously for the three points, despite some goalmouth scrambles and Tuffey stopping a couple of goalbound efforts. Lionel was thrown on at the end to provide some height in attack, but this threat was ruled out by our own inability to cross the ball.
Full Time: 2-3
Inverness had once again disappointed at home. Partick did enough to merit the three points but Inverness could and should have snatched a point with a rousing final half hour. Once again it was too little too late and Butcher must be baffled as to why we have these Jekyll & Hyde performances. The fans certainly are. Inverness had too many players out of sorts. The main culprits were Bulvitis and Proctor at the back, both of these players had an hour to forget. Russell Duncan not renowned for his passing game, added more errors to his normal play and was fortunate not to be hooked. Lee Cox is another who needs to look at his input, as he has gone backwards since the start of the season. We now have a midfield devoid of a holding player and missing any creativity whatsoever. Up front Butcher does not seem to know who are his main players. There were very few positives to be drawn from this performance, but Esson, Hayes, Ross, Foran and Shinnie made it above pass marks, with Rooney looking interested when he came on. Sanchez, I'm afraid the game seems to pass him bye at times.
Esson has shown the qualities required and was a contender for MotM, he certainly kept us interested in the game with two great blocks in the second half. Nick Ross has great potential and his speed will be an asset, although he never received enough ball in the first hour. Shinnie is a threat going forward, and is an able deputy in the left wingback slot. My MoM however goes Liam Buchanan for his two cheeky goals and all round forward play, closely followed by Maxwell, who kept us at bay in the last frenetic throws of this encounter. Best for ICT were Hayes and Esson.
We should be looking forward to our home games, instead we are fast becoming the punch bags of the first division. Next up to kick sand in our faces are County in the Alba Cup, and after our last two home games, I don't hold out much hope for Inverness to turn it around.
Match report written by tm4tj