St. Johnstone 1 - 1 Inverness CT

League Match
Saturday, May 2nd, 2015, 3:00 PM at McDiarmid Park, Perth
Attendance: 2,986
Referee: Andrew Dallas
St. Johnstone Inverness CT

Goalscorers
Brian Graham (82) Aaron Doran (55)

Team Managers
Tommy Wright John Hughes

Starting Eleven
Alan Mannus
Dave Mackay
Steven Anderson
Thomas Scobbie
Gary Miller
Danny Swanson
Murray Davidson
Chris Millar
Michael O-Halloran
David Wotherspoon
Steven MacLean
Ryan Esson
Josh Meekings
Gary Warren
David Raven
Graeme Shinnie
Aaron Doran
Greg Tansey
James Vincent
Danny Williams
Marley Watkins
Edward Ofere

Bench
Steve Banks
Simon Lappin
Frazer Wright
Brian Graham
Liam Caddis
James McFadden
Chris Kane
Cameron Mackay
Daniel Devine
Carl Tremarco
Nick Ross
Liam Polworth
Ryan Christie
Tarmo Kink

Substitutions
James McFadden -> Steven MacLean (72)
Brian Graham -> Murray Davidson (75)
Daniel Devine for Aaron Doran (75)

Bookings
Steven MacLean (36)
Murray Davidson (61)
Steven Anderson (77)
David Wotherspoon (88)
Danny Swanson (91)
James Vincent (26)
David Raven (45)
Edward Ofere (52)
Josh Meekings (90)

Red Cards
None. David Raven (85)
Appearances & Goals To Date
Ryan Esson (GK) 175 apps -
David Raven 114 apps2 goals
Josh Meekings 144 apps3 goals
Gary Warren 115 apps11 goals
Graeme Shinnie 183 apps8 goals
Aaron Doran 147 apps20 goals
Greg Tansey 98 apps16 goals
Danny Williams 61 apps3 goals
James Vincent 46 apps2 goals
Marley Watkins 68 apps9 goals
Edward Ofere 9 apps4 goals
Daniel Devine (sub) 33 apps1 goal

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Aaron Doran (23 years 360 days)
Oldest Player:Graeme Shinnie (2016 years 277 days)
Average Player Age:28 years 133 days
Domestic Players:7 (63.64 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Cameron Mackay (15 years 148 days)
Oldest Player:Graeme Shinnie (2016 years 277 days)
Average Player Age:25 years 249 days
Domestic Players:12 (66.67 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Point taken:

Inverness had to settle for a point as St Johnstone came from behind to share the points in a tousy game at McDiarmid Park. Aaron Doran side-footed the visitors ahead with an excellent finish off the bar from fifteen yards. Perth levelled the game near the end when Brian Graham rose above Josh Meekings to head home Tam Scobbie's cross. Inverness finished the game with ten men as cup hero David Raven was sent packing by card happy referee Andrew Dallas after picking up his second yellow card, one of nine waved around.

Ten league games since we last won is the disappointing statistic that is threatening to undo our season as we stumble towards the finale. John Hughes rested Ryan Christie and Aaron Doran got a rare start. James Vincent also played from the kick off with Ross Draper missing out due to serving his second match ban as Inverness tried to end their drastic league slump and clinch the third Euro slot ahead of St Johnstone and Dundee United.

It was a low key event with little for the fans to get excited about in the freezing conditions. Danny Swanson almost broke the deadlock in the eighth minute when he curled a brilliant shot from outside the box that beat Ryan Esson but crashed back off the bar and James Vincent and Danny Williams hit decent thirty yard efforts that warmed Mannus' palms. Michael O'Halloran burst free in the box but was unable to work the keeper.

Raven picked up his first booking on the stroke of half time after being scythed down by two Perth players. After remonstrating with them referee Dallas intervened and harshly booked Raven, something he would regret later in the game.

Half Time 0-0

St Johnstone should have scored at the start of the second half but O'Halloran scooped a shot over from five yards after the ball would not leave the Inverness box.

They paid for that eight minutes later when a Raven cross rolled out to the edge of the box and Doran met it first time to side foot the ball home off the underside of the bar.

Josh Meeking burst forward past four or five tackles and when the ball eventually reached Doran, he could only direct his long range effort over the bar this time.

Yogi tried to hold what we had and introduced Danny Devine at the expense of Aaron Doran but the move back-fired as St Johnstone snatched the equaliser with nine minutes left. Great work down the left side saw Scobbie curl an inviting cross onto the head of Brian Graham and he flashed a powerful header into the net with Meekings unable to put any pressure on him.

Raven went for the proverbial early bath three minutes later after a rash challenge on the halfway line which saw him collect his second yellow and ultimately red, but Inverness saw out the game to earn their point.

Full Time 1-1

A draw was probably the right result, but it's still frustratingly disappointing to miss another opportunity to seal the third spot and with United beating Aberdeen it is getting a bit congested at the top end of the table below Champios Celtic and runners up Aberdeen.

Doran, bar, goal - Boom!

Match report written by tm4tj



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Celtic 35 27 4 4 78 17 61 85
2. Aberdeen 35 23 5 7 56 30 26 74
3. Inverness CT 34 16 8 10 46 36 10 56
4. Dundee Utd 34 16 4 14 53 50 3 52
5. St. Johnstone 35 15 7 13 32 33 -1 52
6. Hamilton Academical 35 14 7 14 47 50 -3 49
7. Partick Thistle 35 12 8 15 46 39 7 44
8. Dundee 35 11 11 13 45 52 -7 44
9. Kilmarnock 35 10 8 17 38 53 -15 38
10. Ross County 35 10 8 17 41 59 -18 38
11. Motherwell 35 9 5 21 34 60 -26 32
12. St. Mirren 35 7 3 25 26 63 -37 24