Inverness CT 3 - 1 Kilmarnock

League Match
Sunday, April 24th, 2016, 12:30 PM at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
Attendance: 2,228
Referee: John Beaton
Inverness CT  Kilmarnock

Goalscorers
Greg Tansey (pen.) (55)
Ross Draper (73)
Danny Williams (76)
Kallum Higginbotham (44)

Team Managers
John Hughes Lee Clark

Starting Eleven
Owain Fon Williams
Josh Meekings
Gary Warren
Daniel Devine
Carl Tremarco
Iain Vigurs
Liam Polworth
Greg Tansey
Ross Draper
Danny Williams
Miles Storey
Jamie MacDonald
Miles Addison
Mark O-Hara
Conrad Balatoni
Lee Hodson
Rory McKenzie
Kallum Higginbotham
Greg Kiltie
Gary Dicker
Julien Faubert
Kris Boyd

Substitutes
Ryan Esson
David Raven
Lewis Horner
Ryan Williams
Liam Hughes
Richie Foran
Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo
Conor Brennan
Stuart Findlay
Alex Henshall
Temitope Obadeyi
Lee Ashcroft
Greg Taylor
Adam Frizzell

Substitutions
Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo for Iain Vigurs (74)
Conor Brennan -> Kallum Higginbotham (54)
Lee Ashcroft -> Conrad Balatoni (77)
Tope Obadeyi -> Greg Kiltie (77)

Bookings
Greg Tansey (23)
None.

Red Cards
None. Jamie McDonald (53)
Appearances & Goals To Date
Owain Fon Williams (GK) 43 apps -
Gary Warren 147 apps12 goals
Carl Tremarco 70 apps1 goal
Josh Meekings 170 apps5 goals
Daniel Devine 80 apps2 goals
Danny Williams 105 apps5 goals
Greg Tansey 143 apps25 goals
Ross Draper 155 apps11 goals
Iain Vigurs 59 apps11 goals
Liam Polworth 72 apps6 goals
Miles Storey 33 apps11 goals
Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo (sub) 28 apps2 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Liam Polworth (21 years 200 days)
Oldest Player:Danny Williams (2017 years 270 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 293 days
Domestic Players:5 (45.45 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Liam Polworth (21 years 200 days)
Oldest Player:Josh Meekings (2017 years 270 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 296 days
Domestic Players:11 (61.11 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones
Greg Tansey scored for the 25th time for the Club.

Killie Pay The Penalty:

Inverness eased any lingering doubts about their Premiership status for next season with a resounding 3-1 win over troubled Kilmarnock who are now looking like favourites for the play-offs.

This game hinged on a penalty for Inverness and a red card for Kilmarnock keeper Jamie MacDonald less than ten minutes into the second half. Kallum Higginbotham had given the visitors the lead at the end of the first half and Greg Tansey put away the penalty after the break. Further goals followed from Ross Draper and the outgoing Danny Williams to put Killie in the mire and push us up to eighth in the league.

A bright but brisk Sunday morning saw the teams warm up prior to kick off and with the game being televised live there was always going to be a low crowd in attendance.

David Raven was a notable addition to the home bench and he was joined there by Andrea Mutombo who gave way to Danny Williams. Other than that, Hughes fielded the same side that drew with Hearts in their last outing.

Killie were without Josh Magennis and had prolific scorer Kris Boyd up top as they looked to get themselves out of bother.

For what was at stake, it was a rather grim first half with Kilmarnock looking livelier and Inverness content to keep them at bay.

The first effort of note came from the visitors when Greg Kiltie smashed a powerful shot a couple of yards wide after ten minutes.

Inverness responded on the half hour, and after Miles Storey raced across the front of the box, Danny Williams took over and curled a shot goalwards but Jamie MacDonald pulled off a TV save to deny the Inverness player, parrying the ball to his right.

Ross Draper might have done better after a Danny Devine knock down found the big man at the back post, but the ball seemed to bounce high and Draper awkwardly turned the ball onto the outside of the base of the post and past for a goal kick.

Five minutes before the break and Meekings fired a shot just over but just when it looked like Inverness were getting on top, Killie scored an excellent goal through Higginbotham. He started the move in midfield and fed Kiltie. He returned the ball to the overlapping Higginbotham who cut inside and placed a low shot from seventeen yards behind Fon Williams to silence the already silent home crowd. In fairness, they did break into a boo for the ear cupped Higginbotham as he celebrated his goal right on half time.

Half Time 0-1

It had been a poor first period but that would change after the break as an unlikely hero would emerge from the gloom. Take a bow Conrad Balatoni. The Killie defender would take centre stage when he cocked up a pass back to his keeper. Ross Draper showed a tidy fleet of foot as he reacted to the pass and nipped in to round MacDonald. The keeper brought him down and was subsequently red carded. Greg Tansey was cool though and he smacked the penalty to sub keeper Conor Brennan's right to level things. A disappointed Higginbotham being subbed as a result showed his anger as he left the field.

Here's a pic of Greg about to put the ball low down to Brennan's right, the keeper guessing correct but Tansey had enough direction and power to put the ball into the net.

That was a game changer if ever I saw one and Inverness looked to take the game by the scruff of the neck against ten man Killie.

After some Killie pressure, Inverness got another break when a low curling free kick from Kris Boyd struck the base of the post with Fon Williams at full stretch, the ball rebounding to safety.

Meekings missed a sitter from a Storey cross as play opened out, the defender really should have done better as he met the ball at the back post and bulleted his header wide. Maybe he was too close to the post and took his eye off the ball, but it should have been the second.

Draper stabbed in number two from a knock down following a corner, the Killie defence failing to clear the ball as the big number eight turned it home.

Breathing space followed soon after when Williams ended a thirty nine pass move when he slickly cut the ball home from fifteen yards to spectacularly complete the scoring and take the wind out of the visiting sails, sending them into the doldrums.

There was still time for the obligatory scares and heart in mouth moments. Killie were not completely out of it though and they hit the woodwork again when a cross from Faubert wide left bounced off the top of the bar. Not convinced it was a shot, but it almost sneaked in, a throwback to the Motherwell game, fortunately, this time the ball stayed out. But the damage had been done and Killie were by now stretched and bedraggled as the game wore on and we looked to capitalise on numerous surges forward. However, the score stayed at that as we saw out the remainder of the game, and the home fans were pretty pleased.

Full Time 3-1.

The best and worst on display here. A first half littered with inactivity and a sucker punch goal and a second half full of attacking options and a tremendous team goal to round off the scoring when Williams finished a 39 man move, where ball retention was lasting for ever.

Ross Draper was my MotM. Scoring one, setting up another at the penalty and generally driving Inverness forward at every opportunity, especially in the second half. Carl Tremarco was at his best as well and Danny Williams showed what we will miss next season.

Good three points ultimately deserved but it took the penalty and sending off to ignite our fires. After that there was only going to be one winner, although Killie, to their credit, almost got a second through Boyd, but I always felt we could get another if required; It wasn't and we didn't so 3-1 it was and a welcome three points. Big cheer for David Raven when he trotted out to warm up. Take note Yogi, the fans are on his side.

Match report written by tm4tj



None.

Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Celtic 34 23 8 3 79 26 53 77
2. Aberdeen 34 21 5 8 56 39 17 68
3. Hearts 34 17 9 8 54 34 20 60
4. Motherwell 34 14 5 15 42 49 -7 47
5. St. Johnstone 34 13 7 14 51 51 0 46
6. Ross County 34 13 5 16 49 56 -7 44
7. Dundee 34 10 14 10 50 50 0 44
8. Inverness CT 34 11 10 13 43 44 -1 43
9. Partick Thistle 34 11 8 15 33 41 -8 41
10. Hamilton Academical 34 10 9 15 39 56 -17 39
11. Kilmarnock 34 8 8 18 34 57 -23 32
12. Dundee Utd 34 6 6 22 34 61 -27 24

* - Table split into two divisions of six.

Programme cover / Team sheet