Inverness CT 1 - 2 Ross County

League Match
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019, 7:05 PM at Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
Attendance: 3,785
Referee: Nick Walsh
Inverness CT  Ross County

Goalscorers
Carl Tremarco (24)
Joshua Mullin (8)
Andrew Boyle (34)

Team Managers
John Robertson Steven Ferguson & Stuart Kettlewell

Starting Eleven
Mark Ridgers
Coll Donaldson
Carl Tremarco
Brad Mckay
Jamie McCart
Joe Chalmers
Charlie Trafford
Tom Walsh
Aaron Doran
Liam Polworth
Jordan White
Scott Fox
Marcus Fraser
Andrew Boyle
Kenny van der Weg
Sean Kelly
Joshua Mullin
Ross Draper
Jamie Lindsay
Daniel Armstrong
Declan McManus
Ross Stewart

Substitutes
Cameron Mackay
Kevin McHattie
Shaun Rooney
Matheus Machado
Anthony McDonald
Nathan Austin
Daniel Mackay
Lewis Spence
Harrison Paton
Callum Semple
Brian Graham
Ross Munro
Don Cowie
Tom Grivosti

Substitutions
Nathan Austin for Tom Walsh (72)
Shaun Rooney for Brad Mckay (75)
Anthony McDonald for Carl Tremarco (85)
Lewis Spence -> Ross Draper (45)
Brian Graham -> Daniel Armstrong (71)

Bookings
Charlie Trafford (29)
Jamie McCart (77)
Liam Polworth (81)
Shaun Rooney (82)
Joe Chalmers (83)
Ross Draper (9)
Scott Fox (21)
Sean Kelly (92)

Red Cards
Charlie Trafford (46)
None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 82 apps -
Joe Chalmers 86 apps6 goals
Coll Donaldson 69 apps1 goal
Carl Tremarco 167 apps14 goals
Jamie McCart 40 apps1 goal
Brad Mckay 113 apps6 goals
Liam Polworth 201 apps18 goals
Charlie Trafford 57 apps -
Aaron Doran 233 apps38 goals
Tom Walsh 34 apps10 goals
Jordan White 42 apps14 goals
Shaun Rooney (sub) 36 apps5 goals
Anthony McDonald (sub) 6 apps -
Nathan Austin (sub) 40 apps12 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Jamie McCart (21 years 291 days)
Oldest Player:Carl Tremarco (33 years 181 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 81 days
Domestic Players:8 (72.73 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Matheus Machado (17 years 271 days)
Oldest Player:Carl Tremarco (33 years 181 days)
Average Player Age:24 years 63 days
Domestic Players:13 (72.22 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Refereeing Joke Ruins Derby: Using the term 'referee' loosely, Nick Walsh ruined any hope that a fair game would be played out as he sent Charlie Trafford off on half time and proceeded to flash yellow cards willy nilly, especially at those in blue and red. The game was ruined by half time and with County 2-1 ahead after a lack lustre first half from Inverness there was little hope that the hosts would get their noses in front, not with Nick useless Walsh trying to dominate the game. Josh Mullin rifled a shot home in eight minutes before Jordan White won and missed a penalty, Scott Fox guessing right and saving. We did draw level when Carl Tremarco headed home but we shot ourselves in the foot by gifting a sloppy second, Boyle taking advantage of joke defending. With Trafford going off that was it for us and County and Walsh held on for all three points as the weather worsened.

Results tonight showed no dramatic changes to the table with Ayr -V- Morton and Queens -V- Falkirk both ending in 1-1 draws. Falkirk climb above Partick Thistle on goal difference at the foot of the table but have played one more game. Top of the table clash on Friday night as County play Dundee United. We face a tough trip to Ayr on the Saturday and the Pars visit Partick Thistle.

This was a crucial game for both teams and neither side were able to field their full strength squad due to injuries. Robertson was without engine room penalty taking midfielder Sean Welsh who will miss the rest of the season. County had four or five first team squad players out, notable Michael Gardyne and Keith Watson with Iain Vigurs suffering a setback in his recuperation. Such is their depth of squad it made little difference to their playing routines.

A decent day gave way to some heavy showers shortly before kick off and the TV cameras restricted the fans in the stadium. The Inverness fans rightly relished this one after some great performances recently and having held the upper hand in most derby's this season although not always getting the right result. Undiminished, the optimism and belief that we could consolidate within the top four was rife, but that would soon crumble after we made a sluggish start to this encounter.

From the kick off, it was evident that County were the team that wanted this more and we were on the back foot in the opening minutes as we defended nervously. Josh Mullin had two or three half chances before he opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Joe Chalmers was disposessed in midfield. It looked innocuous enough as Mullin got the ball but he speared a low shot from outside of the box in the inside right position. However, it arrowed it's way across the keeper and nestled in the bottom right of Mark Ridgers' goal despite a despairing dive from the keeper. All looked a bit soft to me, but 1-0 to the visitors it was. We only had ourselves to blame at this stage as our tackling, passing and commitment were all wayward.

This stirred us slightly and just over ten minutes later we were awarded a penalty after Jordan White was released on the right side of the box. As he tried to go round Fox he was sent sprawling and he was awarded a penalty. He took it himself but telegraphed it somewhat to Fox who was cunning enough to have guessed the correct direction and saved the less than impressive spot kick to his right. Meh! Fox only got a yellow for his part in the incident.

His next play proved to be more profitable as he headed back for Carl Tremarco to score with a header off the underside of the bar to level the match five minutes later after a good spell from the hosts.

On the half hour Charlie Trafford would pick up a booking for a minor foul. That would come back to bite him on the bum before the interval.

Ten minutes before the break our recovery process was undone after we lost control of the ball and failed to clear our lines effectively. From the corner, Draper hit the ball into the ground and Andrew Boyle was able to nod the ball home from very close range with a number of defenders looking around and waving their arms at the referee in frustration. Shoddy stuff from the Caley Jags.

County now looked to be in control as we reverted to loose passing and half hearted challenges as Declan McManus and Mullin fired efforts at goal.

Aaron Doran broke the monopoly and Inverness forced three corners in succession which came to nothing. A free kick brought no joy either, Joe Chalmers hitting the wall.

The game changer was upon us. Firstly Ross Draper seemed to bundle Liam Polworth to the ground which the 'referee' chose to ignore. Ten yards further away he penalised Charlie Trafford and gave him his second half baked yellow card which saw Trafford sent for an early bath in the first minute of stoppage time at the interval.

Half Time 1-2

Draper had done his job and the County management replaced him at the break. Considering that he already had picked up an early booking and was lucky to stay on the park, that was a shrewd move.

There was plenty of effort but little guile as we struggled to create clear openings, Brad McKay coming closest with a header. The weather had now turned decidedly nasty and a vicious swirling wind and sleet, hailstones and rain made conditions difficult and almost impossible to play a passing game.

Tom Walsh was our most effective player on the break and he curled a low effort just the wrong side of the post from the left edge of the box. Close, but not close enough. White almost made the right contact with a shot from twelve yards but could not get his foot round the ball enough under pressure from the defender and the shot went wide.

Looked as though County hit the bar at one point with a close range header by Lindsay amongst some confusion in our ranks.

Conditions were still deteriorating and the Nick Walsh I'm in charge booking extravaganza began. it was almost as if bookings were going out of fashion and four Inverness players were booked in the next six minutes. It seemed as though every tackle was not just a foul, but also a yellow card, yet the visitors were not chastised for anything. Polly was booked for dissent, Rooney for throwing the ball softly towards the shins of a visiting player.

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

Inverness Caley Thistle manger John Robertson on BBC Sport: "The sending off - they both bookable offences. However, our boys are convinced Ross Draper caught Liam Polworth in the build-up and it could easily have been a red the other way. That was a big game-changer."

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

Nick Walsh take a bow son, you are absolutely useless, the worst referee in the history of worst referees.

The ten men were now physically and mentally drained but we did well to deny County any more goals, Brian Graham having a couple of late attempts.

Still time for a late ironic cheer from the Caley Jags fans when Sean Kelly was booked in time added on. That was as good as it got in a hugely disappointing game ruined by a small person with the big chip on his shoulder syndrome.

Coll Donaldson was again our best performer with Tom Walsh and Tommy Tremarco putting in a shift. However, we only have ourselves to blame for our poor start to the game where we strolled around making error after error giving County the belief and impetus to go on and win the game. Gone was the passion, commitment and desire of the previous derby's. It had been replaced by shirking tackles, misplaced passes and blaming someone else. All this helped by a totally incompetent referee.

Match report written by tm4tj



None.

Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Ross County 30 18 6 6 52 29 23 60
2. Dundee Utd 31 16 7 8 42 37 5 55
3. Ayr United 29 13 8 8 44 29 15 47
4. Inverness CT 31 11 13 7 42 35 7 46
5. Dunfermline 30 11 7 12 30 32 -2 40
6. Morton 30 8 11 11 28 40 -12 35
7. Queen of the South 30 8 10 12 38 37 1 34
8. Falkirk 31 7 11 13 32 41 -9 32
9. Partick Thistle 30 9 5 16 34 47 -13 32
10. Stirling Albion 30 7 8 15 31 46 -15 29