Inverness CT
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Edinburgh City
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Appearances & Goals To Date
Starting Lineup
Youngest Player: | Jamie McCart (21 years 172 days) |
Oldest Player: | Mark Ridgers (28 years 124 days) |
Average Player Age: | 24 years 334 days |
Domestic Players: | 9 (81.82 % of starting eleven) |
Matchday Squad
Youngest Player: | Roddy MacGregor (16 years 352 days) |
Oldest Player: | Mark Ridgers (28 years 124 days) |
Average Player Age: | 22 years 323 days |
Domestic Players: | 14 (77.78 % of matchday squad) |
First Team Debuts
Milestones
White Xmas: Jordan White bagged a hat-trick as Inverness cruised into the fourth round of the Scottish Cup with an ultimately emphatic win over League Two Edinburgh City on a chilly Highland night with 672 freezing souls in attendance. A Tom Walsh brace and a last minute Aaron Doran goal completed the Inverness scoring and for City Blair Henderson scored early in the first half to cancel out Walsh's opening goal.
This was a much needed win for Inverness who had been struggling in front of goal recently. After an uninspiring first half the home side began to cut open the visitors and eased their way to a fourth round tie against East Kilbride.
Much was expected of Inverness tonight after a disappointing last couple of games and after a dreich first half the game came to life in the second period.
Tom Walsh opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a replica goal straight out of the Falkirk game, running onto a forward pass from Aaron Doran into the box and drilling home.
Alas the lead was short lived and hesitancy in the defence allowed Blair Henderson to pop up between two defenders to equalise a couple of minutes later, the big striker finishing well.
There followed a turgid spell where everything broke down before the final third and misplaced passes were commonplace, however Jordan White was on hand to score after fifteen minutes, nodding in from close range.
More mediocrity followed right up to the break with neither keeper being called into serious action and Edinburgh were still in the tie as Inverness found it difficult to get in behind their defence.
Half Time 2-1
City knew they had nothing to fear at this point after we had toiled for forty-five minutes and they came out of the blocks fast at the start of the second half, Henderson trying his luck once more.
Robbo must have been unimpressed by that first half and you could see a bit more urgency about our play. Ten minutes into the half and we sealed the tie when Walsh scored after a mazy burst forward by Donaldson who gave the ball to Polworth to set up Walsh for the finish.
Some good possession play along the front of the visitors box saw Shaun Rooney cross low and the ball was met by White in the box, his low drive being too hot for the keeper to handle as the ball squirmed into the net.
One minute later and White grabbed his hat-trick as he powered a Liam Polworth corner high into the net from five yards.
The introduction of Roddy MacGregor had sparked some life into the Inverness ranks and his quick feet and build up play was creating more chances for the now eager forwards.
The scoring ended in stoppage time when we broke down a City attack on the edge of our box. The ball broke to MacGregor who sprinted forward with the ball, jinking across the City defence before releasing a timely ball into the path of Doran who had made good ground and he never broke stride as he placed the ball across the keeper into the bottom corner.
So, into the next round we go where we will take on East Kilbride at the Caledonian Stadium.
Well done big Jordan White for getting the hat-trick, that will do his confidence the world of good. Still room for improvement though as the big striker could almost have doubled his tally. Tom Walsh seems to have taken to this scoring lark, that's his third in two games, I feel there's plenty more to come from the lively wide player. Ridgers had little to do and Coll Donaldson was neat and tidy again. Charlie Trafford looked sharp in midfield with some tight turns and good distribution. Liam Polworth was involved in some of the goals but was also guilty of some wayward play, especially in a poor first half. Big Shaun Rooney is shaping up as a better wing back than a dedicated full back with some marauding runs in the Ross Tokely style. Special mention for Roddy MacGregor who looks like a tremendous prospect. His quick feet setting him aside from some of our more pedantic players.
A comfortable win after a grim first half. Let's not get carried away though, we are far from the finished article and will find Ayr a much tougher proposition on Friday night. However, let's bask in the glory of scoring six goals and getting into the next round of the cup for now.
Match report written by tm4tj