Airdrieonians 2 - 1 Inverness CT

League - Championship
Saturday, August 26th, 2023, 3:00 PM at Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie
Attendance: 1,688
Referee: Dan McFarlane
Airdrieonians Inverness CT

Goalscorers
Cameron Harper OG (1)
Calum Gallagher (32)
Nathan Shaw (70)

Team Managers
Rhys McCabe Billy Dodds

Starting Eleven
Josh Rae
Craig Watson
Callum Fordyce
Aaron Taylor-Sinclair
Cammy Ballantyne
Adam Frizzell
Murry Aiken
Dean McMaster
Gabby McGill
Calum Gallagher
Lewis McGregor
Mark Ridgers
Jake Davidson
Wallace Duffy
Cameron Harper
Daniel Devine
Charlie Gilmour
Robbie Thompson
David Carson
Keith Bray
Nathan Shaw
Austin Samuels
Billy Mckay

Bench
Rhys McCabe
Mason Hancock
Josh O'Connor
Nikolay Todorov
Elliot Dunlop
Gavin Gallagher
Joe Cassidy
David Hutton
Cameron Mackay
Zak Delaney
Robbie Thompson
Lewis Hyde
Harry Lodovica
Luis Longstaff
Adam Brooks

Substitutions
Nikolay Todorov -> Calum Gallagher (58)
Josh O'Connor -> Gabriel McGill (58)
Mason Hancock -> Lewis McGregor (82)
Luis Longstaff for Jake Davidson (45)
Adam Brooks for Austin Samuels (59)
Harry Lodovica for Billy Mckay (72)
Zak Delaney for David Carson (72)
Robbie Thompson for Keith Bray (83)

Bookings
Adam Frizzell (45+2)
Dean McMaster (90+3)
Charlie Gilmour (28)
Austin Samuels (40)
Billy Mckay (66)

Red Cards
Adam Frizzell second yellow (50) None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 242 apps -
Jake Davidson 7 apps1 goal
Wallace Duffy 79 apps3 goals
Daniel Devine 185 apps6 goals
Cameron Harper 125 apps9 goals
Charlie Gilmour 6 apps1 goal
Robbie Thompson 5 apps -
David Carson 147 apps2 goals
Keith Bray 7 apps -
Billy Mckay 253 apps102 goals
Nathan Shaw 51 apps11 goals
Austin Samuels 49 apps7 goals
Zak Delaney (sub) 46 apps -
Robbie Thompson (sub) 5 apps -
Luis Longstaff (sub) 5 apps -
Adam Brooks (sub) 5 apps -
Harry Lodovica (sub) 4 apps -

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Keith Bray (17 years 151 days)
Oldest Player:Billy Mckay (34 years 316 days)
Average Player Age:25 years 86 days
Domestic Players:7 (58.33 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Keith Bray (17 years 151 days)
Oldest Player:Billy Mckay (34 years 316 days)
Average Player Age:24 years 79 days
Domestic Players:10 (55.56 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Diamond geezers do it again:

Inverness were without Aaron Doran and Sean Welsh but Danny Devine returned to the defence and Keith Bray started. Hat-Trick Harry was on the bench with young Adam Brooks. Airdrie had new signing Gavin Gallagher on the bench alongside Nikolay Todorov but Colin Telfer missed out with player manager Rhys McCabe. Top scorer Calum Gallagher is the man to keep an eye on.

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

WTF! Inverness went behind in the first minute when Cammy Harper scored an own goal. So much for cutting out errors at the back. We chased the game thereafter without creating too much and Calum Gallagher doubled our deficit after half an hour to make our task even more onerous. Austin Samuels hit woodwork and another shambles of a half closed at 2-0 for the hosts with Frizzell booked on the whistle. Depressing stuff from the visitors with no cutting edge. Five minutes after the break Airdrie were reduced to ten men when Adam Frizzell received his second yellow card. Nathan Shaw scored to half the deficit with twenty minutes remaining. We threw everything at Airdrie but Rae was equal to all our efforts and we slumped to our sixth defeat in a row. What now Billy?

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

WTF! Inverness go behind inside the first minute when Cammy Harper tries to cut out a cross from Lewis McGregor but knocks it into his own net instead. So much for cutting out errors at the back. 😡 Wallace Duffy responded in the third minute but his drive went high and wide and sinner Harper put a good cross into the box but Keeper Josh Rae did well to gather confidently. The hosts were looking for a penalty when Aiken went down in the box and Gallagher fired wide. Nothing given. Keith Bray got on the end of a Nathan Shaw cross but his effort was blocked as we looked to get back on level terms. Just after the half hour Bray was close to getting on the end of a David Carson through ball. Surprise surprise! Chasing the game from thirty-five seconds in, we lost a second goal when Calum Gallagher shot into the bottom corner from inside the box, Danny Devine culpable this time. Is there no end to our error strewn defending? Austin Samuels hit woodwork,Taylor-Sinclair had blocked his effort onto the post as we struggled to get a foothold in this game with half-time approaching. A great run from Gallagher almost added a third and Samuels was booked as his frustration showed five minutes before the interval. Charlie Gilmour curled over after Rae's clearance fell to him and Shaw missed the target as we desperately searched for a way back.

HALF TIME: 2-0

Luis Longstaff replaced Jake Davidson at the break and Billy Mckay was denied by Rae at his near post five minutes into the second period from Longstaff's cross. From the resultant corner Devine's header came off the post and was saved by the keeper then Moments later Frizzell was red carded for his second bookable offence, a late challenge on Bray, having been booked in time added on at the end of the first half. Mckay went close again but was blocked as Inverness looked to take advantage of their superior numbers. Airdrie re-jigged after the sending off with Todorov and O'Connor entering the field. McGregor brought Mark Ridgers into action and likewise at the other end with Shaw on target. Shaw did pull a goal back from close range after seventy minutes when Longstaff's shot came back off the post as we went for broke. Ridgers cut out a cross from Aiken as he broke forward with ten minutes left. Airdrie were living dangerously and Shaw went close again with five minutes left on the clock and he was denied by Rae a minute later. In time added on Sub Robbie Thompson was denied by Rae as he kept Airdrie ahead. Despite a big effort in the second half it ended with Airdrie taking all three points.

FULL TIME: 2-1

Match report written by tm4tj

Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Queens Park 4 3 0 1 6 5 1 9
2. Dundee Utd 3 2 1 0 8 1 7 7
3. Raith Rovers 3 2 1 0 6 4 2 7
4. Airdrieonians 3 2 0 1 5 4 1 6
5. Partick Thistle 3 1 1 1 6 5 1 4
6. Dunfermline 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
7. Morton 3 1 0 2 5 7 -2 3
8. Arbroath 4 1 0 3 4 7 -3 3
9. Ayr United 3 1 0 2 2 6 -4 3
10. Inverness CT 3 0 0 3 2 5 -3 0