Inverness CT 1 - 1 Hamilton Academical

League Match
Sunday, May 10th, 2009, 2:00 PM at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
Attendance: 3,623
Referee: Charlie Richmond
Inverness CT  Hamilton Academical

Goalscorers
Richie Foran (47)
Martin Canning (63)

Team Managers
Terry Butcher Billy Reid

Starting Eleven
Michael Fraser
Ross Tokely
Grant Munro
David Proctor
Lionel Djebi-Zadi
Roy McBain
Ian Black
Filipe Morais
Brian Kerr
Dougie Imrie
Richie Foran
Tomas Cerny
Martin Canning
David Elebert
Mark McLaughlin
Brian Easton
Simon Mensing
James McArthur
Alex Neil
Derek Asamoah
Richard Offiong
Derek Lyle

Substitutes
Ryan Esson
Pavels Mihadjuks
Iain Vigurs
Gavin Morrison
Andrew Barrowman
Adam Rooney
Eric Odhiambo
Sean Murdoch
Chris Swailes
James Gibson
James McCarthy
Mark Corcoran
Joel Thomas
Paul McGowan

Substitutions
Andrew Barrowman for Roy McBain (81)
Eric Odhiambo for Filipe Morais (86)
James McCarthy -> Mark McLaughlin (31)
Chris Swailes -> David Elebert (55)
James Gibson -> Derek Asamoah (70)

Bookings
None. Martin Canning (66)

Red Cards
None. James McArthur (67)
Appearances & Goals To Date
Michael Fraser (GK) 75 apps -
Ross Tokely 479 apps32 goals
Grant Munro 280 apps8 goals
Lionel Djebi-Zadi 17 apps -
David Proctor 91 apps5 goals
Filipe Morais 11 apps4 goals
Roy McBain 327 apps19 goals
Ian Black 141 apps8 goals
Brian Kerr 9 apps1 goal
Dougie Imrie 55 apps6 goals
Richie Foran 14 apps3 goals
Andrew Barrowman (sub) 30 apps2 goals
Eric Odhiambo (sub) 8 apps1 goal

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:David Proctor (25 years 72 days)
Oldest Player:Lionel Djebi-Zadi (2010 years 284 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 22 days
Domestic Players:11 (100.00 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Iain Vigurs (21 years 8 days)
Oldest Player:Filipe Morais (2010 years 284 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 99 days
Domestic Players:18 (100.00 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Points abegging after Accies Red:

Another vital match in the fight for SPL survival.

Caley Thistle missed a chance to take three points but the result did push them up a place to ninth.

Four points still separate them from bottom club Falkirk with three games left.

Hamilton played the final 25 minutes with ten men after James McArthur was shown a straight red card but they managed to hold on for a draw and could even have stolen it in the closing minutes.

ICTChris: Disappointing not to take all three points - thought we had the most chances but as usual this season we didn't manage to finish things off in the oppositions box. It was a terribly frustrating game, especially towards the end as we didn't manage to deliver a decent final ball or made stupid mistakes. Looking back we really, really should have won that game - they had to take off two of their centre backs, they had a man sent off and we went a goal up!

Foran had a very good game - he is so strong in the air and gives us a real outlet. Along with his workrate he's probably our most effective player up front and I'd keep him in there until the end of the season. Fantastic finish for the goal as well. I thought Brian Kerr did well in the middle, tidying things up well enough. Imrie looked quiet, as he always does against the Accies. At the back, we were reasonably solid but it's poor to lose a goal to a corner. Djebi-Zadi is absolutely abysmal. He is fast erasing the memories of his decent showings against the Old Firm with his terrible performances like today. His showing was summed up when he gave the ball away after a 60 yard run forward, nearly resulting in a goal for Offiong.

In the overall picture of things, we are matching Falkirk's results, which is what we need to do to stay up. However, we had a great opportunity to go six clear with only three matches left and not to take it could prove very costly.

Filipe Morais came back from injury into the home side at the expense of Andy Barrowman but injuries cost Richard Hastings and Russell Duncan squad places.

‘Man of the Match’ Richie Foran headed just wide in the second minute and the same player tested Hamilton ‘keeper Tomas Cerny with a bouncing shot in 19 minutes. The home side were well on top and before half time Cerny made excellent saves from Lionel Djebi-Zadi and Morais.

The breakthrough came two minutes after the interval when a long Mike Fraser kick-out was flicked on by Dougie Imrie and Morais before Foran volleyed home from ten yards. Hamilton came back into it and in 62 minutes Fraser pushed a Richard Offiong header for a corner – the kick led to a Martin Canning header which just went over the line despite the best efforts of Ian Black and Foran.

McArthur’s red card came just after the goal for a late tackle on Morais. Barrowman came on to augment the home strike force with ten minutes left as Caley Thistle sought to take advantage of their overall superiority but Offiong had a glorious chance at the other end. He was one-on-one with Fraser but could only hit wide. There was still time for one more chance for the home side when Imrie volleyed for goal but Cerny pushed it round the post.

A welcome point but it should have been three. Meh!

Final word from tm4tj:

Once again we were the better team but once again we failed to beast our bitches. If we had the points that they do over us, they would be all but relegated just now. Imrie needs to realise it's a team game, he wasted numerous opportunities by choosing the wrong option. Foran worked his socks off again and scored a peach of a volley, unfortunately I couldn't celebrate properly as I was in the middle of my half time coffee. He won 90% of all balls knocked towards him, great leader of the line display. Could Fraser have done better with the looped header leading up to the goal? My initial reaction was he could have held it, thus averting the corner which preceded the goal. Offiong did miss a great chance to steal the points, but Imrie could not force the winner although he did manage to get this one on target, but Cerny was equal to it. Proctor, Zadi, McBain, Imrie will need to think again, as they offered little to trouble the Accies, who seemed to wake up once they were down to ten men.

Mystifying refereeing decisions once again spoil the spectacle, but the real problem is our inability to punish teams when we are in the ascendency. Lionel tried single handedly to throw the game towards Accies, although the wee fellow, Assamoah was a handful. I am convinced he was fouling Lionel by getting underneath and nudging him every challenge and the ref kept penalising Lionel. Overall we should have strolled it after opening the scoring, but Accies are nothing if not stubborn and once again they thwarted us and stole a point which could have been undeservedly all three but for Offiongs miss.

Because of this, we now have two tricky away games followed by what could be a last day decider against a resurgent Falkirk. Squeaky bums at the ready.

Match report written by tm4tj/ictchris



None.

Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Rangers 35 24 7 4 71 26 45 79
2. Celtic 35 23 8 4 78 32 46 77
3. Hearts 35 15 9 11 37 37 0 54
4. Dundee Utd 35 13 14 8 46 42 4 53
5. Aberdeen 35 13 10 12 38 37 1 49
6. Hibernian 35 11 12 12 40 43 -3 45
7. Motherwell 35 12 8 15 40 47 -7 44
8. Hamilton Academical 35 11 5 19 29 48 -19 38
9. Inverness CT 35 10 6 19 35 54 -19 36
10. Kilmarnock 35 9 8 18 32 46 -14 35
11. St. Mirren 35 8 10 17 30 49 -19 34
12. Falkirk 35 7 11 17 35 50 -15 32