Appearances & Goals To Date
Starting Lineup
| Youngest Player: | Lee Cox (19 years 258 days) |
| Oldest Player: | Adam Rooney (2011 years 219 days) |
| Average Player Age: | 25 years 309 days |
| Domestic Players: | 11 (100.00 % of starting eleven) |
Matchday Squad
| Youngest Player: | Lee Cox (19 years 258 days) |
| Oldest Player: | Dani Sanchez (2011 years 219 days) |
| Average Player Age: | 25 years 321 days |
| Domestic Players: | 16 (100.00 % of matchday squad) |
First Team Debuts
Milestones
F**k you Dundee you'll never win the league!
Just like the Challenge Cup Final, Caley Thistle once again squandered a 2-0 lead against the league leaders.
This time we came away from Dens with a single point instead of three we should have had.
Caley Thistle dropped to 4th place after today's 2-2 draw with leaders Dundee at Dens Park.
For a fair bit of the second half it was looking good for the visitors as they went ahead just after the 2nd half started and then further ahead 10 minutes later. However, Dundee once again showed why they are top with a comeback from Kerr and Harkins to salvage a point.
Once again Inverness failed to beat Dundee despite taking a two goal lead. After a tense first forty-five, Foran and Odhiambo scored early in the second half and it looked as though the points might be heading up the A9, but a stunning strike from Brian Kerr and a bummer of a goal off Bully’s backside ensured that the points were shared. Butcher had Proctor on the bench alongside Sanchez, with Cox and Odhiambo starting. The rest of the side remained unchanged. No place for Bob Malcolm in the Dundee ranks, with Andrew Shinnie on from the start and Klimpl warming the bench.
The game started with both sides probing and looking for an opening but the defences were on top in the early exchanges. The first talking point was when Dundee looked to have taken advantage of a linesman’s error and as Tokely claimed for the throw in, Dundee sped towards the Inverness box where Esson had to palm over a snap shot from goalden boy Leigh Griffiths after he skipped inside Munro. Inverness eased their way into contention and Rooney fired wide after a Foran knock down. McKenzie made a goal saving block as Rooney once more looked to open the scoring. Another defensive block by the Dens men almost resulted in an own goal as the ball flashed perilously close to big Rab’s left hand woodwork. The closest call of the first half came when the improving Odhiambo broke free on the left, his weighted cross to the back post was met by Rooney driving deep into the box, but unfortunately for him the ball had just past the post and was now too close to the goal line. All he could do was knock the ball back across the face of the goal to start a bit of pinball. The first half finished with Inverness looking much more dangerous than their hosts and a tad unlucky not to be ahead.
Half Time 0-0
That was soon to change though as we were quick out of the blocks after the break. Eric, who looked out of sorts in the midfield battle, had become more prominent when going forward. He turned his marker on the edge of the box and quickly fed Rooney on the right wing. Rooney placed a cross onto Foran’s napper and he nodded the ball powerfully past a sprawling Douglas. One nil to the Highlanders and Dundee were now on the ropes. A second goal was imminent and it arrived courtesy of Eric. He was in the right place at the right time to tap home after great work by Foran and Rooney on the left. Two assists for man of the moment Adam Rooney.
At this point Dundee looked dead and buried. They had not managed to make Esson work so far since half time, but that was soon to change. There was only going to be one winner, or was there. Dundee were getting no change out of the Inverness rearguard when the ref took over. He penalised Lee Cox for standing his ground and when the Dee player bounced off him, he awarded a free kick. Glorious Gary Harkins stepped up and made a complete hash of it, but the ball ricocheted off the bottom of the wall and sat up nicely for Brian Kerr. He duly thrashed a spectacular volley into the heart of Ryan Esson’s net from twenty-five yards as the keeper seemed to be preparing to go right. He was caught flat footed as the ball fizzed past him. A lifeline for Dundee and you could visibly see the panic button being pushed by the ICT defence.
They threw everything at Inverness to try and get out of jail. Russell Duncan made a superb Bobby Mann like clearance from one yard out as he chested a cross down before volleying clear, much to the chagrin of the Dundee support. But Dundee were not to be denied, just as they did in the Alba Cup, they came back from the dead and snatched an unlikely point. There seemed little danger as Harkins collected the ball some thirty yards out. He drifted inside and eased past a couple of players as he does. Suddenly a gap opened up as our defence parted like the red sea. Moses then unleashed another fluffed shot which appeared to be going half way to the corner flag. As Esson made his way towards his right hand post the ball struck the unfortunate Bulvitis and re-routed itself towards the centre of the goal where it trickled over the line. Despair for Inverness and ecstasy for the Dee. Dundee had snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat.
Full Time 2-2
There endeth the scoring and the match finished all square. Inverness looked edgy after Kerr’s goal and sensed another fight back was on the cards, they were right, but credit to Dundee for not throwing in the towel when they looked down and out. Golabeck shackled Griffiths well in the first half and Tokely won his fair share against him when he switched wings. Munro and Bulvitis looked comfortable until Kerr scored out of nothing. The Irish connection once more put in a tremendous shift, although Jonny Hayes has lost some power since he changed his hair colour. The Rooney-Foran combo was working a treat and Eric came onto a game after a slow start where he struggled to control the ball and his tackling was non-existent, but when attacking he came into his own and looked decent in patches. The midfield duo of Cox and Duncan worked for me.
Plenty of effort and some great skill from Russell make him my MotM. Inverness will be disappointed at throwing away this advantage over everyone’s favourites for the title, but with a third of the season still to go there will be more opportunities to peg back the leaders. Dundee only have three home games left and eight away games, while we have seven home games and five away. Terry Butcher was livid citing “passion and desire” as something lacking from the team and was not happy with the way we lost the two goals. Jocky Scott was understandably less unhappy and agreed that “you need a bit of luck”. Well he got some today, but is the Dundee juggernaut as invincible as some would have us believe. That’s three draws against ICT this season, and the final game of the season could still be a vital one yet. Plenty of action coming up with Queens at Inverness on Tuesday night, so be prepared for a roller coaster run in from now.
Match report written by tm4tj
