Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Clyde

Recap

STAR RATINGS ( *****)

Halliwell **** – 2 or 3 excellent stops but maybe slightly disappointed with the goal.
Potter *** – Solid at the back, made few mistakes.
Kernaghan *** – Marshalled the defence well but was at fault for the goal and had some unusually poor distribution.
Mensing *** – Same as Potter, solid under heavy pressure.
Ross *** – Tried hard to get into the game but was largely ineffective.
Bossy ** – Looked short of match practice and nervous.
Fraser *** – Covered lots of ground and tried hard but didn’t achieve much.
Keogh ** – Looked out of sorts, struggled to get possession in midfield.
Hagen **** – Good running down the left and was Clyde’s most dangerous threat on the attack.
Nish ** – Never really had a chance, not his type of game.
Hinds *** – Used the ball well when received but was isolated for most of the second half.

REPORT

In an all too familiar tale Clyde again returned from the Highlands with no points to show for their efforts. In all honesty Clyde got what they deserved after a lack lustre display saw their eight game unbeaten run come to an end. It was always going to be hard to come away with anything from a game with an Inverness side flying at the top of the table.

Things started promisingly for Clyde as they set about pegging the home side back and an early break from Hinds saw him feed Keogh who was just offside. Then after only seven minutes Hinds again burst into the box but he saw his attempt at goal deflected for a corner. Jack Ross sent over an impressive corner and player-boss Alan Kernaghan met the ball with his head but saw it go just wide.

However in a scrappy first half this was the only real threat Clyde mustered on goal.

As the half progressed Caley took a grip on the midfield with McBain and Hart in particular causing Clyde problems. However the home side were doing little to get behind a defence well marshalled by Kernaghan and it took until the 22nd minute before Wyness headed wide from a Tokely cross.

Neither side were getting much time on the ball, and the game was being fought in midfield where Caley were certainly stronger. Clyde needed some creativity but with both Kane and Millen out injured they were struggling to make anything happen.

Caley had some sustained pressure and had 3 quick fire corners but they all came to nothing as the half petered out and ended 0-0.

Inverness started the second half with renewed vigour and Robson immediately drove t the Clyde defence. He got as far as the edge of the box where ref Kenny Clark ruled that he was brought down by Jack Ross. Ritchie Hart hit a superb free kick but saw Bryn Halliwell tip it over the bar. Then at the other end a Jack Ross corner was headed just over by Kernaghan. Two minutes later Pat Keogh brought Hart down from behind to earn a booking from Clark. Hart needed treatment and the game was stopped for a few minutes.

Clyde were being forced back as wave after wave of Caley attacks saw then threaten the Clyde goal but were forced to shoot from long range. Then Wyness broke into the box but he saw his fine shot well held by Halliwell. Clyde were relying on a breakaway and on the half hour mark Hagan burst through but his shot from just outside the box went wide. Jack Ross then burst through on the right but his shot was easily held by Brown.

And at the other end Caley danger man Robson saw his run halted by Kernaghan and he got up and fired home a tremendous free kick which left Halliwell with no chance.

In the last minute Simon Mensing saw his goal bound header cleared on the line by Russell Duncan but Caley held on for the win.

A massive away support left disappointed at the end of the game but Caley showed why they are favourites for the title as they fought to the end to earn the points.

KERNAGHAN’S REACTION

"We managed to keep them at long-range despite all the possession they had. I didn’t see them scoring and it’s taken a decent free-kick to do it. But, I’m disappointed in the way we played. We gave the ball away too cheaply and left our front two isolated."

"It’s turned out that we’ve played defensively on a few occasions but we don’t plan to go out that way. I said to the players that if we weren’t near the ball just to keep our shape and let them play in front of us. There were times though when we could have done more going forward with some better passing."

"I think we missed Andy Millen and Paul Kane – someone with a bit of experience who can put their foot on the ball and bring others into play."

"I’m frustrated and annoyed that the run has come to an end but it was going to sometime. We’ll get back down to the training gound on Monday and get our feet back on ground, although I don’t think that was the problem today. There’s no point in looking back."