Dunfermline 1 Inverness CT 1
Saturday, 22nd Jan 2022cinch Championship: Lewis Martin starts in place of Mark Connolly: Shane Sutherland (39) 0-1: Steven Lawless (80 pen.) 1-1:
A penalty kick converted by Steven Lawless ten minutes from time earned the Pars a vital point and it could have been more if they had been given decisions in the second half.
With both clubs out of the Scottish Cup, the weekend of the fourth round of the tournament was used to fulfil this match postponed due to wet weather in December. Dunfermline were seeking a win that would lift them off the foot of the table while the visitors were after three points to take them to within one point of league leaders, Arbroath.
With the departure of Mark Connolly following the end of his loan period from Dundee United, Lewis Martin returned to John Hughes’ starting eleven. Inverness Caledonian Thistle were without Roddy Macgregor and Billy McKay so Cameron Harper and Manny Duku came into the side.
Fans were back in the North Stand, McCathie Stand and the SRJ Main Stand to witness Caley Thistle’s Shane Sutherland kick off attacking the goal at the away end. Robbie Deas fired an early effort just wide of Owain Fon Williams left hand post before there was a stoppage in the fourth minute when Aaron Comrie and Duku clashed heads.
Inverness commanded most of the early play until in eight minutes Steven Lawless threaded a fine pass into the right side of the visitors box that Comrie ran on to and cut back but the Inverness keeper Mark Ridgers dived forward to cut out the cross.
There was another chance after perseverance from Lawless allowed Dan Pybus to feed Comrie and as another fine ball came in from the right Lewis McCann was axed in the centre of the box by Kirk Broadfoot. The Pars striker received treatment after play stopped in the home half and fortunately was able to continue after a visit from the physio.
The need for the physio twice in the opening quarter of an hour demonstrated the fiercely physical competitive nature of the match. Indeed McCann gave Ridgers a fright after charging down his clearance and the Fifers were showing great fighting qualities.
There was however a fright for the Pars in 20 minutes when Duku dispossessed Martin 15 yards into the Caley Thistle half and raced away towards goal. Coll Donaldson covered across far enough to hurry the former Raith striker’s shot and Fon Williams dived to his right to hold.
Dunfermline were pressed into doing a fair bit of defending without Fon Williams being called into any serious action but then in 39 minutes Caley Thistle found their way through. Reece McAlear got a good break off Paul Allan to break into the right side of the Pars box and his cross picked out SUTHERLAND on the far side who drilled the ball home. 0-1
There was a shot from Pybus that was blocked before play stopped again as Devine required treatment in 44th minute. The half ended in the fourth minute of added time and the stats would show 55% Inverness possession and four shots to the Pars two.
Half time: Dunfermline 0 Inverness Caley Thistle 1
Kevin O’Hara replaced Paul Allan before the referee Steven Reid arrived late to restart the match at 4.08pm. First attempt came from Dunfermline in 49 minutes after Comrie received the ball wide right and burst into the box. He elected to shoot on the angle but blasted the ball over the bar. At the other end Tom Welsh dispatched an effort into the McCathie Stand.
There was a great opportunity created from a Lawless cross in 54 minutes. McCann got the header on target but Ridgers beat it away and O’Hara’s follow up from close range was also blocked out. Three minutes later Dow picked out Todd wide right and his cross was deflected on by McCann but wide left.
Welsh pumped a 61st minute free kick on the right into the Pars box but Fon Williams had an elementary catch from a poorly connected attempt. Two minutes later John Hughes made a double substitution- Graham Dorrans and Reece Cole replacing Matty Todd and Ryan Dow.
The home side were awarded a rare free kick on the right touchline midway inside the opposition half in 66 minutes. Donaldson made a good attempt to meet Cole’s well placed delivery but the ball went out wide left of target.
Inverness introduced Logan Chalmers for his debut for the club after signing on loan from Dundee United and then Sam Pearson for Cameron Harper. Lawless then in 74 minutes, took the Fifers first corner of the game but it was low and easily cleared.
Dunfermline had pushed up in numbers and they were awarded a penalty after Pybus ran around the back of Edwards and then tried a cross in from the left that David Carson stopped with his hand. Steven LAWLESS stepped up to convert the 80th minute penalty with a left footed shot into the bottom left. The first goal for the Pars from the spot this season made it 1-1.
The match became very open as both teams pushed for a winner and O’Hara forced an 87th minute corner. Cole delivered and Donaldson met the cross with a powerful header that unluckily went straight to Ridgers.
Before it all came to an end O’Hara had an effort cleared by the keeper’s foot in a move where the manager and players felt that they should have been awarded a second penalty.
Steven Lawless’ first goal for Dunfermline secured the one point that was enough to lift his side off the bottom of the table and set up another crucial game the following Saturday against now tenth placed Queen of the South.
SUBS NOT USED: Kyle Macdonald, Nikolay Todorov, Leon Jones, Deniz Mehmet (GK)
SCORERS: Lawless (80 pen.)
YELLOW CARD: Allan (34), Cole (81), Donaldson (85)
INVERNESS CT: Mark Ridgers: David Carson, Kirk Broadfoot (c), Danny Devine (Wallace Duffy 45+2), Robbie Deas: Tom Walsh, Sean Welsh, Reece McAlear, Shane Sutherland, Cameron Harper (Sam Pearson 73): Manny Duku (Logan Chalmers 67).
SUBS NOT USED: Lewis Jamieson, Lewis Hyde, Lewis Nicolson, Cameron Mackay (GK)
SCORERS: Sutherland (39)
YELLOW CARD: Devine (10), McAlear (70), Carson (79)
REFEREE: Steven Reid
WEATHER: Overcast 8°C
ATTENDANCE 3138
NEXT MATCH: cinch Championship (away) v Queen of the South Saturday 29th January 2021, kick off 3.00pm at Palmerston Park
The 50/50 winning ticket number 534725 won £400
Views : 5,094
Related Stories
- Managers post Inverness CT
- Preview Inverness CT
- From five lows to high fives
- Matt’s new contract adds gloss
-
Dunfermline 1-1 Inverness CT
Sat, 22nd Jan 2022
-
John Hughes post Inverness CT
Sat, 22nd Jan 2022
-
Steven Lawless post Inverness CT
Sat, 22nd Jan 2022
Check out the Gallery for more photo's -- the images below will scroll through automatically.
Preview Inverness CT
Saturday, 22nd Jan 2022cinch Championship (home) v Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Saturday 22nd January 2022, kick off 3.00pm at East End Park
Dunfermline Athletic will take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday in search of a win that could take them at least two places up the league table due to the other teams around them not playing. Stacked against them is a record of just eleven wins over their opponents in the 47 previous meetings since the first one in August 1999.
Milestones v Inverness Caley Thistle (home)
Last League Victory | 17/10/20 | 3-1 | Championship
Last League Defeat | 25/02/20 | 1-2 | Championship
Best League Victory | 07/08/99 | 4-0 | Division 1
Worst League Defeat | 18/01/12 | 1-3 | Division 1
Last Goalless Match | 18/09/21 | 0-0 | Championship
First Ever Meeting | 07/08/99 | 4-0 | Division 1
Last time at East End Park
Dunfermline 0-0 Inverness CT
Sat, 18th Sep 2021
League leaders Inverness Caley Thistle arrived at a sunny East End Park to take on a Dunfermline Athletic team that sat bottom of the table.
This was a game that Dunfermline should have won, they had the best chances but both keepers made saves they got great credit for. There were a couple of bad misses and the home side were a bit unfortunate at times. As manager Peter Grant pointed out post match a clean sheet always gives you an opportunity to win the game but his side had chances at the end that could have given him a long sought after win.
With time running out Ridgers beat Wighton to a through ball and Cole, 35 yards out, just could not find the shot at the open goal. Then in the second minute of added time Cole sent Wighton away through the middle and with Devine in his slipstream and the crowd egging him on, managed to fire a shot from 15 yards out that Ridgers palmed away.
DUNFERMLINE: Owain Fôn Williams: Aaron Comrie, Paul Watson, Vytas Gašpuitis, Josh Edwards: Ryan Dow, Dan Pybus (Dom Thomas 69), Graham Dorrans (c), Kai Kennedy: Nikolay Todorov (Reece Cole 82), Kevin O’Hara (Craig Wighton HT)
SUBS NOT USED: Kyle Macdonald, Paul Allan, Leon Jones, Deniz Mehmet (GK)
INVERNESS CT: Mark Ridgers: David Carson, Danny Devine, Kirk Broadfoot (c), Robbie Deas: Tom Walsh, Scott Allardice, Roddy Macgregor, Aaron Doran (Cameron Harper HT), Shane Sutherland (Billy McKay 36), Manny Duku (Sean Welsh 71)
SUBS NOT USED: Reece McAlear, Wallace Duffy, Lewis Jamieson, Cameron Mackay (GK)
The last dozen league matches between the teams have seen three Dunfermline wins, three draws and six Caley Thistle wins.
Last 12 League matches v Inverness Caley Thistle
13/11/21: (A) W 2-1 [0-1] McKay, [1-1] Devine o.g, [2-1] Thomas
18/09/21: (H) D 0-0
20/03/21: (H) L 0-1 [0-1] Carson
29/12/20: (A) D 1-1 [1-0] Turner, [1-1] Todorov
17/10/20: (H) W 3-1 [0-1] Todorov, [1-1] E Murray, [2-1] Dow, [3-1] McManus
25/02/20: (H) L 1-2 [0-1] Doran, [1-1] Thomas, [1-2] Walsh
21/12/19: (A) L 0-2 [0-1] Rooney, [0-2] McCart
14/09/19: (H) L 0-1 [0-1] Welsh
04/05/19: (A) L 0-1 [0-1] Austin
16/02/19: (H) W 1-0 [1-0] Thomson
30/10/18: (A) D 2-2 [1-0] Keena, [1-1] Calder, [2-1] Keena, [2-2] White
01/09/18: (H) L 0-3 [0-1] Rooney, [0-2] Polworth, [0-3] Oakley
Recent Form
Despite being at the foot of the table Dunfermline have won more matches in the last ten fixtures than Inverness, their second placed opponents. Indeed the Highlanders have only won three of their last fifteen games. They have drawn their last three Championship matches but have lost only once away from home this league season at Hamilton.
Last six matches
DUNFERMLINE
Hamilton Academical (H) W 1-0
Morton (A) L 0-5
Raith Rovers (A) D 0-0
Arbroath (H) L 0-3
Queen of the South (H) D 3-3
Hamilton Academical (A) L 0-1
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE
Queen of the South (H) D 2-2
Raith Rovers (H) D 1-1
Arbroath (A) D 0-0
Hamilton Academical (H) L 1-2
Morton (A) W 6-1
Morton (A) D 1-1
League Record
DUNFERMLINE
League Position: 10th
League Points: 18
Goal Difference: -17
Home League Record: P11 W2 D5 L4 GF11 GA18
Last Six Match Form: LDLDLW
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE
League Position: 2nd
League Points: 37
Goal Difference: +12
Away League Record: P10 W4 D5 L1 GF14 GA7
Last Six Match Form: DWLDDD
Last Time Out
DUNFERMLINE (v Hamilton Academical): Owain Fôn Williams (c): Aaron Comrie, Mark Connolly, Coll Donaldson, Josh Edwards: Dan Pybus, Paul Allan (Lewis Martin 79), Matthew Todd, Ryan Dow (Kyle Macdonald 82): Steven Lawless, Lewis McCann
SUBS NOT USED: Nikolay Todorov, Graham Dorrans, Reece Cole, Leon Jones, Deniz Mehmet (GK)
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE v Queen of the South): Mark Ridgers: David Carson, Danny Devine, Kirk Broadfoot (c), Robbie Deas: Tom Walsh, Sean Welsh, Reece McAlear, Roddy Macgregor (Manny Duku (64), Shane Sutherland, Billy McKay.
SUBS NOT USED: Wallace Duffy, Lewis Jamieson, Lewis Hyde, Harry Nicolson, Cameron Mackay (GK)
Referee will be Steven Reid, his first Dunfermline match of the season and just his second Championship match of this season.
This is the only Championship fixture this weekend due to Scottish Cup ties.
Views : 5,681
