Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 – 1 Arbroath

Ladbrokes Championship – Game 02 – Season 2019 / 2020

Saturday 10th August 2019, Caledonian Stadium, Inverness, 3.00pm kick off

Arbroath suffered a late defeat this afternoon in Inverness, which was a bitter blow after a really good team performance.

Manager Dick Campbell made one change with Thomas O’Brien replacing Robert Wilson, with Gavin Swankie missing due to injury.

The Lichties made a strong start with Bobby Linn doing well down the left wing and forcing Mark Ridgers into an early save after just 8 minutes.

Arbroath were dealt a blow in the 16th minute when Steven Doris was forced off with a calf strain, with Michael McKenna coming on as a direct replacement.

Linn scored Arbroath’s first ever goal in the Championship in the 26th minute when he latched on to a poor clearance by Ridgers to rifle home from 12 yards.

Just 60 seconds later and Linn almost had his second with another low shot which was saved by Ridgers.

At the other end Darren Jamieson was showing his skills with saves from Tom Walsh, James Keatings and Jordan White.

Arbroath were playing nice football and James Murphy was playing a starring role in midfield with some very clever passes.

It looked like Arbroath were going to take the lead into the break with the home crowd starting to jeer their own team, however in the 44th minute a pass from Keatings split the Arbroath defence apart and Aaron Doran ran through to slot past Jamieson.

Inverness definitely had more possession as the second half got underway but Arbroath looked comfortable under pressure, with Spence just millimetres away from adding a second for Arbroath.

With just 8 minutes remaining substitute Miles Storey lashed a rasping shot at the Arbroath goal which was too powerful for DJ and the ball hit the back of the net.

As the clock started to run down, substitute Luke Donnelly almost hit the equaliser as he turned and smashed the ball at goal but Ridgers was on hand to make the crucial save.

A hard result to take, but there were many positives to take for the Lichties.

Many thanks to all the supporters who made the journey from all over Scotland and England! We hope you all have made it home safely and thank you for your support.

C’mon the Lichties!

Possession – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 54% – 46% Arbroath
Total Shots – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 17 – 6 Arbroath
On Target – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 9 – 4 Arbroath
Off Target – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 4 – 2 Arbroath
Blocked – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 4 – 0 Arbroath
Corners – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 8 – 2 Arbroath
Fouls Committed – Inverness Caledonian Thistle 9 – 8 Arbroath

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

1 – Mark Ridgers
2 – Shaun Rooney
5 – Coll Donaldson
6 – Jamie McCart
3 – Carl Tremarco (c)
11 – Tom Walsh
8 – David Carson
14 – James Vincent
10 – Aaron Doran (Todorov 73)
7 – James Keatings
9 – Jordan White (Storey 60)

Substitutes

12 – Kevin McHattie
17 – Miles Storey – 9; 60th
19 – Nikolay Todorov – 10; 73rd
24 – Charlie Telford
26 – Cameron Harper
28 – Roddy MacGregor
21 – Cammy Mackay (GK)

Goals – Doran 44, Storey 82

Yellow Card – Donaldson 47

Arbroath

1 – Darren Jamieson
2 – Jason Thomson
3 – Colin Hamilton
4 – Ricky Little
5 – Thomas O’Brien
6 – Mark Whatley (c)
18 – James Murphy (Gold 74)
16 – Scott Stewart (Donnelly 84)
9 – Steven Doris (McKenna 16)
14 – Greig Spence
11 – Bobby Linn

Substitutes

7 – David Gold – 18; 74th
8 – Michael McKenna – 9; 16th
12 – Omar Kader
15 – Luke Donnelly – 16; 84th
17 – Robert Wilson
21 – Derek Gaston (GK)

Goal – Linn 26

Yellow Card – Spence 5

Attendance: 2298

Referee: Mike Roncone
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Banks
Assistant Referee 2: Alan Grainger