Dundee had to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw away to Inverness Caley Thistle this afternoon. The Dark Blues had the better of the first half, dominating long spells but couldn’t score. The Dee kept up the pressure after the break and Lyall Cameron finally broke through with an opportunist finish after an hour. A crucial win looked to be on the cards, but Caley Thistle grabbed an equaliser through substitute Austin Samuels after 75 minutes to earn a draw.
The Dark Blue, with an unchanged line-up following last week’s draw against Morton, started strongly and had Caley Thistle in trouble in the first minute. The defence made a hash of Luke Hannant’s cross but Luke McCowan’s shot was deflected into the arms of keeper Mark Ridgers.
The Dee missed a great chance to take the lead after eight minutes. Josh Mulligan won the ball and sent Zasch Robinson down the right to send an inviting pass across goal. Alex Jakubiak miscued his shot from eight yards when he should have left the keeper helpless. Luke Hannant then went close when his shot from 16 yards was deflected narrowly past the post.
The play in the opening half hour was largely confined to the home half as Caley Thistle struggled to get going.
Luke McCowan’s pass allowed Josh Mulligan to burst into the penalty area behind the defence but he overcooked his cross and Caley Thistle escaped in the resulting scambnle. That summed up the Dark Blues’first half. Good play carried them into promising positions, but the final ball was never quite good enough.
Later in the half Inverness came into the game more. The Dark Blues attacking formation left space in midfield. Caley Thistle were able to exploit that but without giving the Dee defence, and Adam Legzdins in particular, any serious problems.
Although no longer as dominant as they were in the first 30 minutes Dundee were still the more likely to score. Zach Robinson went close with a header from a corner late in the half.
After half time the Dark Blues continued to play the more composed, more promising football but they kept letting themselves down with poor final balls.
Caley Thistle created a series of problems for themselves with mistakes in their own half. When they had chances to break away from Dee pressure they invariably gave the ball away allowing Dundee to come straight back at them.
Finally, after 60 minutes Dundee made the breakthrough they deserved. Zach Robinson broke through the middle and sent Alex Jakubiak away on the left. The striker cut inside and his shot was blocked in front of Ridgers. As so often Lyall CAMERON timed his run perfectly and was in a position six yards out to react instantly and backheel a shot into the corner of the net.
The large travelling support behind that goal roared their delight, confident that the Dee would go on to take a vital win. It looked good on the pitch as Caley Thistle struggled to get back into the game. Dundee were stopping Inverness building dangerous attacks and looked more like taking a second goal than conceding an equaliser.
Disappointingly after 75 minutes Inverness scored an unexpected equaliser. Substitute Daniel MacKay sent in a cross from the right that took a crucial deflection that sent the ball perfectly for Austin SAMUELS at the far post. The substitute couldn’t miss and Caley Thistle had a goal out of nothing.
The equaliser gave Inverness a lift and they had their best spell of the match in the remaining 20 minutes. Neither side was happy to settle for a point, but nobody in either team could find the composure to set up a decent chance. Paul McMullan replaced Luke McCowan after Dundee scored, and after the equaliser Kwame Thomas, Ryan Clampin, Pierre Reedy and Ben Williamson came on. This time, sadly, the subbies couldn’t find the magic touch to send the fans home happy.
Caley Thistle did well to dig themselves out of a hole today and by the final whistle a draw was perhaps a fair result. However, the Dee have only themselves to blame for not extending their lead at the top of the Championship. Dundee should really have made the game safe long before Inverness equalised. A lead of only a single goal can vanish in an instant and the Dark Blues were punished for their missed chances and wasted opportunities.
Dundee played well all over the pitch till they reached the Caley Thistle penalty area. Then the moves usually petered out with crosses or passes that didn’t find their man. With a little more composure this could have been a very different result.
Inverness Caley Thistle 4-2-3-1
Ridgers
Carson, Devine (c) (Mackay 67), Deas, Delaney
Allardice, Harper
Henderson (Doran 75), Shaw, Boyd (Duffy 61)
Billy Mckay (Samuels 61)
Unused subs: Cameron MacKay (gk), Hyde, Woods, Lewis Nicolson.
Goal: Samuels (75).
Booked: Delaney (foul on McCowan), Duffy (foul on Reedy).
Dundee FC 4-4-2
Legzdins
Mulligan, Ashcroft, Sweeney (c), Marshall (Clampin 81)
McCowan (McMullan 67), Maguire, Cameron (Williamson 84), Hannant (Reedy 81)
Jakubiak (Thomas 81), Robinson
Unused subs: Lawlor (gk), Kerr, Byrne, Fisher.
Goal: Cameron (60).
Booked: none.
Referee: Euan Anderson. Assistants: Paul O’Neill, Michael MacDermid.
Attendance: 3,882.
Report: James Christie.
