Hartley rages as Dee wait goes on
INVERNESS CT 2 McKay (53, pen), Tansey (70) DUNDEE 2 Haber (37), O’Dea (45)
PAUL HARTLEY cursed Dundee’s lack of ruthlessness as the 14-year wait for a win in Inverness continued.
The Dens Park manager admitted the draw felt like a defeat after Caley Thistle stormed back from 2-0 down with a show of grit and character in the second half.
Two free headers from Marcus Haber and Darren O’Dea seemed to have the Dark Blues cruising by the break, but Richie Foran’s men rallied with a Billy Mckay penalty.
Even after Mckay missed his second spot-kick, they came again and a fine Greg Tansey strike sealed a valuable point.
The draw meant the Inverness men are still 13 league games and three months without a victory, but the recovery had the fans standing to applaud where they had booed at half-time. Hartley, though, was far from happy. He said: “It does feel like a defeat. This is a venue where I don’t think we’ve won.
“To be 2-0 up and looking fairly comfortable, the boys have done well. Especially in the first half we took our chances when we looked a threat. I thought we looked solid.
“You’ve got to be clinical and ruthless, but the other side of it is in our own box. The two penalties we gave away, you just can’t do that. Julen Etxabeguren has to learn that. This was a big opportunity today. We need to get better at seeing the game out.”
With a fierce wind in their faces, the hosts’ luck was out in a very bright start.
After six minutes, David Raven’s ball forward found Henri Anier stabbing across goal from the left side of the box. Carl Tremarco met the supply first time but saw his strike smack off the junction of post and bar.
Luck was out again after 14 minutes. A well-worked move ended with Mckay finding the net only to be flagged off-side.
Disaster struck for the home side eight minutes before the break. From a very good Cammy Kerr delivery from the right, Canadian striker Haber smashed a downward header past Esson and watched it bounce into the roof of the net.
Matters deteriorated further just