Buoyant Terrors close the gap on Staggies
partick thistle 0 inverness ct 1
Inverness broke their run of seven successive draws with a victory in Glasgow thanks to a second-half wonder strike from Tom Walsh to move up to fourth in the Championship.
Partick have only enjoyed victory over Inverness once in their previous six meetings, five of those when they both held Premiership status and, on their firsthalf showing, might have felt they would improve on that record.
But Caley were worthy of victory on their second-half showing.
Caley boss John Robertson said: “I’m relieved for the players as that’s 24 games unbeaten, a club record, and I don’t think they have got the credit they deserve because of the draws. It’s frustrating.
“To stop the run of draws with a win, the players will get the credit they deserve.
“It was a wonderful goal to win the game, but it took a great double save from Mark Ridgers to see us over the line.
“Thistle looked the livelier, first half, and it was roles reversed second half and we started to create the chances. There was a real heart in the defence and we stood up and it was a battling three points.
“Ayr and County dropping points was a bonus, but not till after 18 games will we take stock. We need to keep winning games and picking up points.”
The Maryhill outfit, who have now managed just two wins and 11 defeats in their last 13 outings, almost made the perfect start in 11 minutes when Blair Spittal and Kris Doolan combined to set up Jai Quitongo, but the striker’s low, 16-yard effort was well saved by keeper Mark Ridgers.
Chances began to arrive thick and fast and Caley’s Tom Walsh saw his snap shot from 20 yards pushed away by Bell at full stretch on the half hour mark.
Inverness grew in
match stats
50
2 9
7 2 0 Possession 50
Shots on target 5 Shots off target 11 17 2 Corners Offside Fouls Cautions Sending- of fs Caley’s
linked well all afternoon and tormented the Jags defence throughout with his pace.
5 1 5 2
0 confidence in the second period and got the breakthrough they deserved in 71 minutes with a sensational strike from 25 yards by Walsh.
His curling, rightfooted effort flew high into the top right-hand corner of the net.
Firhill boss Gary Caldwell, who endured his fourth successive defeat since taking over from Alan Archibald in October, said: “It was very frustrating, but I was very proud of them.
“They showed desire and energy and gave absolutely everything.
“We are disappointed, but it is progress.”
ross county 0 dundee utd 1
Stuart Kettlewell last night accused Dundee United of “lacking class” after Robbie Neilson’s revitalised side avenged September’s Tannadice trouncing.
Paul Watson’s early strike proved enough to make it four wins and a draw under the new manager, to climb one point behind second-top Ross County and five behind leaders Ayr United.
County’s 11-match unbeaten run was terminated with their first defeat since losing at Cappielow in late August, but Kettlewell was incensed by the Tangerines time-wasting antics and wild celebrations at the end.
The clearly angered County co-manager said: “We know how this drill works. I’ll stand here and tell you we deserved to win it and Robbie will tell you they did.
“There’s a real frustration from our point of view because there’s no way on God’s earth we deserved to lose that game.
“It compounds it when you see some of the antics and stuff that goes on, but listen – that’s part and parcel of football.
“They’ve done a number on us today. They’ve beaten us. It was smash and grab, in my opinion
“I’m a football person and I like my football. When you see people throwing themselves on the ground continually then that’s not football to me.
“It’s that wee lack of class in winning. We’ve gone down to Tannadice and won 5-1, round our players up and continue with the rest of the season.
“There’s a long way to go. We store that
STAR MAN: LIAM POLWORTH
ross co:
(4-2-3-1) Fox 6; Fraser 6, Watson 7, Fontaine 6 (Graham 69, 6), Kelly 6; Draper 6, Vigurs 7; Mullin 6, Lindsay 7, Keillor-dunn 6 (Mcmanus 56, 6); Mckay 7. Subs – Munro, Demetriou, Dingwall, Cowie, Stewart. dundee utd:
(4-2-3-1) Siegrist 6; Watson 7 (Robson 85, 3), Bouhenna 7, Edjenguele 7, Murdoch 7; Stanton 7, Fyvie 6 (Rabitsch 64, 6); Aird 7, Mcmullan 7, King 6 (Clark 72, 5); Safranko 6. Subs – Barton, Curran, Smith, Rakovan.
up. It’s a big win for them. We’ve beaten them twice this season and we conduct ourselves with that little bit of class.”
“That’s what we pride ourselves on at this club. We store that up going forward and channel it in the right manner.”
United were backed by a boisterous 900-strong support and the Neilson feelgood factor was audible.
But while the Tangerine faithful generated the atmosphere, County set the early pace. Only 23 seconds had elapsed when Billy Mckay had the ball in
the net, only to be ruled off-side. It was feisty stuff. A slack Davis Keillor-dunn pass had Ross Draper crunching in fairly on striker Pavol Safranko, leaving the Slovakian writhing in pain. That set the tone.
In defiance of County’s early pressure, United took a 15th minute lead.
From deep right, Fraser Aird’s free-kick was knocked down by William Edjenguele leaving Paul Watson clear to slam a shot home from six yards.
It was the first time County had been