The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
CALEY JAGS’ PLAY-OFF HOPES ALL BUT OVER
Late Pars goal all but ends Inverness shot at promotion
Asting in the tail in the cruellest fashion looks to have all but ended Caley Thistle’s hopes of making the Championship play-offs.
Nicky Clark’s stoppage-time sickener grabbed a point for Dunfermline, meaning their play-off destiny is in their own hands heading into the final weekend.
Inverness need to win their final two games on the road against Livingston and Morton and hope a deflated Dumbarton – already condemned to the relegation play-off spot – can perform a miracle at East End Park.
Caley Thistle made three changes from the 1-0 win over Dumbarton on Wednesday. Gary Warren missed out with a calf injury and Iain Vigurs was suspended, while Riccardo Calder dropped to the bench.
In came Collin Seedorf, Carl Tremarco and Charlie Trafford. Dunfermline brought in Andy Ryan for Declan McManus in their only change.
Ryan made an instant impact, finding the back of the net on 12 minutes with a shot that appeared to go straight through Mark Ridgers’ gloves to give Caley Thistle a nightmare start.
But Joe Chalmers’s free kick gave them the perfect response, as the home side was behind for just five minutes before the former Motherwell man found the net via the inside of the post.
Getting level quickly was vital. In a game of such importance, staying behind for any great period of time would drag the mood down, not just within the team but around the stadium as well.
Chalmers’s goal gave the team a lift and it was noticeable in their play with Aaron Doran becoming increasingly influential in the final third of the pitch.
They had to replace the creative influence of Vigurs and Doran looked to take on the mantle with Liam Polworth making several driving runs in from the right flank to get involved more centrally.
Inverness appeared to target Jean-Yves M’Voto, the more cumbersome of the two centre-halves, as Austin was readily able to spin him and find space to run in behind. He tested Lee Robinson with a low strike at his near post that the visiting stopper got down to smother as Caley Thistle pressed for the lead before the break.
Austin took his moment on 48 minutes as he gathered the ball on the right touchline and with sheer persistence, drove past four Pars players towards goal and squeezed a shot inside Robinson’s near post.
With five goals in five games and free of his injury problems, Austin looks a great find. He has struck up a blossoming partnership with George Oakley, who has raised his own game in recent weeks since Robertson switched to a two-man strike force.
Once they get a foothold in games now, Inverness seem to play with a swagger and a confidence. If you rewind to the first
“With sheer persistence, drove past four Pars players and squeezed a shot inside the post”
iteration of this fixture earlier in the season, you would scarcely have imagined that sentence being possible.
Polworth was central to it with his tenacity and work-rate giving the Caley Jags a different kind of impetus Vigurs usually provides. His link-ups with Doran were lovely to watch and the Irishman is another who looks to be creeping back towards his best.
They did not deserve what was to come.
Just when it appeared the barricades had been manned and successfully repelled the late Pars onslaught, Clark popped up to head in Joe Cardle’s free kick and spark wild celebrations from the visiting fans.
It leaves the Highlanders requiring a favour from Dumbarton next weekend when they travel to East End Park