Nine-man Inverness crush Arbroath’s dream of glory
Glory days? Well, they’ll pass you by. The Bruce Springsteen song played prior to kick off proved sadly accurate as far as Arbroath are concerned.
Inverness,meanwhile,march on to a play-off final against St Johnstone after some sensationaldramabytheseasideand no little controversy.
Kirk Broadfoot, that old warhorse,struckthedecisivepenalty as the visitors triumphed 5-3 on penalties. Bobby Linn, the veteran who is, or at least was, enjoyinghistestimonialseason, was the fall guy. The Arbroath winger saw his rushed effort brilliantlytippedwidebyinverness ‘keeper Mark Ridgers.
Nine-maninvernessweregetting to the stage where they did nothaveanymoreplayerseligible to take penalties.
All this late excitement compensated for the awful football. Both managers might agree on that if little else as Billy Dodds, inset, saw his team left to play out the 90 minutes with just nine men – and then the last eight minutes of extra-time.
Confused? It’s complicated. Though maybe the identity of the referee, Willie Collum, might provide some explanation.
Shane Sutherland’s unfortunateinjuryafter85minutes–he collapsed to the turf clutching his knee while in pursuit of the ball – proved potentially ruinous for the visitors, who had already stopped play the limit of three times while making foursubs.newrulesmeantthey could send on a fifth sub only at the start of extra-time – if that was required.
To no-one’s great surprise, it was. These teams managed to produce no goals in 210 minutes of football over two legs. Thoughstillamanshort,inverness were given a boost at the start of extra time with Lewis Hyde able to join the fray.
The part-time hosts could not make the most of the numericaladvantageevenwheninvernesswerereducedtonineagain when substitute Wallace Duffy was harshly red carded for a second bookable offence after aslidingchallengeonlinnafter 112 minutes.
The game lacked quality but was not short on endeavour. Neither was it short on controversy thanks, as ever, to Collum. Inverness defender Dannydevinewasadjudgedtohave denied Jack Hamilton a goalscoring opportunity while colliding with the Arbroath striker with 25 minutes of normal time left.
The hosts will rarely get a betterchancetoreachthetopflight – and they know it.
A remarkable crowd of 5,154 were in attendance. There was a sizeable number from Inverness. “Where were you when youwereshite?”theywondered at one point. The home fans responded with an ancient terrace chant. “We are Arbroath, Superarbroath.noonelikesus, we don’t care,” they chorused.
It didn’t seem entirely accurate.arbroathhave been love-bombed by many up and down the nation. Their story of a part-time team standing on the brink of the Premiership has captured the interest of even nonfootball fans. They could count on the support of the majority of neutrals.
But there was always the feeling that it would have to end somewhere. Just not here, not now. Dick Campbell’s side had given themselves every chance of progressing to a two-legged Premiership play off final and they certainly looked like the team which had enjoyed the less intense recent schedule. Inverness had of course overcome Partick Thistle en route to this stage. This was their fourth game since last Tuesday. The tiredness became particularly apparent after they were reduced to ten men and then, twice, to nine.
Fatigue along with the fact they were playing into the wind might account for their struggles in the opening 45 minutes. They finally managed to get a shot on target three minutes before the break when Austin Samuels tested Derek Gaston though even that looked as though it had meant to be a cross.
The best chance of the opening45minutesfelltoarbroath’s Chris Hamilton who should havemademoreoftheopportunitytoshootfromtheedgeofthe box after the ball had dropped invitingly at his feet. He fired wide, however.
Such moments had to be seized. The second half proved livelier and more end to end. Arbroath should have gone ahead but there was no one to taptheballintothenetafterjack Hamilton flashed a cross into the goalmouth. Shane Sutherland should have finished the job off himself at the other end but shot into the side-netting with the away fans behind the goal already in the midst of celebrating. Back down at the Inverness goal, Scott Stewart miskicked when in a good position after a cross from James Craigen. The packed Seaforth end of the ground groaned.
Then came the first red card. Bothjackhamiltonanddevine had their eyes fixed on a long clearance from O’brien, with the former getting his head to the ball. Devine could do little else but clatter into his opponents who ended up sprawled on the floor.
Collum interpreted this as denying a goalscoring opportunity, with Devine having been the last defender. The referee pulled the red card from his top pocket. He used it again moments later to send Inverness assistant manager Scott Kellacher packing after his seemingly valid protests from the bench.
It was not the first time Collum had visited either bench. He booked Dick Campbell’s twin brother, Ian, in the first half. Surprisingly given the referee involved, it wasn’t a case of mistaken identity.