Butcher's bugle call hits the right note as final charge earns Caley a point

Published on Saturday 18 April 2009 20:05

Inverness Caley Thistle 1 (Kerr 88) Hamilton Academical 1 (Gibson 17)

NEVER let it be said that Terry Butcher blows his own trumpet, although there was talk of bugles from the Caley Thistle manager yesterday evening after a late cavalry charge paid off for Inverness.

Butcher was typically self-deprecatory after Brian Kerr's deflected volley prolonged Hamilton Accies' recent suffering, albeit after the kind of ragged game where any manager would have struggled to claim tactical genius.

From a cleverly-worked set-piece after 17 minutes, James Gibson had ended Accies' nine-and-a-half hour wait for a goal.

But Kerr's late strike, after a sharply improved second half for the hosts, stretched Accies' run without a win to eight games and kept them in the relegation melting pot.

"I never thought that goal was going to come," Butcher admitted. "In the end we had five men up front. It was like the 2-3-5 system of 50 years ago, but you'll try anything in the circumstances.

"It was the Charge of the Light Brigade by the end and all that was missing was the bugle."

St Mirren's early afternoon victory only upped the ante for both sides, with the high stakes all too evident in a tense and bruising start.

Accies were quickly in control but it took 17 minutes for the dominance to tell. Richie Foran tripped Simon Mensing square outside the box after his surging run forward. From the free-kick, Joel Thomas stepped over the ball and Alex Neil cleverly disguised his intentions as he rolled the ball to left of the box. There, James Gibson had cunningly crept unnoticed into space and drove an unstoppable shot low past Ryan Esson.

Terry Butcher was soon apoplectic in the technical area as the home side struggled to muster a convincing response.

After 34 minutes, Accies might have doubled the lead when James McCarthy's ball over the top sent Paul McGowan clean away. However, Esson's alertness saved Caley Thistle as he raced out to block the danger.

Only Ian Black in the home ranks had looked willing and able to trouble Tomas Cerny's goal, but he drove wide from distance after 37 minutes.

However, Filipe Morais missed a true howler in the final minute of the first half as he strode clear onto a Brian Kerr ball forward. The former Chelsea youth had only Cerny to beat but the highly-rated goalkeeper wasn't even tested as the attempted lob drifted over the bar.

There was slightly better from the home side after the break, but Accies worked hard to shut them out. There should have been an equaliser after 62 minutes, however. A good cross from Morais set up the little striker for a header six yards out but he could only angle it wide of target.

Substitute Derek Lyle tried to make an instant impact after entering the fray on 65 minutes but saw a shot from distance well saved by Esson.

Morais, signed from Hibs in January, looked the likeliest to create something and posed problems five minutes later. The Portuguese attacker's cross from the right was punched to the edge of the penalty box by Cerny before Black's speculative header nestled on the roof of the net.

Then Butcher decided to go for broke, pushing men forward in numbers, and finally got his reward with three minutes left. A half-cleared ball fell to Brian Kerr just outside the area and the Scotland cap's slightly deflected left foot volley was strong enough to nestle in the corner off Cerny's glove.

After the match, Accies manager Billy Reid admitted a season of hard toil is starting to take a toll on his bright, young side. "We had three guys out there who need operations. Tiredness is certainly a factor now. It's a testing time for everyone," he said.