Inverness CT 1-1 Hibernian: Mixu's men can't break Caley hoodoo

Published on Saturday 23 August 2008 22:09

Inverness CT 1 Cowie 21 Hibernian 1 Nish 46

THE long and winding road via the Forth Road Bridge and the A9 to Inverness had proved a fruitless journey for Hibernian until yesterday, with a scoreless draw their best rewards from five visits to the Caledonian Stadium.

Despite their failure at the sixth attempt in Inverness to beat their hosts, at least one unwanted record is now gone for Hibs – they have now scored an away goal against Craig Brewster's men.

It was a long time in coming, 496 minutes to be precise, but Hibs got off the mark as Colin Nish expertly drilled the ball past Inverness keeper Michael Fraser on the 46th minute to counter Don Cowie's earlier opener.

Try as they might, they could not go one stage further against a team who look far more solid and far more creative than many would have you believe.

Inverness may not be everyone's fancies, in fact they may be more fancied by most to be involved in a relegation scrap this term, but on their day they are more than capable of producing some refreshing and winning football.

They could have had the lead as early as the third minute as debutant Adam Rooney, a recent signing from Premiership newcomers Stoke City, flicked the ball into the path of Ross Tokely.

Tokely tried to beat Andy McNeil with a close range effort but the Scotland under-21 star was equal to his efforts with a superb fingertip save.

Rooney was certainly looking lively. His bright orange hair made him a stand-out, but he showed enough skill and invention in the opening period to show his football will be the thing that grabs people's attention this season.

He almost capped a fine display off with a goal in 12 minutes. His clever front post run saw him meet a Richard Hastings cross to try and beat McNeil with a cheeky backheel flick. McNeil clutched the ball to safety but that one incident underlined Inverness have a young man brimming with self-belief.

Hibs then posted a threat to Inverness with Steven Fletcher cutting open their defence with a through ball for former Caley star John Rankin.

Rankin, who was jeered by a small section of the Inverness crowd every time he touched the ball, evaded the challenge of Jamie Duff, but with a clear sight on goal he somehow curled the ball wide from 15 yards.

Rankin was made to rue that miss on 21 minutes as his old side took the lead.

Ian Black's long through ball was controlled by Don Cowie before the Caley man fired home a deflected 15 yard drive to give Brewster's men the advantage.

However, Hibs were far from out of things and with Fletcher looking lively they always looked likely to end their scoring duck.

Colin Nish may well have got off the mark with two goals last week but he looked far from prolific on 28 minutes as he found space inside the Caley box only to fire hopelessly over the top.

Then, three minutes later, Michael Fraser somehow took three attempts to keep the Easter Road men out. Firstly he spilled a long range effort from Steven Fletcher into the path of Dean Shiels, then he dropped Shiels' tame effort before failing to find a way past Fraser at the third attempt.

For all their efforts in the first period, Hibs took less than 60 seconds after the break to net an equaliser.

Alan O'Brien's shot fell kindly to Nish and, ten yards from goal, he picked his spot past Fraser from close range to make it 1-1.

Nish almost handed Hibs the lead on 51 minutes as he got on the end of an Alan O'Brien cross to head onto the inside of the post.

McGuire was then denied by the fingertips of McNeil with a close range header as the game swung from end to end.

O'Brien was then surprisingly sacrificed by Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen after possibly one of his best shifts in an injury hit Easter Road career, with Filipe Morais making an appearance.

And the game was now at such an knife-edge that both sides had rights to stake a claim for victory. Shiels had the best chance to snatch it late on after Tokely gave the ball away, but he mishit a shot from 15 yards and the game ended in a draw.