Inverness CT 1-1 St Johnstone: Highlanders denied fourth straight win

INVERNESS might have felt their pockets were slyly picked this summer when Gregory Tade departed for the fair city of Perth on a Bosman free. St Johnstone were at it again yesterday. Though dominant, Caley Thistle, in fairness, paid the penalty for a couple of failures of their own, but it was fair to say a stoppage-time equaliser unfairly skewed the outcome.

Inverness: McKay 74

St Johnstone: D Robertson 90

Attendance: 3154

Terry Butcher’s side pretty much controlled the second half, creating plentiful chances after a poor first period for both sides.

Tade, lured by European football and a more generous wage packet, was comfortably contained and, increasingly, the flow of play went in Saints’ faces.

Where Andrew Shinnie had fluffed a penalty kick for the hosts only minutes earlier, Billy McKay’s clinical finish made amends. Home points – and a fourth straight win – looked secure while Saints’ hopes of an all-time club record six top-flight wins foundered, but an unlikely salvage job was in store from David Robertson.

Still, nobody was too unhappy – the draw made it seven games unbeaten for both teams.

“It was a sucker punch in the end because we did enough to win the game,” home manager Terry Butcher said. “St Johnstone are a good side. They have had five wins, beaten Celtic and are the second-best team in the country. So it shows how far we’ve come if we’re disappointed.”

Unsurprisingly, given respective form, neither manager tinkered with his team. That meant Caley Thistle’s Spanish goalkeeper Antonio Reguero retaining the gloves ahead of fit-again Ryan Esson.

On paper, it had all the ingredients for a classic contest. And, as is so often the case, it all went awry.

Tade might have made a dramatic return after only seven minutes but miscontrolled after surging clean away.

Caley Thistle held marginally more assurance and purpose in neat build-up play, but chances went astray.

On one occasion, Aaron Doran’s free-kick for Caley Thistle sat up nicely in the Saints box only for both Gary Warren and Draper to fail to connect.

And so it continued, with one Rowan Vine strike squirming through the body of Reguero but bouncing over the crossbar. It had to get better – or so you thought.

Instead, play meandered until Reguero tore out to block bravely at the feet of Chris Millar.

Frazer Wright exited with a head knock for Saints but you sensed both managers would have wanted to knock heads together.

There was better from the hosts entering the last 25 minutes and David Raven’s cross from right held pace and power before a timely Steven Anderson clearance.

The deadlock should have been shattered after 70 minutes.

Graeme Shinnie was brought crashing clumsily by Vine to the left of the box but brother Andrew, with seven goals to his name this season, skied the penalty kick.

The home support had only a little longer to wait, though. After 74 minutes, Andrew Shinnie sparked a fine move, feeding Draper.

The Englishman’s clever flick over the top found Billy McKay at the left angle of the six-yard box, smashing home his fifth of the season with his left foot.

Caley Thistle might have had two more soon after. McKay’s curling left-foot strike was thwarted only by a brilliant one-handed stop from Saints’ Alan Mannus.

Andrew Shinnie then blazed over from barely five yards. Remarkably, though, two minutes into stoppage time came the sucker punch. Keeper Mannus launched a huge ball forward and somehow it was allowed to bounce through.

Substitute Robertson was able to head past Reguero for the unlikely point-saver.

“We stuck at it so credit to the boys, but we were not great,” was the honest assessment of Saints’ Steve Lomas.