Inverness CT 2 - 0 St Mirren: Lucky strike seals victory though better chances went a-begging

The 24-year-old striker came good in the end, however, despite his late winner coming into the “lucky” category as the home side were rewarded for their dominance.

Tade, lurking at the far post with 12 minutes remaining, was in the right place as Andrew Shinnie’s sweetly-struck drive hit the post and rebounded off him into the net to give his side only their second win of the season and send the Buddies home with, in manager Danny Lennon’s words, “their tails between their legs”.

“We had a host of chances,” said Terry Butcher, the Caley Thistle manager, “and in the end we got a lucky break. He had one-on-ones and missed opportunities, but sometimes you’ve got to be lucky rather than good.

“I think, too, we got a bit lucky near the end when Paul McGowan put the ball in the net for St Mirren, but the assistant referee flagged for offside. Had we not got anything from the game I would have been seething more than anything else.

“Gregory has worked hard to be at this level and you can’t fault him. His attitude is unbelievable and he ran himself into the ground and he’s learning all the time.”

The home side were presented with the earliest of opportunities – 36 seconds – to put their stamp on this game as Richie Foran, the recipient of a ball six yards out, courtesy of a defensive blunder by the Paisley side’s Lee Mair as Shinnie swept the ball over. But the Irishman was left with just a look of disbelief that he had failed to even hit the target.

The move did, however, signal Caley Thistle’s determination to take the game to their opponents in search of an elusive win and they proceeded to bombard the Saints defence.

Indeed, they considered themselves unfortunate not to have been awarded a penalty kick after just 16 minutes following a collision in the box between Foran and Steven Thomson, the Buddies’ busy midfielder, though George Salmond, the referee, clearly did not even consider the claim.

Moments later, Foran’s tenacity brought him another scoring chance, this time his header deflected past by Mair as St Mirren found it difficult to settle. Despite their hesitancy, the visitors grabbed the lead against the run of play in the 22nd minute, Marc McAusland venturing into the area to head home Gary Teale’s corner kick from the left and catching Ross Tokely and David Proctor, the Inverness centre-backs, ball-watching.

But, if that constituted an error, there was a considerable amount of blame laid at the door of Tade moments later. The former Raith Rovers striker, racing 40 yards deep into the Saints penalty box, battered his shot into the side netting as goalkeeper Craig Samson feared the worst.

Parity, though, was restored just after half an hour had been played as the home side went on yet another attack, and when David Davis’s cross from the left was cleverly headed down into space, Shinnie drilled the ball home from 12 yards.

It was no more than the Highland side deserved. They had set the tempo of this game, making it clear that nothing short of victory would suffice.

The three points might have been claimed within a minute of the re-start as Shinnie capitalised on the space afforded him as he raced forwards with the ball and while his 25-yard strike was perfectly hit, the ball thundered against the foot of Samson’s left-hand post.

Soon after, Tade was allowed another free run on goal, though he hit the panic button as the Paisley goalkeeper advanced to block the shot with his legs.

There was a silver lining, though, for the front man, even though his 78th minute winner was more of a fluke than anything else. It came as Shinnie’s ferocious strike beat Samson but hit the keeper’s far post where the ball rebounded on to the legs of Tade before going into the net.

Then came McGowan’s strike for the visitors, one that looked like the equaliser until the linesman’s flag appeared for offside, a decision many felt was a wrong call.

But there were no complaints from Lennon that his side had lost.

“We deserved what we got from the game… absolutely nothing,” he said. “I thought we were fortunate to come away with such a slender defeat at 2-1.

“We couldn’t find our rhythm which has been our strength in winning and in losing. We never quite got into the game but I have to Inverness the credit they deserve in the way they came at us.

“I now look for a big response from my players. We have a two-week break for the international games and we’ll do everything in that time to keep our confidence high because I thought there were tell-tales signs against Inverness that complacency from one or two players was creeping in.”