The contrast between last week’s terrier like performance and the uninspiring display on offer at the Caledonian Stadium would have surprised anyone who is not a regular spectator at our games. Unfortunately those of us who see them on a weekly basis are all to familiar with Motherwell’s mercurial tendency.
Where is the team I saw last week?
The difference between the teams on Saturday was obvious in the first few minutes. Inverness were direct. When they were in possession, they pushed forward with pace. There was no attempt at silky football but neither did they resort to long, aimless punts up the park. It was as though they took advantage of the space in the middle of our midfield diamond and they were on top of our central defence in seconds.
On the other hand when we were in possession the game stuttered to a crawl. We tried to play ‘Gannon style’ from the back but failed to make any telling forward passes. To make matters worse we added to our difficulties with some careless unforced errors. Service to Sutton was unproductive and the Inverness defence won most of the tussles. Jeffers was anonymous.
Far travelled fans!
It was obvious midway through the first half that we were not making progress on the flanks. On the right Hateley tried hard to get forward but his inability to beat his man either by guile or pace resulted in loss of possession. Murphy’s central position, at the tip of the diamond, meant that the left side had to depend on Hammell or Forbes, not our best attacking pair.
The changes were made eventually but the introduction of Saunders and Humphrey did not provide the needed catalyst. The second half goals will make embarrassing viewing but the sad truth is that Inverness could have scored more.
Our only hope for next week’s quarter final is that the seesaw pattern continues for another week and that we bounce back.