It was as bad a first half display as any at Fir Park in years. Inverness were in almost total control and must have been disappointed to have only a one goal lead at the break. The addition of Ojamaa for the second half sparked a slight improvement but the fact that our only shot on target was a speculative attempt from Ainsworth after ten minutes speaks volumes.
Our second half chance - Lasley hit the wall
The wind and rain that lasted throughout the match chilled the 3,732 fans and only the 110 ICT supporters found any comfort from the on field entertainment. Ainsworth and Ferguson joined the starting eleven as Leitch and Francis-Angol dropped out.
Inverness took charge right from the start and they earned a couple of corners inside the first ten minutes. It was soon apparent that the weakness on the left side would be fully exploited by the opposition. In Ferguson’s defence he was played out of position and gave his best but the sooner we have Hammell back in his usual slot the better. That’s not to suggest that the visitors were limited in their routes to our goal. Left, right of through the centre suited them fine as they held and passed their way into our box.
We created no clear cut chance in the entire 90 minutes. Our best chance followed an error from Brill when his misplaced clearance gave Ainsworth a half chance from 25 yards wide on the right. To his credit the high looping effort was on target and only a header from Warren at the postage stamp corner denied us an early lead.
After that our only hopeful moments came from free kicks in either half and both failed to clear the defensive wall. Inverness played the game on the ground and they looked comfortable in possession. In contrast we resorted to launched balls to Sutton or Erwin.
Tansey gave Inverness the lead in 41 minutes with a well placed low drive from around 24 yards. Twardzik had little chance as the ball beat him at his left post.
The home support was roused with the appearance of Ojamaa at the start of the second half and although his contribution was minimal we did lift our game a little. The visitors were pushed back for spells but we were unable to fashion any real threat. As McCall said, “Our creativity level was almost zero”.
Dorran delivered the coup de grace in the final minute with a fine finish from the right side of the box..
On the plus side we don’t have to play for a week. Ojamaa and O’Brien can get some serious training done and with any luck the sick list might reduce. The appearance of Vigurs for the last 20 minutes suggests that he may be available for the game at Rugby Park.
“We can only get better”.
Motherwell 0 Inverness CT 2
Team: Trardzik, Reid, McManus, Kerr, Ferguson. Ainsworth (Ojamaa 45), Lasley ( Leitch 84), Law, Carswell, Erwin, Sutton (Vigurs 82)
Attendance 3,732 (110 away)