St.Mirren 2 ICT 2

Inverness started the second half the brighter. Billy McKay tested Samson low down to his left with a curling effort from the edge of the box. It was about this point the heavens opened and the lightening lit up the dull Paisley sky, and inadvertently changed the course of the game. Such a concentrated deluge of rainfall made the pitch heavy which severely impacted the effectiveness of St Mirren’s slick passing play, which had sincerely improved since the opening quarter. Saints couldn’t blame the elements for Caley’s equaliser with 20 minutes remaining, however. A cross from the right hand side found recent substitute Nick Ross, who took advantage of defensive dissonance to stab the ball past Samson and give the home support nightmares. It was unclear who assisted the goal however, as the Ark was blocking my vision at the time.

Saints attempted to regain control of the match, but were flawed by both Inverness and the pitch just six minutes later. The impressive Andrew Shinnie’s through ball to Billy McKay would surely have rolled through to Samson on a dryer day; however the heavy pitch presented the ball on a plate for the youngster who fired low into the net with both power and grace.

The scoreline was perhaps an unfair reflection of the game at this stage. Neither side particularly dominated whilst trying to overcome severe meteorological challenges. The onus was on St Mirren to equalise, and the Buddies cranked up the pressure on their visitors. A wayward header and a powerful effort, both from new man Sam Parkin, constituted as our best efforts to restore parity.
St Mirren finally got the equaliser their play so rightly deserved.  Substitute debut boy Jon Robertson’s floated cross eluded Esson, and was beaten to the punch by Darren McGregor to seal the draw. The elation turned to confusion and downright anger as Lewis Guy was sent off for an off the ball incident in the aftermath. The consensus was that Guy was trying to retain the ball from Draper, knocked the ball out of his hands and innocently brushed the face or torso of the Caley player. Whatever happened, Draper’s over exaggerated swan dive and feigning a genuine head injury was disgusting. What was worse was referee Steve McLean’s blinding incompetence from start to finish. Parkin was punished repeatedly for standing his ground in aerial battles, whereas Inverness players were let off for the most blatant of infractions to the Englishman. The decision that took the biscuit was Paul McGowan’s helpful returning of the ball to a Caley player at a throw in. The player unsportingly refused to catch McGowan’s lob in a deliberate act of time wasting. Instead it was Gowser who was booked for what was perceived as a deliberate throw. The decision, along with the many unfair bookings for both sides, beggared belief. The fact that many Buddies stayed behind at full time to boo the officials told its own story.

To end on a positive note, St Mirren’s play at times was encouraging. Lewis Guy capped his debut with a goal, and Parkin looks a real handful as he lead the line very well indeed. For such a big player Parkin has a degree of pace about him, and isn’t slow to close opposing players down as well as winning aerial balls. Guy made some very intelligent runs, and although he was caught offside once or twice, he is mostly able to bend his runs effectively which resulted in the Buddies’ first goal. Robertson and Reilly also impressed on their introduction. Despite the lack of three points, the spirit showed by the side to reclaim what was rightfully theirs was impressive. The attack looks more exciting already, and this was with Paul McGowan having an unusually quiet afternoon. Today bodes well for the coming season, and the side can travel to Dundee next week brimming with confidence.