Giant-killers take another SPL scalp

Motherwell 0 - 1 Inverness CT Wilson 10

STOP me if you think that you've heard this one before. Inverness Caledonian Thistle were back to their ballistic best yesterday, strong-arming another top-six SPL side from the Tennent's Scottish Cup, this time Motherwell, as they booked their second semi-final in the competition in as many years.

A stunning dipping volley from Barry Wilson early on ultimately settled what was a gripping, but largely barren encounter, leaving the Lanarkshire side with nothing more than the consolation of joining what is an increasingly illustrious list of victims.

Halfway through the Inverness club's 10th anniversary season, the catalogue of scalps also includes such luminaries as Hearts and Celtic (twice).

By the time John Robertson emerged ruddy-faced with a bottle of the sponsor's brew after the final whistle, thoughts were already turning to who they would face at Hampden when the semi-final draw is made tomorrow.

"Everybody wants us," Robertson said. "We're the First Division side, so it's the truth that whoever comes through the Old Firm match, and whoever gets through the Aberdeen-Livingston match, they will all want to play us. We haven't earned the right to say who we want out of the hat."

The players had earned the right to celebrate, even if their haste prevented them from appearing post-match.

Motherwell had also contested last year's semi-finals, of course, so perhaps it was understandable that for once an SPL stadium had reverberated with genuine atmosphere and anticipation as kick-off time approached.

There was little spare cap-acity to be had in any of the home areas of the stadium, and a colourful contingent in the region of 1,200 were to be rewarded for their journey from the north.

Former Motherwell favourite James McFadden was even sighted in the main stand before kick-off, taking advantage of a free week at Everton. How the home side could have done with even a glimpse of his guile yesterday.

Yet all too often their efforts to breach Inverness's not so thin blue line betrayed anxiety on Fir Park's rutted surface, to the extent that by the end Russell Duncan should have made the margin of the First Division side's victory even more comprehensive. But his finish, after Liam Keogh's quick break and Wilson's backheel, was directed tamely at keeper Gordon Marshall.

Afterwards, Terry Butcher was magnanimous enough to concede all of these failings, even though he ended his remarks with a gesture that illustrated how he was, quite literally, "spewing" at the outcome.

"We didn't do enough on the day to get through and good luck to Inverness," the Motherwell manager said. "Some of our players played their worst games of the season and that was one of the biggest games of the season to do it in. We didn't create, and nobody really tested Mark Brown at all."

With Bryan Jackson of administrators Pannell Kerr Foster sending a proposal to creditors last week which, if accepted, would see John Boyle waive his dividend to allow the club to emerge from administration before May 31, there was a kind of irony that Brown should be back at Fir Park for a day like this.

The first involvement of the goalkeeper, one of the 19 players whose contracts were summarily terminated as the club entered administration two years ago, was to clutch a Stephen Craigan half- volley from all of 25 yards.

Little did Motherwell know at the time that it would be their only shot on target in the entire first half. All too often Motherwell's patterns ended with hurried crosses which were too close to mountainous centre-half Bobby Mann, the arms of Brown, or simply fell foul of the stand-side linesman's offside flag.

The case in point emerged when Shaun Fagan sent Keith Lasley away down the right, only for the former Motherwell keeper to dive full length to clutch his low centre.

Inverness also struggled to create, but at least they made the most of their opportunity. There seemed little to unduly perturb the home defence when Wilson converged on a bouncing ball almost 35 yards out from goal.

But the player, back at the Highland club after a spell in the SPL at Livingston, tamed the ball before spearing a lob which dipped unerringly between Gordon Marshall's outstretched arm and the crossbar.

It would have been inappropriate to apportion too much blame in Marshall's direction, but the manner in which the ball plummeted from the bright afternoon sunshine certainly prompted the big goalkeeper to reach for his baseball cap.

Had he so wished, Butcher could have chosen to point to the fact that Steven Craig had injured himself during the warm-up, and the fact that he was still deprived of the services of Jason Dair, Scott Leitch and Gary Bollan.

But then again, Inverness were without David Bingham who had limped off in the disappointing 2-1 league defeat to Falkirk in midweek. Both he and Darren Mackie should return for the semi-final.

The game gradually opened up the longer the second half went on. Stuart Golabek's desperate header cleared the danger after a Hammell corner, before Burns again tested Brown from a free-kick. Scott McDonald and Martyn Corrigan then fired wide before Burns sent a glancing header from a cross from substitute Kenny Wright past the post.

But, after another win in their remarkable Scottish Cup sequence, it was appropriate that the final word should go to Robertson. "It just goes to show there is quality in the First Division," he said.

Who knows? One of these days they might just go on to win the thing.

Marshall Quinn Craigan Corrigan Hammell Lasley Adams Fagan Burns S McDonald Clarkson Subs: O'Donnell for Fagan 59, Wright for Clarkson 59.

Not used: Corr, K MacDonald, Kinniburgh.

Brown Tokely Mann McCaffrey Golabek Keogh Duncan McBain Thomson Wilson Ritchie Subs: Munro for Thomson 79, Proctor for Ritchie 83.

Not used: Fraser, Hart, McMillan.

Referee: K Clark.

Attendance: 7,930.

Copyright 2004 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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