Inverness Caley Thistle miss chance to go top of the Championship table as Hamilton win in Highland capital
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Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0
Hamilton Academical 1 (Winter)
Inverness Caledonian Thistle's winning run in the Championship came to an abrupt halt as they fell 1–0 to Hamilton Academical.
ICT just had to avoid defeat to move to the top of the league table outright, but instead came away empty-handed against a side who were bottom of the pile going into the contest.
Andrew Winter's first half goal made all the difference in the end, but just as concerning for Inverness will be an injury picked up by Dan MacKay alongside various other knocks.
The problems started for Caley Thistle before the match even began, as Wallace Duffy picked up an injury in the warm-up and had to be replaced in the starting line-up by Max Ram, making his first league start.
After a somewhat scrappy start, Inverness seemed to be growing into the game by moving the ball with a bit more zip, only to be caught out at the back.
Andrew Ryan found space on Hamilton's left flank, enough to send a pinpoint low cross into the middle where Andrew Winter gleefully finished from inside the six-yard box.
Inverness tried to up the tempo again as a response to going behind, with Steven Boyd looking the most likely to make something happen.
At one stage towards the end of the first half, Boyd skipped past four challenges to drag his side into the final third, winning a corner in the process that Max Ram headed towards goal – only for Ryan Fulton to make a comfortable save.
The second half continued on much as the first had panned out, without many clear-cut chances.
ICT's players were clearly beginning to feel the strain of the injuries affecting the squad, though, with several players going down hurt but then playing on.
Unfortunately, that was not possible for Dan MacKay, who had to be carried off the pitch with just over 20 minutes left to play.
Hamilton almost added insult to injury immediately afterwards when Winter got through one-on-one with Mark Ridgers, only for the Inverness stopper to make an important save.
Michael Doyle also went close to making it 2–0, heading over at a set play.
At the other end, Cameron Harper's eyes will have lit up when Boyd's cross found its way to him at the back post, but his first touch was too heavy and his shot was charged down.
Inverness continued to try and ramp the pressure up as the clock ticked down, desperate for at least an equaliser that would still be good enough to take them to the top of the Championship table.
Boyd, the star man throughout the night for the home side, just missed the target with one effort after something of a scramble inside the Hamilton box.
That summed up the hosts' luck on the night, as they could not find a breakthrough and left the Caledonian Stadium empty-handed.
Caley Thistle: Ridgers, Harper, Deas, Carson, Doran (Mckay 62), Oakley, Ram (Strachan 90), Hyde, D MacKay (Shaw 68), Delaney, Boyd.
Subs not used: Mackay, Welsh, C MacKay, Bray.
Hamilton: Fulton, Doyle, Shiels, O'Reilly, Easton, Martin, Ryan (Virtanen 90), Zanatta (Tiehi 62), Winter (L Smith 90), Ngandu (One 77), Lawson.
Subs not used: J Smith, Mimnaugh, Brown, Owens, Newbury.
Referee: Alan Newlands
Attendance: 2052
