Caley Thistle edged out at home to Hamilton
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CALEY Thistle slipped to a 1-0 home defeat against Hamilton in the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership today (Saturday).
A second half goal from Carlton Morris made the difference, leaving ICT up against it in their bid for a top six spot. The defeat brought Hamilton level with them on 33 points, although Caley Jags have a game in hand.
The 1-0 midweek defeat at St Johnstone left ICT three points adrift of the top half with only three fixtures remaining before the split.
Central defender and stand-in skipper Gary Warren was suspended following his red card at Perth on Wednesday, so in came Nat Wedderburn, while Lewis Horner replaced the suspended Carl Tremarco.
Hamilton's last outing was their 1-0 derby defeat at home to Motherwell last weekend and, being three points behind the Highlanders, were also in desperate need of the points, sitting just above the relegation play-off spot. Just one win in 14 games said all about their form going into this one.
There were also two changes for Accies, with Grant Gillespie and Greg Docherty in for Darren Lyon and Ali Crawford.
It was one win apiece between these teams this season, with Accies winning 2-1 in Inverness in August but Inverness CT edging a thriller 4-3 at New Douglas Park over the festive period.
It was a patchy start to the contest but Liam Polworth was the first to have a go on 15 minutes when he fired over when he was set up by Greg Tansey 20 yards out after Liam Hughes robbed Michael Devlin.
Moments later, Jordan Roberts drilled an effort over the top from 10 yards after he was picked out by Polworth.
On 22 minutes, Hamilton were not far away from finding the target when Gramoz Kurtaj flashed a shot beyond the right post after Morris teed him up.
There was little to note for the remainder of the first half as fans hoped for more after the break.
Just three minutes into the second half, ICT went close when Iain Vigurs guided a shot just wide of the right post after Danny Williams cut the ball back.
Caley Thistle had an appeal for a spot kick turned away by referee Steven McLean on 56 minutes when Docherty seemed to bring down Polworth as he edged inside the box.
However, three minutes later it was Accies who got the goal when Morris steered a low shot past keeper Owain Fon Williams after Grant Gillespie assisted him.
Tansey tried to restore parity when he went for goal from a long-range free-kick but the ball dipped just over the crossbar.
With 20 minutes to go, Vigurs flashed a header just off target after being set up by Polworth.
It could have really have been game over 10 minutes later when Imrie fed the ball to Docherty and his shot was superbly saved by Fon Williams.
This came just ahead of Wedderburn crashing the ball off the post amid a goalmouth scramble.
For all their efforts though, ICT could not find a way through and Accies posted their second win of the season at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.
The defeat further dents the Inverness team's bid to reach the top six,with their lead over second-bottom Kilmarnock remaining at just five points.
Caley Jags turn their attention to the defence of the William Hill Scottish Cup this Wednesday when Hibs head north for their quarter-final replay for the right to meet Dundee United in the semis.
They return to league action next weekend with a derby visit to Scottish League Cup finalists Ross County.
Inverness CT: Fon Williams, Draper, Roberts (Foran 64), Devine, Wedderburn, Tansey, Horner, Williams, Polworth (Storey 72), Hughes, Vigurs. Subs not used: Esson (GK), Williams, Brown, MacLennan.
Hamilton: McGovern, Gordon, Kurakins, Devlin, Gillespie (Lyon 70), Imrie (Boyd 87), Kurtaj (Redmond 73), Morris, Mackinnon, Docherty, Tagliapetra. Subs not used: Martin (GK), Diaby, D'Acol.
Referee: Steven McLean.
