Dean Brill ready to see Caley Thistle clean sheet record go
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JUST 50 minutes separate Caley Thistle from their first bit of history this season.
Keep Falkirk at bay for that time on Saturday and the Caley Jags will have broken their record for minutes without conceding a goal.
Few would have imagined this scenario when they were shipping goals earlier in the season. But credit where credit is due: Inverness have built their recent run of form on an impenetrable back line.
You don't have to look too far back for the previous record. August 2014 saw Caley Thistle break their previous record and set a new benchmark, as they soared to the top of the Premiership.
Dean Brill was the mainstay of that side, keeping goal for every minute of that run.
“I remember it well but at the same time, through the two years I played, we pretty much had that kind of run anyway,” he said. “There must have been 24 or 25 clean sheets in the first season, it wasn't just that run. It wasn't a freak thing for us. We kept a lot of clean sheets and had a settled back five.
“Records are there to be broken though. I look back fondly on my time at Inverness and I'm pleased to see them start to turn it around. I remember John Hughes saying you needed to embrace these times as they're the best of your career. I've got updates for Inverness's and Luton's scores on my phone and I still speak to Gaz, Carl and Drapes regularly.”
Inverness picked up five wins and two draws during the goalless run, with the current side on three of each. The 2017 iteration have maintained the same back four for the entire spell, with the only change coming in goal after Owain Fon Williams was injured, giving Mark Ridgers his place back.
The 2014 defence was largely the same – David Raven, Gary Warren, Josh Meekings and Graeme Shinnie – with Carl Tremarco, Ross Draper and Danny Devine having minor stints in the back line.
The common theme there is Raven. He started every game of the 2014 run and has done exactly the same again here. Should the Caley Jags surpass the record on Saturday, Raven will be the answer to a unique trivia question.
“He's a miserable git and you can quote me on that!” said Brill. “But he's a great pro and you know what you're getting from Ravs, week in, week out. He's a seven-out-of-10 player every week.
“Ravs was, self-admittedly, not a flying right-back or a beast of a player, but had a bit of everything. He knew where he had to be and what to do on the ball. He'll give 100 per cent every week.
“If you get three or four guys that know what the guy next to them is going to give, it helps you produce the same.”
A telling aspect of the current streak, particularly in recent games, has been the lack of work for the goalkeepers to do. Aside from the Queen of the South and Falkirk games, Fon Williams and Ridgers have been relatively untroubled during this spell.
Brill remembers a similar pattern during the previous goal-less spell.
“I barely had anything to do. I refer to that when I'm passing information on to the younger goalkeepers here,” he said. “The boys were bantering me at the time for not having a save to make for five games.
“When you get solid units across the pitch, that's when you're successful. There was Warren, Shinnie, Meekings and Raven; I remember Danny Devine and Carl (Tremarco) coming in for a couple of games and even Ross Draper played at centre back. You've got to have confidence in the man to the left and right of you.”
The previous run (Dean Brill was in goal for every game):
Last 58 minutes of the 2-1 defeat to Motherwell (A) on 7/5/14. Gary Warren's own goal was the last goal scored against ICT for 616 minutes.
2-0 win v St Johnstone (H) on 11/5/14. Back four: Raven, Devine, Draper, Tremarco.
2-0 win v Hamilton (A) on 9/8/14. Back four: Raven, Meekings, Warren, Shinnie.
0-0 draw v Dundee (H) on 13/8/14. Back four: Raven, Meekings, Warren, Shinnie.
2-0 win v Motherwell (A) on 16/8/14. Back four: Raven, Meekings, Warren, Shinnie.
1-0 win v Celtic (H) on 23/8/14. Back four: Raven, Meekings, Warren, Shinnie.
2-0 win v Kilmarnock on 30/8/14. Back four: Raven, Meekings, Draper, Shinnie. Surpassed previous best record of 508 minutes, which had stood for eight years (8/4/06 – 29/7/06).
First 18 minutes of 3-1 defeat to Partick Thistle (A) on 13/9/14. Steven Lawless's goal breaks the ICT mark at 616 minutes.
After yesterday's clean sheet, #ICTFC are 50 minutes away from new defensive record. 567 minutes since last goal; record is 616 (2014).
— Jamie Durent (@IC_JDurent) November 5, 2017
The current run:
Last 27 minutes of 2-1 defeat to Dumbarton (A) on 23/9/17. Sam Wardrop the last goal scored against ICT, 567 minutes ago.
0-0 draw v Queen of the South on 30/9/17. Back four: Raven, Mckay, Donaldson, Tremarco. Goalkeeper: Fon Williams.
3-0 win v Peterhead on 7/10/17. Back four: Raven, Mckay, Donaldson, Tremarco. Goalkeeper: Fon Williams.
0-0 draw v Falkirk on 14/10/17. Back four: Raven, Mckay, Donaldson, Tremarco. Goalkeeper: Ridgers.
2-0 win v Dundee United on 21/10/17. Back four: Raven, Mckay, Donaldson, Tremarco. Goalkeeper: Ridgers.
1-0 win v Dunfermline on 28/10/17. Back four: Raven, Mckay, Donaldson, Tremarco. Goalkeeper: Ridgers.
0-0 draw with Livingston on 4/11/17. Back four: Raven, Mckay, Donaldson, Tremarco. Goalkeeper: Ridgers.
