Dundee deny Caley Thistle win with stoppage time goal
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A LAST-GASP goal from Kane Hemmings denied Caley Thistle victory as they drew 1-1 at Dundee in the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
A goal from full-back David Raven looked to have earned the Highlanders their first win since their Scottish Cup triumph on May 30, but the Dark Blues snatched a point in stoppage time to leave the visitors floored.
The make matters worse, Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo was given a red card in the closing seconds for a reckless challenge on former Caley Jags midfielder Nick Ross.
Ryan Christie, who looks set for a £500k switch to Celtic with a loan-back deal to ICT for the rest of the campaign, was a class act once again and ICT fans will see what business can be done overall by manager John Hughes before the transfer window shuts ay 6pm on Tuesday.
Despite Raven's goal on the hour mark, Caley Thistle clearly need a goal grabber, the hardest type of player to recruit and time is ticking for someone to be brought in to kick-start a campaign which has brought a mere three points from six league games with just four goals scored.
The international break comes at a good time for Hughes as it may allow extra time for some of his many injured stars to push closer to returns before they host Hearts a week on Friday.
Richie Foran did make it on to the bench, which would have been good news for Inverness CT fans at the weekend, while Carl Tremarco came in for Liam Polworth.
Tremarco slotted in beside central defender Danny Devine, freeing up Ross Draper to return to his usual midfield berth.
The visitors started well and Mbuyi-Mutombo headed wide from close range when he was picked out by Raven.
Iain Vigurs then drove a 12-yard effort wide of target and home keeper Scott Bain held on to a shot from Christie.
Dundee offered little on the attacking front in the first half and it was ICT who almost made the breakthrough when Draper saw his powerful shot turned around the post by Bain.
The opener arrived on 60 minutes when Raven supplied an ice-cool swerving finish after cutting into the box.
Christie almost made it 2-0 when he drove wide from an acute angle once he got away from former Ross County defender Gary Irvine.
Two fine saves from Caley Thistle keeper Owain Fon-Williams kept his team ahead as Dundee sought an equaliser.
Firstly, the Wales international denied Hemmings, who latched on to a pass from Paul McGowan.
Then he saved a penalty from Greg Stewart after Devine handled the ball in the box.
McGowan the chance to score for Dundee when he missed the target from just one yard out and it seemed as if ICT were heading north with the points.
However, deep into injury time, Hemmings ran on to a long ball from Paul McGinn before shooting beyond Fon-Williams to the delight of the home supporters.
In the very final seconds, Mbuyi-Mutombo was shown the red card by referee Andrew Dallas for a thumping challenge which took Ross out of play.
ICT stretched their unbeaten run over the Dark Blues to 12 games but having come to close to victory at Dens Park, that will have been little consolation to them.
Dundee: Bain, Irvine (Carreiro 74), Konrad (Meggatt 68), McPake, Stewart, Low, Thomson, Hemmings, Ross, McGowan, McGinn. Subs not used: Mitchell, Ferry, Gadzhalov, Curran, Holt.
Inverness CT: Fon-Williams, Raven, Tremarco, Lopez, Draper, Devine, Tansey, Williams, Vigurs (Wedderburn 82), Mbuyi-Mutombo. Subs not used: Esson, Foran, Horner, Polworth, Ferguson, Brown.
Referee: Andrew Dallas.
Attendance: 4,767.
