TERRY Butcher joked not so long ago that one galling match had seemed to take so long that he grew a beard through the course of the 90 minutes.
The charity fuzz has since been gratefully shaven.Fortunately for the Englishman, Caley Thistle's hair-raising form of the first half of the 2011/12 campaign also seems to have been cast off decisively. So often for Inverness the onset of the winter months seem to herald either a rejuvenation or a degradation of form.
Two years ago, it was this watershed time that brought the sudden surge of First Division form that culminated in a quick-fire SPL return. A year on, it was a reversal, a stunning start to the campaign hitting the buffers after the New Year bells.
This season, it is again about pre-spring renewal. While yesterday's action was ultimately deeply frustrating for the hosts as clear-cut chances went astray, the scoreless draw brought a seventh game unbeaten.
Had Gregory Tade hit the target from four yards, Nick Ross kept his cool from the edge of the box or debutante Claude Gnakpa not been unlucky enough to strike the inside post, a deserved victory would have come.
But the Highlanders now face Celtic in back-to-back Scottish Cup and League matches in buoyant and highly-promising form. "Our last scoreless draw was three years ago against Celtic – our first game in charge here," manager Terry Butcher said.
"We did everything but score in the second half. Gregory and Nick had great chances. I couldn't believe it when Claude's shot hits the post and comes back out. We had the longest warm-up in history – the whole of the first half! I said to the players you've had your 45-minute warm-up, let's get playing."
There was a meaty, competitive quality to first half exchanges, but no goals in the winter sunshine.While the balance of possession was fairly even, St Mirren had the edge on genuine scoring opportunities for 45 minutes.
Graham Carey and Steven Thompson tested Ryan Esson in the Caley goal while Jonny Hayes carved an opening for Shane Sutherland at the other end, but the home striker's attempt was blocked. The best chance of the half came three minutes before the interval when Dougie Imrie, industrious against his former club, floated in a dangerous cross from the left, leaving Steven Thomson to outleap David Proctor, but Esson was again the measure of it.
An explosion of chances then marked the start of the second period. Sutherland released Tade on the left, but the Frenchman's cross speared between waiting blue shirts.
Richie Foran's delicately-chipped cross was floating towards Tade's head at the far post before Craig Samson's fingertips intervened. But Tade was clutching his head in disbelief just four minutes after the break when he stabbed Hayes' cross wide from barely four yards. The otherwise excellent Paul McGowan also fluffed a chance for Saints.
Despite the home pressure, Ross Tokely's bullet header clutched by Samson after 69 minutes was the hosts' first effort on target.Gnakpa, signed the day before on a free transfer from Walsall, took his home bow and went close with a strike from the edge of the box. His defence-splitting pass also led to substitute Sam Winnall, another new signing, teeing up Ross to unleash a strike parried high by the alert Samson.
"The physicality of Inverness is a big factor for them and we had to get back into an unbreakable mentality," said Saints boss Danny Lennon. "We did that by defending well and not conceding. I thought we handled that side of the game well today."
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