Graeme Shinnie – and his entire family, – were in party mode last night after the defender's late strike sank Kilmarnock to earn Inverness Caledonian Thistle their first SPL win of the season.
The 21-year-old left-back’s career as a professional footballer was left in the balance after he was struck down by a severe medical condition at the beginning of the year that necessitated an operation to remove part of his intestine.
However, he returned to action at the start of this season and yesterday produced not only a starring display – exhibiting an extraordinary determination – in this absorbing game, but also gave his worried manager Terry Butcher a winner that was as thrilling as had been witnessed at the Caledonian Stadium for some time.
Shinnie’s strike a minute from time flew past Kilmarnock goalkeeper Cammy Bell to spark scenes reminiscent of those when the Highland club gained prom-otion at the end of last season.
“Graeme is a massive success story,” Butcher said. “I remember him being in hospital in January with tubes everywhere and we were all very worried and concerned about whether he would ever kick a ball again. Look at him now: back in the team and scoring the winner. He won the ball in their half and continued his run, took the return pass and put it beyond their keeper.”
“I know his mum and dad will be delighted, as will his brother Andrew, who came on as a substitute near the end. I’m very pleased for Graeme and his wonderful family. We’re lucky to have him. The effort he and the others put in was excellent.”
This was a game which swung several times from the home side being in control to Kilmarnock outplaying them for long spells. Gregory Tade’s excellent header from Richie Foran’s clip across goal in the 26th minute, deservedly put Inverness in front, but the Rugby Park side then grabbed the initiative.
A Dean Shiels strike from 25 yards in the 35th minute curled past Caley Thistle goalkeeper Ryan Esson, who was perhaps not as well positioned as he might have been. The scorer’s father and manager, Kenny Shiels, will have been satisfied that his charges were back on course at this stage.
However, midway through the second half, Shiels snr made, by his own admission, a tactical blunder by taking off Ben Hutchinson, a diligent front man who had hit a thunderous shot off the post early in the half, and replacing him with Spanish striker Jorge Galan.
“I made a mistake taking Ben off,” Shiels said. “I should have kept him on. He was doing OK and I thought Galan would have given us more than he did. He didn’t link [play] as well as Ben did. So I have to take the blame for that and I also take the blame for the ineptitude for some of the players because I selected them. I’m not blasting the players at the moment. We’ll think about the game over the weekend and we’ll discuss it on Monday. Inverness fought for everything and got the result their performance and attitude deserved. We need to be better.”
The scenes of triumph among Inverness and their fans at the end was hardly surprising, Butcher, uncharacteristically early for the post-match press conference, joked that he had nothing to say to his players other than to congratulate them on a stirring performance.
With the Caley Thistle treatment room almost as busy as the changing room, however, Butcher will be grateful for the respite afforded by the international break and hope at least some of his walking wounded will be ready for action in two weeks’ time.
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