INVERNESS were held by ten-man Hamilton to a 1-1 draw in a nervy SPL relegation dogfight in the Highlands.
But Accies manager Billy Reid believes referee Charlie Richmond was wrong to send off James McArthur just five minutes after his team had regained parity at the Caledonian Stadium.
Richie Foran blasted Inverness into the lead within two minutes of
the restart before Martin Canning headed home a Brian Easton corner to restore parity after 63 minutes. Accies were coming on to the ascendency at that point, but McArthur was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Filipe Morais which looked a harsh decision on the young midfielder.
Reid said: "The sending-off was really, really harsh. I know he has lifted his foot up, but I think he has won the ball and the man has not been seriously hurt. I think all the Inverness players and management team thought it was harsh. He's gutted. James is a committed player, but he's not a dirty player. When I played years ago that would never have been a sending-off."
Morais did not see the challenge coming, but he absolved McArthur of blame.
"When the tackle first came in, I felt a sharp pain and I was a little bit worried," the 23-year-old said. "I know James and he's a good lad. I'm sure he wasn't intentionally trying to injure me. At the time you don't really see it, you just feel the tackle and it hurt. I was just in pain, I wasn't trying to get anyone sent off. It was unlucky for them but good for us."
Terry Butcher's team failed to take advantage of their numerical advantage despite a late charge and had to settle for a point.
Reid caused a surprise when he named teenage midfielder James McCarthy, the Scottish PFA young player of the year, as a substitute as the Accies made their third trip to Inverness this season. Derek Lyle, David Elebert and Derek Asamoah all started for the visitors.
Butcher made one change to the side which defeated St Mirren last week with Portuguese playmaker Morais returning at the expense of Andy Barrowman, who dropped to the bench.
Irishman Foran headed a Morais cross wide inside two minutes, but Caley's left-back Lionel Djebi-Zadi was almost punished after being dispossessed by Asamoah. The lively Ghanaian crossed for Simon Mensing, but his effort was blocked before Alex Neil thundered the loose ball over the bar.
Asamoah continued to give Djebi-Zadi a torrid time and Hamilton were presented with a free-kick towards the byline when the Frenchman fouled the pacy winger. Brian Easton flighted the dead ball to Mark McLaughlin at the far post, but Michael Fraser was alert to gather the defender's header.
Inverness should have taken the lead after 19 minutes when Roy McBain crossed for Dougie Imrie, but the winger mis-hit his effort at the vital moment and Foran's subsequent attempt was tipped over by Radek Cerny.
Only a fantastic save from Hamilton's Czech goalkeeper prevented Morais giving his side the lead with a powerful first-time volley after 29 minutes.
Reid was forced to make his first change of the day just after the half-hour mark with McCarthy coming on for the injured McLaughlin. The visitors enjoyed the better possession as the half drew to a close but struggled to create any real penetration in the final third, although Richard Offiong did flash a free-kick inches wide from 25 yards.
Inverness made a dream start to the second half with Foran running on to a Morais pass before clinically volleying the ball past the helpless Cerny. The home side were full of confidence and Imrie could have created a second, but he elected to shoot weakly into the side-netting instead of finding a better-placed team-mate.
Hamilton made their second enforced change of the day when defender Elebert was withdrawn through injury, to be replaced by Chris Swailes. Foran had the ball in the net for a second time after 56 minutes thanks to a neat finish, but the assistant referee had already flagged for offside. And the home side were to rue that decision when Accies equalised after 63 minutes.
Canning got the goal, his first of the season, when he rose to head home an accurate Easton corner, despite the best efforts of Ian Black on the line.
Offiong should have won the match for the visitors when he raced on to a wonderful pass from Alex Neil, but the former Newcastle striker dragged his shot wide.
At the other end, Cerny saved bravely at the feet of Ross Tokely after a well-worked free-kick by Black and Morais. Inverness continued to press for the winner with David Proctor firing over in the dying stages.
MAN OF THE MATCH
FILIPE MORAIS (Inverness)The Portuguese playmaker was perhaps the most creative player in the game and, as well as creating his team's goal for Richie Foran, he was also denied a goal of his own by a brilliant save from Radek Cerny.
The full article contains 867 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
