Barring some sort of involvement at Pittodrie next week today was Shuggy's 468th and final appearance for the club. He didn't start but he was applauded in the seventh minute, cheered on after half an hour and then cheered off as he did a lap of honour at the end before receiving some special awards.
The fact the focus is on Shuggy's farewell rather than the game shows how poor it was. It was typical end of season stuff with both sides struggling to score and neither deserving to win. Five minutes from time Richie Foran headed Caley Thistle in front and that was that - although most people weren't too annoyed.
The result leaves us in eighth place, still with a chance of catching Kilmarnock but still at risk of being overhauled by Aberdeen. We're kind of in obscurity at the moment - two points behind Killie but two ahead of the men from the Granite City, where we head next week. Eighth place should be doable but we need favours to get to seventh.
We saw a new defensive pairing in the shape of Marc McAusland and Darren McGregor, with Lee Mair missing through injury. That meant Hugh Murray and Steven Thomson, who is also on his way, had to make do with a place on the bench. With Paul McGowan, Nigel Hasselbaink and Steven Thompson playing we looked to be in for an entertaining afternoon (wrong!), although the much hated Ross Tokely was nowhere to be seen. Sadly Johnny Hayes, who seems to do well against us, was back with Richie Foran and Gregory Tade also capable of causing problems. The Crystal Palace manager Dougie Freedman was in attendance along with his pal and ex Morton player David Hopkin - scouting some players for next season perhaps?
Tade's pace was present early on when he raced onto a long ball and proceeded to nick it round Craig Samson but he'd put too much on it and the ball thankfully went behind. Hugh Murray will always be associated with the number seven and so, in the seventh minute, just about every Saints fan was on their feet clapping and singing his name. With the tributes to the legendary midfielder - which were fully merited - there was a danger of this taking on the atmosphere of a testimonial match and Aaron Doran's shot just after the end of the ovation reminded everyone there was a proper game on - particularly Samson, who reacted brilliantly to keep it out.
We've missed McGregor's marauding runs this season - although McAusland has been trying to make up for them in recent weeks - but one produced our first shot on goal, which unsurprisingly went well wide. In a rather dull game Thompson managed to get himself into a good position but opted to try the cut back to Hasselbaink for a tap-in, only to see it cleared by a recovering defender. The veteran made it quite clear to his younger strike partner that he'd have got the ball far sooner if he hadn't wandered offside. That was about it in terms of attacking intent and the fact a Doran corner almost going straight in counts as a chance shows how poor the opening 25 minutes were.
We had a decent shout for a penalty after half an hour when Hasselbaink ran into space and sprayed the ball out to Tesselaar before charging into the box. However, before he could collect the pass he hit the deck under a challenge from an Inverness Caley Thistle player but ref Calum Murray was having none of it.
It was then time for the next stage of the farewell - although a good half hour than anyone expected. Dougie Imrie wasn't having the best of games but he wasn't having the worst either so he unsurprisingly wasn’t too enamoured at having to make way for Hugh Murray after little more than 30 minutes. The home support couldn't have cared less as the veteran, legendary midfielder arrived to a tremendous reception. Appearance number 468 - and out? Inverness made their own early change when Nick Ross replaced Doran but not before he'd forced another save from Samson. A strange move.
A spell of Saints pressure just before the break almost gave us the opener, Tesselaar's terrific shot looking destined for the back of the net before Ryan Esson got his fingertips to it to keep it out. He was called into action again seconds later as he reacted well to keep out Thompson's terrific header before the ball flew wide after McLean had fired it off the Thommohawk, who didn't have a hope of reacting quickly enough to do anything with it. That was your lot for the first-half and the fact a substitution was the most exciting thing tells you all you need to know!
The start of the second half suggested things might be a bit better - although it was a false dawn. Jim Goodwin found Tesselaar with a terrific pass and he then laid it off to McGowan. Unfortunately he miscontrolled it but he still had time to compose himself and send a shot wide. Hayes has had almost as good a season as McGowan and nearly had another goal when he intercepted a pass and fired in a shot that Samson couldn't hold, the goalie no doubt relieved to see the flag go up as Tade tried to get to the rebound. Hasselbaink hadn't had the best of games so it wasn't a great surprise to see him replaced before the hour mark, Gary Teale the man chosen to replace him, Thomas Piermayr then replacing Caley Thistle's Josh Meekings.
Teale continued with his persistence in opting to pass instead of shoot and it almost cost us as Caley Thistle tried to break, Teale getting himself a booking when he fouled Ross. The free-kick was almost more costly as Foran got on the end of it and saw his shot blocked by Samson - pointless though as he was offside. In a rare opening McGowan was able to find Thompson who turned and shot - but it was weak and Esson wasn't troubled. The game was at least seeing a few goal attempts although Greg Tansey's shot was always going wide as Billy McKay came on for Andrew Shinnie. Our final change saw Thomas Reilly given a game as he replaced Kenny McLean - although that did mean no farewell appearance for Steven Thomson.
It was far from exciting stuff although Shuggy almost brought the house down when he let rip 10 minutes from time but his effort was blocked by Roman Golobart. As he shaped up for another shot a few minutes later he lost the ball and the visitors countered. Tade went down a bit too easily under Marc McAusland's challenge, Tansey delivered the cross and Foran headed home - the flag not saving Saints this time. The reaction didn't come, McGowan's shot into the side netting the closest we came to an equaliser.
But, as I said earlier, football was almost a side issue as the fans applauded the players at the end and one man in particular. Farewell Shuggy - and thanks for everything.
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