The first Highland derby of the season took place at Victoria Park on Friday evening.
Second-placed Inverness Caledonian Thistle travelled to Ross County hoping for a win to move them to within one point of SPL leaders Celtic.
However, Caley were unable to gain ground on the champions, as a floodlight failure caused the game to be abandoned at half time.
Find out how events unfolded in Dingwall by revisiting the action with Sports Mole's blow-by-blow updates below.
Hello and thanks for joining Sports Mole’s coverage of tonight’s clash in Dingwall, where light rain is falling and the temperature is a modest 11°C.
Terry Butcher (pictured above) brings his side to Victoria Park looking to bounce back from back-to-back league defeats. And he won’t be expecting an easy ride because fierce rivals Ross County have been in solid form at home this season, taking nine points from a possible 15.
However, Caley have travelled well this season, winning three of their six away games in all competitions, as well as earning a creditable 2-2 draw at Celtic in August.
ROSS COUNTY XI: Brown, Kovacevic, Gordon, Kettlewell, Boyd, Sproule, Quinn, De Leeuw, Luckassen, McLean, Carey
ROSS COUNTY SUBS: Fraser, Micic, Brittain, Mustafi, Maatsen, Ross Saunders
INVERNESS XI: Brill, Shinnie, Warren, Meekings, McKay, Draper, Foran, Doran, Ross, Watkins, Tremarco
Inverness subs: Esson, Devine, Greenhalgh, Williams, Polworth, Pepper, Agdestein
The big news from County's team selection is that captain Richie Brittain drops to the bench, while Graham Carey and Kevin Luckassen return to the starting XI.
Meanwhile, Caley have been forced into a defensive reshuffle due to David Raven's groin injury. Left-footer Graeme Shinnie switches to right-back, while Marley Watkins and Carl Tremarco make their first starts for the club.
The teams are making their way out onto the pitch. Kickoff is just minutes away...
PREDICTION: These sides played each other six times last season and not one of those games produced an away win. I reckon that trend will change tonight. 3-1 to Inverness is my tip.
Inverness get the game underway...
Shinnie tries to find McKay with a lofted through pass, but the ball skids off the wet surface and runs out for a goal kick. The rain is hammering down now.
It's been a scrappy start, but both sides are showing plenty of attacking intent. Nothing created as yet, though.
YELLOW CARD: It wouldn't be a proper derby without an early mistimed challenge for the referee to deal with. Gary Warren goes in late on Melvin de Leeuw near the halfway line and John Beaton is forced to issue the game's first booking.
Both sides are struggling to keep hold of possession right now and the ball is spending a lot of time in the air.
CHANCE! Nick Ross wastes a good opportunity to give Inverness the lead. He latches on to Ritchie Foran's flick-on, but fails to make a good contact with a left-footed volley that spins into the arms of Mark Brown.
It's now County's turn to apply some pressure. The Staggies build nicely before De Leeuw unleashes a low drive from 20 yards and Dean Brill is forced into his first save of the night. It was a stop one would expect the keeper to make, but he judged it well on a skidding surface nevertheless.
Inverness win their second corner of the game. It's whipped in and flashes just past the arm of Michael Kovacevic. The away fans launch a halfhearted and unsuccessful penalty appeal before Carey hacks clear.
Rocco Quinn hacks down Foran and Caley have a free kick 25 yards from goal, just right of centre.
GOAL DISALLOWED! Shinnie's inswinging delivery finds the head of William McKay, who nods the ball into the path of Ross. Ross then fires the ball into the back of the net, but play had already been stopped because McKay was flagged for offside. Correct decision.
After being starved of service for the opening half-hour, Luckassen finally gets the ball into his feet. He turns nicely and fires wide from 25 yards. Poor finish, but sharp skills from the powerful Staggies forward.
CHANCE! Foran produces a fantastic through pass to send Aaron Doran away down the right. Doran gets to the byline, but his poor cross is deflected behind for a corner. McKay, who was well positioned in the middle, looks far from impressed.
Another poor corner allows County to clear with minimal fuss.
CONFRONTATION! Ross Draper challenges Luckassen in the air and both players land in a heap on the floor. Luckassen is angry as he feels that Draper swung an elbow in his direction. Both sets of players then push and shove each other before referee Beaton, who is a professional communications expert by day, issues yellow cards to Draper and De Leeuw for their aggressive behaviour during the disagreement.
Another booking is issued as Luckassen picks up a yellow card after jumping unfairly with Warren.
HALF-TIME: Ross County 0-0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
A half of poor quality ends just as things were starting to heat up. Inverness have been the slightly better side, but the scoreline paints an accurate picture.
THE LIGHTS ARE OUT! Out of nowhere, there's a floodlight failure and Victoria Park descends into darkness.
The police have confirmed that a "technical problem" has occurred and that the lights should be back on within 10 minutes.
While we wait for things to lighten up in deepest darkest Scotland, let's take a look at the key stats from the opening 45 minutes...
Inverness have shaded possession with 54%, however, the visitors have registered just three shots while County have produced six - five of which have come from outside of the penalty area. The home side have committed seven fouls, while the visitors have made six.
Three of the four main floodlights are back in action, but we cannot restart play until all are fully powered up. The players are on the field going through impromptu warm-up procedures.
Official word is that play should restart at 9.05pm.
UH OH!! The lights have failed for a third time. This could see the game called off. We can't wait around for ever.
GAME ABANDONED!
It has been confirmed that the game cannot be completed tonight. The fans are not impressed, booing as they file out of the stadium.
On a positive note, neither side will feel aggrieved at having to play that first half again. Often when games are cut short there is controversy as teams see their goals/leads disappear, but not tonight because nothing happened!
The Inverness fans are trying to make the most of their trip to Victoria Park, which, ironically, is known officially as the Global Energy Stadium for sponsorship reasons. At least 100 visiting supporters are still here and making lots of noise. While they party into the night for reasons unknown, I will say goodbye. Thanks for following tonight's events with Sports Mole. See you again soon.
Written by
Robert Summerscales
Robert Summerscales
