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Massive three points Dom Thomas missed out again for Queens Park who had former Inverness Captain Sean Welsh and Cillian Sheridan starting with Will Tizzard back in defence. James Carragher and Remi Savage were missing from the heart of the visitors defence who had Luis Longstaff and Aaron Doran getting a rare start. Just under 1500 fans rattled around inside the national stadium for the proverbial six-pointer at the bottom of the table with Inverness looking to get out of the play-off place and Queens one point ahead at the start of the game. In a tense first half Cammy Harper scored a stunning free kick after Cillian Sheridan had handled 25 yards out. Boom! That's how it ended despite QP upping their game in the second period as Inverness kept them at bay. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hampden Park was rocking as the game got underway and there was an early corner for the Spiders after Luis Longstaff blocked an effort from Jack Thomson in the second minute. Billy Mckay was fouled on the edge of the box but the free kick was wasted by Cammy Kerr who fired well over the bar. Sean Welsh had an effort blocked from the right side of the box after twenty minutes. With little happening in the opening exchanges, the visitors opened the scoring out of the blue through Cammy Harper direct from a free kick. Top corner from Harper from around twenty-five yards. What a strike to grace Hampden Park. Mckay shot over after being fed towards goal ten minutes before the break. Alex Samuel was denied by Ferrie five minutes before the interval as the keeper saved in the bottom corner to deny the striker from distance. On the stroke of half time Ruari Paton shot over and it remained 1-0 to the Caley Jags. HALF TIME: 0-1 Queens made two changes at the break with Robson and McKinstry replacing Tizzard and Carse. Ridgers saved a thumping low effort from Cillian Sheridan after the restart and Welsh headed wide followed by Jack Turner being denied by Ridgers as Queens Park showed their intent after a poor first forty-five. Sub McKinstry was next to try as he shot wide, but the pressure was mounting on the visitors goal. Ferguson made his first change of the afternoon, replacing Longstaff with Samson Lawal. The wee midfilder saw no takers for a cut back after Mckay sent him into the box. Ridgers saved from Paton as Queens looked to get back on level terms. Mckay saw Ferrie stop him and Paton was denied another twice by Ridgers as the clock ticked down. Inverness held on to take a valuable three points home in the relegation battle. Check pulse..... And breathe... FULL TIME: 0-1 What a strike from Cammy Harper to lift us above Queens Park. Immortal Howden Ender summed up like this: Well I wouldn't exactly say that it was comfortable but we looked in control for the most and survived some hairy moments. Ridgers wasn't really tested but that is due to the back four being simply immense. Devine was absolutely outstanding and Boyes, Duffy and Harper were close behind. What a free kick from Harper which turned out to be the winner. Kerr played in a strange position in a cross between a full back and wing back. Anderson outshone Longstaff although committment was never in doubt. Billy would have had a comfortable brace in days of yore. Samuel is a McGinn version of a centre forward and sure knows how to win a foul. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts We have scraped ourselves into eighth. Still work to do yet though. 1. Dundee Utd 33 20 8 5 68 22 68 2. Raith Rovers 33 18 8 7 52 42 62 3. Partick Thistle 33 13 12 8 58 50 51 4. Airdrieonians 33 15 6 12 44 38 51 5. Dunfermline 33 11 9 13 39 44 42 6. Ayr United 33 12 6 15 50 57 42 7. Morton 33 11 8 14 40 42 41 8. Inverness CT 33 9 11 13 37 37 38 9. Queens Park 33 9 9 15 43 56 36 10. Arbroath 33 6 5 22 34 77 23 Date: 13/04/2024 Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Attendance: 1463 Referee: Alan Muir Queens Park: 0 Manager: Callum Davidson Lineup: Ferrie; Thomson, Wilson, Tizzard (Robson 45), Longridge, Turner (Mauchin 74), Welsh, Carse (McKinstry 45), Scott (Williamson 84), Paton, Sheridan (McLeish 74) Subs (not used): Wills; Bruce, Fox, Bannon Scorers: none Booked: Welsh (86) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy, Devine, Boyes, Harper, Longstaff (Lawal 55), Kerr, Anderson, Doran (MacGregor 77), Alex Samuel, B Mckay (Pepple 80) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Ujdur, Austin Samuels, Brooks Scorers: Harper (25) Booked: Doran (76), MacGregor (85) Sent Off: none a

We're off to Hampden~den~en~n It's a trip to a less than full Hampden Park for us in the next stage of the relegation battle after we dodged a bullet last week against Arbroath. Goal difference wise we are the best placed of the bottom four clubs. Our defence is also better than the other bottom four, in fact we are second equal defensively in the Championship, however what has let us down is scoring goals and in that department we are second worst in the league, only two goals better off than relegation certainties Arbroath. We did put four goals past Queens Park last time we were there. Unfortunately that was followed by three defeats and two draws in our next five games and we lost at Inverness when the Queens visited back at the beginning of February. The only certainty here is that the Hampden Park crowd record of 149,415 from 1937 won't be broken. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Travel Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v QP Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 14 4 5 5 16 17 -1 Away 9 6 0 3 19 13 +6 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 23 10 5 8 35 30 +5 Only the last eight games since Queens Park came up into the Championship and QP are streets ahead of us since then. The 3 - 0 win was a League Cup encounter 14 years ago courtesy of these guys with goals from Lee Cox (20), Eric Odhiambo (55), Ross Tokely (58) Ryan Esson; Ross Tokely, Grant Munro, Stuart Golabek, Kevin McCann, Russell Duncan, Lee Cox, Nick Ross, Gil Blumenshtein, Adam Rooney, Dani Sanchez. Subs: Jonny Tuffey; Chris Innes, Roy McBain, Eric Odhiambo, Shane Sutherland Full report on that one came from hislopsoffsideagain (click on the 3-0 scoreline above) Last 8 Competitive Meetings since QP came up. 0 - 1 (H) 4 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 0 - 2 (H) 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (H) Hampden Success: 4 - 1 Danny Devine had recovered from the knock that saw him limp off against Raith Rovers on the hour last week. Sean Welsh and Luis Longstaff were on the bench. Grant Savoury, Charlie Fox and Craig Napier missed out for the Spiders. Jack Turner put Queens Park ahead early in the first half before Max Anderson levelled the match ten minutes later. Jack Thomson hit the bar, Mckay deemed offside when putting a loose ball into the net after Wotherspoon's header was saved and that prompted some words of comfort for the referee for which Big Dunc eventually ended up in the stands at the break. After the interval Inverness eased themselves up into sixth place in the league with goals from Nikola Ujdur, his first for the club, David Wotherspoon and a Billy Mckay penalty. (For Full report click on 4-1 scoreline above) Last Time Out Inverness made hard work of taking the points from all but relegated Arbroath. We dominated the first half and but for some brilliant saves from Max Boruc we could have gone in three or four goals to the good at the break. As it was Wallace Duffy scored on half time and that should have given us something to build on against a poor Arbroath who were simply going through the motions. As per usual, we failed to take full advantage of the numerous opportunities and paid the price when Leighton McIntosh hammered home a wind assisted shot from the edge of the box. We huffed and puffed somewhat thereafter before the energetic MotM Alex Samuel turned and thrashed in the winner from fifteen yards for a belter of a goal. It was a crucial strike that has all but relegated Arbroath and it keeps our hopes alive of avoiding the play-offs. Last Five: D L D L W Queens Park had a day to forget last weekend at Hampden as Champions in waiting Dundee United put five past them. It didn't look likely after the first half when they trailed by a single goal from Fotheringham on the stroke of half-time. However four goals in a fifteen minute spell from Moult, Graham, Fotheringham again, and Sibbald put Queen's back in trouble and United on track for the Premiership. Last Five: D D W L L Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table ahead of Morton v Dundee United on Friday night. 1. Dundee Utd 32 19 8 5 64 21 65 2. Raith Rovers 32 18 7 7 52 42 61 3. Partick Thistle 32 13 11 8 58 50 50 4. Airdrieonians 32 14 6 12 42 37 48 5. Dunfermline 32 11 9 12 38 42 42 6. Morton 32 11 8 13 39 38 41 7. Ayr United 32 11 6 15 45 57 39 8. Queens Park 32 9 9 14 43 55 36 9. Inverness CT 32 8 11 13 36 37 35 10. Arbroath 32 6 5 21 34 72 23 FRIDAY 12TH APRIL Morton v Dundee Utd SATURDAY 13TH APRIL Airdrieonians v Dunfermline Ayr Utd v Arbroath Queens Park v Inverness CT Raith Rovers v Partick Thistle Latest Team News Duncan Ferguson has much the same squad to select from as last week. Luis Longstaff came off the bench on Saturday after being out for a couple of months with a knee injury and will be back in the squad again for Saturday. Carragher, although he did play, and Ujdur had a bit of a bug last weekend. However Carragher is now a doubt after feeling his hamstring. Other than that not much has changed apart from Remi Savage, who has not recovered after he got a boot in the face from Cammy Kerr. Apparently Kerr's boot is OK but Savage is suffering from minor concussion and will miss the next couple of games. Maybe that was Kerr ensuring he gets a game this weekend. Here's our underfire Gaffer looking like Sherlock Holmes with his pipe>>> Callum Davidson will be smarting after the drubbing they took last week. That's seven goals in their last two games with none scored. Word of warning though, they still have Ruari Paton who has sixteen goals this season. They also have our often broken ex-captain Sean Welsh and Cillian Sheridan who surprisingly has bagged a couple of goals since leaving us. He looked like an unfit Sunday League pub player when at the Caledonian Stadium. Dom Thomas, who scored the winner last time Queens came North, has scored eight, but he was missing last week. He does enjoy a goal against us. Could Davidson be keeping him under wraps for the six-pointer against us this weekend? Last weeks QP flops: Ferrie Thomson Wilson Bannon Longridge Turner (Sheridan 53) Welsh (Tizzard 85) McKinstry (Carse 53) Scott (Bruce 52) Paton McLeish (Mauchin 62) Subs Not Used: Wills: Fox, Robson, Williamson Latest from Queens Park: Ben McPherson, Patrick Jarrett and Grant Savoury continue to be injury absentees with Dom Thomas’ fitness being monitored closely in training this week after missing the last two games.

Smokies Kippered On a blustery day more akin to AA Milne and Winnie the Pooh, Arbroath and Inverness battled it out to see who would get the final nails hammered into their coffins. Arbroath were in the last chance snug in the last chance saloon, whilst Inverness have one foot in the grave. I don't believe it! Arbroath tried everything, they even took their own wind with them. However, they had Murray, Bird and Slater on from the start but O'Brien missed out. Zak Delaney also started for the Red Lichties. A bright opening spell saw Alex Samuel denied twice inside five minutes. Once by a combination of Max Boruc and his crossbar, the second by Boruc on his own as Samuel got his shot away from inside the box. Wallace Duffy got the goal we deserved on the interval as he drove across the keeper from the right side of the box to put us in ahead at the break. Leighton McIntosh restored parity on the hour as he drilled home from eighteen yards, but Alex Samuel won the points with a late strike to all but relegate ten man Arbroath who had Ricky Little sent off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arbroath were on the back foot from the off as Inverness had the wind at their backs and Austin Samuel was unlucky not to open the scoring in the fourth minute as he turned and shot from the edge of the box. However Max Boruc brilliantly tipped his shot onto the bar. A minute later he got on the end of a ball in the box and forced another save from Boruc as we looked like turning the Smokies over. Max Anderson was also thwarted by Boruc when through on goal when Anderson should have been bulging the net. Despite our superiority, we struggled thereafter to create that premium opening until the stroke of half time when Wallace Duffy drilled in from the right side of the box. Unfortunately we lost Remi Savage to injury just before the goal and he was replaced by Danny Devine after an accidental kick in the face from Kerr. Half Time: 1-0 Just after the break Billy Mckay saw an effort saved from fifteen yards. However, we made heavy weather of a Smokies foray forward and Leighton McIntosh levelled the game fifteen minutes into the second half with a great strike from the edge of the box. Devine headed badly wide when his threepenny bit head nodded astray as we looked to get our noses back in front and Samuel was denied by Boruc as he ran through on goal, the keeper doing well to deny the striker for the third time. Boruc punced away a Cammy Harper free kick Arbroath were reduced to ten men when persistent fouler Ricky Little was dismissed. Alex Samuel got the goal his tenacious display deserved as he won a ball into the box he had no right to win. He then turned and lashed it home from fifteen yards on the left side of the box, I think he enjoyed that one. Great finish from the wee battler. FULL TIME: 2-1 Alex Samuel scored his fifth goal for the Caley Jags and his first since his hat-trick against Raith Rovers at the end of January. He was the difference between the sides today as Arbroath struggled to cope with his aggressive style which eventually led to his winning goal. Good to see the much maligned Wallace Duffy scoring as well, his second in a couple of weeks having also netted at Tannadice. Sadly for Arbroath they will now be relegated at the end of the season unless they perform a miracle. More match reaction to follow>>> Date: 06/04/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2223 Referee: Colin Steven Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Carragher, Boyes, Savage (Savage 44), Duffy, Kerr, Anderson, Lawal (Longstaff 73), Harper, Samuel, B Mckay (Doran 88) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Ujdur, MacGregor, Brooks, Pepple Scorers: Duffy (45+1), Samuel (80) Booked: none Sent Off: none Arbroath: 1 Manager: Jim McIntyre Lineup: Boruc; Walker (Lyon 64), Slater, Little, Murray (Dow 73), Gold (McKenna 34), Mackinnon, Delaney, Bird (Stowe 73), Stewart, McIntosh Subs (not used): Gaston; Steele, Teale, Jacobs, Robinson Scorers: McIntosh (61) Booked: Little (31), Little (76) Stowe (85) Sent Off: Little (76) a

It's Now or Never That's what Elvis used to say. We are in deep trouble up to our necks with no signs that we can turn this around. Defeat to Arbroath could be the final nail in our coffin with only fifteen points available to us ahead of this game. The play-offs are looking more likely by the minute, but it's not beyond the realms of possibilty that automatic relegation is still an option should Arbroath beat us on Saturday. With the long suffering fans rapidly losing faith in Big Dunc, it's crunch time as Arbroath head North to the venue they won at the last time they were here. Sadly they come to the Caledonian Stadium off the back of a 2-1 midweek defeat to Airdrie, and we could all but relegate them on Saturday with a win. However, that's nothing to gloat about as we could be next... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info Bring a friend for £5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue - H2H v Arbroath Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 25 17 4 4 60 21 +39 Away 25 11 7 7 36 30 +6 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 50 28 11 11 96 51 +45 Big advantage to us at home over the years, but there's a different feel about our squad this season. Many feel it's the worst squad we have ever had. There's no hiding place now, it's time to stand up and be counted. We lost our last home game against Arbroath, and that gives many of us the fear given our struggles to score goals and turn things around. The 3-2 win at Gayfield was Ferguson's first game in charge. To be honest, it's been downhill shortly after the new manager bounce wore off. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 2 - 4 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) Should we need one, here's a reminder of our last home game against Arbroath: 1 - 2 Looking Down: With both sides losing in midweek, this game took on more significance for Big Dunc's side and Jim McIntyre was also looking to get away from the bottom of the table after he replaced Dick Campbell. David Wotherspoon was fit enough to start and good to see Keith Bray return to the squad alongside Robbie Thompson. Arbroath came North with only four on the bench with Michael McKenna and Ricky Little still out injured and O'Brien suspended. As it turned out we are now looking down the table instead of up after back to back defeats to the two teams who were below us only four days ago as Arbroath won 2-1. That was new manager Jim McIntyre's first win and it moves Arbroath off the bottom of the table. one point behind Inverness. All the goals came in the first half from Jay Bird, Billy Mckay and two minutes later David Gold. Looks like a few will be going cheap in the January sales. Last Time Out After an encouraging point at Tannadice we were looking for more of the same at Firhill. Alas we went down to the only goal of the game from Robinson to leave us staring into the Abyss. We gave as good as we got at Firhill but that age olde problem of not scoring goals was evident once more. To add insult to injury Cammy Kerr was red-carded after an hour although we will be appealing this decision as his first booking for simulation seemed unwarranted, therefore his red card could be rescinded. Last Five: W D L D L Arbroath have lost twice over the last week. Defeat by Partick Thistle last weekend was quickly followed by a 2-1 loss at home to Airdrieonians on Tuesday night. Jay Bird hit a late consolation for the Smokies and Leighton McIntosh saw his penalty saved just before the interval. However two second half strikes from Fordyce and McGill were enough to give Airdrie all three points in a game they pretty much dominated, and that's five defeats on the bounce for Arbroath. Last Five: L L L L L Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Dundee Utd 31 18 8 5 59 21 62 Heading to the Premiership 2. Raith Rovers 30 17 7 6 49 38 58 3. Partick Thistle 31 13 10 8 57 49 49 4. Airdrieonians 30 12 6 12 36 35 42 5. Dunfermline 31 11 8 12 37 41 41 6. Morton 30 11 7 12 37 34 40 7. Ayr United 30 11 5 14 43 54 38 8. Queens Park 31 9 9 13 43 50 36 Below here you are in the play-off and also Fecked 9. Inverness CT 31 7 11 13 34 36 32 Below here you are definitely Fecked 10. Arbroath 31 6 5 20 33 70 23 Saturday 6th April Airdrie v Morton Dunfermline v Partick Thistle Inverness CT v Arbroath FC Queen's Park v Dundee Utd Raith Rovers v Ayr United Latest Team News Cammy Kerr has had his first yellow card rescinded which in turn makes his second yellow (still stands) and the subsequent red card that followed null and void. The correct decision and Cammy will be available for selection this weekend. However, it does not get us back the points that we may have got as a result of his sending off. In saying that, we performed better with ten men. Big Dunc said: So, this weekend we need to treat it like an away game. With that in mind the team will leave the Caledonian Stadium at 09:00 on Saturday morning and go for a three hour run in a D&E bus, returning at 12:00 to prepare for the game where we will start with just ten men. Ferguson said in his press conference that "this could be key to our survival and we will give it a go, won't we. We were excellent, we're no in trouble yet but it's getting close, isn't it". Carragher and Ujdur have picked up a sickness bug and will need to be assessed. Other than that no major changes expected. Here's what he actually said>>> Looks like the Smokies time in the Championship is up even if they avoid defeat on Saturday. They have had some great results in their five season stint in the Championship and have proven to be difficult to beat at times, especially at home. However, all good things come to an end. Five defeats in a row since they beat Raith Rovers 3-2 on the 1st of March has them 9 points adrift at the foot of the table and heading into League 1. With a massive minus goal difference of -37 that's worth another point and I can't see even the Caley Jags throwing that away over five games........ fingers crossed Arbroath team on Tuesday night v Airdrie Boruc Walker Teale Little Lyon Gold Mackinnon (Slater 66) Stewart McKenna (Bird 67) Dow (Stowe 77) McIntosh (Robinson 77) Subs Not Used: Gaston; Steele, Jacobs, Murray, Dünnwald-Turan It's not that I don't have any friends. It's just that nobody wants to come and watch this dross