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Play Offs Looming Down to the nitty gritty now as we enter the last two games still in the danger zone and just one point ahead of Queens Park who, as it happens, face Arbroath, the very club that Big Dunc said might have downed tools by now! You couldn't write it, could you. In fairness, Dunfermline have nothing to play for but pride, and a few shekels, does that mean that they will also down tools? Have a word with yourself if you answered yes. The final day of the season next Friday night has Queens Park at home to Airdrie and Inverness at home to Morton. It's going to the wire. At the moment, it's still in our own hands, but it's not over until the fat lady sings. (sit down Michelle...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bus Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Pars Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 25 10 10 5 31 22 +9 Away 25 9 11 5 30 27 +3 Neutral 2 0 1 1 3 4 -1 Total 52 19 22 11 64 53 +11 We have a pretty hefty advantage over the Pars since we first locked horns with them in the First Division (Championship) back in August, 1999. Our first encounter was at East End Park after we had gained promotion. That didn't end well, a 4-0 defeat, an early injury to Barry Wilson after 6 minutes, a Pars penalty before half time and a red card for Andrew Allan after 66 minutes. Ian Broadfoot's summary of that game: The reality of the First Division hit Caley Thistle hard in this opening league fixture as they slumped to a 4-0 defeat. They were hit by an early injury to Barry Wilson and Andrew Allan was ordered off in the 66th minute for a tackle on Brian Reid. Caley Thistle were only one down at half time to an Andy Smith penalty, but were overwhelmed in the second half. A Brian Reid low drive in 61 minutes made it 2-0 then came the ordering-off. Scott Thomson made it three in 81 minutes and Stewart Petrie completed the rout on the final whistle. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Pars 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) The stats show six draws from the last ten meetings with all three this season ending all square. That's where the smart money will be going. However, this is a different beast with more than just relegation at stake. Given our financial plight, the mere existence of our club functioning as it is just now is a growing concern. Going down may well be the catalyst for part time football and seasons in the doldrums should we survive. The ultimate price to pay for failure is plain for all to see. LAST TIME OUT The Caley Jags battered Raith Rovers to a 0-1 defeat at the Caledonian Stadium last Friday night, thanks mainly to a worldy performance by Raith keeper Kevin Dabrowski and his woodwork. Ably assisted by our inability to stick the ball into the net, we snatched defeat from the jaws of a comfortable victory. In terms of performance, everything was positive. In terms of result, it was a disaster. We can't fault the players for effort, but the season long issue of not taking our chances reared it's ugly head big time. It certainly looks likely that some familiar faces will not be here next season. LAST SIX: L D L W W L Dunfermline drew 0-0 with Queens Park at EEP last week as Queens showed plenty of resilience to deny their hosts. The Pars saw the better of the game in a dour scoreless encounter that ensured they have nothing left to play for and QP remained below us in the table. I'm sure Pars' aim will be to finish with a flourish especially at home in front of their own fans and of course the extra £££ for places. LAST SIX: W W W D L D Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table ahead of Airdrie v Dundee United on Friday night. 1. Dundee Utd 34 21 8 5 69 22 71 2. Raith Rovers 34 19 8 7 53 42 65 3. Partick Thistle 34 14 12 8 62 50 54 4. Airdrieonians 34 15 6 13 44 42 51 5. Morton 34 12 8 14 42 43 44 6. Dunfermline 34 11 10 13 39 44 43 7. Ayr United 34 12 6 16 50 58 42 8. Inverness CT 34 9 11 14 37 38 38 9. Queens Park 34 9 10 15 43 56 37 10. Arbroath 34 6 5 23 35 79 23 Friday 26th April Airdrieonians v Dundee United Saturday 27th April Arbroath v Queens PK Dunfermline v Inverness CT Morton v Rovers Partick Th v Ayr United LATEST TEAM NEWS Aaron Doran looks likely to have pulled on the Caley Jags strip for the last time after limping off against Raith Rovers last Friday. Sean McAllister returning was a bonus though but the mystery deepens as to why Roddy MacGregor, Austin Samuels and Nikola Ujdur are not featuring either on the injury list or the team list. Baffling to be honest as Roddy has the midfield attributes required, Austin has the speed and potential and Nikola in my opinion, if fit, would be my first choice on the team sheet. Are these guys on the way out? Add to that seven or eight loan players, then next season will see a massive restructure and rebuild at the Caledonian Stadium. I imagine the board members are squirming in their seats like Angela van den Bogerd at a Post Office inquiry. Here's Dunc isn't it>>> No changes, Doran Out with a knee injury... Dunfermline have former St Johnstone striker Chris Kane available and he is a handful, a sort of taller version of Alex Samuel but with less hair. They also have the human battering ram in the shape of the powerful Alex Jakubiak. Pars v QP last week @ EEP 3-4-3 Mehmet Fisher (Breen 86) Benedictus Fagan-Walcott Welch-Hayes (Jakubiak 68) Hamilton Ritchie-Hosler Edwards Todd Kane McCann (Holmes 80) Subs Not Used: Little; Sutherland, Chalmers, O'Halloran, Benjamin, Moffat

Relegation fears back on Our former bitches came North safe in the knowledge that they will finish at least second in the table and they can prepare for the challenge ahead without having to look over their shoulders. We on the other hand, still need points to ease ourselves away from the League 1 play-off drop zone. James Carragher returned to the starting XI with Remi Savage and Sean McAllister making the bench, and for the visitors, it looks like they mean business with Lewis Vaughan, Jack Hamilton and Dylan Corr starting with Zak Rudden and Keith Watson benched. Inverness threatened the Raith goal and but for Kevin Dabrowski and his bar they could have been dead and buried at the interval. No score at the break and all to play for in the second half. Vaughan opened the scoring early in the second half and Samuel almost levelled but his shot from distance cannoned away off the post. The crossbar was hit a further twice but the goal would not come. Despite peppering the Raith goal, MotM Dabrowski would not be beaten with a string of saves ranging from brilliant to miraculous. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A bright sunny evening met the teams as they entered the stadium for this televised encounter and it was the visitors that got the game underway. An early corner for Inverness ended with a great ball into the box from Longstaff and then Billy Mckay nodded goalwards but couldn't get any juice on the header and Dobrowski gathered easily. Rovers looking brisk on the break as well in a spritely start for both teams. After Aaron Doran was fouled on the edge of the box, Cammy Harper brought out a good save from Dabrowski with a curling effort to the keepers left. Alex Samuel maybe should have opened the scoring after fifteen minutes but his close range shot was deflected away by Jack Hamilton defending his own goalline. Good spell of pressure from Inverness but Doran took a knock and limped off to be replaced by Sean McAllister. Inverness almost took the lead twice within a couple of seconds. Harper latched onto a loose ball in the box only for his shot to smack the crossbar. He reacted first to head the rebound towards goal but Dabrowski spread himself well and a flailing leg kept the ball out much to Cammy's frustration. Unbelievable reflexes from Dabrowski who was diving the wrong way. Brown fired one direct at Ridgers from 25 yards as Rovers went forward with intent, but Ridgers dealt with it well. With half an hour gone, Raith could have no complaints had they been three down with Dabrowski keeping the score level. Half Time: 0-0 Dylan Easton and Shaun Byrne replaced a pair of Brown's for the visitors at the break and early Raith pressure came to nothing. However, after a bit of bagotelle in the Inverness box Lewis Vaughan clipped the ball behind Ridgers to open the scoring. Alex Samuel cracked a low curling shot off the keepers left hand post. Sums up our season to be honest. Great effort but no luck. Zak Rudden missed a good chance for Rovers as our passing from defence went astray. Another defensive mistake allowed Sam Stanton to get a shot away at one end and at the other, McAllister got his shot away but both keepers were up to the efforts. Ridgers saved an angled drive from Easton with twenty minutes left. McAllister was again denied by the keeper from distance with a swerving shot but Dabrowski excelled moments later when Samuel spun in the box and shot but the keeper made a miraculous save to get the ball over the bar. We hit the crossbar a further twice through Carragher and Devine in the same attack. It looks like scoring goals is just not for us. Pepple almost got on the end of a cross seconds after coming on, but he never attacked the ball. McAllister dragged a shot wide from a good position after some neat build up play. Samuel blasted just over in a frantic ending as the keeper tipped another over the bar. Despite some late action in front of the Raith goal, Man of the Match Kevin Dabrowski kept the visitors ahead and put Inverness back in trouble. Date: 19/04/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2385 Referee: Euan Anderson Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Carragher, Devine (Pepple 80), Boyes, Longstaff (Lawal 60), Kerr, Anderson, Harper, Doran (McAllister 19), Alex Samuel, B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay, Duffy, MacGregor, Savage, Brooks Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none Raith Rovers: 1 Manager: Ian Murray Lineup: Dabrowski; J Brown (Easton 45), Corr, Murray, Dick, Smith, Mullin, Stanton (McGill 87), S Brown (Byrne 45), Hamilton (Rudden 55), Vaughan (Mathews 78) Subs (not used): McNeil; Watson, Connolly Scorers: Vaughan (49) Booked: S Brown (45+1), Dabrowski (90+2) Sent Off: none a

  Great Escape is still on   The great escape coninues on Friday night at the Caledonian Stadium as we host Raith Rovers in a game that will also be screened live on BBC Scotland with Raith trying to cling on to the coat tails of Dundee United and the Caley Jags looking to slither away from the play-off zone. What could possibly go wrong? Savage and Carragher will be joined in the squad by a welcome returnee in Sean McAllister who has returned fit from Everton after about six weeks out. That's a nice wee bonus for Big Dunc. However, he has the wrath from Arbroath after his "tools down" comment in his pre-match interview. As long as he has not got the wrath from Raith. Keep the faith! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info Bring a friend for a Fiver Alex Chisholm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Rovers Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 22 14 5 3 41 17 +24 Away 19 10 5 4 37 24 +13 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 41 24 10 7 78 41 +37 We hold a massive advantage over Raith Rovers in all games played since the universe was created. Only 7 defeats in 41 encounters and two of them have come this season, our darkest for many a year. However, normal service resumed when we won the last game at Stark's Park on the 27th of January thanks to a 14 minute first half hat-trick from Alex Samuel. Little did we know that would be his last goal for the next eleven games until he popped up with the winner against Arbroath on the 6th of April. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Rovers 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (H) Cast your mind back to January 12th 2002, and the scene of our biggest win over Raith Rovers with an attendance of 1822:  Report from Ian Broadfoot:  Prior to the match the Kevin Bisset Enclosure was officially opened. The first goal came in seven minutes when Russell Duncan crossed from the right and Ross Tokely sent a looping header into the top corner. Simon Miotto had a number of good saves before, at the other end, a Darren Henderson header came off the post in 33 minutes. Goal number two came in 36 minutes after a scramble which included the ball rebounding off the woodwork. Roy McBain was well placed to take advantage and he hammered home from close range. On the half-time whistle a strong 25 yard shot from Dennis Wyness took a slight deflection and Miotto made a flying save. 30 seconds after the restart a long Nicky Walker kick-out reached Barry Robson on the left well inside the Raith half. He took a touch then crossed for Martin Bavidge to head home from six yards. Raith's best second half effort came on the hour mark when a Darren Henderson header was cleared off the line by Stuart McCaffrey. In 67 minutes Robson's inswinging corner reached a ruck of players and it went in off the head of Bobby Mann. The best goal of the game came with 10 minutes left when substitute David Bagan surged through the middle, played a one-two with Wyness and hit a low ball past Miotto from 12 yards. Starting XI: Nicky Walker; Ross Tokely, Grant Munro, Bobby Mann, Stuart McCaffrey, Charlie Christie, Barry Robson, Roy McBain, Russell Duncan, Martin Bavidge, Dennis Wyness.  Subs:  Jim Calder; Stuart Golabek, Graeme Stewart, David Bagan, Paul Ritchie   Last Couple The Caley Jags claimed their first back to back wins of the season last weekend, having beaten Arbroath 2-1 a fortnight ago thanks to goals from Wallace Duffy and Alex Samuel. That was Duffy's second goal in recent weeks having also netted at Tannadice. Last weekend was massive for us as we scraped ourselves out of ninth place and above Queens Park in a huge six-pointer at Hampden. Cammy Harper made the difference with a superb free kick in the 25th minute, a strike fit to win any game at the National Stadium. Those two wins have placed our destiny within our own hands. Last Six: D L  D L  W W  Take a bow Cammy Harper>>>   Raith Rovers have lost ground at the head of the table in the last fortnight. They began April with a 2-1 win over Ayr United. Easton and Hamilton either side of the break with Logan Chalmers notching the United goal. That result was followed by a home defeat from Airdrieonians, going down 3-1 at Stark's Park. Josh Mullin was the Rovers scorer that night as Raith never got to grips with a lively Airdrie who scored through Frizzell twice and McGregor. Last week they had a no score draw against Partick Thistle to allow the gap at the top to open further. Last Six: W D L  W L  D    Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts We are the Friday night game this weekend. Smokies are now Relegated 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   Friday 19th April Inverness CT v Raith Rovers Saturday 20th April Arbroath v Morton Dundee United v Ayr United           Dunfermline v Queen's Park      Partick Thistle v Airdrieonians  Latest Team News Remi Savage is back training after concussion and James Carragher missed out last week with a hamstring injury but has also trained this week. Wallace Duffy has a niggle and has missed a couple of sessions. The good news is that Sean McAllister has returned from Everton after injury and could be good to go. Here's Dunc winding up the Smokies.... and they are biting>>>    Immortal Howden Ender is picking the team this week and here's his thoughts: It would not surprise me that Dunc will go for the same starting X1 as Hampden. That has positives, maybes and negatives. Playing the same 5 at the back will provide the stability required and hopefully another shut out. I can see this allowing Harper to be more of a wing back but Kerr is not really that type of player. Anderson and Longstaff ran and ran and tackled and tackled. But they are stuck in the middle of the park and with only Samuel as the forward option. Starting Doran and Billy is risky. Both can produce something different, especially from free kick positions, but they need to support Samuel more. That's why I would play Doran alternating wide right and left. Billy did have a couple of chances at Hampden but I would play him closer to Samuel. As for the Tinkerville Taz then same again please. He will not give the Raith defence any breathing space and he is a cert to win free kicks. And with Billy ploughing likewise for an hour both may get more clear cut opportunities. What we can't allow to happen is giving away an early goal. Raith at home is a far more difficult task than the Spiders away. But I reckon Dunc and his dogs of War will be howling at the end of 90 minutes AND I would take a point if offered now...    Raith Rovers may have slipped up recently as their title challenge fades. However, they are still a dangerous side. Raith team v Partick last week (0-0) Dabrowski   Brown   Watson   Murray   Dick   Brown   Mullin (Connolly 86)   Stanton (Hamilton 77)   Turner (Easton 45)   Smith (McGill 86)   Rudden (Vaughan 59)   Subs Not Used: McNeil; Corr, Mathews, Byrne.