Falkirk V ICT - Preview

After a superb but unexpected win against Rangers in midweek, Caley Thistle hope to end the year on a high by taking all three points at Falkirk. It wont be easy as the sides are evenly matched but if Latapy and Stokes (playing his last game for Falkirk ?) have a good game then Mark Brown may have a lot busier time in this game than he did against Rangers. Andrew Fraser provides the preview.

DETAILS Falkirk v Inverness CT Falkirk Stadium Saturday 30th December at 3pm Referee: Mike Tumilty Others: Gordon Middleton, Chris Young (Assistants), Brian Winter (4th official). Tickets: Tickets must be purchased before entering the ground. The away ticket office at Falkirk will be open at 2pm. TV-info: LIVE commentary on BBC Radio Scotland. FIXTURES Saturday 30th December Dundee Utd v Aberdeen Falkirk v Inverness CT Hibernian v Dunfermline Kilmarnock v Hearts Motherwell v Celtic (Setanta, 12:30pm) Rangers v St Mirren SPL RECENT RESULTS Tuesday 26th December Aberdeen 3-1 Kilmarnock Celtic 2-2 Dundee Utd Dunfermline 0-2 Motherwell Hearts 3-2 Hibernian St Mirren 1-0 Falkirk Wednesday 27th December Inverness CT 2-1 Rangers Rangers took the long journey north to the Highlands in order to gain revenge on a cold windy night. Inverness had already beaten the Gers this season 1-0 AT Ibrox thanks to a Graham Bayne goal. This match was live on TV which gave Inverness an added incentive to play well. The Highlanders made one change from the game with Dunfermline, with Bayne replacing McAllister. Rangers too made one change with Prso dropping out due to injury and being replaced by the so far unimpressive Sebo. After tonight, he would remain the unimpressive Sebo. Both teams created chances but Rangers took the lead after Barry Ferguson went down easily under the challenge of McBain and Nacho Novo stepped up confidently and sent the keeper the wrong way. Rankin produced a save from McGregor minutes later after fantastic play down the wing by Ross Tokely and it wasn’t long before Inverness had equalised. After a succession of 4 corners Rangers didn’t clear their lines and Dods was produced the perfect chance to score and McGregor saved it but Dods reacted quickest and thumped the ball into the roof of the net. Game on now, as the goal machine scores again. Into the 2nd half and it was Inverness that produced the best chances. Mark Brown hardly a save to make in this half, but whenever called upon, he did it well. McGregor saved well from shots by Wyness, Black and Rankin and the game looked to be heading for a draw with McGregor getting man of the match until the 91st minute that is. Rankin picked the ball up on the half way line took the ball to around 25 yards out and hit a fantastic dipping ball over McGregor and into the back of the net. This obviously gave Rankin the man of the match award. A goal fitting to win any game, that sent Christie and everyone associated with the club jumping for joy. It was great to see a £65k signing from Ross County play really well against a £1.8 million signing they call Sebo who has yet to prove he is worth even £10k. It was 9 games without a win for Inverness CT before this game, lets just hope that this result gives the players the confidence to go 9 games unbeaten now!! PAST MEETINGS The teams have played a total of 26 times (25 League, 1 Cup) with 83 goals (40 Inverness CT, 43 Falkirk) between them. Inverness CT: 8 wins (8 League, 0 Cup) Draws: 6 (6 League, 0 Cup) Falkirk: 12 wins (11 League, 1 Cup) FACTS BETWEEN THE TEAMS • There have been 20 1st Division games and 5 SPL games between the teams. • There has only been 1 cup game between the teams, which took place earlier this season in Inverness with Falkirk winning 1-0.. • The teams average 3.2 goals a game in the fixtures between these two teams. • The biggest win in the fixture was when Inverness CT beat the Bairns 4-1 at the Falkirk Stadium on the 21/01/2006. Goals from Wilson, Wyness, Dargo and Tokely gave Caley Thistle a comfortable victory. Ireland scored a consolation for Falkirk. • The last meeting between the team finished 3-2 to Inverness CT. After being 2-0 down thanks to goals from Anthony Stokes, Inverness produced a sizzling fight back with goals from Dargo and Rankin 2. Including a 40 yard free kick from the ex-Ross County man. PLAYERS TO WATCH John Rankin (Inverness CT): Some people thought that paying £65,000 for Rankin was a bit too much. Now some papers are calling it the best steal of the season. Rankin has taken his time adapting to life in the SPL but after his wonder strike against Rangers, his confidence will only improve. Christie has urged him to make more use of the ball and he certainly deserved his goal on Wednesday after forcing McGregor into a number of stunning saves throughout the match. His time at Manchester United has brought him on leaps and bounds and after finding out today that Rangers had him as a youngster but failed to hold onto him only makes Wednesday’s goal sweeter. A player to watch in the weeks to come, I definitely see him scoring more goals and making a vital contribution to the team in terms of his use of the ball. Anthony Stokes (Falkirk): This could end up being Anthony Stokes last game for Falkirk on Saturday. His loan spell runs out after the game and there has been no word yet as to whether Arsenal want him back at the moment or not. A few clubs may even make bids for him during the transfer window, which could include Celtic. But his 13 goals this season have helped Falkirk greatly this season. Although he hasn’t scored since he got sent off against Motherwell on the 25th of November he is a player with a bright future ahead of him that can cause any teams problems. FUTURE FIXTURES 7th April 2007 at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Squad: Mark Brown, Jonathon Smith, Michael Fraser, Darren Dods, Stuart Soane, Ross Tokely, Guy Kerr, Richard Hastings, Stuart McCaffrey, Stuart Golabek, Grant Munro, John Rankin, Ian Black, Roy McBain, Zander Sutherland, Alan Morgan, Barry Wilson, Russell Duncan, Gary McSwegan, Rory McAllister, Dennis Wyness, Graham Bayne Injured: Liam Keogh Richie Hart Suspended: Craig Dargo

History

H / A / N	Matches	W	D	L	Goals	+ / -
H	4	2	0	2	5 - 6	-1
A	2	2	0	0	6 - 1	+5
N	0	0	0	0	0 - 0	+0
Total	6	4	0	2	11 - 7	+4

Date&time	Comp.	H / A / N	Final score
21.10.2006 at 15:00	League	H	3 - 2
19.09.2006 at 19:45	League Cup	H	0 - 1
03.05.2006 at 19:45	League	H	2 - 0
21.01.2006 at 15:00	League	A	4 - 1
26.10.2005 at 19:45	League	H	0 - 3
30.07.2005 at 15:00	League	A	2 - 0