Diamond Presents

Sean Welsh and Roddy MacGregor missed out in this one and Wallace Duffy dropped to the bench but new signing Luis Longstaff started and Max Ram made the bench. Nikolay Todorov started for the Diamonds, and he would have the final say..

An early opportunity gifted to the visitors almost brought about the opening goal. A short pass back allowed Todorov to latch onto the ball but fortunately Cammy Mackay was out quickly to block the shot. A couple of forays forward gave us half chances to no avail. Lewis Nicolson left the field on a stretcher as our injury woes started early to be replaced by Cammy Harper after quarter of an hour. However we never learned from our early slackness and Airdrie were allowed to stroke home the opener from the edge of the box through a grateful Ballantyne after a defensive blunder by Davidson who gave the ball away too easily. Before the half hour it was two blunders and two goals for the Diamonds who didn't have to do too much for their lead. This time it was Devine caught dwelling on the ball on the edge of his own box and Telfer clipped the returned ball home tidily. Shoddy stuff from the hosts who were chasing the game already. Substitute Harper lashed a free kick from a promising position into the wall and that was about as much as we could muster in a shockingly poor first half. The Caley Jags sheepishly left the field at the interval to the sound of boos.

HALF TIME: 0-2

Second half changes saw Duffy, Bray and Brooks on at the restart. Almost a third for Airdrie after a corner seemed to ricochet onto Mackays left hand post and he then blocked the rebound shot with his legs. We had upped our game in this half without threatening the goal but it did come when Charlie Gilmour lashed a tremendous volley from near thirty yards behind Rae after an hour. Duffy headed over from a good position off a free kick as we pushed for an equaliser. Inverness won a penalty when Billy Mckay burst into the box and was brought down. He then rewrote the record books as he slotted home comfortably to level the tie. We continued to force the game but the final ball or shot was elusive. We were undone in the final minute when Airdrie broke forward and again the ball was stroked into the net for what would be the winning goal by former Inverness favourite Nikolay Todorov. We incredibly missed a couple of opportunities to level the game but the ball just would not hit the back of the net with Rae making a point blank save at the death after Shaw's shot was deflected, the keeper clawing the ball away from the line.

FULL TIME: 2-3

A rank rotten first half where we gifted goals to the Diamonds was our downfall. Having got back into the match with a superb strike from Charlie Gilmour and a record breaking goal from Billy Mckay we looked likeliest to go on and win the game. However Todorov had the final say with a late winner to end our League cup chances.

One shining light was the second half performance of Keith Bray who made a few marauding runs forward. A bright future ahead for this young man. Is he a modern day Ted McMinn?

Nathan Shaw was probably the pick of our players with some neat wide play but his crosses went unanswered. Charlie Gilmour opened his account with a long range volley from thirty-yards

A nasty looking injury to Lewis Nicolson might shorten his season after he appeared to catch his studs and twist his knee. Here's hoping the scans are favourable for another of our promising youngsters.

Overall, it wasn't a great performance although the second half picked up somewhat until Toddy drilled home at the end. Meh! These performances have pretty much taken the shine off of Billy Mckay's 102 goal record which has just about been swept under the carpet. Absolute legend is Billy and he has plenty more to come.

EMBARRASSING STUFF AS BILLY NETS 101

This result took the shine off of Billy Mckay's record breaking feat as he equalled the 101 goal record of Dennis Wyness. A combination of great striking from the Wallace boys, poor finishing from Inverness, the crossbar and in general, pre-season blues saw Dumbarton deservedly win this tie. Dress it up any way you want, but this was not good enough against a League Two side. Congratulations to Dumbarton and get the finger out to Billy Dodds and his squad.

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Some good early play from the visitors went unrewarded with Austin Samuels and Billy Mckay missing half chances. Mckay had a 'goal' chalked off after 20 minutes, Duffy infringing in the build up. The hosts took the lead on the half hour. A headed clearance from Duffy was met by Ryan Wallace and he volleyed home the opening goal to give the Sons the advantage. Great strike! Inverness knocked on the Sons door for the rest of the half but to no avail. Hilton replaced Pignatiello five minutes before the break after he pulled up. Not a great first half for the visitors who will need to up their game for the second half and it was difficult to tell which was the Championship side at the interval. 

HALF TIME: 1-0

David Carson prodded a Shaw cross goalwards at the start of the second period but it came off the crossbar. However it was disaster for Inverness  when Tony Wallace scored a second for Dumbarton with a close range header five minutes after the interval. Duffy was next to hit the woodwork as his diving header smacked the bar. Charlie Gilmour brought out a great save from Broun as Inverness looked to get back into the game, the keeper saving in the top corner. Billy Mckay gave Inverness faint hope with a record equalling goal. However the gloss was taken off his achievement by the poor performance of the team as Dumbarton saw out the game to sour Billy's fantastic goal scoring record which he will make his own in the coming season.

FULL TIME: 2-1

A dismal night for the away support as we were second best across the park.

From CTO:  Same as the last few seasons.  No one with authority on the pitch.  Lots of energy, but running around like headless chickens.  As often as not, a forward pass goes to someone running back towards you, and he comes back 20 or 30 yards before passing the ball, sideways or further backwards.  Opponents always seem to be smarter, better placed, make better interceptions, and above all, finish better.  Sure we hit the bar and all that - but we weren't unlucky, it was poor finishing.

Very depressing. 😵‍💫

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Jags a thorn in the Rose

The first ever meeting between The Caley Jags and the Rose was played out during a thunderstorm. Torrential rain of biblical proportions fell half an hour before kick-off and that dampened the grass somewhat. Inverness were quick off the mark and opened the scoring after four minutes when Aaron Doran took advantage of a defensive error to score from ten yards. No pun intended, but the floodgates never opened as Inverness made heavy weather of the next thirty-five minutes before Doran curled in his second of the game from just outside the box. What a beauty! 

HALF TIME 2-0

Big chance right at the start of the second half for Rose but Cammy Mackay saves with his feet from Smart to deny the visitors who are far from out of this tie. A raft of substitutions on the hour saw the hosts tighten their grip on proceedings as the heavens opened once more with Billy Mckay and Austin Samuels passing on great opportunities. Doran also denied his hat-trick by Martin's reflex save. Keiran McGackie headed home in the 90th minute following a set piece but it was too little too late for the Rose who gave a good account of themselves as Inverness fiddled with their line-up.

FULL TIME : 2-1

First impressions from Robert on CTO: Underwhelmed by that. We always tried to play it out from the back, rarely with success.

The early goal, a great finish by Doran, should have been a springboard but after his second goal, also a good finish, we did not deserve to be two up at half time.

Bonnyrigg had a goal disallowed for a foul in the box, with a different ref they could have had a penalty, and MacKay had to race out of his box at one point to prevent a goal.

I actually thought we were better in the second half as we moved the ball faster at times, but we couldn’t finish the chances we created and I couldn’t grudge the late goal.

Of the new players, Brooks was quiet, and was playing wide left before being subbed. Gilmour could become an asset, but got an unnecessary booking. Davidson was trying to get forward after he came on and linked with Shaw a few times.

I will give them the benefit of the doubt as they’ve only been back for two weeks but that was a poor performance.

Doran the stand out, with Shaw looking the best of the rest.

Tongue in cheek, maybe we’d have done better if we played hoofball!!

The other game in group E finished Airdrie 2-0 Dumbarton. Late goals from Nikolay Todorov and Lewis McGregor settled this tie.

More match reaction to follow...

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Calay Jags Cruise

Key Moments from ICTFC Twitter:

New signing Adam Brooks (Number 24) is listed as a Trialist tonight as we await SFA Clearance

6' | 0-1 GOAL! Caley Thistle take the lead. Good play from Billy Mckay down the right side and Adam Brooks finishes to open the scoring!

7' | 0-2 GOAL! It's Adam Brooks again! He gets his second of the night within a minute of his opener as he capitalises on a mistake at the back, taking the ball past the Nairn keeper.

18' | 0-2 Adam Brooks thinks he's got his hat-trick as he meets Billy Mckay's cross in the box and finishes past the keeper but the offside flag is up.

19' | 0-3 GOAL! It's 3-0 to Caley Thistle! Nathan Shaw's corner isn't dealt with by the Nairn defence as the ball goes in off one of the Nairn players.

24' | 0-4 GOAL! It's 4-0 to Caley Thistle as Billy Mckay gets on the scoresheet. Good work from the striker in the box as he finishes low past the Nairn keeper.

30' | 0-4 Adam Brooks drags one wide after linking up well with Billy Mckay

HALF TIME: Nairn County 0-4 Inverness CT.

All change for the second half

Ridgers, Harper, Devine, Gilmour, Doran, Samuels, Davidson, Trialist (Harry), Cairns, Strachan, Thompson

55' | 0-5 GOAL! Ethan Cairns makes it five with a close range header after meeting Aaron Doran's corner in the box.

84' | 0-5 Trialist (number 18) sees a shot from the edge of the box saved

87' | 0-6 GOAL! Austin Samuels makes it 6 with a great finish after being played clean through on goal.

89' | 0-6 Cameron Harper's cross finds Aaron Doran in the box but his shot is over the bar.

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Game of Two Halves

Key Moments from ICTFC Twitter:

6' | 1-0 GOAL! We're ahead through Aaron Doran as he opens the scoring with a composed lop over Daniel Hoban!
10' | 1-0 SAVE! Daniel Hoban is forced into a good save by Austin Samuels as he was played through on goal.
12' | 1-1 GOAL! Elgin equalise through Brian Cameron after he produces a good finish past Ridgers
15' | 2-1 GOAL! We're back ahead through Austin Samuels. The striker finishes well after a good move involving Davidson and Thompson! 
42' | 2-1 CHANCE! Good ball from Doran finds Samuels in the box but the striker's effort is over the bar and behind.
45+' | 3-1 GOAL! It's another for Austin Samuels as he gets his second of the match. The ball breaks to the striker through on goal and he produces another composed finish past Hoban.

HALF TIME: ICTFC 3-1 Elgin City 

62' | 4-1 GOAL! Billy Mckay makes it 4-1 with a good finish as he meets Nathan Shaw's cross inside the box. 

FULL TIME: ICTFC 4-1 Elgin City 

We win our first pre-season match back thanks to a double from Austin Samuels and goals from Aaron Doran and Billy Mckay.

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Robert's Roundup from CTO

Enjoyable enough afternoon. After the flurry of early goals, the game settled down to really be a training session for us after the first half water break.

Doran opened the scoring with a long distance lob over the goalie before Cameron equalised. It all stemmed from a slack pass back by Devine which went for a corner. Samuels restored the lead after a nice move and made it comfortable before the break after another good spell of fast play.

ELGIN CITY TEAM>>>>>>>>>>>

In the second half we started positively with some eager play by the youngsters. Mckay got the fourth after more decent build up play.

Our trialist was a big forward who was more than a match for Draper physically and had a goal disallowed for offside. He was working hard and seemed quite pacy but it is hard to tell if he is what we need.

In the first half, Gilmour and Thomson were the picks for me, plus Samuels for his goals. Davidson was steady whilst Brooks was not in the squad.

After the break, Nicolson, Cairns, Strachan and Bray all looked comfortable. MacGregor’s movement and work rate were very good.

For their first outing, albeit against a poor Elgin team, it was encouraging.

The crowd was announced as 1040 which was very credible.

Draper hasn’t changed. He had some meaty challenges which would have attracted cards in a competitive match! That said, he still looks a decent player.

No sound on original video 

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