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Hearts -V- Inverness CT - Preview

Group C decider against Jambos
 
Inverness and Hearts play at Tynecastle to decide who tops group C in the Betfred League Cup group stages. A draw will do Inverness whilst a win for Hearts will see the Edinburgh side through to the next round. Kick off is 3:00pm on Sunday 29th July.
Inverness top the group at the moment, but Hearts could secure the qualification spot by beating the Caley Jags despite being deducted two points and fined £10,000 after fielding in ineligible player against Cove Rangers. Did the punishment fit the crime? I'm not so sure, a little bizaarre if you ask me. Anyway, we are here now and a visit to Tynecastle it is. 
Hearts kick re-ignited their season in fine style with a 5-0 hammering of ten-man Cowdenbeath in midweek as we laboured over a 2-1 win against Raith Rovers. The Jambos were kept out until the second half when the floodgates opened, and coupled with the sending off of Cowdenbeath's Martin Scott after half an hour it was all too much for the Blue Brazil. Goals from Steven Maclean, Uche Ikpeazu, Peter Haring, Steven Naismith and Michael Smith boosted Hearts goal tally and they are now level on goal difference with Inverness at plus six. 
Inverness were a little over elaborate against Raith on Tuesday night and it took a late goal from substitute Daniel Mackay to see us take maximum points. Nathan Austin had opened the scoring but Grant Gillespie bludgeoned the ball into the roof of the net to level before Daniel's late intervention. 
 
John Robertson scotched nonsensical talk about his old club as he focuses solely on getting Inverness into the next round. So, all to play for at Tynecastle in a game being shown live on BT Sport if you can't make it to the stadium.
Hearts are still searching for their best eleven at the moment as they gear up for the Premiership. Not sure what to expect from them this early in their preparation, but they still have some experienced quality players on their books like Naismith, Lafferty and Berra. They also have none other than Jake Mulraney who departed for the bright lights. I wonder if Brad might like a tangle with Jake. Arnaud Djoum, Don Cowie and Harry Cochrane are out but making good progress on their injury comebacks. Rangers target Lafferty will face a late fitness test to assess his readiness for action.
I expect Inverness to be along similar lines to the team that started against Raith although Mackay and Calder did well when they were introduced. Angus Beith has not featured since signing from Hearts and is set to miss this one, but Mark Ridgers and Brad Mckay will re-visit their old haunt.
A leap into the unknown for the Caley Jags and difficult to guess the outcome with both sides stepping up a gear with each game played. Suffice to say that we will more than likely qualify for the next stages even if we lose, but a point would confirm our place in the draw. We might have to settle for second best as Hearts begin to peak for the Premiership, a draw would be a great result, a win would be a bonus. 
By tm4tj in Previews 2018-19 ·

Inverness CT -V- Raith Rovers - Report

Late Mackay goal sinks Raith
 
Substitute Daniel Mackay scored the winner with three minutes remaining after Grant Gillespie had scored a screamer to draw Raith level. Nathan Austin had opened the scoring after a goalless first half which Inverness had dominated without over exerting the keeper.
Tom Walsh kept his starting place after his two goals at Cowdenbeath with Shaun Rooney at full back. Daniel Mackay was on the bench with Riccardo Calder and Jordan White.
Raith had former Inverness giant Nat Wedderburn on the bench with ex-Dundee player Kyle Benedictus on from the start.
The hosts started briskly and forced a corner within a minute and continued on the front foot for most of the half. 
Thompson saved an effort from Walsh but Austin couldn't dig the ball out and get a shot away from the rebound.
Oakley turned on a through ball but Thompson saved smartly to deny the striker.
Lot's of neat interplay from Inverness but little end product as the half wore on with Raith offering nothing up front. Not surprisingly it ended all square at the break.
Half Time 0-0
Second half was only five minutes old when Oakley held up a ball from Polworth to lay it onto Austin who steered a low shot to the keepers right hand side into the net. Smart opening goal and no more than we deserved.
Could we kick on from here? Well, the answer was no and out of nowhere Raith scored a scorcher of a goal when Grant Gillespie latched onto a loose ball from a corner some 12 yards out  and lashed his shot like a missile into the top corner at junction of post and bar.
We struggled to make much headway thereafter until substitute Danny Mackay benefited from a blocked shot from Riccardo Calder on the break to send the fans home happy.
Full Time 2-1
Hard work but an overall deserved win over a defensive Raith Rovers.
More updates to follow........
ICT: Ridgers, Rooney (), Tremarco, B Mckay, Chalmers, Donaldson, Polworth (), Austin (Calder 81), Doran (White 76), Walsh, Oakley (Mackay 68)
Subs not used: Hoban, McCart, Elbouzedi, Trafford
 
Raith: Thompson, Watson, Valentine, Davidson (Wedderburn 45), Murray, Benedictus, Gillespie, Milne (Stevenson 81), Matthews, Nisbet, Mackay.
 
Subs not used: McGuff, Barry.
Referee: Colin Steven
Attendance: 1295 
 
 

 
By tm4tj in Reports 2018-19 ·

Inverness CT -V- Raith Rovers - Preview

After the biggest home game comes Raith.
 
League Cup action continues on Tuesday night with a group stage game against Raith Rovers in the Betfred sponsored competition. The game kicks off at 19:45 at the Caledonian Stadium.
Admission Information:
Adult – £10
Concessions – £5
Under 12 – Free
Our first two games have brought us six points after victories over Cove Rangers (2-0) and Cowdenbeath (2-5). There was mixed reaction to the Cowdenbeath result with some fans not overly impressed with the performance whilst welcoming the overall result. Tom Walsh scored an excellent brace and Aaron Doran scrambled a couple as well with substitute George Oakley lashing in the other one.
Raith began their League Cup fixtures with a disappointing defeat at Bayview by Cowdenbeath. The tie was played there because Raiths new artificial surface was not ready in time. They followed this up by playing Hearts on Saturday at the same venue and fared much better holding the Premiership side to a 1-1 draw. Hearts went on to win the penalty shoot out to earn the bonus point. Kevin Nisbet had put the Kirkaldy side ahead but Michael Smith levelled the match with twelve minutes remaining.
Group C favourites Hearts are in trouble with the beaks after fielding an ineligible player in the 2-1 win over Cove Rangers. The club will face a hearing on Monday after Andrew Irving, 18, came on in the 65th minute. Chief executive Anne Budge spoke of Hearts' "embarrassment" after admitting they failed to register the player's new deal, which he signed in January. According to Anne, new internal processes will be put in place to prevent this from happening again. Oh dear, and Jake thought he was joining a more professional outfit. Meh! The result of that meeting was a rather odd decision by the SPFL  to deduct two points from Hearts with a £10,000 fine.
Robbo has decisions to make ahead of this game with Tom Walsh looking the part and Jordan White showing up well with a couple of assists. A good dilemma to have I suppose with goals coming from new sources providing competition for places across the park. Daniel Mackay missed out again at Cowdenbeath with a niggle. New signing Sean Welsh is in the bad book though and might have to sit on the naughty step after an eventful debut at Brora in a pre-season friendly. After scoring two goals he was red carded for an alleged head butt/face off.
Rovers manager Barry Smith has new recruits Robbie Thomson (GK), Grant Gillespie, Nathan Flannagan, Kevin Nisbet and Chris Duggan available to him. Former Inverness player Nat Wedderburn missed the opener and did not feature against Hearts either.
Raith have not beaten Inverness in their last seventeen attempts, but they can be cheered by the fact that Inverness faced their toughest home game of the season at the weekend and only managed to scramble a draw against 100 kids despite having the opposition watched numerous times. Here's the video highlights of the 25 all draw ............
 
By tm4tj in Previews 2018-19 ·

Cowdenbeath -V- Inverness CT - Report

Blue Brazil no match for the Black & Golds. 
 
Inverness played a midweek Betfred League Cup tie at Central Park and after falling behind to a superb strike from Jordyn Sheerin they went in at the break 3-1 ahead. Tom Walsh scored a brilliant double and Aaron Doran stabbed home a third right on half time. After the break it was goals galore with George Oakley, Aaron Doran and Jordyn Sheerin rounding off the scoring.
John Robertson shuffled the pack a little with George Oakley and Charlie Trafford dropping to the bench. In came Tom Walsh who was scoring for fun in pre-season and Jordan White with new signing Sean Welsh on the bench alongside Zak Elbouzedi, Riccardo Calder and Jamie McCart.
Cowdenbeath were relishing this challenge just three days after beating Raith Rovers with striker Jordyn Sheerin the dangerman leading the line and former County midfielder Martin Scott in the ranks.
Inverness kicked off in their snazzy new away strip and Nathan Austin was first to threaten in the third minute from a Brad McKay pass but David McGurn in the Cowdenbeath goal blocked his effort.
First stab for the hosts saw David Cox snatch at a long range shot but it went well over and soon after Jordan White saw a header tipped over by McGurn.
Captain Carl made a hash of a pass in defence and the hosts should have taken the lead but Cox thumped the ball over the bar from almost underneath it after Sheerin teed him up. What a let off.
Inverness never heeded that warning and a few minutes later Sheerin blasted a ball into the top corner from around 20 yards to open the scoring in the 24th minute. Welcome to Central Park!
Inverness looked for an early reply but Liam Polworth's shot was straight at the keeper and after half an hour the visitors were making heavy weather of it until Tom Walsh latched onto a White knock down on the edge of the box and smashed the ball home. Great goal in his first start for the club after 34 minutes.
Tom Walsh turned this game on it's head with a second goal in the 41st minute after he dribbled his way into the box to slot home a superb solo effort off the post.
Just on the break Aaron Doran stole in to meet a header from White and scored a third Inverness goal with the defenders claiming for hand ball. What an incredible end to a half that looked flat for the visitors for half an hour.
Half Time 1-3
Cowdenbeath tried to get back into the game and Robbie Buchanan had a shot deflected over before Tremarco stopped Sheerin from racing through on goal, but at the other end a big shout for a penalty as Doran is brought down by Mullen.
Just before the hour Doran went through on goal but his shot was half stopped by McGurn before being hooked off the line by Miller and moments later Doran put Austin through but he fluffed his lines and that was enough for Robbo as Austin was replaced by George Oakley with about 25 minutes left.
Walsh came close to his third goal but his shot went just wide of the mark. Moments later Oakley scored the fourth after he lashed home a loose ball from keeper McGurn who had stopped a White effort.
The Caley Jags went nap when Doran scored his second goal of the night as he diverted a Charlie Trafford shot into the net four minutes after the Canadian came on as a sub.
Raining goals now and Sheerin grabbed his second in the 81st minute after being sent clear. It could have been more but Tremarco made a frantic headed clearance on the line to deny Buchanan.
Full Time 2-5
After a shaky start Inverness came good and Tom Walsh scored a couple of crackers to get us on our way. He seems to be a baller with an eye for goal. 
Bit of a goalfest in the end but after going ahead Inverness were always on top. Good entertainment for the 373 fans and Mantis.
Rig was a touch subdued but nonetheless overall happy enough to witness the win after a sluggish start. 'A strangely unconvincing 5 - 2 win. We were slow out the blocks and took a long time to settle. The surface was poor which could be an excuse for some of the misplaced passes but some of the players still look like they need to blow the cobwebs away as there was some sloppy passages of play and a few defensive errors that fortunately weren't punished.
 'The scoreline looks good but it wasn't a great performance by any means. That said, Walsh looked impressive particularly when he appeared through the middle but too often he was stuck wide right. Austin had a very quiet game, very little came off for him so it wasn't much of a shock when he was subbed. Donaldson and Tremarco looked solid enough at the back but Mckay struggled under pressure and Rooney regressed as the game went on.
See all seven goals here...............
 
If you are wondering what Tom Walsh looks like, here he is talking at a pre-season interview, right in front of the talented Sophie Robb's massive artwork.........
 
More Updates to follow
Date: 17/07/2018  Venue: Central Park, Cowdenbeath Attendance: 374 Referee: John McKendrick
 
Cowdenbeath: 2
Lineup: McGurn, Mullen, Talbot, Pyper, Marsh, Malcolm (Scullion 86), Cox, Buchanan, Sheerin, Scott (Miller 56), Smith (Muirhead 74).  Subs (not used): Goodfellow, Fotheringham, Swann. Scorers: Sheerin (24, 81) Booked: Marsh (85) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 5
Lineup: Ridgers, Rooney, Tremarco, Chalmers, Donaldson, Polworth, Austin (Oakley 67), Doran, Walsh, White (Trafford 74), McKay.  Subs (not used): Hoban, McCart, Welsh, Calder, Elbouzedi. Scorers: Walsh (34, 41) Doran (45, 80) Oakley (73) Booked: none Sent Off: none a
By tm4tj in Reports 2018-19 ·

Cowdenbeath -V- Inverness CT - Preview

Blue Brazil for Inverness. 
 
Second game of the new season takes Inverness back to an olde haunt, Central Park, Cowdenbeath, in the second game of the Betfred League Cup where we will take on the Blue Brazil, fresh from their world cup exploits.
The first games at the weekend saw Cowdenbeath get a fantastic result with a 2-0 win over Raith Rovers. The game was played at Bayview and thanks to a second half brace from striker Jordyn Sheerin they ran out well deserved winners over the League 1 side.
Inverness matched their score to record a workmanlike 2-0 win over Highland League side Cove Rangers and Nathan Austin scored twice in that one with a couple of tap-ins. Interestingly, both Jordyn Sheerin and Aaron Doran made the SPFL team of the week for their performances at the weekend.
Cowdenbeath were the side that kept Cove Rangers out of the SPFL Leagues after an ill tempered affair in the play-offs. Their League Cup meeting could be an interesting one  Our fixture list for the group stages show that we have progressively tougher opposition and with Cowdenbeath rattling Raith's cage then this could prove to be a tough night for our side.
Shaun Rooney was the only new starter for Inverness against Cove and we could be along the same lines tonight. Jordan White, Tom Walsh and Zak Elbouzedi all started on the bench last time out and will be pushing for a slot. Daniel Mackay missed that one through injury. New signing, midfielder Sean Welsh the former Partick Thistle player could be included in the squad.
ADMISSION: ADULTS - £10, CONCESSIONS -£5.
Looky Looky, watch Nathan Austin's tap-in to end all tap-ins.
 
By tm4tj in Previews 2018-19 ·

Inverness -V- Cove Rangers - Report

The Day Football Came Home
 
Inverness eased themselves to a 2-0 win over Cove Rangers in the opening game of the season without over exerting themselves on the very day when football came home. Holidays, cobwebs and rustiness were common words thrown around the stands.
It was a sometimes laboured performance from the Championship side and the holiday blues were still evident, with a bit to go before match sharpness kicks in. Nonetheless, two tap-ins from Nathan Austin were enough to see off Cove who for the greater part looked every bit as threatening as did their hosts.
A defensive error allowed Austin to benefit from an Oakley cross and some tidy work outside the box saw Shaun Rooney feed a great ball to Polworth who teed up Austin to tap into the empty net. 
Some great saves by visiting keeper McKenzie kept the score down along with slackness up front by the hosts, but at the same time Mark Ridgers had to earn his crust to keep a sometimes lively Cove side at bay. 
A win for Inverness and all credit to Cove for plugging away and with a bit of fortune could have bagged a goal. Inverness could have been made to suffer for squandering a hatful of opportunities but we'll put that down to the pre-season feel about this game.
 
Inverness CT 2-0 Cove Rangers
Cove: McKenzie, C. Milne, H. Milne, Strachan, Yule, Kelly, Park, Smith, McManus, Brown, Scully.
Subs: McCafferty, Masson, Grey, Emmett.

By tm4tj in Reports 2018-19 ·

Inverness CT -v- Cove Rangers - Preview

Betfred kicks off the new season.
 
The new season begins this weekend with the group stages of the Scottish League Cup and it's Cove Rangers that are the visitors to the Caledonian Stadium.
The Moscow State Circus are using the home car park as their base so parking at the stadium will be at a premium and the club have issued this statement: We would like to make supporters aware of the following information ahead of this Saturday’s Betfred Cup match against Cove Rangers. 
We’re looking forward to getting the season underway and would like to inform fans about free shuttle buses that will be running from the Caley Club and Railway Terrace to the stadium for the match. 
This is due to the fact there will be limited parking spaces available at the stadium, as one of the car parks is currently being used by the circus until Tuesday 17th July. Additional car parking has been kindly made available within the Scottish Provincial Press (SPP) Car Park. Please respect SPP’s property if using this facility. 
The Shuttle Buses will operate on a loop system taking fans to the stadium from the Caley Club and Railway Terrace from 1:00pm onwards on Saturday, and will be in operation post-match as well. The post-match time may change if the match finishes as a draw and goes to penalties so as to ensure supporters are able to see the conclusion of the match. 
Supporters should also be aware that Saturday’s match is the first with our new ticketing system so we ask everyone to bear with us and remain patient when entering the ground. Thanks for your excellent support and we hope to see as many as you as possible this Saturday for the start of the new season. 
If you do have to take your car with you on Saturday, please leave yourself more time than usual as there are likely to be delays.
Check out the new online match programme shown below at Inverness CT v CoveRangers An excellent addition to the portfolio.
It's another new look Caley Jags with Iain Vigurs off over the bridge. That should mean a better disciplanary record for the club and maybe more penalties converted. His undoubted quality will be missed though. Carl Tremarco will be the man to lead us on the pitch as he takes over the captains armband from Vigurs with Aaron Doran as vice captain. Pre-season friendlies bunched together had Inverness playing two sides on the same days but it meant everybody got a game to bring on the match sharpness.
Anyones guess as to who will be performing but one or two have shown up well in pre-season. Tom Walsh banged in four against Buckie Thistle. Nathan Austin and Daniel Mackay have also been amongst the goals.
Lot of new names to get our heads round this season and I'm sure they will all get a warm welcome from the home fans. Over to you Robbo, the posturing is over, time to see some action.
The big spending Highland League side will provide Inverness with tough opposition. They defeated Falkirk in a pre-season friendly last week and narrowly lost to Montrose in their previous game. Cove secured the return of Blair Yule from Arbroath on a 3 year deal and seasoned striker Mitch Megginson. Both these players were much sought after at a higher level, Yule was a Caley Jags target before he went to Arbroath. Midfielder Ryan Strachan is back to full fitness and is looking forward to this one having missed all the games since April being out with ankle ligament damage. Cove will be without captain Eric Watson, Mitch Megginson, Scott Ross and Alan Redford. 
 
By tm4tj in Previews 2018-19 ·

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