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Inverness CT 3-1 Kilmarnock - SPL

There's usually goals when ICT and Killie meet and today was no exception.
After an insipid performance a few days ago at the Falkirk Stadium, the Caley Jags were a lot more classy today. A Marius Niculae double and a Don Cowie goal earned Caley Thistle a deserved victory in the final fixture of 2007.
Kilmarnock got a late consolation with a soft penalty award that Colin Nish put beyond Michael Fraser.
29/12/07 Tulloch Caledonian Stadium INVERNESS CT 3 Niculae (42,76), Cowie (52) Team: Fraser, Tokely, McGuire (Proctor 88), Munro, Hastings, Cowie, Black, Duncan, Rankin, Bayne (Wyness 83), Niculae
Subs: McAllister, Vigurs, Wilson, Duff, Malkowski
KILMARNOCK 1 Nish (86pen) Team: Combe, Hamill, Ford, O'Leary, Hay, Fernandez (Johnston 79), Fowler, Bryson (Koudou 72), Taouil, Nish, Wales
Subs: Flannigan, Locke, Noble, Clancy, Harpur
Referee Craig MacKay Attendance 4169   The Caley Thistle lads bounced back from a lack-lustre performance and narrow 1-0 against Falkirk on Boxing day to put together a convincing performance against Kilmarnock at home and secure all 3 points.   The opening goal nearly fell to on loan defender Phil McGuire when the ball came to him inside the area.  The fact that he found himself with his back to the goal didn’t seem to deter him and had it not been for the sharp reflexes of Alan Combe in the visitor’s goal then we would have been looking at one of the most impressive goals ever scored at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. Inverness CT were on the ascendancy and Kilmarnock were doing little to threaten Mike Fraser and the Inverness goal.  Bayne was next to have a go for ICT, but his header went narrowly wide. Kilmarnock never really came in to the game until the 25th minute when Fraser found himself well positioned to stick a boot on an effort from Fernandez who managed to penetrate the ICT defence for the first time in the match. Nish, who has a habit of scoring against us, was next to be denied when Michael Fraser had to dive full stretch to prevent a low ball from finding the back of the net. Marius Niculae has been starting to find his range in recent games and on 38 minutes he tested Alan Combe’s resolve when he hit a solid 25 yard volley towards the bottom right corner, which the keeper did well to push wide. Had it not been for Combe then ICT could easily have found themselves a couple of goals up at this stage, but we were keeping the pressure on and the effort was rewarded just before half-time when John Rankin placed a powerful shot at Combe who could only block it and watch as it fell to Niculae who slotted it away with relative ease.   Half Time – Inverness CT 1 – 0 Kilmarnock   It wouldn’t be your typical Caley Jags v Killie match if it finished with just one goal, and true to form another one was soon on its way after the break.  Richard Hastings had been pushing forward and he played the ball into the path of Cowie who pulled off a sublime piece of finishing making it 2-0 to the home team on 52 minutes. Hastings was next to find himself in position and should have done more to reward himself for his efforts after his initial shot was blocked by Combe but fell to him again only a few yards out….thrashing at the ball he could only mange (somehow) to send it over the bar when it would have been easier to score. Kilmarnock were doing nothing which even looked like coming close to threatening Michael Fraser in the second half with the ball rarely finding it’s way into the Caley Thistle third of the park.   With all the excitement being at the other end it was only going to be a matter of time before Inverness added another with Niculae feeling confident and taking every opportunity to pressure the on-form Alan Combe.  He had another 25 yard effort go narrowly wide and somehow managed to fight his way through a crowded Kilmarnock defence before seeing another shot blocked, but he wasn’t to wait to much longer before he found himself on the scorecard for the second time. Combe had done well to block a shot from Graeme Bayne only to see the ball land at the feet of Don Cowie.  As we all know Cowie is more than capable of finding the net, but Niculae obviously thought he was better placed as he cheekily pinched the ball from his under his nose and blasted it towards goal.  Combe, again, managed to get a hand to it, but the pace this time was too much for him to have any real chance of keeping it from bursting the net in 76 minutes.   It was pretty much the same story for the next 10 minutes with Caley Thistle being the ones applying all the pressure, but 4 minutes from time a moments slackness on the part of Phil McGuire gifted Kilmarnock a penalty kick after he handled it in the box. Colin Nish, desperate to keep up his scoring record against us no doubt, stepped up and slotted the ball home to finish off the scoring for the day.   Full Time: 3 – 1
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By Guest in Reports 2007-08 ·

Falkirk 1-0 Inverness CT - SPL

Falkirk ended Motherwell's unbeaten run last week, and this week it was their turn to do the same to Caley Thistle with a 1-0 victory at the Falkirk Stadium.
The only goal of the game came in the 35th minute from Gerard Aafjes but it was enough for Falkirk to secure the points and leapfrog ICT in the SPL table on goal difference
26/12/07 The Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk FALKIRK 1 (Aafjes 35) Team: Krul, Ross, Holden, Scobbie, Aafjes, Cregg, Thomson, Arfield (Milne 68), Barrett (57), Moutinho, Higdon (Finnigan 82)
Subs: Olejnik, Mitchell, Allison, Riera
INVERNESS CT 0 Team: Fraser, Tokely, McGuire, Munro, Hastings, Cowie (Wilson 62), Black, Duncan, Rankin, McBain (Bayne 62), Niculae
Subs: McAllister, Gillespie, Kerr, McCaffrey, Malkowski
Referee Craig Thomson Attendance 5265 ICT's fine winning run came to an end in a tame display at the Falkirk Stadium. While ICT looked very comfortable soaking up Falkirk's pressure in the first half, and hitting on the break, this all changed when the Bairns took the lead 10 minutes before half time. The second half proved to be the opposite of the first, with Falkirk making a good job of defending their lead against a lacklustre ICT side with too many square passes.
A full carload from Lothian & Borders arrived at the Cadgers Brae for the pre-match warm-up: Mantis, Naelifts, Caleystan and Wanderer, plus Stephen the Hibby. Naelifts and Caleystan failed a late fitness test as they were discovered to be outside for a smoke. Mantis suffered a wallet strain, and Wanderer's wallet was sold a dummy by Caleystan who ordered a round and disappeared without paying for it.
ICT were unchanged from Saturday as Brew decided it wasn't broke, so he sure wasn't going to fix it. However there was a bit of a scare when we arrived at the ground to find the players putting Zibi through his paces with no sign of Mikey anywhere.
Craig Thomson got the game underway and both sides seemed to be suffering a reaction from big away wins at the weekend as the match developed into a low-key affair with neither keeper having much to do. However ICT should have taken the lead after about 12 mins when Niculae knocked on a McBain cross only for Rankin to hit the side netting when he could have squared the ball for Cowie. Sadly, this was to set the pattern for wee John's afternoon as he struggled to make a contribution. Meanwhile, Falkirk, despite dominating the midfield, were struggling to make any progress against a confident looking ICT, and often their attacks consisted of Arfield lumping the diagonal ball to the back post, which was easily dealt with by Munro or Fraser. Ian Black was really looking the part in the first half and appeared in most of ICT's creative play, and it looked as though ICT would slowly sap the life out of an unconvincing Bairns side before taking the lead. Niculae wasted another opportunity when he got a McBain pass tangled between his legs with Rankin in space at the far post. Nobody seemed sure whether he was attempting to dummy it or control it. To be fair to Marius, I thought this was one of his better games and for the first time I thought he deserved all those Champions League players around him to read his intentions... Anyway, after the half hour the Guinness and the cold weather took its toll on your correspondent's bladder, and I sauntered off, only to hear a roar, followed by 'Amarillo' being blasted into the toilets at a hellish volume. ***insert description of goal here- that's right, £20 and missed the only goal of the game***
Gerard Aafjes scored with a courageous diving header from a Jack Ross corner
Ten minutes before half time Blackie was booked for blootering the ball into the stand. Despite his protests it was obvious that the ball was well out when he kicked it and Russeldinho had to act as peacemaker as Blackie threatened to repeat his episode of last Christmas at the same venue.
Half Time: 1-0
The second half was largely uneventful, though there were a few scrambles at the far end as ICT chased an equaliser without much conviction. Too many passes. Nice passes mind you, but too many. Falkirk defended their lead very well and had the best chance of the half when Moutinho was through on Fraser, but Mikey is playing so well these days that it was no surprise when he blocked with his legs. Also sub Latapy wheezed into possession and, with about 4 ICT players holding back, tempted McGuire into a silly foul at the edge of the box. Uncharacteristically Latapy screwed the free kick tamely wide.
With half an hour left ICT threw on Wilson and Bayne for Cowie and McBain, but the expected injection of pace from Barry never really happened, and Bayne put himself about as he did on Saturday, but minus the booking and the winning goal. Bayne won a free-kick which Barry took well but it was cleared.
Full Time: 1-0
Overall, ICT were worth a point on the day, but the Bairns took their chance when it came. Bizarre moment of the day came when Rosscoe caught a ball which had gone out of play but spun back in. With the whole of the main stand baying for handball Rosscoe calmly accepted the award of a throw-in and was booed for the rest of the game.
MotM was Ian Black
   
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By Guest in Reports 2007-08 ·

Hearts 2-3 Inverness CT - SPL

Caley Thistle made it 5 wins out of 5 with a hard fought 3-2 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle.
An excellent strike from Russell Duncan gave ICT a half time lead and a Rankin penalty extended it early in the second. Hearts fought back through Berra on the hour mark, and seemed to have secured a point with a 90th minute penalty strike. Graham Bayne however scored deep in injury time to win it for ICT.
22/12/07 Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN 2 (Berra 62, Velicka 90pen) Kurskis, Neilson, Zaliukas, Berra, Wallace, Ivaskevicius (Mikoliunas 65), Jonsson, Palazuelos, Driver, Ksanavicius (Elliot 34 (Pospisil 65)), Velicka
Subs: McGowan, Cesnauskis, Goncalves, Basso
INVERNESS CT 3 (Duncan 22, Rankin 53pen, Bayne 90 ) Team: Fraser, Tokely, McGuire, Munro, Hastings, Cowie, Black (Wilson 81), Duncan, Rankin, McBain (Bayne 70), Niculae
Subs: McAllister, Gillespie, Kerr, McCaffrey, Malkowski
Referee William Collum Attendance 16202   Craig Brewster stuck with the same formation that has done him so well over the last four games, but due to David Proctor's red card las week, he was forced to make one change to the side with Ross Tokely returning from suspension to take his place.   For Hearts, the surprise was probably that they kept faith in Eduardas Kurskis in goal and after gifting a late winner to Rangers last week, he was to have a late impact on this game too.   Caley Thistle had the first attempts on goal in this skirmish with a couple of Ian Black efforts that had Kurskis looking a little less than confident and in 6 minutes, Hearts Velicka tested Fraser who couldn't hold his shot, but had McGuire on hand to clear.   A couple of minutes later and it was Marius Niculae having a chance at the other end courtesy of a Rankin pass. Just as Marius was about to unleash his shot, Berra nipped in and cleared.   Back to the other end now - in the 11th minute - this time with Lee Wallace tearing down the left. He then cut the ball across but Ivaskevicius was denied by an excellent Fraser block. The ball quickly broke back to the midfielder, whose second effort was deflected wide. Less than a minute later Ksanavicius hit the crossbar with a great 22-yard shot.   A goal was coming, and with play ranging from end to end it really could have come from either side ... luckily for us, it was Caley Thistle who opened the scoring through Russell Duncan in 21 minutes and what a well worked goal it was.   Ian Black started the move by finding John Rankin in space on the left, Rankin then managed to play a crossfield ball to Don Cowie who was on the edge of the box with his back to goal. He took a touch then played it short for Russell Duncan who blasted it low into the corner of the net.   Hearts were dealt a blow just after the half-hour mark, with Ksanavicius limping off after a challenge from Ross Tokely. He was replaced by Calum Elliot. Hearts did have one more decent chance before half-time but Driver could only play the ball directly at Fraser after receiving a Velicka cross.   Half Time: Hearts 0-1 ICT   Into the second half then and five minutes in, it was Hearts who had the first real attack when Velicka had a chance from the edge of the box but it was pushed away by Fraser and the danger was gone. A minute later Hearts would be left rueing this chance as Caley Thistle went upfield and scored !   Russell Duncan broke up a Hearts attack deep in his own half, ran down the wing and waited until just the right moment before playing a perfectly weighted pass to Niculae that left the last defender helpless. Niculae bore down on goal and Kurskis was left with no option but to bring him down. A penalty was awarded, and perhaps surprisingly, the colour of the card issued to Kurskis was only yellow. John Rankin took the penalty, and although the keeper went the right way, the ball had been placed perfectly and he couldnt get a touch to it. 0-2.   It was do or die for Hearts now and in the 60th minute, Mike Fraser, who had an excellent match once again, tipped a dipping Palazuelos shot over for a corner. From the corner however, Hearts equalised through Berra who powerfully headed it down and into the net, although, with so many bodies in the box and on the line, the last touch could have come from anyone. After this lifeline, Stevie Frail committed his last two subs in an effort to get something from this game and this was to prove decisive in the end.   For the next 20-25 minutes Caley Thistle and Hearts traded attempts at goal, with both Niculae and Mikoliunas coming close but it was to be the final five minutes that would provide a lot of talking points.   5 minutes from the end, Russell Duncan chased down a ball that Kurskis was attempting to shield out for a goal kick and as the keeper picked it up after it had crossed the line, the two players briefly tangled. Kurskis however raised his hands to Duncan and when all was said and done, both players received yellow cards. Unfortunately for Hearts, Kurskis had been booked earlier when conceding the penalty and his yellow was quickly followed by a red card. Worse still for Hearts was that they had used all three subs so could not take off an outfield player and use their sub keeper so Lee Wallace was the player who was given the Keeper's top for the last five minutes.   Despite the drama, Hearts went up the park and scored a last gasp equaliser... In what looked like a very soft award, McGuire was adjudged to have fouled Velicka in the box, was booked for it, and then Velicka himself sent Fraser the wrong way from the penalty spot. 2-2 and literally seconds to go.   But it was not over yet!!! This time it was Caley Thistle's turn to go up the park and score. McGuire started the move on the half way line with a pass to Bayne, Bayne then passed wide to Cowie and he sent the ball into the box. A Hearts defender (Zaliukas) carelessly backheeled it into the path of Bayne and he sent it low into the net past a helpless Wallace from 15 yards.   Final Score: Hearts 2-3 ICT and 15 points out of 15 for Craig Brewster !!
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By Guest in Reports 2007-08 ·

Inverness CT 3-2 Celtic - SPL

Caley Thistle were 2-0 down before half an hour had been played after Vennegoor of Hesselink had hit a quickfire double in 24 and 26 minutes.
A Rankin penalty after Pressley had fouled Niculae in 42 minutes reduced the deficit to 1-2 at half time and another quickfire double, this time from Proctor and Cowie for Caley Thistle ensured that Craig Brewster's men made it 4 wins on the trot, achieved their first ever SPL win against Celtic and moved up to 7th spot in the table. All in all, a pretty good day at the office !!!
16/12/07 Tulloch Caledonian Stadium INVERNESS CT 3 (Rankin 42pen, Proctor 57, Cowie 61) Team: Fraser, Proctor, McGuire, Munro, Hastings, Cowie (Wilson 85), Black, Duncan, Rankin, McBain (Tokely 69), Niculae (Bayne 79)
Subs: McAllister, Vigurs, Duff, Malkowski
CELTIC 2 (Vennegoor of Hesselink 24, 31) M Brown, Caldwell, Pressley (Riordan 77), McManus, Conroy, S Brown, Hartley, Donati, McGeady, Vennegoor of Hesselink, McDonald (Killen 80)
Subs: Jarosik, Sno, Balde, O'Dea, McGovern
Referee Alan Freeland Attendance 7004 This game had the lot, and would certainly have been an entertaining game for the neutral spectator. With a penalty, a sending off, counter attacking football and most importantly goals, you cannot argue that only one word sums up the full 90 minutes - FANTASTIC!!!
The game kicked off in the usual fashion - ball knocked forward and then passed back over the line - with Celtic attacking the North Stand. I couldn’t quite, however, understand the booing of Mark Brown when his name was announced over the tannoy. A superb servant to ICT through there progression to SPL football should surely require a little more respect towards the opposing ‘keeper.
Anyhoo, the match took a wee while to get going, and the first real opportunity started with a sublime pass (or should that be ricochet) off referee Alan Freeland on 10 minutes. Ian Black taking the ball nicely in his stride, and with an attempt to thread through John Rankin, the ball ricocheted well off Freeland for Celtic to produce the counter. Phil Maguire, remaining as strong as he has done in recent weeks, was able to clear off the line. The ball rebounded back to Scott Brown, whom had the ball gathered at his feet by a brave Mike Fraser. Inverness took the game to Celtic, and with 3 wins and 3 clean sheets before this game, confidence was high at Fortress Longman and it showed in the flowing football that was on display.
Marius Niculae again produced some superb touches and held the play up well for Rankin to slot back through only for Niculae to bring out a fine save from Mark Brown. Moments later, Ian Black was presented a chance from David Proctor, but his 25 yard drive went straight to the hands of the former Caley Thistle number 1. Despite plenty of pressure from ICT, it was Celtic who produced the opener in what was to be a very bad 60 seconds for the home side. On 25 minutes, Jan Venegoor of Hesslink nodded the ball to Fraser’s left hand post to produce a goal from a disputed Hartley free kick. And it was the Dutch man who once again hurt the heart of the ICT defence with another header, connecting with Aiden McGeady’s nicely curled cross from the right to make it 2-0.
The scoreline at this stage certainly didn’t reflect how the teams performed. Scott Brown was rather lacklustre with his passing and ball control, and could not capitalise on the mistakes made on the ICT left when both McBain and Hastings drifted further and further into the centre of the park. Fortress Longman certainly lived up to its nickname, however, as ICT refused to rest or sit back. Michael Fraser had little else to do in the first half, as Celtic struggled to produce any more clear cut first half chances. A clearance from the back created some fine football to allow Niculae to break and change to course of the game. With only Stephen Pressley nearby, Marius Niculae was judged to be brought down in the box, and the penalty was rightly rewarded. Oh how I’d wished Fraser go one on one with Brown at this stage! John Rankin placed the ball and smashed it straight through Mark Brown. A let-off for Pressley you might say without so much as a booking, and silence in the South Stand as the first half petered out to a 1-2 scoreline.
Half Time: 1-2
Renowned for their ‘never say die’ attitude in recent weeks, Inverness once again took the game to Celtic in the second half, but again it was Celtic who produced a chance. JVoH was just shy of his hat-trick when his driven shot from 18 yards deflected clear off the post. This was to be Celtic only real charge on goal for the coming quarter hour. Don Cowie and our Romanian superstar were linking up well with almost every break that ICT produced. Niculae holding up the play to set Cowie on his mazy runs and Niculae following up the play with a couple of efforts at goal. The initial shots not really troubling Mark Brown.
The Equaliser was sure to come, and with 55 minutes played ICT worked hard enough for Celtic to concede a corner. Don Cowie sent in a superb cross, and certain contender for Man of the Match David Proctor, leaped high above 3 defenders to power his header past a helpless Brown. Silence remained in the Celtic enclosure as the ICT faithful played the part of 12th man in spectacular fashion. The drums on full force and even the Main stand singing, it was great to hear a chant of ‘Give Mark Brown a game, does he know it’s Christmas time?’ 
If Inverness were the side with heads held high, Celtic were a side who were obviously stunned to throw away a 2-0 lead. And it showed 5 minutes after the equaliser when Don Cowie produced what was to be the winner. Celtic were pressing but not producing any sort of quality balls for their strike pair and Richard Hastings' pelt up the park was to prove decisive. Stephen McManus was unable to deal with the high ball and Cowie managed to stick a toe to produce the end result. Absolute delight in the North and Main stands, and total devastation in the South.
Celtics best chance for an equaliser came from a free kick on the edge of the box soon after. Phil McGuire was unable to connect fully to a clearance and Scott MacDonald was through. With David Proctor leading the chase, he unceremoniously brought down MacDonald and was rightly sent for an early bath. Surely this was to be yet another turning point to this fixture? It was Aiden McGeady with the resulting free kick on the very edge of the box, but his dipping effort didn’t have enough curl to sneak in at Frasers far post and a goal kick resulted. Brewster was forced to change the formation with Rossco making his return from suspension in place of Roy McBain. Celtic also rang the changes soon after as Gordon Strachan looked for an equaliser from his million pound superstars. Riordan was sent on as a 3rd striker, making way for centre back Pressley - who on a whole had a rather poor game. Celtic certainly didn’t want to loose on the road with Rangers on their tail with a game in hand also.
Mike Fraser was a hero in goal, as wave after wave of Celtic attack ended in the grasp of the Caley Jags ‘keeper. Some superbly taken crosses from both set pieces and open play made it frustrating for the Celtic attack. Every ICT player was clearly on top form, and deserved to hold on for victory. But Celtic still had a few more chances to find an equaliser. ICT resorted to deep defending and the occasional counter attack, and could have made it 4-2. Once again Rankin, Cowie and Niculae were the centre pieces of the attack, constantly supplied by decent balls from Ian Black. Niculae was sent though charged towards the Celtic goal. Pulled back by McManus, no free kick resulted and again the ICT defence was forced to defend deep. More changes made, this time by ICT, as Cowie and Niculae were replaced by Wilson and Bayne. Standing ovations all round and Wilson was soon set through. Another chance for a 4th, but Wilson simply couldn’t get enough of a touch and the ball rolled steadily to Mark Brown. The closing stages were constant pressure from Celtic as they closed in on an equaliser, but Tokely, Munro, McGuire and Hastings stood firm. The traditional injury time goal from the East End outfit was not forthcoming, and Fraser produced a world class save to deny a top corner effort from McManus' powerful header. The 3 minutes of injury time were over, and Inverness recorded a well worked, well fought and well deserved first ever SPL victory of the greener side of the Old Firm.
Full Time: 3-2
The run continues for ICT as they become the leagues on form side. Who would have thought that just 5 weeks ago, Inverness would go from 2nd bottom to 7th - just 2 points off 6th spot. Absolutely superb football for the full 90 minutes and even the half time entertainment produced more goals than the rest of the season. 75 points to 50 the final score!!
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By Guest in Reports 2007-08 ·

Inverness CT 2-0 Hibernian - SPL

Sponsor's Man of the Match Marius Niculae grabbed his first ever goal in the SPL just before half-time, and then scored another in the second half as Caley Thistle maintained their dominance over Hibernian at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.
Hibs have not won, or even scored at the stadium in more than three years and we are delighted to say the only scoring duck that was broken today was Marius' SPL one...
08/12/07 Tulloch Caledonian Stadium INVERNESS CT 2 (Niculae 42, 78) Team: Fraser, Proctor, Munro, McGuire, Hastings, Cowie, Rankin, Black, Duncan (Wilson 85), McBain (Bayne 72) , Niculae
Subs: McAllister, Vigurs, Kerr, McCaffrey, Malkowski
HIBERNIAN 0 Team: MaKalambay, McCann, Hogg, Noubissie (Antoine-Curier 80), Murphy, McCormack, Morais (Beuzelin 57), Kerr, Stevenson (O'Brien 57), Donaldson, Fletcher
Subs: Zemmama, Joneleit, Gathuessi, McNeil
Referee Kenny Clark Attendance 4224 Craig Brewster sent out the same starting line-up for the second week running, and this was hardly surprising given how successful we had been in taking 3 points from Dundee Utd the week before.
From the off it was obvious that this game was going to be played at a tremendous pace and with both teams opting to keep the ball down and passing it about then we could be in for a pretty entertaining 90 minutes of football.
With our formation of 5 across the middle Hibs were finding it hard to find a gap through to the goal and the first shot of the game came in 8 minutes as a result of a free kick after Black had fouled Donaldson. Murphy had decided to shoot direct from 20 yards out but the curled ball was easily taken by Fraser. Players on both sides were finding conditions underfoot a little difficult to cope with as the surface appeared a little greasy. This was resulting in some mistimed and clumsy challenges from everyone and it was such a challenge that lead to McGuire getting a yellow card on the 12 minute mark. The action was being played out mostly in the middle of the pitch with neither team doing much to trouble the opposition’s defence. Roy McBain managed to get a shot on target in 17 minutes but it lacked pace and was easily gathered for the save. Things looked like they were about to go sour for ICT on 25 minutes when Fletcher managed to find himself through one on one with Fraser. Fraser had been quick to react and had pushed out off his line to cut down the angle. Fletcher attempted to play the ball into the right hand corner but Fraser managed to make contact and parried it to safety. Hibs seemed to be caught in the frustrations of the miss and ICT got the ball forward quickly. Rankin spotted the keeper off his line and sent in a lob from 25 yards out. Had it been anyone other than Makalamby then the ball would have found the net, but the towering keeper managed to recover and used his height to great advantage in tipping the ball over the bar. The resulting corners saw ICT apply the first real period of pressure that any team had shown, but despite a 12 yard drive from Niculae they were unable to convert it in to a goal. Fouls conceded within range at both ends offered opportunities to get the scoring underway but neither team were able to capitalise. Caley Thistle were relying heavily on playing on the counter, a result of the lone striker role being filled by Niculae and the midfield sitting a little deeper than many of us would have liked to have seen. However, it was just such a play that saw Rankin play a defence splitting ball on to the edge of the box for the on rushing Niculae. Makalamby found himself committed and a long way off his line and Niculae made sure this was punished. For all his height there was no way the Hibs keeper was going to manage to get a hand on this one as it was coolly lobbed over his head and in to the back of the net. Given his frustration in the goal department since arriving at ICT it was hardly surprising that Niculae was over the moon to finally see one go between the sticks and he was joined in grand celebrations by his team mates as the Home Support roared from the stands and the final 4 minutes of the first half played out without much to report on.
Half Time – Inverness CT 1 v 0 Hibernian
Conditions hadn’t improved much when teams took to the field for the second half and I come to realise (not for the first time) that the trade off for a better view in the main stand is often having to suffer the full force of the brass monkey weather that comes hurtling along the Glen. Collins half time talk seemed to have sparked a little more urgency into the Hibs squad and they looked the brighter for the opening spell. Despite this the Caley Thistle back line seemed to be holding strong and it was 10 minutes in before Hibs managed to get a shot away when Donaldson should have done better than to shoot wide from the edge of the box.
Makalamby seemed to be pushing his luck a lot when it came to collecting and distributing the ball and not for the first time in the match it looked like he had deliberately handled the ball outside his area. Fortunately for him, this was something that all three officials seemed blind to despite calls from the fans on each occasion. Collins decided to make some early substitutions on 56 minutes when Stevenson and Morais were replaced by Beuzelin and O’Brien. O’Brien getting an early welcome from Proctor with a heavy challenge only moments after stepping on to the pitch.
Duncan shot narrowly over on the 60 minute mark and the return play saw Donaldson’s shot saved…shortly after Fraser pulled of another great save when Kerr managed to get a shot on goal from 12 yards. The clearance wasn’t the best and Donaldson found himself in a bit of a scuffle on the edge of the box before getting his shot in. The ball came off the underside of the bar before bouncing and being collected by Fraser. Hibs players were claiming that not only should it have been a penalty for Donaldson being pulled down, but that the shot had crossed the line…fortunately for us the linesman and referee disagreed and play was waved on.
Fraser had come under a bit of unfair criticism from the North Stand in our last game at TCS but the cheers this week were “There’s Only One Mikey Fraser”…what a fickle lot we really are!!! The ICT dugout signalled that they wanted to make a substitution and Bayne was ready to take to the pitch. Niculae looked prepared to make way and had even gone so far as to roll his socks down. Much to his surprise he was not the man being hooked, and nobody could have faulted his effort if he had been, but it was a none to happy McBain who was waved from the field. The philosophy seemed to be that the best form of defence was attack and by bringing on the second striker this prevented Hibs being able to push so many men forward without leaving themselves exposed at the back. Black, Rankin and Cowie all had efforts on goal in the next 15 minutes of the game demonstrating just how important they are to this squad in terms of providing an attacking midfield option. However, it was that man Niculae who was to prove deadliest again on 77 minutes. He tee’d up his first shot at goal with his left foot, but despite it heading wide it was blocked and fell back to him, this time he took it on his right and made no mistake when sending it in to the bottom left corner beyond the reach of the outstretched Makalamby.
Noubissie and Black had been having a right battle in the middle of the park the whole game with the smaller of the two men not giving an inch to his Hibernian rival. Black had taken a few knocks and almost come off worst in a couple of the encounters so it would have come as a relief to see Noubissie being replaced by Antoine-Curier on the 80 minute mark. The temp of the match had been high since the first kick of the ball and neither team seemed willing to let up as it continued in to the final 10 minutes.
Russell Duncan had taken a knock and tried to continue but it wasn’t happening and he signalled to the bench that he needed replaced…Wilson coming on to relieve him. Hibs were pushing forward desperately in an attempt to claw the game back which was leaving them a little more exposed at the back. Every time they came at us we were ready to hit them on the counter it was an end to end affair for the final minutes of the game. Niculae came close to securing his hat trick, and it would have been well deserved had he not gone inches wide in the final play of the game.
Full Time: 2-0
All in all a great team effort with every ICT player getting full marks for effort and commitment. With Tokely due back from suspension and Wyness hopefully available soon after problems with a hamstring then Brewster will be facing problems in terms of team selection as we head towards the festive fixtures. These are the kinds of headaches that no manager would ever complain about. We face Celtic next week, a match which we would have been dreading a month ago when things weren’t looking to good. However spirits are high among players and fans and I for one am thoroughly looking forward to the clash. Like a Phoenix from the ashes…Tulloch Caledonian Stadium is one again re-establishing it’s Fortress Status….long may it continue.
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By Guest in Reports 2007-08 ·

Return of the Malk

Teaser Paragraph:
It has finally been confirmed by ICT that Malcolm (Malky) Thomson has accepted the post of Assistant Head Coach at Caley Thistle. Rumours broke on this website last week that Malky was set for a return to ICT, gathered pace when the Chester website confirmed on Monday that he had resigned from there, and seemed all but confirmed on Tuesday when the man himself told the BBC that "when the chance came to join up with Brew again I had to take it".
However, on the same day as Malky's comment was printed in the national media, a statement from the club appeared in the Inverness Courier saying that a decision had still to be made and hinting that Aberdeen Coach Sandy Clark was still very much in the running. The club confirmed today (Wednesday) that Malky had indeed returned.
Although this appointment seemed to be another of ICT's "worst kept secrets", the confusion in the media only added to the frustration.....
How can wildly different statements appear in different places at the same time and which one do you believe .... we have reproduced the relevant ones below and you can decide for yourself !
Tuesday's Courier said "Craig has spoken to a couple of people and hopefully over the next 24 to 48 hours we will be in a position to make an announcement. We had discussions on Sunday, mainly because Saturday's game was so important and this was put on the back burner. But that changed after the game and we now hope to have somebody in place towards the middle to end of this week with a view to having him being in the dug-out with Craig on Saturday."
However, on the same day, the BBC were carrying quotes from Malky who seemed to confirm the appointment as a done deal by saying "I've enjoyed my time in England, but when the chance came to join up with Brew again I had to take it. He's a great professional in everything he does and I'm really looking forward to the move."
Today (Wednesday), the club confirmed the appointment by issuing the following press release :
The Club is pleased to announce that negotiations have been concluded today (Wednesday) for the appointment of Malcolm Thomson as Assistant Head Coach, filling the vacancy caused by Donald Park's departure. Director of Football Graeme Bennett said "Although there has been speculation, with news leaking out from the Chester end about our interest, it is only today that everything has been signed and sealed. We are grateful to Chester City FC for their assistance in this matter, allowing Malky to return in time to be in the dugout against Hibernian at Inverness on Saturday. Craig did not contact Malky or Chester until after Saturday's game at Dundee United. Chester City FC were kind enough to allow us permission to speak to him and events have rolled on from there. Malky has worked with Craig Brewster here before, he has the Manager's trust and the transition should be smooth."
Malky Thomson said "I am very pleased that the paperwork has been concluded today to take me back to Caley Thistle, where I had such a happy time before. I look forward to working with Craig and the players again. i was very happy at Chester with Bobby Williamson but the opportunity to return to Inverness was too tempting." [source: Official Site]
Thomson will be no stranger to Inverness having served as Assistant to Craig Brewster during his last spell in charge, and the men went on to work together during Brewsters tenure at Dundee Utd. It was only when things didn't work out there that the pair parted company with Brewster moving to play for Aberdeen before coming full circle and back to ICT a little over 18 months later.
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By Guest in News 2007-08 ·

Dundee Utd 0-1 Inverness CT - SPL

Ian Black scored a goal that commentators called a candidate for goal of the season in the 19th minute and it was this goal that won the game for the Caley Jags.
ICT have now taken maximum points from their last couple of games and climb up another place in the table to 9th.
01/12/07 Tannadice Stadium, Dundee DUNDEE UTD 0 Team: Szamotulski, Flood (Milligan 79), Kenneth, Dods, Robb (Duff 38), Kerr, Cameron, Gomis, D. Robertson (Russell 80), Wilkie, J. Robertson
Subs: Don, Bauben, Pope, McLean
INVERNESS CT 1 Black (20) Team: Fraser, Proctor, Munro, McGuire, Hastings (Wilson 71), Cowie, Rankin (Vigurs 90), Black, Duncan, McBain, Niculae (Bayne 84)
Subs: McAllister, Kerr, McCaffrey, Malkowski
Referee Iain Brines Attendance 5845 With spirits lifted after a hard fought win over St Mirren last week, Inverness Caledonian Thistle travelled to Tannadice to face an on form Dundee United yet to be beaten at home this season.
I was quietly confident that we would perform better this week after witnessing the team dig in and grind out the result against St Mirren…it’s not the prettiest football to watch, but it lifted the spirits to see an ICT team once again digging deep and playing for each other. I suspected that even with rumours aplenty in regards to player unrest that if we could keep it together on the park then we had a chance of taking something from the game and the 4/1 odds being offered by the bookies was too good to resist…lol. An early start for me and my travel companions as we decided to avoid the hassle of the A9 and take the scenic route south to Dundee. The weather was looking a little bleak, but the sun could be seen shining in the distance. We really do have some wonderful countryside around here and the views of early snow on the hills made the journey far more worthwhile than a mindless jaunt along the main drag. We arrived in Dundee in good time and a quick call to The Mantis confirmed the Dundee FC Social Club as the meeting point for a pre-match drink. Despite our early arrival, we weren’t the first and we were met by a few familiar faces. No sign of The Mantis though…his sending us here had obviously been a ploy to allow him to sneak of somewhere else!!!
After watching the rare sight of a referee giving a late penalty against Celtic we wandered up to Tannadice, grabbed a pie and met up with a few more site regulars…I would name them all, but they just get a big head and seeing their name in the despatches so I won’t bother….lol. We took to our seats (ensuring the Immortal Howden Ender was well surrounded by moderators) and waited for the team to appear. We’d spent so much time gassing downstairs that we’d missed the squad call outs, but it became quickly apparent that the tactics for today were to be one up front. Not all that surprising, even though I had expected to see Brewster making an appearance. The rest of the team seemed to line up to make the formation look like a 4-1-4-1, although as the game progressed it became apparent that the centre of the park remained very fluid, constantly adapting to the circumstances. Even with a number of regulars missing Craig Levein seemed to have deployed some kind of ‘Chaos Theory Engine’ in his team selection and line-up with many players playing out of position, none more so than Lee Wilkie who had been placed (again) in the front line, just as he had been when Dundee Utd had visited us earlier in the season.
Inverness CT to kick things off in the middle, and the first forward ball was played nicely in to touch....well it would have been nice if this was a game of rugby. It had confused Dundee Utd though, as they immediately returned the favour and we were back in possession. The first shot of the game came in the 2 minute mark when Niculae hit wide with a 25 yard effort and Rankin was next to have a pop but the ball went straight to the hands of Grzegorz Szamotulski. Dundee Utd’s game plan didn’t take too long to work out as time and again they kept lobbing the ball in to Lee Wilkie. As a defender he can be a handful to deal with, but as a striker he seemed lost and it was obvious that he had no instinct with regards to which direction the goal was. Munro and McGuire were doing a good job of keeping him reined in and allowed him very little room to manoeuvre, which is a problem for a 6ft 4 lump of a man with the turning circle of a cargo ship...add to that his insistence on trying to go through instead of around everyone and he quickly started to clock up the fouls. ICT had a great chance to go a goal up in the 16th minute when Dods fouled Ian Black just outside the box. Despite us having 2 men standing over the ball it was obvious Niculae was going to be the man to strike it. It was equally obvious that laying it off to Black who was standing unmarked to the left of the wall would have been the sensible option, but we never took it and Niculae drove the ball into the wall. This didn’t go down too well with Black and he left Niculae under no illusions as to his frustration. It was 18 minutes in to the game before Dundee Utd recorded their first shot on target, but this did little to trouble Fraser who caught it comfortably. We then went on the immediate counter-attack with a ball played through to Niculae on the edge of the area, he stumbled over the ball as he tried to turn the defender, but it broke kindly to Ian Black who spotted Szamotulski off his line and took full advantage by lobbing him from 25+ yards out. Dundee Utd 0 v 1 Inverness CT after 19 minutes
For the first time in a few weeks we were actually winning the midfield battles and this seemed to be building confidence in our back line that were pushing forward and keeping United at a safe distance from goal. Even on the odd occasion when they did break our midfield and get a cross in to the box, a more confident looking Michael Fraser was dealing with everything easily – whether that was punching the ball clear or safely collecting the ball from the air. Add to that the fact that his kicking was much improved from the previous week and his game looks like it is really starting to come together. Neither team was doing much to test the keeper at either end, but ICT were holding on to the ball and passing well. Black, Rankin and Cowie were all taking turns at assisting Niculae with runs from the midfield and if I’m honest, he needed all the help he could get as he just doesn’t have the pace to play effectively as the lone striker.
The first substitution of the game came in the 37th minute when Stuart Duff replaced an injured Steven Robb. The only other real action before the break came seconds before the whistle when Kenneth found himself with acres of space in the box, but he somehow managed to send his header wide of his mark to close off the half with ICT holding a one goal advantage.
Half Time 0-1
The start of the second half was a little dull in comparison to the first 45 minutes and it wasn’t until 10 minutes in that we saw the first attempt on either of the goals. Duncan fouled Robertson 25 yards out but the resulting free-kick went harmlessly high over the goal and into the crowd. Moments later Kenneth was again left unmarked in the box allowing him a free header, but yet again he was unable to take full advantage as he failed to get it on target. ICT would need to tighten up a bit more on these balls being played in to the area or we were in real danger of conceding a soft equaliser. Lee Wilkie was still picking up the fouls as United had taken to playing the long-ball forward to him time after time in a bid to claw one back.
We were beginning to wonder if the referee was aware of the persistent fouling laws when Wilkie eventually picked up a yellow card…ironically though it wasn’t for his constant barging or climbing over the heads of players…it wasn’t even for the way he’d taken to sitting like a little lost boy every time he landed on his butt…he had taken to whinging and found himself going into the book for dissent after mouthing to the ref when getting caught offside. If I had been Levein I would have hooked him at this stage in the game as it was one of those situations where a player looks destined to get himself a second yellow, the decision to leave him on became a little less bizarre when it was pointed out to me that Wilkie was now facing a 2 match suspension for going over the points threshold so risking a second yellow by leaving him on wasn’t such a huge gamble. Kenneth was to get his third chance at a free header in the 66th minute, but despite the hat trick of chances, he still couldn’t find the goal. The play that had led to this chance had, however, left Hastings stretched out on the sidelines having taken a knock to the head. He was making very little movement and at first it appeared that he was out cold…this wouldn’t have been surprising as I had heard the clonk from the stands. He was stretchered off and although I haven’t heard how he is I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a concussion.
A quick re-shuffle of the team with McBain dropping back to fill in for Hastings and Wilson came on to take his place on the left wing…his addition marking an instant upturn in our attacking play and a swing away from what might have been considered a period where United seemed to be having a slight advantage, and taking more of the possession. Black and Rankin both had shots at goal, the second was spilled by Szamotulski but rolled wide for the first of what was to be 4 corners taken in quick succession, but we just couldn’t find that second goal to kill the game. A double substitution and a slight team re-shuffle came around the 80 minute mark for Dundee Utd as the pushed another big centre half to the front line to join Wilkie. This was followed soon after by an ICT substitution…Niculae had worked hard and couldn’t be faltered for his effort, but as I said earlier, his pace let him down a bit in the lone striker role and despite being able to turn defenders with ease he just didn’t have enough to be chasing down the through ball and creating any real threat. He did have some nice lay-offs for the likes of Cowie, Rankin and Black, who were pushing out from midfield, and on another day we may have made more of those, but this wasn’t one of those days.
For some reason Niculae decided he wanted to shake the refs hand as he was replaced by Graham Bayne who had missed last weeks game due to suspension and he showed a little more of what you would expect for the position he filled. John Rankin had a shot saved from 12 yards when he failed to get any real power in to it, and at the other end it was Wilkie who was allowed space for the free header on this occasion, this time getting it on target, but failing to score as it was gathered by Michael Fraser. This marked the 90 minute point, but we knew we would see a further 3 or 4 minutes, at least, of injury time. We decided to use the last of our substitutions and John Rankin made way for the youngster Iain Vigurs. The lad must have thought that Christmas was about to come early as he collected the ball on the right and caught sight of the goal from 25 yards. He managed to get plenty of pace on his shot, but was unfortunate to see it slide wide to the right. That was to be the last real play in what ended up being 4 minutes of added time…something which seemed to upset the United dugout as the all started jumping around and pointing at their watches and creating a fuss.
Full Time:0-1
The ICT team left the field under a well earned round of applause and I was off to the bookies to collect my winnings…if only Niculae had scored it would have been a good bit more…but perhaps I was asking just a little too much for one week!!!
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By Guest in Reports 2007-08 ·

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