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Hart Reinstated

Teaser Paragraph:
A short statement on the Official club site has confirmed that the Richie Hart saga is now over and he is back in training. The statement reads as follows ...
"Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC have completed their assessment of the situation relating to their player Richard Hart, who has been suspended since admitting a drug offence at Inverness Sheriff Court.
Hart has been subjected to internal disciplinary measures. His suspension has been lifted and he returned to training today (Monday)".
Guest
By Guest in News 2007-08 ·

Rangers 2-0 Inverness CT - SPL

A Kris Boyd goal within 30 seconds of kick-off and a second half Carlos Cuellar goal was enough for Rangers to see off the Caley Thistle challenge.
After taking 7 of a possible 9 points from the Gers last season, this seasons numbers are a little less pleasing... 0 out of a possible 6!
03/11/07 Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow Rangers 2 Boyd (1), Cuellar (63) Team: McGregor, Hutton, Cuellar, Weir, Papac, Beasley, Ferguson, Hemdani, McCulloch, Novo (Cousin 60), Boyd (Darcheville 61)
Subs: Naismith, Furman, Lennon, Faye, Carroll
INVERNESS CT 0 Team: Fraser, Tokely, Munro, McCaffrey, Hastings, Proctor (Morgan 86), Duncan, Black (Cowie 87), McBain, Bayne, Wyness (Niculae 84)
Subs: D. McDonald, Vigurs, Kerr, Malkowski
Referee William Collum Attendance 48868 A smaller than usual army of Caley Jags fans turned up for this weeks SPL fixture against Rangers at Ibrox.  Hardly surprising given the price of tickets to see any of the teams in the SPL these days and with away trips to play Gretna last weekend and Aberdeen midweek then wallets will have already taken a pounding.
It’s been a strange week though.  After a convincing performance against Gretna where we never looked to be in danger we were taken back down to earth with a bump in our CIS Cup fixture against Aberdeen despite playing some decent football.  One never expects to go to Ibrox and come away with the points but given the fact that that our only loss there had been over 3 years ago, then we had reason enough to be upbeat.
We were down in good time on the minibus and nosiness had gotten the better of me and I wanted to check up on the rumours that Barry Wilson had been dropped from the squad and would not be making the trip south with the team, so we headed round to meet the team bus….low and behold there was no sign of him.  However, this didn’t stop the ladies battling to the front of the crowd to drool over the lads and offer some encouragement ahead of the game. The Wilson question had been answered, but curiosity remains as to the reasons!!!  Best place to ponder over such things is in the pub, so off we went for a couple of lemonades before heading in to the game.
Listening to the squad being announced things started to get strangerer and strangerer.  Not only had Wilson not been included in the squad, but the on form Cowie who has performed consistently for us all season had been relegated to the bench with Proctor getting a start.
I’d barely reached my seat when I glanced up to see the ball in the back of the ICT net.  Only 34 seconds in to the game and a goal down…from memory that is the quickest goal we have ever conceded and actually quite fascinating when you consider we’d had the kick-off and the play leading up to the goal had resulted from McCaffery bringing Novo down from a free-kick just inside our own half.  Ferguson took it quickly, passing to Novo who caught us napping - feeding the ball through a gap big enough for a 747 for Boyd to latch on to leaving only the keeper to beat. Oh Horlicks!!! 
Was this going to be a repeat of Wednesday night? Wyness was first to give the ICT fans something to shout about when only moments after losing the goal he was up the other end and testing McGregor…well, making him aware we had turned up at least, as he had little to do but catch the long range effort…still promising signs that we had some idea on the direction of the goal. Beasley was next to get the ball in the net, but fortunately for us he’d been flagged offside before he’d even touched it.  5 minutes in, and already Rangers are looking to run the clock down with wasted efforts after the whistle had been blown....lol. It wasn’t all one way traffic and although Rangers looked like they may pose a threat on a couple of occasions our defence, in large, seemed to be dealing with most of what they had to throw at us.  Meanwhile at the other end Bayne had been given a couple of opportunities to open the scoring…going narrowly over with his first effort and having his second blocked by Cuellar.  Munro also had a half chance with a long ranged left foot effort which went wide of the mark.  Novo was next to notch up a conversion putting on over the bar and Duncan did the same for us at the other end.  Had this been a game of Rugby we might actually have had our noses in front based on drop goals!!! Much of the action was taking place in the middle of the park with both teams making the odd toothless foray into the oppositions third which wasn’t causing either keeper too many problems.  Rangers had a couple of half decent chances just before the break when Fraser got a string hand to a shot from Beasley to parry it for the corner and McCulloch went wide with a header.
HT – Rangers 1 v 0 Inverness CT
We were a goal down, but we certainly didn’t look out of it.  It was hard to tell if Rangers were just “doing enough” and had it in them to step up the pressure if needed, but we had been knocking the ball about well and only seemed to be lacking a bit of creativity in order to open up some better chances at the front. The defence who have come under a lot of criticism this season seemed to be performing a little better, partly down to the presence of Proctor who was dropping back to cover for Tokely when he was making charges forward…although this did leave us a bit lacking in the middle on occasion.  This seemed to have been the reason for replacing Cowie, but with us being a goal down and it getting to the stage where we might need to chase the game then thoughts during the HT chat among fans surrounded substitutes and whether we may see them before the magic 79 minute mark.
Caley Thistle appeared to have the majority of possession at the start of the second half but it was 10 minutes in before we saw the first effort from any team go near the goalmouth when Bayne popped the ball over the bar from the edge of the area.  Fraser gathered a shot from Beasley without much effort and Tokely picked up the first yellow card of the game following a slack tackle on same. Caley Thistle looked to have been handed a golden opportunity when a Weir, attempting to head back to McGregor, succeeded in putting it over the keeper and into the front of the goal…a yard quicker off the mark and we would have equalised, but McGregor recovered and eventually managed to smother the ball.
Not surprisingly, Rangers were the first to make some changes when Novo and Boyd were replaced by Cousin and Darcheville on the 60 minute mark. Rangers started to turn the screw at this point and it wasn’t long before substitute Darcheville left his mark on the game.  His clever ball from the middle of the area was met by Cuellar who scored into the bottom right of the net, leaving Fraser with no chance at a save.  Frustration seemed to be setting in and Hastings was next to pick up a yellow card for a tackle on Hutton. The game was crying out for a tactical change on the part of Inverness, especially now that we had gone 2 down.  We needed to bring on players to give us more of an attacking threat, be that someone with pace coming in to the midfield or us sacrificing a man at the back to put a third forward on the park, who knows, but the change was needed. We had been creating chances the whole game, but they were mostly long(ish) range efforts and we weren’t doing anything to carve our way through the back line of Rangers.  Our long balls in to the box were being crowded out and it was only from set pieces we were getting any penetration.
McBain and Duncan had both had chances and Proctor was caught offside when it looked like he may have stolen a chance to go through one on one with the keeper but the only keeper being tested to any degree was Fraser.  If we weren’t putting it over the bar then we were playing it straight in to the hands of McGregor. The “Magic 79 Minute Mark” had come and gone with still no sign of any changes for ICT, this was all getting rather frustrating.  Then finally on 84 minutes we made a change with Niculae coming on to replace Wyness.  Again a baffling decision, what we needed was more of a threat, so why take of our top scoring Striker!!!  2 minutes later we made a double substitution.  Black and Proctor coming off to be replaced by Cowie and Morgan. 4 minutes left in the game and we’re looking for miracles.  In truth, other than a late shot by Cowie we rarely saw the ball again.
Full Time: 2-0
Yet again the lads on the pitch had, for the most part, done what had been asked of them by the manager.  I remain perplexed by the late use of substitutes in games where they are crying out for changes earlier on, and this “like for like” change of players on the pitch is doing little to change the tactics even when subs are made.  Early in the season some of the players looked like they needed a good kick up the jacksie to get them going but things changed around when Brewster arrived…now it’s Brewster that looks like he needs the kick to get him going so as to prove that he has more about him as a manager than just getting the squad fit. 
Guest
By Guest in Reports 2007-08 ·

Aberdeen 4-1 Inverness CT - CIS Cup

Caley Thistle were crushed by the Dandy Dons in this CIS League Cup quarter-final.
3-0 down at half time, the CaleyJags went on to lose 4-1 thanks in big part to the defence once again conceding penalties... not one this time, but two in 20 minutes, both of which Barry Nicholson slotted home for two thirds of his hat trick. Lee Miller scored the other goal for the Dons and it was Graham Bayne who got a consolation for ICT.
31/10/07 Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen Aberdeen 4 Nicholson (10pen, 21pen, 78) Miller 45 Team: Langfield, Hart, Diamond, Mair, Byrne, Smith (Foster 59), Nicholson, McNamara, Aluko (Considine 72), Young (Clark 30), Miller
Subs: Kelly, Maguire
INVERNESS CT 1 Bayne (68) Team: Fraser, Tokely, Munro, McCaffrey, Hastings, Wilson (Niculae 79), Duncan, McBain (Rankin 79), Cowie, Bayne, Wyness (Morgan 79).
Subs: Malkowski, Proctor.
Referee John Underhill Attendance 7270 The Internutters Supporters Bus was full again and spirits remained high following our visit to FirPark and our 4-0 routing of Gretna at the weekend.  It appeared that many fans were making the effort to travel to this game for fear of missing out on the opportunity to witness victory against Aberdeen at our 15th time of trying.
Traffic on the A96 hadn’t been too bad, but on hitting Aberdeen it seemed that everyone had decided to get out in front of us and the delayed arrival put pay to the pre-match refreshments.  I think it’s only right that I point out that I was the only one on the bus who had made the effort to get into the Halloween spirit, although I was slightly more pleased that others at the game had decided to dress up!!!
After dropping everyone off I managed to blag my way into a free parking spot in the car park and headed round to join the crew for the match.  A quick visit to the tea stalls for a pie and a coffee and we were ready to cheer the team on to victory.
Caley Thistle started well enough and although we weren’t pressuring Aberdeen early on we didn’t look to be under any great threat either….but that all went quickly pear-shaped when after only 9 minutes when a clumsy tackle by Hastings on Young inside the area resulted in a Penalty for Aberdeen.  Nicholson stepped up and slotted the ball away to leave us chasing the game from the start.
Aberdeen looked likely to stretch the lead only a minute later when a Nicholson free-kick found the head of Young only 6 yards out…fortunately for ICT he sent it over the bar.
The scenario was repeated in reverse at the other end shortly afterwards when Don Cowie sent a ball in to the head of Tokely, this time the ball went wide, but at least we could chalk up our first attempt on goal.
Caley Thistle looked like they had picked themselves up and dusted themselves down following the early penalty and they were playing some smart intelligent football.  They were managing to keep hold of the ball when they had it and they were breaking down the Aberdeen attack from a decent distance up the park.  That’s why it was even more frustrating when on the 20 minute mark another stupid tackle in the area by McCaffery gifted Aberdeen the second penalty which Nicholson once again put away with ease.
Caley Thistle weren’t bereft of opportunities…far from it and Duncan was next to threaten the Aberdeen goal on the half hour.  His 30 yard volley is becoming a bit of a trademark and he was unfortunate to see this one miss narrowly to the left.
Young was substituted just afterwards and Chris Clark took his place.
The opportunities continued to present themselves for ICT.  A shot by Down Cowie went straight to the hands of Langfield and a drive by Duncan was tipped round the post for a corner, but the much needed goals continued to elude us.
Aberdeen’s 3rd goal was to arrive just before the break, and if the first two had been a gift, then this one came with full wrapping paper and a bow.  A totally unnecessary back pass was lofted in to Fraser from about 40 yards out.  Despite facing an onrushing Miller, Fraser decided not to let the ball run out and instead try to be a little to cocky and take on the player.  In an attempt to jink past the forward Fraser slipped and gifted him the easiest of finishes to make it 3-0 to the home side going in at half-time.
Half Time: 3-0
Caley Thistle hadn’t played badly in the first 45 minutes and had it not been for 3 costly errors then I fail to see where Aberdeen would have got any goals or have posed any real threat.  In saying that though, when you’re coming out for the second half chasing a 3 goal deficit then you don’t need to be the best football brain in the world to recognise that you need to make changes to the formation to increase your attacking threat and go for broke.
Despite these thoughts, we returned to the field having made no changes.  We did however start the brighter of the two teams and are positive play almost paid off 10 minutes in when a Tokely cross was met by a firm header from Wyness.  Yet again Langfield seemed to be in the right place as the ball went straight to his chest for an easy save.
Wyness was denied by Langfield yet again on two minutes later when his left foot drive was easily saved and it was the same story for Wilson when his effort was parried by the on-form Langfield and a second effort went narrowly over the bar before Wyness followed suit putting another ball high and in to the stand.
Finally we managed to get a ball in the back of the net thanks to the efforts of Bayne.  Wyness had caught the Aberdeen defence napping and seized on a ball which he slid through to Bayne for him to knock in to the bottom right corner.  25 minutes to go and 2 goals down, if we could continue the form we had been showing, get a little more clinical in front of goal and cut out the errors then we may just be able to pull this one back.
We continued to push forward without much of an end product for the next 10 minutes and with about 15 minutes on the clock Brewster looked to be preparing for a triple substitution.  At last, it looked like we were going to put on an extra forward and go hell for leather to try and scrap our way back into it.
It wasn’t to be and any thoughts of a fight back were put firmly to bed on the stroke of 77 minutes.  A ball by Chris Clark in to space in front of goal was left by McCaffery and Fraser gifting Nicholson the easiest of opportunities to score his hat-trick and he didn’t need asking twice as he stuck it away to make it 4-1.
Caley Thistle then made the ritual 80th minute substitutions, although I don’t know what Brewster now expected of them.  McBain was replaced by Rankin, Wilson was replaced by Morgan and despite the need for an extra forward Wyness became a straight swap for Niculae.
Despite the game being all over bar the shouting you can’t fault the players for keeping it going right to the end.  Rankin was the first of the subs to have a go, but his 30 yard shot went narrowly wide.  Niculae was up next but he failed to get full contact on the ball and it went straight to the hands of Langfield (where have I used that line before!!).  Niculae was to have another go only 2 minutes later only to miss right and again saw himself denied when on the stroke of full-time his downward header failed to beat Langfield.
Full Time: Aberdeen 4 v 1 ICT
Had it not been for the silly errors which resulted in all 4 goals for Aberdeen this game could have been a whole different story.  In fact, if you showed anyone the video for this game and simply removed the goal footage you would forgive them for predicting the result as being the other way round.
It was the nature of the goals that left me feeling let down at the end of this game.  We’ve played games this season where we were unlucky not to have got a result despite some great play, but we have nobody but ourselves to blame for tonight’s result…yes we were robbed…but we were robbed by our own stupid mistakes. 
Guest
By Guest in Reports 2007-08 ·

Gretna 0-4 Inverness CT - SPL

Team: A big win for Caley Thistle today, both in terms of the scoreline and also in getting a little bit further away from the relegation zone.
Dennis Wyness slotted home a second minute penalty after Ross Tokely had been fouled in the box and a Don Cowie free kick on the half hour mark extended the lead. Second half goals from Barry Wilson and Roy McBain sealed a 4-0 victory.
27/10/07 Fir Park, Motherwell Gretna 0 Team: Caig, Cowan (Graham 46), Horwood, Grainger, McGuffie, Jenkins, Murray, Hogg (Grady 66), Skelton, Yantorno, Buscher (McMenamin 79)
Subs: Deverdics, McGill, Paarpalu, Fleming
INVERNESS CT 4 Wyness (2pen), Cowie (31), Wilson (73), McBain (75) Team: Fraser, Tokely, McGuire (Proctor 79), Munro, Hastings, McBain, Black (Wilson 60), Duncan, Cowie, Niculae (Bayne 72), Wyness
Subs: D McDonald, Vigurs, Kerr, Malkowski
Referee Mike McCurry Attendance 1096 It was going to be a long day as it was, and it was one made even longer for me when I received a call during the early hours of the morning to let me know that I was to be an uncle again as my brother and his wife had been blessed with a son weighing in at 5lbs 5oz who was to be named Michael Rury. A toast to their good health would have to wait as I had to be up and about in a couple of hours to ferry the ICT faithful to Fir Park for the game. Ironically, interest in attending the game was high as everyone wanted to be part of the crowd that was tipped to become the lowest ever in the SPL. Gretna had organised a Family Fun day for pre-match entertainment and that meant an early start to allow the youngsters (and the young at heart) to attend. The decision had also been taken to brighten things up a bit by participating in the “Wear it Pink ” campaign in support of Breast Cancer Research. The ladies were dressed head to toe in pink, whilst the only pink from the lads was the colour of their cheeks resulting from a sherbet or two in the Social Club pre-match. Those travelling on the CaleyThistleOnline minibus were split into two buses this week. Maimie was first with her bus with me following on after a couple of pick-ups. Male arrogance was in full flow and we were confident we’d catch them on the A9 despite the 10 minute lead. That wasn’t to be, although both buses pulled in to Ballinluig one after the other for the breakfast stop. Maimie was first away again, and we were all ready to roll until it was discovered that we’d somehow managed to pay for breakfast twice…TM4TJ and Billy the fish weren’t having this and had to go back in to reclaim some funds for the beer when we got to Motherwell. Finally we were back on the road and despite short visit to the crematorium at the request of Caley100 we made it to Fir Park. We were made very welcome at the Social Club and were mingling happily with the Gretna and Motherwell fans (they were waiting on their bus to take them to Parkhead). Spirits were high, the songs had already begun and a quick call back to the Innes Bar confirmed what we all suspected….Scooby wasn’t available to give us a lift the 50 yards from the Social Club to the Stadium!!! Predictions for the crowd were coming in at around the 600 to 700 mark whilst predictions on the score were based around a 1-2 or 0-2 for ICT. My own prediction had been 1-3 as clean sheets haven’t been our speciality this season. There had been much speculation about the team, would Brewster make himself available and would Zibi get another chance in goal….as it was, Craig Brewster went with only one change to the starting line up for this match against bottom of the league Gretna with Michael Fraser coming in to start against the on-loan Zibi Malkowski. Gretna had also gone with a change of goalkeeper by bringing in Caig and had made changes in most other areas of the field. On entering the stadium the crowd looked more than the predicted 6 or 700 and the Caley Thistle faithful had turned out in good numbers and high spirits. The songs had started before the teams were even on the pitch and the majority of the travelling support was in good voice.
It wasn’t going to take much to have the Caley Jags fans singing today but rewards for the twelfth man came early. A long throw by Munro into the box led to a chance for Tokely to stick the ball in to the net at the left post, his chance was impeded by barge from Cowan, but the result was a deserved penalty. Wyness stepped up to do the honours and he sent Caig the wrong way as he placed the ball comfortably into the bottom-right of the net. Caley Thistle looked to be in control of the game from early on with Gretna doing very little to threaten. We were defending from well up the park which seemed to be frustrating Gretna and it became obvious early on that they were relying heavily on Fabian Yantorno. Marius Niculae was next to threaten the Gretna goal. He picked up the ball on the halfway line and made direct for the Gretna end. He was closed out with about 25 yards to go but managed to stop and control the ball for a shot which went low and narrowly wide of the post. Gretna’s first shot on goal came shortly afterwards following a foul by Tokely on Yantorno 35 yards out. Yantorno decided to shoot direct but it offered no trouble to Fraser and dipped harmlessly on to the roof of the net. The chants were coming thick and fast from the travelling Caley Jags fans….”Your just a Pub Team from England” and “Shall we sing a song for You” being directed at the very quiet Gretna Support. Niculae then came close again. Caig had come off his line to chase a high ball to his left but missed it in dramatic fashion only for it to fall in front of the goal a few yards out. Niculae was at full stretch as he clipped the ball on the volley with his right foot. Had he got a little more on it then Grainger would have been unable to reach it and clear it from the line. Nobody seems more desperate to score for ICT just now than him, and you have to wonder what he has to do to get his name on an SPL goalsheet as he continues to be denied. Dennis Wyness was fouled about 25 yards out on the left side of the pitch shortly afterwards and the balled was placed for Don Cowie to take the free-kick. His shot was well struck and it curled around the wall and inside the near post to make it 0-2 after 31 minutes. Then came one of the most bizarre bookings I have ever seen. It could only have been given for dissent as not only was the ball nowhere near the booked Paul Murray, but he hadn’t been involved anywhere in the play. It didn’t take long for those around me to agree that given the poor effort by Gretna in the game so far, he’d been booked simply because he was…eh….”not very good”, and the rest of the Gretna team would be booked for the same thing if they didn’t get their act together. Inverness CT weren’t playing at their best but Gretna had nothing to offer which was caused us any trouble. McBain did manage one other shot on goal before the half-time whistle and the Caley Jags were cheered off the park for a dominating first 45 minute performance.
HT – Gretna 0 v 2 Inverness CT
One half-time substitution for Gretna as David Graham was brought on to replace David Cowan and it looked like Gretna were going to go for broke and risk 3 at the back. Caley Thistle looked sharp for the first 5 minutes of the second half getting off to a very positive start with Niculae heading narrowly over from the penalty box and Wyness also going over with an attempted lob from the left side of the area. For the next 20 minutes or so it looked like we were going to be happy to defend our lead and we allowed Gretna to come at us a bit more by choosing to defend a bit deeper. Yantorno was caught narrowly offside about 20 yards out and moments later he missed narrowly wide from 25 yards out. Ian Black was down injured on the far side of the field and it seemed to go unnoticed as play continued. Then McGuffie had a text book copy of Yantorno’s effort missing narrowly right. It looked like ICT had gone to sleep and if they weren’t careful Gretna were going to get themselves right back in to this game. Black had to make his own way off the pitch to receive treatment and the decision was quickly made to send Barry Wilson on in his place.
Philip McGuire received a soft yellow card for a mis-timed tackle on Yantorno. Although it didn’t appear that any contact was made, Yantorno had decided to go to ground. His recovery was miraculous though. The moment the card was shown he was up and ready to take the free-kick which sailed harmlessly over the bar. Frasers goal kick was picked up well by Gretna and they came right back at us with Skelton opting to shoot from 30 yards out. The ball looked like it was going safely (if only narrowly) wide, but Fraser was taking no chances and a spectacular dive saw him getting a full hand behind the powerful shot and pushing it out along the line. Niculae made a desperate attempt to chase and keep the ball in to prevent the corner but a chasing Gretna player posed too much of a threat and he knocked it safely out.
The Caley Thistle fans had been giving James Grady a bit of a hard time when he was warming up in the first half (we seemed to have songs for everyone and everything today), and he had now been take on to replace Steven Hogg. About 20 minutes in to the second half and we finally looked like we’d got ourselves together again and were back to defending from further forward and quickly breaking down the little threat Gretna had been showing. It was also time for our second sub with Bayne coming on to replace Niculae up front. Wyness had a shot pushed out by Caig with about 20 minutes left on the clock. Cowie knocked the resultant penalty in to the box but the clearance didn’t go too far before being played back in. Some nice touches from ICT saw us carve their defence apart - the play started with McBainplaying the ball wide to Wilson who cut inside and played it through to Munro on the edge of the area, Munro played it straight back to Wilson who touched it off to McGuire for him to play the killer touch behind the defender leaving Wilson with the simple task of taking a touch before slotting it into the bottom right corner. 0-3 This was the catalyst for the first of the Gretna fans to start departing from the stadium to chants of “Cheerio” and “We Can See You Sneaking Out”….not to mention my favourite of the day “Relegation to You” (sung to the tune of Happy Birthday to You). I was getting hoarse and the Stewards seemed to have all but given up on telling us to sit down… ”What’s the point, we’ll be standing to celebrate the next goal soon” was one reply to them…made all the funnier by the fact that whoever had said it was spot on. No sooner had we stopped cheering the third goal when the 4th one came. And it was a goal from nothing. A run of the mill ball played in from the right to McBain about 30 yards out. He must have saw the gap and the chance because he simply let rip with a shot into top dead centre….his name on the score sheet and a Free M.O.T from Caley100 (that’ll teach him to keep his gob shut…lol)
Substitutions by both teams with 12 minutes on the clock did little to change the flow of the game. Proctor came on to replace the booked McGuire and Gretna swapped Buscher for McMennamin The last 10 minutes saw ICT simply knocking the ball about and killing the clock. Yantoro did manage his party trick of knocking a ball over the bar one more time from a fair distance out, with our own Wilson and Tokely having half chances of their own. Caley Thistle fans had taken pity on the Gretna support that had remained to the end and we even took to cheering on their players when they had the ball. Fortunately I managed to spell Gretna correctly when doing a round of “Gimme a G…Gimme an R…etc” From here on in I don’t think we let Gretna within 30 yards of goal and McCurry should receive a humanity medal for putting them out of their misery on the stroke of 90 minutes with no time added.
Full Time: 0-4
I said after the Hibs game that we were going to give someone a hammering sooner rather than later due to the way we had been playing back then. The truth is, we weren’t at the top of our game today, but we didn’t have to be. We always looked ready to shift up a gear if it was needed whilst Gretna already looked like they had engaged everything at their disposal. The journey home…..well that’s a story in itself and shall be left for discussion on the forums!!!
Guest
By Guest in Reports 2007-08 ·

Inverness CT 1-2 Aberdeen - SPL

It took a Ross Tokely goal to win this game. Unfortunately, the goal was an own goal and it meant Caley Thistle still haven't beaten the Dons as they held on to win it 2-1
One bright spot however was the 58th minute Dennis Wyness goal... a goal that sees him become the first player to hit 100 goals for ICT.
21/10/07 Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, Inverness INVERNESS CT 1 (Wyness 58) Team: Malkowski, Tokely, McGuire (Proctor 67), Munro, Hastings, McBain, Black (Wilson 81), Duncan, Cowie, Niculae (Bayne 85), Wyness
Subs: D McDonald, Vigurs, Kerr, Fraser
ABERDEEN 2 (Young 8), Tokely (62 og) Team: Langfield, McNamara, Diamond, Mair, Foster, Nicholson, Severin (Byrne 43), De Visscher (Touzani 79), Young, Miller, Mackie (Lovell 46)
Subs: Aluko, Maguire, Smith, Kelly
Referee Eddie Smith Attendance 6023 This was the 14th time Caley Thistle had gone head to head with Aberdeen and it was the 14th attempt at notching up the first victory against our East Coast neighbours. Craig Brewster had made some changes to the team that faced Kilmarnock a fortnight ago – Hastings was back in the squad after being out with an injury which also saw him miss out on International duty for Canada recently, Wilson had been relegated to the bench to keep a space for McBain who pushed forward into his more natural roll on the left of midfield, but most noticeable was the change of personal between the sticks with Fraser being replaced by loan keeper Zibi Malkowski.
The Caley Jags didn’t get off to the brightest of starts and looked unsettled for the first 25 minutes of the game…this was most apparent in the 8th minute when Ross Tokely was drawn out of position, missed his tackle and let Young of Aberdeen through in a dangerous position.  The rest of the defence seemed intent on standing back and allowing him to get the shot off.  Unfortunately Malkowski wasn’t able to get down fast enough and the ball squeezed under his body and in to the back of the net, despite opinions that it should have been an easy save. Aberdeen had taken early control of the game and continued to push forward; fortunately for ICT they weren’t able to produce an end product which was causing us any difficulty. Niculae had the first real chance for ICT around the 20 minute mark but unfortunately it went straight in to the hands of Langfield.  This seemed to spur on the Caley Jags though and they upped their game, we were on the ascendancy with Niculae, Wyness, Black and Cowie all getting a chance to shoot at goal as the game pushed on towards the half-time whistle.
Half Time : Inverness CT 0 – 1 Aberdeen
Having replaced Severin just before half time due to an injury, Aberdeen also had to replace Mackie at half time….on came the man who has posed more problems for ICT than the rest of the Aberdeen team together….Steve Lovell. Caley Thistle started the second half brightly and it was our turn to dominate on possession and be making the push towards the Aberdeen goalmouth.  However, we seemed to be suffering the problem as Aberdeen had done early in the game and were unable to produce much of a threat on goal.  This wasn’t helped by referee Eddie Smith, he hadn’t had much to do the whole game, which was probably just as well as the majority of his calls seemed to be given the wrong way. We were looking the most likely to score the next goal and that couldn’t have arrived in better fashion.  A clever run in to the 6 yard box by Wyness was timed perfectly to meet an accurate cross from Hastings.  Wyness had escaped his markers and was free to slot the ball confidently beyond Langfield…his 100th goal for ICT, but more importantly an equaliser and (deservedly) a chance for us to take something from this match. Caley Thistle still looked the stronger of the two teams, keeping possession for large spells and still looked most likely to score in the final 30 minutes.  In fact, it was an ICT player who was next to net…unfortunately in the wrong end.  Ross Tokely jumped to defend against a cross in to the box and seemed to receive a slight nudge which saw him head the ball past Malkowski to make it 1-2 for Aberdeen. McGuire was subbed off shortly afterwards, I had thought he picked up a knock earlier in the game and had been limping, so I’m not sure if he’d been trying to play through it and struggling or if he picked up another bang, but Proctor was to take his place having being brought back to Inverness by Brewster upon his return. Niculae was unlucky to shoot wide around the 70 minute mark and their really wasn’t too much else to talk about us the ball seemed to spend most of its time in the middle third of the pitch. Aberdeen then seemed to come back in to the game and were looking to try and catch us on the break, and had it not been for the slight eagerness of Vischer and Lovell who were both caught offside on separate occasions then Malkowski may have faced a tougher test. Duncan looked like creating a carbon copy of the goal he scored against Falkirk last month when he wellied a right footed volley from about 25 yards out and had it gone anywhere other than straight at Langfield then Duncan would be holding 2 of this seasons top 3 goals for ICT. McBain had been largely ineffective for most of the match and looked like a prime target to be replaced by Wilson who I’d spotted warming up and getting kitted up in preparation for the substitution.  I was therefore slightly shocked to see that it was Black who had been signalled to come off the park…he had been struggling a little in the middle, but he’d also looked like one of our greatest threats when we were pushing forward and had a couple of decent shots on goal. A tiring Niculae was replaced shortly afterwards by Bayne.  Niculae has been unlucky not to have broken his duck in the SPL this season and he’d put in another good shift in the Blue and Red stripes.  Some people remain unconvinced, but I have little doubt that he is making a valuable contribution to the team and will gain rightful recognition in due course.
Full Time: 1-2
Other than Duncan getting a yellow card for being unable to keep his trap shut, the game kinda fizzled to a close. Room for improvement on the part of the Caley Jags, but not an altogether bad performance.  We face Aberdeen on their turf again in 10 days time – Halloween Night – maybe the Bogeyman can help us put one over on our Bogey Team!!!
Guest
By Guest in Reports 2007-08 ·

ICT v Aberdeen - Preview

Teaser Paragraph:
{mosimage}
October already, and with only 1 game to go, Scotland's chances of qualifying for Euro 2008 are still in their own hands. However England must now hope that results go their way. Not many people would have predicted this outcome, and when Italy come calling, every single Scottish fan will be glued to the T.V!!
Anyway, its back to the SPL this weekend, and whether the break helped Caley Thistle, we won't know until Sunday. After 13 meetings between the teams, ICT are still searching for a win. Whether it is Wyness's wonder 100th goal, Niculae's first ever SPL goal or Brewster against his old club that wins it, it doesn't matter really, as long as someone does. It will also be interesting to see if Michael Fraser keeps the no.1 jersey after the blunders at Kilmarnock.
{mosimage} DETAILS
Inverness CT v Aberdeen
Tulloch Caledonian Stadium
Sunday 20th October @ 2pm
LIVE on Setanta Sports
SPL
Referee: Eddie Smith
Others: Stuart Macaulay, Craig Young (Assistants), Scott MacDonald (4th official)


FIXTURES
Saturday 20th October:
Rangers v Celtic (Setanta, 12:30pm)
Falkirk v Kilmarnock
Hearts v Dundee Utd
Motherwell v Hibernian
St Mirren v Gretna

Sunday 21st October:
Inverness CT v Aberdeen (Setanta, 2pm)


THE SPL SO FAR
With 9 games gone already this season, the table is starting to take shape with teams realising what sort of battle they will be doing with teams around them. But few would have guessed that the only unbeaten team left in the league is…….Hibernian.

Celtic tops the table, but only by a point over Hibernian. None of the 4 teams that have gone to Celtic Park so far have scored. Even though Rangers had an impressive start, they have now lost 2 games and find themselves in 3rd. Dundee Utd, Hearts, Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen have all had decent starts, with all of them hitting double figures on points. Then there is a 4 point gap to Falkirk, St Mirren and Inverness CT and then there is Gretna alone at the bottom. Inverness CT lost their first 6 games in a row but 7pts in 3 games have got us back to where we should be; within touching distance of the top-six. With Gretna playing St Mirren on Saturday, things could get interesting.

So the first Old Firm derby is a big one, with Rangers now 3 pts behind, they cannot afford to go 6pts behind so early.

What has been pleasing though so far this season is Scottish clubs results in Europe . Rangers and Celtic have both started brilliantly in their respective Champions League groups and Aberdeen starts their UEFA Cup group stage next week. The question is, will European football affect these teams’ performances in the SPL?? Only time will tell!!


PAST MEETINGS
The teams have played a total of 13 times (9 League, 4 Cup) with 23 goals (7 Inverness CT, 16 Aberdeen ) between them.

Inverness CT : 0 wins (0 League, 0 Cup) Draws: 7 (6 League, 1 Cup)
Aberdeen: 6 wins (3 League, 3 Cup)




SOME PREVIOUS MEETINGS
08/08/1998 (League Cup 2nd Round) INVERNESS CT 0-3 Aberdeen :  
In the first game between the sides it was a Billy Dodds hat-trick that gave the top-flight side the win. Inverness CT was a 2nd Division side at the time.

20/02/2000 (Scottish Cup 4th Round) INVERNESS CT 1-1 Aberdeen :  
After the excellent achievements of beating Celtic at Parkhead in the previous round, the gift was a home-tie against Aberdeen which was screened live by Sky-Sports. Bobby Mann’s header looked as if it would have taken the Caley Jags through but Cato Gunviet scored with 10 minutes remaining meaning a replay was to be played. Both scorers got yellow cards during the match. Aberdeen won the replay 1-0.

16/10/2004 (SPL) INVERNESS CT 1-3 Aberdeen (Pittodrie):  
With all the media hype about Aberdeen playing away at Pittodrie was a joke before this game. Inverness were paying Aberdeen £30,000 for the day plus Aberdeen didn’t need to travel to Inverness . And plus they still got the victory thanks to 2 penalties. Roy McBain got the goal for Caley Thistle which was a great goal.


FACTS BETWEEN THE TEAMS
All League meetings between the teams have taken place in the SPL. Aberdeen are unbeaten in all fixtures between the teams. The biggest win in the fixture was when Aberdeen won 3-1 on 16/4/2004 away to us at Pittodrie! McBain scored Inverness ’s solo goal. If Inverness CT beat Aberdeen on Sunday, I believe they will have beaten every team that has graced the SPL. In the last 7 games, neither of these teams have scored more than 1 goal in this fixture. Last season produced three 1-1 draws. In two of these, Aberdeen (Lovell) scored late equalising goals.


PLAYERS TO WATCH
Dennis Wyness (ICT): The ex-Aberdeen player has finally found form and will be looking for his 100th goal for the club on Sunday. How fitting would it be if he got it against his old club? The club he has supported since he was a boy? Wyness, now 30 years old, will be looking for an extension to his contract, and if he keeps on scoring then the contract will come sooner rather than later.

Marius Niculae (ICT): Plain and simple, lets hope he finally breaks his duck in the SPL!!

Darren Mackie (Aberdeen): Just back from injury, Aberdeen desperately need Mackie fit and scoring goals. Since the loss of Brewster, Aberdeen need a goal scoring striker and they are hoping that Darren is the answer. However in the last game, both Lee Miller and Scott Severin helped themselves to 2 goals each, taking the pressure of strikers like Mackie.


FUTURE FIXTURES
Wed 31st Oct: Aberdeen v Inverness CT (CIS Cup Quarter Final)
Wed 2nd Jan: Aberdeen v Inverness CT (SPL)
Sat 29th Mar: Inverness CT v Aberdeen (SPL)
Dates subject to change.
Guest
By Guest in Previews 2007-08 ·

Midfielder Suspended

Teaser Paragraph:
Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC have confirmed that midfielder Richie Hart has been suspended from playing and training with the club until further notice.
The decision was taken following a court appearance yesterday (October 9th) where he pled guilty to being in possession of a controlled substance at the RockNess music festival earlier this year.
Fan opinion is divided on what action the club should take follwing the news, but it would appear that the writing may be on the wall for Hart following the issue of this Press Release by Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC.:-
"Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC can confirm that following Richard Hart pleading guilty to a criminal offence concerning a controlled substance, Mr Hart has been suspended from training and playing with the club until further notice. When the matter was originally brought to our attention, the club interviewed the player and given his responses agreed to leave the matter until the allegations were addressed in court.
The club would like to reassure the club's commercial partners, supporters and the public that the club adopts a very firm stance in relation to the use and/or possession of drugs.
The club will deal with the matter internally and will make no further comment until the position has been resolved."
Guest
By Guest in News 2007-08 ·

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