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Hamilton -V- Inverness CT - Play off Final 1st Leg - Preview

 
Play-Off Final 1st Leg
 
Having scraped into the play-off final, we find our route to Championship survival blocked by a two leg play-off encounter against a team we often struggled against, Hamilton Accies, one of lifes great relegation dodgers. They did eventually make the drop into League 1 a season ago but will fancy their chances against a struggling Caley Jags. They seemed to hold the Indian sign over us in season 2022/2023 with four wins out of five encounters, albeit one was a Challenge Cup game at NDP when we fielded a team of youths and Mark Ridgers during one of our worst peroids for injuries. We did win at NDP towards the end of that season with Billy Mckay scoring three minutes from the end. Overall, the stats are even, Accies one game to the good out of 31 meetings.
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Match/Ticket Info
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Accies Access: Admission: Adults £20, -18 & +65 £10. Accies season ticket holders 1/2 price on production of their cards at the gate. Cash only at turnstiles. Card payments at shop
Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 17 5 4 8 25 23 +2 Away 14 7 2 5 20 18 +2 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 31 12 6 13 45 41 +4 He Scores When He Wants:  2 - 1 A long trip on a Tuesday night to face your bogey team is not ideal, especially when it gets to the business end of the season. That's what faced the Caley Jags as we looked to win our sixth game on the bounce against struggling Hamilton Accies who have already beaten us four times this season. Inverness could go third, but Accies would be hoping to put some distance between themselves and bottom side Cove Rangers. As it turned out it remained goalless at the interval with Deas seeing a header saved by Fulton just before the break. Connor Smith scored direct from a free kick after the interval but Nathan Shaw equalised three minutes later. Billy Mckay won all three points with a poachers goal in off the post with three minutes left and that's how it ended. Phew!
Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Accies
2 - 1
(A)
1 - 2
(A)
0 - 3
(H)
0 - 2
(A)
0 - 1
(H)
4 - 0
(H)
1 - 1
(A)
1 - 2
(H)
1 - 2
(A)
2 - 1
(H) How did we get into this mess
Our demise has been well documented this season in the Championship where we got off to a poor start before relieving Billy Dodds of his duties after winning 1 point in our first six games. In comes our saviour, Big Dunc. However all is not well and we just kept our heads above water thanks to Arbroath being rubbish. Onto the play offs and an insipid performance at Links Park left us all wondering if our time has come to drop into oblivion. Our performance certainly would not look out of place in the lower leagues. We clung on for a 0-0 draw away from home and scraped a 1-0 win at Inverness with Billy Mckay saving our blushes with his 112th goal for the club and most important to date. Everything about the club has negative undertones at the moment.
Well travelled and long suffering Caley Jags fan Gringo said:  "That was my first game of the season and my first chance to see with my own eyes how gash ICT have become. That was one awful unentertaining game and by far the worst I've seen from the team I support. No passion, no urgency, no desire, no creativity...nothing. Square balls across the back line time after time. Can't keep possession. Can't shoot. Two game against a part time outfit and we can only bag one goal. There needs to be drastic improvement against Hamilton and I fully believe Dunc is incapable of doing that with this bunch of players. Hamilton will be a tough hurdle to overcome and I fear the worse". 
John Rankin's Hamilton Accies on the other hand are rightly in a positive mood after an excellent season in League 1 finishing second to all conquering Falkirk and conceding the same amount goals as the Champions. Hamilton's stats for their League campaign with (ict in brackets). Won 22 (10) Drawn 8 (12) Lost 6 (14) Goals for 73 (41), Goals against 28 (40) 
Top Scorers
Kevin O'Hara 16 Euan Henderson 10 Ahkeem Rose 7 Lewis Smith 5 (Lewis also tops the assist chart with 11) Kyle MacDonald 5 Reghan Tumilty 5 ICT loan player Jake Davidson has also bagged a couple of goals for Accies but will be ineligible to play.
Hamilton did face Championship opposition in the Challenge Cup, losing 4-1 to Raith Rovers. That game was nicely poised at 0-1 until Lee Kilday was red carded after 54 minutes. Raith capitalised and scored a further three goals with Zanatta netting for Accies. Let's not forget, Accies also have an artificial surface which is something Ferguson bleated about after the Montrose game at Links Park.
Accies team v Alloa: Lyness; Longridge, Kilday (Owens 68 ), Barjonas (Rose 68 ), Henderson (Hastie 78 ), Martin (Murray 84), O’Hara, L. Smith, McGowan, Tumilty, Williamson (Davidson 45).
Subs Not Used: J. Smith; Redfern, Winter, Hendrie.
 
Inverness latest Team News
Here's Dunc's briefing: Sean McAllister out with recurring injury. Sounds as though the rest will be as you were and Charlie Gilmour is hopefully fit to play some part. Don't look for any drastic changes.
 
 
By tm4tj in Previews 2023-24 ·

Inverness CT 1-0 Montrose Play-Off Second Leg (0-0)

Little Consolation
 
Inverness will face Hamilton Accies in the Play-Off final after nervously scraping past part-time Montrose who were eventually reduced to ten men when Blair Lyons was sent off after an off the ball incident in the 84th minute involving Morgan Boyes. Inverness had dominated throughout, but failed to capitalise on their possession, and as per the entire season failed to create much of note. The first half was livlier than the first leg, but the same problems showed up our lack of quality. We started with no wingers and Billy Mckay as usual in a withdrawn role. It's not worked all season, so why should it suddenly work now. A woeful first half ended goalless and it was on the hour and out of the blue when Billy Mckay prodded in from three yards to score the only goal of the game following a corner. Cammy Harper had smacked the outside of the keepers right hand post as he cut in from the left prior to this but chances were at a premium. We had to rely on the ever alert Mark Ridgers to deny Ali Shrive's vicious shot from 15 yards to keep us ahead as Montrose were still in the tie after 75 minutes, but that was the only real effort of note from the visitors although Ridgers was quick off his line in the first half to snuff out a through ball. With Lyon's red card went any hope Montrose had of taking the game further, but fair play to them and their vocal following for making a fist of it against a rank rotten Inverness side. It's little consolation to know we are through to the final play-off games against Accies, as we have big problems to iron out if we are to retain our Championship status. We won the battle today, but the war still has a long way to go.
 
 
 
 
It's Montrose that take all the plaudits, but it's Inverness that are still in the play-offs.
 
Wednesday May 15th
Championship play-off final, 1st leg
Hamilton Accies v Inverness CT
Live on BBC ALBA, kick-off 8.05pm
Saturday May 18
Championship play-off final, 2nd leg
Inverness CT v Hamilton Accies
Live on BBC ALBA, kick-off 5.30pm
 
 
 
Date:  11/05/2024  Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2089 Referee: Alan Muir
 
Inverness CT: 1
Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup:  Ridgers; Carragher, Boyes, Savage, Duffy (Gilmour 76), Kerr, Anderson (Lawal 46), Harper, McAllister (Longstaff 47), B Mckay (Brooks 66), Alex Samuel (Pepple 75) Subs (not used):  C Mackay; Ujdur, Devine, MacGregor Scorers: B Mckay (59) Booked:  Pepple (90) Sent Off: none Montrose FC: 0
Manager: Stewart Petrie Lineup:  Gill; Williamson (Brown 60), Quincy, Dillon, Steeves, Webster, Machado (Hester 61), Gardyne (Masson 68), Graham, Lyons, Callaghan (Shrive 68) Subs (not used): Mathews; Watson, Hermiston, Batchelor, Craig,  Scorers: none Booked: Graham (88)  Sent Off: Lyons (84) a

By tm4tj in Reports 2023-24 ·

Inverness CT -V- Montrose - Second Leg (0-0)

 
Play-Off Second Leg
 
It's only Half-Time in the League 1/Championship semi-final play-offs. Both games are finely poised, Inverness v Morton scoreless and Accies v Alloa level at 2-2. Inverness had a shocker at Links Park on the artificial surface. However, the reality of the matter is we showed no urgency whatsoever and played second fiddle to Montrose throughout the game. Many fans have said this is the worst team they can remember in the clubs short history. No passion, no swashbuckle, nothing, just completely flat and zero dimensional. Only Lawal and Ridgers were given pass marks by the less than impressed Caley Jags support. As much as we have criticised the Caley Jags performance on Tuesday night, let's not lose sight of the fact that Montrose are a decent League 1 side with a good blend of experience and talented prospects. For our part, let's keep them as a good League 1 side and that means no room for faffing about. Time has run out now, there's no hiding places and no room for shirkers. Ditch the sideways passing or put goal posts in front of the Main Stand and tuck shops.
Gardiner, Morrison and the rest of the suits. Are you listening to the fans, because nothing seems to have changed and the standard of football on display is driving people away from the Stadium.
Here's a selection of comments from the forums on CTO, have a gander:
An utterly shameful performance tonight. Mortifying to be in this position but to approach the game with such little intent or urgency is unforgivable and up there with one of the most insipid performances I can recall in such a crucial game. Genuinely one of the most depressing experiences in 30 years of watching ICT. I simply cannot see us staying up with this group of players and management. Just got home and realised that instead of travelling to Montrose and enduring that p1sh, I could’ve stayed at home and watched the Eurovision semi-final! Awful game.  Caley were outplayed and outfought all over the pitch.  As others have said, only Lawal gets pass marks - the only one to show a bit of urgency and desire. (perhaps Samuel, too, but he was just so isolated).  Lawal's run down the left with a great little turn gave us the only thing to cheer about, and then his shot off the bar, of course.  That was it.  Imagine if we had a former Scotland U21 midfielder who had played for the club on over 100 occasions, born and bred in Inverness and brought through our youth system. Imagine he’d been available since January. I doubt he’d be as good as the loanees though so no point imagining anything apart from life in League 1  Not really shocked by the result it’s the same old crap week in week out bar the odd lucky result .And by odd I mean ODD  Simply not good enough. Can’t believe a former (striker) manager plays a team the way he does! We are a disgrace to the jersey so far. Absolutely honking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Match/Ticket Info
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Latest Team News
Not much has changed since Tuesday, but word has it that Danny Devine is a doubt. However, it's at the other end of the park where most of our troubles lie. Carragher and McAllister are available, Devine a doubt as suggested, and Charlie Gilmour training on grass. Think we all need some after Tuesday night... 
 
Mark will be a vital player for us on Saturday.
 
Montrose have three strikers who have totalled over thirty goals between them, so danger all around the box. We can not afford to be complacent, and we need to show more urgency, passion and quality than we displayed at Links Park.
 
By tm4tj in Previews 2023-24 ·

Montrose 0-0 Inverness CT - Play Off 1st Leg

Utter Drivel
 
Inverness had a couple of fresh injury concerns ahead of this first Leg play off encounter at Links Park, and with the effect an artificial surface can have on recovering players James Carragher and Sean McAllister were benched with Samson Lawal getting a rare start. Alex Samuel had recovered from his face knock and will be our main target up front. Montrose had top scorers Kane Hester, Blair Lyons and Graham Webster on from the start with chief assister Michael Gardyne probing and providing the ammunition.
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A bright start for Montrose as they ventured into the Inverness box a couple of times in the opening few minutes without troubling Mark Ridgers in goal. The visitors looked edgy on the unfamiliar surface and found it difficult to get forward, but that's nothing new for us to be honest. In the ninth minute Ridgers pulled off a brilliant save low down to his left to deny Graham Webster after determined work by Blair Lyons down the left. Webster got plenty power on his shot but Ridgers did enough to put the ball behind for a corner. Bit of pinball in the box after the corner but Ridgers eventually mopped up the loose ball. Fifteen minutes in and it's the hosts that are making all the early running with Inverness opting to pass sideways and backwards. Half an hour gone and the current Championship side have failed to muster a decent attempt on goal. Shockingly poor display from us, a spinning turn and drag from Samson Lawal our only highlight. Ridgers was called into action again as he denied a deflected shot from Kane Hester and then we had to look sharp to block another effort from him before scrambling the ball out for a corner. Meanwhile we continued to play possession football which has never won anything and troubled no defence ever. ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz. Rudely awoken from my slumber by an effort from Alex Samuel slipping by the post five minutes before the break as we eventually tried something. Oooft, almost on the interval and Lawal smashed a tremendous strike from over twenty-five yards but it smacked the junction of the bar and out to safety. Bit of a stramash in the home box as Pixie Lot followed a seagull heading towards the Inverness box. When Pixie caught up Montrose were awarded a free kick in their own box. We woke up briefly as half time approached but up until then it was shockingly poor. No urgency, no direction, no hope of staying up if this continues.
HALF TIME: 0-0
Samuel got the first proper effort of the second half away as he shot from the edge of the box , but Cammy Gill was equal to it as he saved low down to his right. Montrose responded and Danny Devine did well to block a fierce shot on the edge of the Inveness box from Shrive. The pace of the game had thankfully picked up since the interval and Billy Mckay was close to linking inside the home area. However it was Montrose that went close again through Lyons. On the hour Duffy replaced Savage and Callaghan came on for Shrive. Ridgers easily gathered a flicked header as Montrose threatened from a free kick. Lawal found himself with the ball at his feet 10 yards from goal but he hastily stabbed his shot goalwards and Gill gathered comfortably. Ridgers did likewise as Webster tried a first time volley with twenty minutes left. Another free header from a free kick bounced past Ridgers' post as Inverness struggled to make any headway. With fifteen minutes left Carragher and McAllister entered the game. Inverness were reduced to hoofing the ball anywhere out of defence as Montrose looked to up the pressure. Another really poor gutless performance from Ferguson's side who will have to do much better if they are to stay up. Utter drivel springs to mind.
FULL TIME: 0-0
All to play for on Saturday, but don't hold your breath...
However, if we continue like this, it will be our final game this season.
Best performer for us was Samson Lawal, the only bright spark on the field.
Alloa 2-2 Hamilton was the other semi-final score tonight. On this evidence, I doubt either side will be quaking in their boots.
Delighted not to lose aren't we...
Some folk are easily pleased!
 
 
Date:  07/05/2024  Venue: Links Park, Montrose Attendance: 1043 Referee: Chris Graham 
 
Montrose FC: 0 
Manager: Stewart Petrie Lineup:  Gill; Steeves, Dillon, Quinn, Graham, Webster (Williamson 78), Shrive (Callaghan 60), Brown (Machado 78), Gardyne, Lyons, Hester (Hermiston 85) Subs (not used):  Mathews; Masson, Cochrane, Batchelor, Craig Scorers: none Booked: Steeves (45+3) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0
Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup:  Ridgers; Kerr, Devine, Boyes, Savage (Duffy 60), Longstaff (Carragher 77), Lawal,  Anderson (McAllister 77), Harper, B Mckay (MacGregor 83), Alex Samuel (Pepple 83) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Ujdur, Austin Samuels, Brooks, Scorers: none Booked: Anderson (30)  Sent Off: none a
By tm4tj in Reports 2023-24 ·

Montrose v Inverness CT - Play Off 1st Leg

1st Leg Play-Off
 
As Dunc said, "It is what it is, isnt it". The dreaded play-offs are here and we find ourselves with more work to do if we want to retain our Championship status. Standing in our way are Montrose. A side we have not played against since 2009, prior to that we locked horns with them in the lower divisions until we were promoted after 1997. A man we all like to hate, Michael Gardyne has been a prominent player for them and Kane Hester is top scorer at Links Park. A mixture of old heads, journeymen and promising players against our bunch of mercenaries. The return leg is this Saturday at the Caledonian Stadium. Who will make it into the final showdown. Accies or Alloa are the other options. We will do well to not underestimate a Montrose team who do not lack some very experienced players.
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Match/Ticket/Streaming Info
***AWAY FANS: Entry is strictly by online ticket only £17***
Supporters Bus
Second Leg v Montrose
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Venue H2H Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 5 2 1 2 6 10 -4 Away 4 2 1 1 6 5 +1 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 9 4 2 3 12 15 -3 We don't have that great a record against Montrose to be honest, albeit our last meeting with them was a Challenge Cup game in 2009 which went to penalties before Inverness progressed scoring all five spot kicks. Summary: In the end, it was a set of 5 flawless penalties from the home side that forced the tie in their favour. Rooney, Tokely, the captain Munro, Duncan and Djebi-zadi scoring for Inverness, while Ryan Esson saved well from Hegarty. Davidson, Crighton and Gemmell all dispatched their penalties for the Gable Endies, but in the end it proved fruitless. For many the final whistle and the final penalty was the highlight of the match, although Lionel’s celebratory dance certainly forced some entertainment into a poor showing from the 1st division side. The home gathering left grateful to have snatched victory from their surprisingly tough 3rd division opponents, while the small but vocal away support left with heads held high. Montrose put up an admirable fight but a ring rusty ICT eventually forced their way to the end of the match and into the next round for a home tie against Stranraer.
All nine Competitive Meetings v Montrose ***click on first score on left for full report on above game, or any other.
1 - 1
(H)
3 - 2
(H)
2 - 0
(A)
2 - 0
(H)
2 - 2
(A)
0 - 3
(H)
1 - 0
(A)
0 - 4
(H)
1 - 3
(A) Prior to that early season Alba Cup game, our encounters with Montrose started in October 1994 up until we left them behind in 1997, a 3 - 2 League win, Promotion, an Iain Stewart hat-trick and a customary lob in front of 3036! On our Way Up: A great day for Inverness as the home side won promotion with a superb hat trick from Iain Stewart. They started well and Charlie Christie hit the bar in 4 minutes. They took the lead in 13 minutes when Iain Stewart took a pass from Daisy Ross and slid it home from 8 yards. It all began to go wrong in 23 minutes when Colin McGlashan equalised from the penalty spot after Mike Noble pushed Craig Mailer. Shaun Smith made it 2-1 for Montrose in 42 minutes with a shot from 6 yards after a cut back from David Fisher. The home side came back strongly in the second half and were rewarded in 67 minutes - a Brian Thomson free kick from the left was turned in by Iain Stewart at the far post. The winner came in 81 minutes - a Brian Thomson through ball found Iain Stewart who ran 20 yards before chipping it over Jim Butter under severe pressure from Mark Haro. 
The Division Championship can be won next week - the only team that can overtake them is local rivals Ross County.
Inverness find themselves in the play-offs after one of our most frustrating seasons ever, with many believing this is our worst ever squad. Injuries have been a big part of our last couple of seasons and this one was no different. Billy Dodds was relieved of his duties after winning just one point in our opening six games. Big Dunc the celebrity came in and it looked like we might be saved, despite his shocking track record in management. However, we soon reverted to type and constantly struggled to gain points at home, and on the field that is one of the main reasons we are up to our eyes in sh1te. Add in the continuing off field antics of our board and CEO, then the mismanagement from above is dragging us down. These play-offs are not about them though. This is about the players and the fans who have tried to lift us out of this gloom. Should we avoid the drop, and unless anything changes higher up the chain, then the same problems will exist within the club next season wherever we find ourselves. We did end the regular season with a home victory, unfortunately a bit of a hollow one with QP confining us to the relegation zone despite amassing 42 points and a positive goal difference (just).
Montrose are here by virtue of an excellent season and finishing fourth in League1. 53 points; 15 wins, 8 draws and 13 defeats with 58 goals scored and 57 conceeded, that was enough to qualify for the play-offs despite a less than impressive end to the season with only two wins from their last six games L  D L  L  W W . They look likely to have rested some legs once safe in fourth, the likes of Gardyne not used last week in the 3-2 comeback win over QotS. Familiar names in their ranks are Michael Gardyne, much hated around here. Matheus Machado the young Brazilian prospect once at Inverness and Kane Hester formerly at Elgin City. Sean Dillon, the former Dundee United defender is a player coach at Montrose, plenty experience there. No surprise that Gardyne tops the assists table with 10.
Three players are well in front of the rest in the goals scored department:
Kane Hester: 11 Blair Lyons: 10 Graham Webster: 10 Here's their team lines from the home defeat to Hamilton Accies three games ago.
Starting XI:  Gill; Williamson, Steeves (c), Graham, Dillon, Quinn, Gardyne, Shrive, Lyons, Batchelor, Webster
Subs:  Hester, Hermiston, Emslie, Callaghan, Craig, Matthews, Brown, Machado, Davies.
Latest Team News
Inverness: I doubt Ferguson has much wiggle room within his squad. Alex Samuel took a heavy knock last Friday and might be a doubt, will have to wait for Duncs pre-match spiel, and here it is: Sean McAllister is struggling as is James Carragher. The good news is Alex Samuel is fine, he only got a whack on the face so he is good to go. Longstaff is also ready after feeling a twinge in his knee. Much of these knocks are dependent on their plastic pitch.
 
Montrose: They appear to have a solid squad and I have no news of any issues within. (and it's a bank holiday)
 
Play Off Schedule
Tuesday May 7th
Championship play-off semi-finals, 1st leg
   Montrose v Inverness CT
Alloa Ath v Hamilton 
Saturday May 11th
Championship play-off semi-finals, 2nd leg
Inverness CT v Montrose    
 Hamilton v Alloa Ath
Wednesday May 15th
Championship play-off final, 1st leg
Lowest-ranked team at home in 1st leg
Live on BBC ALBA, kick-off 8.05pm
Saturday May 18
Championship play-off final, 2nd leg
Highest-ranked team at home in 2nd leg
Live on BBC ALBA, kick-off 5.30pm
 
By tm4tj in Previews 2023-24 ·

Inverness CT 3-1 Morton - Report

Play Off Despair
 
Ahead of kick off it was out of our hands with Queens Park holding all the aces. To escape the play offs, we had to better what Queens Park did against Airdrie. First and foremost we had to ensure we did not lose and hope that the Spiders dropped points at Hampden versus the Diamonds on the last night of the regular season. Both sides were missing some important players for this game with Morton undefeated in their last five visits to the Caledonian Stadium.
It was a lovely evening for a game of football, what could possibly go wrong? Well, what did go wrong was Queen's Park beat an understrength Airdrie 2-0 at Hampden, therefore despite beating Morton 3-1, Inverness head for the play-offs. Morgan Boyes opened the scoring with a thumping volley after half an hour. Kirk Broadfoot benefited from slack defending to level before the break then proceeded to earn the wrath of the home support with an embarrassing celebration in front of the North Stand. Cammy Harper relieved Billy Mckay of penalty kick duties and duly slotted home from the spot ten minutes after the break. The scoring was completed just after the hour when Sean McAllister drilled home into the bottom corner. Robbie Muirhead had been sent off for simulation then taking a wee fit to himself and was promptly sent off after 58 minutes just after Harper had knocked in his penalty kick, probably aggrieved that he never earned a spot kick for his dramatic dive.
When news of Queen's Park going two up filtered through to the North Stand and the familiar tactic of sideways passing reared it's ugly head, the home fans turned their frustration to the main culprit, and  chants of Gardiner Gardiner GTF rang round the home end.
So, it's off to meet the Gable Endies for us on Tuesday 7th May with the return at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday 11th May.
Full Time 3-1
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Alex Samuel was injured after 69 minutes and that will be a blow should he miss out in the play-offs. Hopefully just a precaution.
Samson Lawal looked up for it when he came on and gave us another dimension. Cammy Harper did brilliantly to ignore the distraction attempts by keeper Ryan Mullen before slotting the penalty in. Robbie Muirhead. What a tool! Having been booked he then put himself in the referee's face before angrily leaving the pitch and kicking anything within his reach. 😂 How's yer toes this morning ya rocket?🚀 🪐 🚀
 
 
 
We're in the play-offs, aren't we>>>
 
Just the goals>>>
 
Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Montrose here we come... 1. Dundee Utd 36 22 9 5 73 23 75 2. Raith Rovers 36 20 9 7 58 42 69 3. Partick Thistle 36 14 13 9 63 54 55 4. Airdrieonians 36 15 7 14 44 44 52 5. Morton 36 12 9 15 43 46 45 6. Dunfermline 36 11 12 13 43 48 45 7. Ayr United 36 12 8 16 53 61 44 8. Queens Park 36 11 10 15 50 56 43 9. Inverness CT 36 10 12 14 41 40 42 10. Arbroath 36 6 5 25 35 89 23 Tuesday May 7th
Championship play-off semi-finals, 1st leg
   Montrose v Inverness CT
Alloa Ath v Hamilton 
Saturday May 11th
Championship play-off semi-finals, 2nd leg
Inverness CT v Montrose    
 Hamilton v Alloa Ath
Wednesday May 15th
Championship play-off final, 1st leg
Lowest-ranked team at home in 1st leg
Live on BBC ALBA, kick-off 8.05pm
Saturday May 18
Championship play-off final, 2nd leg
Highest-ranked team at home in 2nd leg
Live on BBC ALBA, kick-off 5.30pm
 
 
 
Date:  03/05/2024  Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2914 Referee: Craig Napier 
 
Inverness CT: 3
Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup:  Ridgers; Carragher, Boyes, Savage (Devine 69), Longstaff (Lawal 50), Kerr, Anderson, Harper, McAllister (MacGregor 77), B Mckay (Duffy 77) Alex Samuel (Pepple 69) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Ujdur, Austin Samuel, Brooks Scorers: Boyes (30), Harper (56 pen), McAllister (62) Booked: none Sent Off: none Morton: 1
Manager: Dougie Imrie Lineup:  Mullen; French, Broadfoot, Power (Bearne 64) Waters, Crawford, Blues, Gillespie (Wilson 80), Muirhead, Quintongo (McGrattan 64), Oakley Subs (not used): Murdoch; Scorers: Broadfoot (41) Booked: Gillespie (52), Power (55), Mullen (56), Muirhead (58) Sent Off: Muirhead (58) 😂 a
By tm4tj in Reports 2023-24 ·

Inverness CT -V- Morton - Preview

 
Last Chance
 
It's the last chance in the last chance saloon for us if we want to avoid the dreaded relegation play offs with some olde adversaries licking their lips in anticipation that our insipid non scoring bunch of mercenaries will be the final piece of the relegation jigsaw. Morton are the visitors on Friday night whilst Queens Park host Airdrieonians. Waiting eagerly for us to drop in are perrenial hoodoo sides Hamilton Academicals and Alloa Athletic with Montrose, complete with Michael Gardyne and other journeymen and one Brazilian Matteus Machado, who spent some time at Inverness as a promising youth. However, first things first, it's Dougie Imrie's Morton side who come North looking to sign off their season on a high. Did Dougie dodge a bullet with Duncan Ferguson pulling the managerial rug from under his feet to get the Caley Jags gig. I'm sure that will be enough incentive for Dougie to throw the relegation spanner into the works.
 
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Match/Ticket Info
Bring a friend for £££££
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Venue H2H v Morton Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 22 12 6 4 48 20 +28 Away 21 12 3 6 40 26 +14 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 43 24 9 10 88 46 +42 As the stats show, we have a massive advantage over Morton, however, as we have deteriorated over the last few years, Morton's more recent record against us has improved and given that, this game could go either way whereas a few years ago it was almost a gimmee. We have failed to beat Morton at the Caledonian Stadium in our last five encounters.
Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Morton
2 - 0
(A)
0 - 0
(H)
1 - 2
(A)
2 - 1
(A)
2 - 2
(H)
0 - 4
(A)
0 - 1
(H)
1 - 0
(A)
0 - 1
(H)
6 - 1
(A) We could do with some of this from August 2019: 5 - 0 With BBC TV looking on, Inverness and Morton served up a Friday night first half horror show. Thankfully, in stark contrast, the second half was full of entertainment.

In a lifeless first half at the Caledonian Stadium, neither side was able to get the handful of fans inside the ground excited, however, just before the interval Aaron Doran made a half yard of space for himself inside the box and fired a wicked shot at Rogers. He parried the shot away and James Keatings guided the loose ball back into the net from ten yards. One minute into the second half and Keatings bagged his second as he rifled the ball home from 12 yards on the right side of the box. The third came about after a good bit of ball retention ended with Jordan White rolling the ball into the net. Mark Ridgers saved a miserable penalty from Nicky Cadden after David Carson handled from an overhead attempt. Coll Donaldson met a corner from Keatings at the front post to nod down into the net to make it four nil. Substitute Nikolay Todorov got into the act and drilled one past Rogers from 18 yards, and there endeth the scoring. (click on above score for full report)
How did we get into this mess: Take a bow the Inverness board and CEO.
Well, where do you start. It was clear from the begining of the season that something was wrong. Poor signings, dismal performances in the League Cup followed by an abysmal start to the League campaign saw Billy Dodds removed from his position after winning one point in the first six Championship fixtures and replaced by a man with no track record as a manager. A sort of publicity stunt if you like. After the initial new manager bounce wore off, we found ourselves little better off with Big Dunc than we were with wee Billy. We did claw ourselves up to the coat tails of others but the most damning part of our season has been our inability to score goals, especially at home. Only already relegated Arbroath are worse than us. Our team is now full of mercenaries, loan players with no affiliation to our Highland pedigree and many fans have tagged us as being the worst squad ever in our short history. Where are the Golabeck's, Tokeley's, Wilson's..... Much of this can be attributed to our lack of financial nous in the boardroom, failed ventures and now the begging bowls are being put in place to save our club. Having drawn at Dunfermline last week thanks to Aribim Pepple's first goal for the club combined with Billy Mckay's penalty miss, it's now out of our own hands. LAST SIX: D L  W W L  D 
Morton have slipped off the pace recently after looking like they were going to make the top four at one point. They are on a similar run to us, but safe from danger. They drew 0-0 with Raith Rovers last week and their only victory in April was a 2-1 win over 'tools down' Arbroath. LAST SIX:  W L  D L  W D .
Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts We are on the bottom edge of a congested mid-table mediocrity 1. Dundee Utd 35 21 9 5 69 22 72 2. Raith Rovers 35 19 9 7 53 42 66 3. Partick Thistle 35 14 13 8 62 50 55 4. Airdrieonians 35 15 7 13 44 42 52 5. Morton 35 12 9 14 42 43 45 6. Dunfermline 35 11 11 13 40 45 44 7. Ayr United 35 12 7 16 50 58 43 8. Queens Park 35 10 10 15 48 56 40 9. Inverness CT 35 9 12 14 38 39 39 10. Arbroath 35 6 5 24 35 84 23 FRIDAY NIGHT 7:45pm    Ayr United v Dunfermline Dundee United v Partick Thistle   Inverness v Morton     Queens Park v Airdrieonians Raith Rovers v Arbroath     Latest Team News
Inverness have very few options to change things around. Aaron Doran confirmed as long term injury. Don't expect many changes.
 
Morton will come North without Lewis Strapp, he of the looooong throw, injured against Dunfermline over a month ago. Kirk Broadfoot is still going strong and George Oakley has a new lease of life since leaving Inverness. They also have the dangerous and powerful Robbie Muirhead and Jao Quintongo.
Dougie has his own injury problems to deal with>>>
 
Morton team v Raith (0-0) Mullen   French   O'Connor   Broadfoot   Waters   Blues   Gillespie (Power 90)   Crawford   Quintongo (McGrattan 70)   Muirhead (Bearne 70)   Oakley   McCann (Holmes 80)   Subs Not Used: Murdoch; Baird, Wilson
By tm4tj in Previews 2023-24 ·

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