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Inverness CT -V- Dundee United - Preview

Chirpy Chirpy Cheap Cheap?
 
Where's yer money gone........ where's yer money gone, far far away. Middle of the road and this early in the season sees our first six-pointer as table toppers and financial deficit champions Dundee United visit the Caledonian Stadium in the Ladbrokes Championship. That's only £3 million more than ours. It's a top end clash where a home victory would put the cat back amongst the pigeons. Defeat will be not welcomed and a draw will keep the status quo.
Where's yer money gone........ where's yer money gone, far far away

Ogren or Ogre? Whilst we find it difficult to bring players North on our paltry wage offers and poor crowds, United are being heavily backed to get into the Premiership this time round with wages of £4m at Tannadice alone accounting for a 39% increase of £1.13m. At least they get reasonable backing in the stands to help, but it's still well short of what they are dishing out to keep the likes of Shankland, McMullan, Reynolds, Sow and Pawlett on the books. In fact, Shankland's wages are allegedly not on this deficit as he signed in July. At least he will be a saleable assett when he gets them to where they want to be before being whisked away by a bigger cheque book. Staggering to think what he is costing££££££.
You can read more about the financial disparity between the clubs on the report from BBC Sport https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50214653
A week ago we had a disappointing day at Greenock going down 2-1 to a Bob McHugh brace while Mitch Curry countered for us. That was a great chance to get right on the heels of United but we blew it in spectacular error strewn fashion. However, last time out we recorded an excellent 2-0 win at Palmerston, a venue that United were thrashed 4-0 at 10 days earlier. Well taken goals from Aaron Doran and Nikolay Todorov sealed the points in a difficult encounter where the defence turned up and the forwards did what forwards are supposed to do.  Check these out..........BOOM BOOM!
United had a difficult time overcoming Dunfermline Athletic last weekend when we were struggling at Greenock, but they saw off the Pars 2-0, thanks to first half goals from £awrence Shankland and Nicky C£ark. The Pars came back strongly and had plenty of possession, hitting the crossbar, but United held on for the points. On Tuesday night they overcame Partick Thistle and who else but £awrence Shankland did the damage, his 17th goal of the season already, although once again their opponents had the lions share of the ball and created plenty of opportunities to take something from the game. So, even at home, United are content to forego possession and hit on the break. Be warned, that's what undid us in the play-offs.
Here's something for you to watch while your tatties are boiling..... Take a bow Ross Grant
Sean Welsh is out long term. James Keatings missed out at Palmerston with no news prior to that game of any injuries, so presumably he was rested with the artificial surface forcing him to take a sabbatical. Those who saw him at Morton thought he was not fully 100%, so that makes sense. He will be available for the United game. Coll Donaldson will play with ear muffs as the sad Arabs prepare to boo him when the ball goes withing 25 metres of him.
The Arabs have money to burn apparently. Well it's nearly time for Guy Fawkes, so lets build a bonfire. Plenty of options for them with their big squad so won't make much difference who is in and who is out....... unless it's £awrence Shankland I suppose. However, defender Troy Brown missed out last week but could return although Mark Conno££y is not fully fit yet.
Other fixtures this weekend
Dundee 2-1 Morton (Friday)
Arbroath v Alloa Athletic
Ayr United v Partick Thistle
Dunfermline v Queen of the South
 
 
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By tm4tj in Previews 2019-20 ·

Queen of South 0-V-2 Inverness CT - Report

Hot Toddy warms the 39.
 
Inverness made four changes from the defeat at Greenock as Aaron Doran, Nikolay Todorov, Charlie Trafford and Roddy MacGregor came into the side. Miles Storey, Jordan White,  and James Vincent made way with James Keatings sitting this one out on the artificial surface. Queens made one change with Abdul Osman getting his first start, replacing Lewis Kidd in the starting XI.
With just over 1200 fans in the stadium and thirty-nine in the away end, it was the hosts that started strongly and Mark Ridgers was forced to deny Stephen Dobbie from a tight angle in the first couple of minutes.
David Carson replied for Inverness in the fourth minute but McCrorie saved well in the bottom left corner, and Dobbie once more was dangerous as he shot over after a set piece. It's a frantic start from both sides and Roddy MacGregor shot narrowly over the top right corner.
Russell Osman couldn't keep the ball down following a corner as the opportunities continued for both sides. It'll be a miracle if this game remains goalless as Jack Hamilton shoots over.
Visiting captain Carl Tremarco took a knock after twenty minutes but continued after treatment. 
Approaching the half hour and a Nikolay Todorov header was comfortably gathered by McCrorie in the home goal.
Hot Toddy..........
Inverness drew first blood when Aaron Doran scored low to the left with a curled effort from the edge of the box after some neat interplay involving Donaldson, MacGregor, Curry and MacGregor again with the penultimate touch before Doran swept the ball beyond the keepers right hand.
Just before the break a good run from David Carson brought Inverness a corner but Queens kept the deficit to one goal as the half time whistle sounded.
Half Time 0-1
Connor Murray replaced Michael Paton at the start of the second half and within a couple of minutes Dobbie had dragged a shot wide at the back post after good work by El Bakhtaoui. The hosts were looking to to get back on level terms and Kevin Holt had two efforts within a minute that both missed the target. As the pressure mounted on the Inverness defence, Dobbie fired one across the face of the goals that went inches wide. 
Mark Ridgers denied Jack Hamilton with a superb fingertip save to keep Inverness ahead.
The Caley Jags broke the current trend and McCrorie saved from Curry after Roddy MacGregor fed him. Shaun Rooney was the first into the refs book around the hour and Miles Storey entered the fray at the expense of Mitch Curry.
McCrorie saved an effort from Carson as Inverness responded to the Queens pressure at the start of the second period and at the other end Dobbie headed over.
Scorer Aaron Doran was replaced by Tom Walsh with just over twenty minutes left but it was the hosts that continued to press for the equaliser as Dobbie tried his luck from range, volleying wide. With five minutes left Dobbie sliced one wide and El Bakhtaoui saw an effort saved by Ridgers in the last minute of normal time.
Tom Walsh almost added a second for Inverness but McCrorie was equal to it although he had no chance moments later when Nikolay Todorov crashed home a James Vincent feed to end the game and ensure Inverness had an enjoyable journey back up the A9.
What a great result after the indifferent form shown against Morton on Saturday. That sets it up nicely for the game on Saturday against Dundee United.
 
Other results tonight
Alloa Athletic 0-3 Dundee
Dundee Utd 1-0 Partick Thistle
Dunfermline 2-0 Arbroath
Morton 2-3 Ayr united 
 
Match reaction and video........
 
Caley Stan summed up and threw down the gauntlet to the North Stand............
And we made more noise than the Bridge End on a good day!!!
Another good battling performance. We didn't ever have control of the game apart from a couple of spells either side of the opening goal but we were a threat on the break throughout. Trafford played well and Carson was excellent alongside him. Flashes of brilliance from McGregor, but he struggled with the physicality of the game at times. Really well taken goals, Toddy lashed his home with the last kick if the ball. 
The goals......
Managers reaction from BBC Sport
Queen of the South manager Allan Johnston: "We started well first half then Inverness get a goal which is a bit sloppy from our point of view. I thought second half we were on the front foot for the majority of it and probably should have got an equaliser. But the first goal in this league is vital."
Inverness CT manager John Robertson: "We had to be lively because Queen's were bubbling after their win here against United. I thought second half Queen's pushed on to us but we defended really well and we looked a threat on the break. We took the chances at one end and didn't make any mistakes at the other."
Here he is, Robbo in person.....
 
Date: 29/10/2019  Venue: Palmerston, Dumfries Attendance: 1221 Referee: Steven Kirkland 
 
Queen of the South: 0
Lineup:  McCrorie; Mercer, Brownlie, Kilday, Holt, Pybus, Paton (Murray 45), Osman, El Bakhtaoui, Dobbie, Hamilton (Oliver 74). Subs (not used):  Burns; Murray, McCarthy, Lyon, Semple, Gourlay. Scorers: none Booked: Mercer (67) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2
Lineup:  Ridgers; Rooney, Donaldson, McCart, Tremarco, Doran (Walsh 68), Carson, Trafford, MacGregor (Vincent 78), Curry (Storey 60), Todorov. Subs (not used): C Mackay; B Mckay, McHattie, Walsh, White. Scorers: Doran (30), Todorov (90+3) Booked: Rooney (60), Tremarco (82) Sent Off: none a
By tm4tj in Reports 2019-20 ·

Queen of South -V- Inverness CT - Preview

It's Dobbie Time
 
Inverness face another daunting long distance trip three days after struggling at Greenock. This time it's off to Dumfries to take on a side on a bit of a resurgence after a poor start to the season. Queen of the South await the arrival of the Caley Jags at Palmerston, the game kicking off at 7:45pm on Tuesday night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ICT SUPPORTERS TRAVEL CLUB
The ICT Supporters Travel Club are running a bus to the game
Book on their Facebook page HERE or on 07462218717
Entry is by ticket only. Tickets should be purchased from the ticket offices before arriving at the turnstiles. The ticket office within the QOS Arena will be open from 5.30 pm with the BDS Stand Away section ticket office opening an hour later.
Please note that the BDS Stand ticket office is CASH ONLY. If you wish to purchase your ticket by card then you should use the Arena ticket office.
Ticket prices are as follows:-
Adults: £18
OAP/Concessions/ Students/ 16-21 year olds: £10
Under 16’s: £5 - Pre-School Kids: FREE
Accessible tickets are available at £8, £5 and £3.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We lost out at Greenock after Morton's Bob McHugh scored couple of goals with assists from our own defence. The first looking suspiciously offside from a hoof forward, the second Coll Donaldson will not want to see again. A Mitch Curry goal was sandwiched between these goals but despite dominating most of the game we never created enough clear chances to say we deserved victory. A worrying trend that has followed us for a few seasons now.

Queens will be disappointed to have thrown away a two goal lead at the weekend as Alloa came back to take a point at Recreation Park. Two quickfire goals in a minute saw the Doonhamers lead at the break. Who else but Stephen Dobbie, followed a minute later by Jack Hamilton. Alloa returned the favour in exactly the same manner in the second half with Alan Trouten and Kevin O'Hara scoring in the 64th and 65th minute. Like ourselves, Queen of the South would rue missed opportunities.

They have been in good form recently though, a 4-0 mauling of Dundee United the highlight. Since losing 2-0 to Inverness in the Highlands, they have drawn with Dundee, beaten Patrick Thistle in McCall's return to Firhill, thrashed United and drawn at Alloa. Incidentally, Queens were knocked out of the Challenge Cup by our next opponents in the quarter final, Clyde.

In contrast, since that game on September 21st, we have taken only one point from the bottom three clubs with our highlight being the 2-0 win at Somerset Park. We also dished out a flattering 3-0 defeat to Alloa the week before we struggled to take a point off them in the Challenge Cup. It really is a mixed bag and difficult for the supporters to see any indication that we will challenge for the title with such indifferent form.

Sean Welsh appears to be the only long term absentee but Aaron Doran was not involved last week and might be unlikely to be risked at Palmerston either on the artificial surface. Robbo has decisions to make. Our solid defence has become something of a 12th man for the opposition lately. Maybe it's time for Brad Mckay and Kevin McHattie to get a start and put some pressure on those who think it's ok just to turn up every week and get a game. Up front we need someone who is clinical. Mitch Curry has done well with limited game time, maybe he could lead the line and avoid us having to lump hopeless balls forward only for defences to mop up everything. One things for sure, it's not working great the way it is. Tom Walsh should be in line for a return to starting action after his injury lay off, he was a sub at Morton. Miles Storey must be doing something in training as he keeps getting picked, lets hope he can use his talent in a match one day. Midfield is where we are struggling to dominate teams and Robbo needs to find his best option to make the most of what's at his disposal. Maybe, Walsh, Carson, Vincent, MacGregor or maybe even throw in Trafford. Hopefully James Keatings will start and add some quality to assist the main striker.
Nothing coming from Palmerston regarding injuries so we'll assume everything is OK down Dumfries way. Here's their last XI and they normally go with a 4-1-3-2 formation:- 
McCrorie; Mercer, Brownlie, Kilday, Holt, Pybus, Kidd, El Bakhtaoui, Paton, Hamilton, Dobbie. That's the same team that whipped United.
Other fixtures on Tuesday night, all 7:45pm Kick Off
Alloa Athletic v Dundee
Dundee United v Partick Thistle
Dunfermline v Arbroath
Morton v Ayr United
 
Referee for Palmerston - Steven Kirkland
Assistants - Joseph Lawson & Kevin Lindsay.
Might as well boo them now.
 
 
By tm4tj in Previews 2019-20 ·

Morton 2-V-1 Inverness CT - Report

Another chance missed.
 
Inverness slumped to an extremely disappointing defeat at Cappielow as Bob McHugh scored a double to keep Morton's decent home form going and prevented Inverness from making any headway after Ayr United lost to Dundee last night. Mitch Curry levelled the game midway through the first half but a Coll Donaldson error allowed McHugh to steal an unlikely three points for Morton. Despite dominating possession, we were unable to create enough clear openings and went back up the A9 empty handed.
Caley Stan was surprisingly philosophical about the event...........
I thought we were ok yesterday but we suffered from the fact that Morton, having scored the early goal, were never tempted to open up at any point. We'll never know if the opening goal was offside unless someone else was filming it but the defence has attempted to play him off and he's taken the goal really well. That happens. Terrible mistake from Donaldson for the second - the kind of mistake that he's always got in him - I wonder if Robbo is tempted to bring Brad in on Tuesday as a wake-up call (WAKE UP COLL!).  
We've got lots of options in the forward areas now, and Robbo started with a surprising combination. Deprived of space, they took a lot of shots from distance and tight angles, struggling to create clear-cut chances. When the subs were made, the shape didn't change but we were on top in the game and the four of them were already playing very high so I'm not sure what else Robbo could do. I felt throughout the second-half that we were more likely to score. 
We've blown a great chance to cement ourselves in the top 4, but this league is very tight and we could still find ourselves top of it on Saturday night.
 
 
 
Date: 26/10/2019  Venue: Cappielow Attendance: 1408 Referee: Euan Anderson
 
Morton: 2
Lineup:  Ramsbottom; Welsh (Millar 65), Baird, Grant, Strapp, Jacobs McAlister, Salkeld (Muirhead 79), Lyon, Colville (King 86), McHugh Subs (not used):  Rogers, McLean, Nesbitt, Sutton Scorers: McHugh (6, 81) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1
Lineup:  Ridgers; Rooney, Donaldson, McCart, Tremarco, Storey (MacGregor 84) Carson, Vincent, Curry (Walsh 71), Keatings, White (Todorov 70) Subs (not used): C Mackay, B Mckay, McHatte, Trafford. Scorers: Curry (27) Booked:  Todorov (86), Carson (90+4) Sent Off: none a
By tm4tj in Reports 2019-20 ·

Morton -V- Inverness CT - Preview

Cappielow, the final frontier.
 
Morton host Inverness this Saturday as we look to keep in touch at the top end of the table after last week's disappointing home draw against lowly Alloa. The Championship game at Cappielow kicks off at 3:00pm in one of the last few bastions of medieval stadiums left in Scotland. It has a wee Dublin end and a Cowshed and some old floodlights from Love Street. Olde and quaint, but delightful nonetheless.
Cappielow has been home to Greenock Morton since 1879 and has a present capacity of 11,589. That makes it the tenth largest football stadium in Scotland. The ground record was set in 1922 against Celtic when an alleged 25,000 were in attendance. That game was a league decider and it ended in a riot. Nothing new then!
Match report from The Scotsman, May 1st 1922

A late goal at Greenock saved the situation for Celtic, who found the Scottish cup holders lively company. It was a keen game in the first half, with Morton predominating, and the first goal scored, by Alf Brown, was well merited. Dodds and McNair were very shaky against a virile Greenock attack, and French and McNab were unlucky not to count. Celtic's left wing did good work, but their shooting did not seriously trouble Edwards, who was grandly supported by McIntyre and Wright. Morton continued aggressive in the second half, and looked like holding their lead, but Celtic came away near the close, and amid excitement McAtee obtained the equalising goal. The local club put up a great fight, and on the whole were the superior combination. The attendance was estimated at 20,000. Many of the Celtic supporters carried banners, and at half-time there was an ugly scene on the ground, free fights being engaged in. The playing pitch was invaded, flags were seized by the police, and a number of people were arrested. Happily order was quickly restored, and the match proceeded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ICT Supporters Travel Club are running a bus to Cappielow
Book on their Facebook page HERE or on 07462218717
ADMISSION PRICES @ Cappielow
Adult: £20
Concessions (Over 65s, Students, 18-20 yrs): £15
Child (12-17): £10 Under 12s: £1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week we were at our frustrating best as we threw away a great opportunity to top the division after a late Jordan White header looked to have sealed the points. However we undid all the hard work of getting ahead by giving the Wasps the chance to earn a point after uncertainty in defence saw Jamie McCart give away a needless throw-in. The ball found Alan Trouten unmarked to gain Alloa a point. They had taken the lead five minutes in after a tidy move saw Liam Buchanan execute an equally tidy finish. Carl Tremarco scored a stunning contender as he fired an angled shot off the bar to square matters. Overall, it was a disappointing result given every other result could not have been hand picked better.
Tremarcoooooooo! Oh yessss, what a goal Tommy!
Table prior to Ayr v Dundee game..........................................Other Championship games this weekend:-
Ayr United 1-2 Dundee (Friday)
Alloa Athletic v Queen of the South
Dundee United v Dunfermline
Morton v Inverness CT
Partick Thistle v Arbroath

James Keatings returned to action last week with a 15 minute substitute appearance. He smacked the bar in injury time with a curling and dipping free kick and we will need his creativity to break down any resistance. Mitch Curry also made his league reappearance after 11 weeks out and Brad Mckay returned to sit on the bench. The pleasing aspect of having injured players return is tempered by the fact that Sean Welsh is out long term and Tom Walsh and Nikolay Todorov have missed the last few games.

Robbo has no new injury surprises for us as we look to get back on track, Sean Welsh the only casualty left. It has been reported that Tom Walsh and Nikolay Todorov are also back in full training so expect these returnees to be introduced as required over the next few games. Coll Donaldson and Jamie McCart need to reacquaint themselves with solid defending, correct decision making and get fully focused on the job in hand. Properties that we all know they posses but need to display every week. James Vincent should discard his sideways pills and start creating for the front men and Miles Storey should concentrate on his visible talents, pace and power. If we can also get Aaron Doran to be more direct then we could be a force to be reckoned with and the strikers will benefit from some decent service instead of working off scraps. The return of James Keatings could be the spark needed to ignite the strikers.
No reports of any more injuries at Morton. Look out for Bob McHugh. The former Motherwell and Falkirk player is top scorer and has netted six times this season.
Officials for tomorrows game:-
Referee: Euan Anderson
Assistant one: Stuart Stevenson
Assistant two: Ryan Kennedy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was saddened to learn of the passing of John Fleming this week. I knew John personally through his work at BT and as an aside he would be a referee in his spare time. John went on to become SFA head of refereeing operations.  Here's a fitting tribute to the referee and the dedicated family man. RIP John.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brad's back.....
 

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By tm4tj in Previews 2019-20 ·

Inverness CT 2-V-2 Alloa Athletic - Report

Top for four minutes
 
Inverness blew the chance to go top of the table after Alloa scored in the 89th minute to earn a point with a disciplined defensive performance at the Caledonian Stadium. Take nothing away from Alloa, but we were void of ideas as we struggled to break down the Wasps defence in a frustrating second half. Liam Buchanan opened the scoring as early as the fifth minute and that opened the door for Alloa to flood their defence and employ standard hit on the break tactics that worked well for them as we toiled in a poor first forty-five. The second period saw more frustration for the hosts until we scored from an unlikely source with a stunning goal. A Tremarco corner came back to him at a tight angle. Undaunted, he fired the ball high into the net with his left foot for a spectacular goal with an hour played. We huffed and puffed before Jordan White looked to have won the game with a powered finish in the 85th minute. However, there was a sting in the tail of the wasps after Jamie McCart took the wrong option, eventually putting the ball out for a throw when a pass to Mark Ridgers would have been sufficient. From the resultant long throw Alan Trouten found himself in space to knock the ball home to silence the frustrated home support. James Keatings hit the bar with a superb free kick as the clock ticked down but it was too little too late and we were knocked off our four minute perch. Given that every other result went our way, it was a hugely disappointing outcome. Meh!
John Robertson was without Tom Walsh, Sean Welsh and Nikolay Todorov. Charlie Trafford started in midfield after a good showing in the Challenge Cup game last week and Roddy MacGregor retained his place in the starting line-up. James Keatings was on the bench with other returnees Mitch Curry and Brad Mckay.
Peter Grant's Alloa side saw  Robbie Deas return and Steven Hetherington and Blair Malcolm were fit enough to start, however Iain Flannigan was suspended. 
Just over 2,000 were inside the ground and a fitting minutes applause was offered in memory of former Caley Chairman Hugh Crout who passed away recently.
Within five minutes of the start, Alloa took the lead with Liam Buchanan finishing off a tidy move on the left side of our area. Neat interplay sliced us open and Buchanan added an excellent finish.
We almost responded immediately but Roddy MacGregor's header was well saved by a diving Jamie MacDonald on his line.
Unfortunately, that early goal gave Alloa the opportunity to sit back and soak up what we had to offer, and quite frankly that was very limited and very little. All too often we ran out of ideas and any high balls forward were mopped up by the waiting visitors defence.
Carl Tremarco let fly from distance but his low shot fizzed just wide. He would do better later in the game. A couple of headers well over the bar from Jordan White was all we could muster. He would also do better later on.
Apart from the goal, there was little to enthuse over in a turgid first half for Inverness with Alloa content to sit on their lead, and why not, they deserved it at the break.
Half Time 0-1
If anything, the second half saw the visitors even deeper in their own half as their hosts flattered to deceive. Plenty of possession but too many sideways or backward passes saw the crowd looking for a more direct approach. Alloa on the other hand broke quickly on the few opportunities they got.
White almost got a shot away inside the box as he broke through the middle of the defence but was stopped by a solid challenge and John Robertson, yes, the manager, got the first yellow card of the afternoon for showing his displeasure at some poor refereeing decisions.
Just when we were beginning to think it was not going to be our day, a goal out of the blue from Captain Carl. And what a strike it was. His corner was cleared out as far as himself on the right side of the box. Tremarco never hesitated and fired a tremendous shot high into the net from 20 yards. Spectacular stuff.
The introduction of Mitch Curry and David Carson seemed to liven up our efforts and it looked as though White might have given us all three points when his diving header from a Tremarco cross flew into the net. At that moment, we were top of the league with results elsewhere going in our favour.
However, another lapse from the normally reliable Jamie McCart saw him fail to clear up a ball forward when a comfortable pass back to his keeper would have cleared any danger. Instead, he almost gave away a corner but ended up knocking the ball out for a throw in. From the long throw in, the ball landed at Alan Trouten's feet and he promptly tucked it behind Mark Ridgers for a sickener.
We almost snatched it in injury time when a curling free kick from James Keatings crashed back off the bar with MacDonald stranded, but the rebound was cleared and a great opportunity passed to head the table.
Only ourselves to blame for this after struggling to make headway against a team we beat 3-0 the week before. In saying that, the signs were there in that game that Alloa could cut us open at times and so it came to pass.
Difficult to pick any Inverness players for MotM, but Carl Tremarco gets my nod for his superb strike and assist. Jordan White similarly, and he was fed on scraps throughout the game. Substitute David Carson did his prospects no harm and took the game by the scruff of the neck by driving us forward with a bit more tenacity and urgency. Those who will not be getting any awards are those not mentioned, especially McCart who needs to look for better options than scrambling the ball out after miscontrol and brain farts. Col Donaldson was in his early season mode, miffed at not getting a transfer probably and looked disinterested and Shaun Rooney never really got going. Roddy MacGregor wanted to be busy, but the game passed him by and Aaron Doran did his usual wee circles of nothing. Miles Storey, now there's an enigma and James Vincent was more sideways than a crab. No blame attached to Ridgers, although he did make a meal of a shot that bounced just in front of him, the ball squirming away for a corner with Mark staring at the offending blade of grass. If looks could kill!
Maybe it's time for a wee shake up Robbo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From BBC Sport
Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager John Robertson: "We've let United and Ayr off the hook and that's what disappoints me. To go 2-1 up, if you've got title ambitions you've got to see that out."
Alloa manager Peter Grant: "The boys deserved great credit for the way they kept fighting. I'm disappointed to be going down the road with only the one point."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RIG summed it up like this:- 
Donaldson and McCart were really poor today. Despite not being put under much pressure their balls out of defence were absolutely rotten, Donaldson especially, and often set up chances for Alloa to break on us. Storey was poor again and had one decent cross from the flanks. He isn't a winger and struggled there at Partick so why we are persisting with him there is bizarre. MacGregor struggled to create much of note in the middle as Alloa packed the midfield and sat deep. There was zero creativity in the ICT side today to break them down and it would have been very harsh, though thoroughly pleasing, had we won that game.
With Queens getting a superb result today and Morton possessing an excellent home record the next couple of games are going to be a lot more difficult than they might appear on paper.
Did he mean it???
 
Raging Robbo....
 
Date: 19/10/2019 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2036 Referee: Mike Roncone
 
Inverness CT: 2
Lineup:  Ridgers; Rooney, Donaldson, McCart, Tremarco, Doran (Curry 59), Trafford (Carson 70), Vincent, MacGregor (Keatings 75), Storey, White Subs (not used):  C Mackay; B Mckay, McHattie, Machado. Scorers: Tremarco (61), White (85). Booked: Rooney (68), Carson (77) John Robertson (manager  53) Sent Off: none Alloa Athletic: 2
Lineup:  MacDonald; Taggart, Graham, Deas, Robertson, Cawley, Hetherington, Trouten, Brown, Buchanan (Thomson 81), O'Hara. Subs (not used): Henry; Malcolm, O'Donnell Scorers: Buchanan (5), Trouten (89) Booked: Trouten (77) Sent Off: none a
By tm4tj in Reports 2019-20 ·

Inverness CT -V- Alloa Athletic - Preview

Main Course


We had the appetiser last week in the Chocolate cup and this week it's the main course as Alloa come North again on Championship duty. The game kicks off at 3:00pm at the Caledonian Stadium with Inverness looking to consolidate their position at the top end, tucked neatly in behind Dundee United and Ayr United.

Last week Inverness made half a dozen changes but still proved to be too strong for the Wasps, despite a late revival by the visitors after going 3-0 down. Mitch Curry scored his first goal for the club just before half time. A deflected Charlie Trafford shot crashed high into the net for number two and Matheus Machado polished the turd when he scored his first senior goal for the Caley Jags. A glimmer of hope for Alloa as they managed to hit the woodwork twice and Cammy Mackay had to be alert to save at the feet of the striker. If there's any criticism of the home team, it comes from some overelaborate play and being wasteful in the final third. However, 3-0 is not to be scoffed at and we went into the hat for the quarter final draw.
Here's the goals from the Chocolate Cup game..........


That draw took place on Wednesday and Inverness have been paired with Clyde in the quarter final. Other ties see Raith Rovers host Elgin City, Stenhousemuir take on Patrick Thistle. Solihull or Rangers Colts will play Wrexham.

Our last Championship game was an excellent away win at Somerset Park as we beat the Honest Men with goals from James Vincent and Shaun Rooney. That was maybe slightly unexpected given the home defeat to Partick Thistle the previous week.

Alloa's last outing in the Championship opened up the table and gave the rest some optimism as they beat league leaders Dundee United 1-0 at Recreation Park. Alloa were deserved winners and Kevin O'Hara finished off a fine move with a great strike.

Inverness will be without Sean Welsh for a few months with another broken foot. Tom Walsh has missed the last couple of outings with a hamstring injury. James Keatings is back in full training and could be a surprise addition to the squad after recovering from ankle ligament damage. I imagine we will revert to one of our more familiar line ups with Jordan White returning to lead the line. Charlie Trafford showed up well last week and could be in line for a start. Walsh's injury remains a close guarded secret, should he not return then Roddy MacGregor could continue his run in the team.

Peter Grant had made a couple of changes for the Challenge cup game. Jamie MacDonald will continue his emergency loan deal with keeper Neil Parry injured long term. Nathan Gilhooly started last week, but it was his error that led to the opening goal, that could earn him a place on the bench. Liam Dick and Blair Malcolm are still injured. Steven Hetherington could be fit enough for a start after missing the cup game last week which saw Alloa with only three on the bench. To add to their misery, Iain Flannigan was sent off late in the Arabs game and will sit this one out. He was in great form in that game and will be a big miss.
Cast your mind back to this one 17 years ago, hat-tricks R us............
 

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By tm4tj in Previews 2019-20 ·

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