No Hiding Place

 

It's Play-Off time:  There's no hiding place now as we enter the first leg of the Premiership Play-Offs at Firhill to take on fourth place Championship finishers Partick Thistle. After a Championship campaign that saw more ups and downs than fair fortnight on the Big Dipper at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, it's now crunch time for all the Premiership contenders. Arbroath await the winners of this two-leg tie after they fell just two points short of automatic promotion with Killie making the step up. What a season for Dick Campbell and his Smokies though. However, it's one game at a time and let's see how far that will take us.

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We come into the play-offs on the back of a resounding 4-0 win over Hamilton Accies in the final game of the regular campaign. With one or two rested, it was a great opportunity for others to stake a claim for a start in this important finale to the season. Not much was anticipated ahead of that game with Accies also a bit understrength, but Inverness blew Accies away with a four goal first half blitz. Gone were the long hopeful punts forward to be replaced by slick interplay and incisive passing and clinical finishing. A joy to behold at times as we bemused hapless Hamilton. Tremendous team goals from Walsh (2), Sutherland and a first for wee Joe Hardy enabled us to cruise through the second half without getting out of second gear. 

Partick also rested players ahead of this one but they were turned over 3-1 by Ayr United. Expect them to be at full strength though when we visit as thorns in our side Brian Graham and Scott Tiffoney missed out at Somerset Park.

Venue H2H v Partick (all)

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	22	9	6	7	36	33	+3
Away	21	5	6	10	21	29	-8
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	43	14	12	17	57	62	-5

 

One win apiece and two draws is the tale of the tape this season.

CTO Sep11th 3-1: After a difficult first half, Inverness ran out comfortable winners against Partick Thistle in a second half goal blitz. The visitors dominated the first forty-five and Scott Tiffoney drilled the opener out of nothing as the defence backed off. Manny Duku was denied by a combination of keeper and post but it was Partick that should have scored a second, however Mark Ridgers did well to deny Brian Graham. Harsh talking at the break saw Inverness come out for the second half with the bit between the teeth and Kirk Broadfoot was the unlikely hero as his twenty yard shot evaded the outstretched fingertips of the keeper to level the score. Shane Sutherland did well to drill in the second from an angle after the keeper fluffed his lines allowing Shane to slot in from twenty yards. The third was a peach as Duku stepped over the ball and Aaron Doran fired high into the net for a brilliant goal and game over. That's five wins out of five and the run goes on...

CTO Oct30th: Caley Jags pay the penalty 0-0:  Partick Thistle survived to earn a point after the woodwork saved them twice and keeper Jamie Sneddon denied Sean Welsh from the spot after guessing the right way. Inverness were well on top but it's only a point which means Killie pull further away at the top. Performance of the day was from Arbroath who came from two down to beat Dunfermline Athletic 4-2.

CTO Feb9th: Late Leveller 3-3:  Partick Thistle struck early to add to our gloom through Brian Graham but Billy Mckay squared the game after twenty minutes with a close range finish from a Carson cross. Graham scored his second with a header soon after, Scott Tiffoney once again the provider and he almost scored one for himself but for a fine save from Ridgers. Shane Sutherland equalised just on the interval with a header from a McAlear corner. With twenty minutes left Deas conceded a stone wall penalty and Graham notched his hat-trick. Substitute Cammy Harper drove into the box but Sneddon blocked his shot and moments later Pearson appeared to hit the bar with an angled drive from twelve yards and Mckay rolled one past the post. We got the draw with the last head of the ball deep into stoppage time when Broadfoot headed in a cross from McAlear.

CTO Mar4th: The slide goes on: 1-0  On a pitch resembling the aftermath of the battle of the Somme, Inverness blew any lingering hopes of promotion with another unacceptable performance at Firhill. Billy Dodds keeps telling us that training is going well. Stats will show something like nineteen shots with only one on target. What the hell do we actually practice? On the plus side, a cut and paste of his post match report will suffice as it's been the same story for almost three months now. Absolutely abysmal, the lifeblood seems to have been sucked right out of the whole team, management and long suffering support. Kevin Holt scored the only goal in the 85th minute after a low corner was driven through a ruck of bodies in the penalty box into the centre of the goal. Game over, season over and surely Dodds over and out!

Apologies to Dodds and the team  we have managed to turn it round again and here we are, ready for the play-offs, but that 11 match run was a nightmare.

***Dates for your diary***

CINCH PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFFS

Tuesday May 3
Quarter-final, 1st leg 
Partick Thistle v Inverness CT
Live on BBC Scotland, kick-off 7.05pm

Friday May 6
Quarter-final, 2nd leg
Inverness CT v Partick Thistle
Live on BBC Scotland, kick-off 7.45pm

Latest Team News

Scott Allardice is the one long term casualty and Wallace Duffy took a knock in midweek against Hamilton. Some legs were spared in midweek but I would be expecting them to feature in the play-off games. 

Brian Graham and Scott Tiffoney missed the loss to Ayr United but will be important players for Partick in these games.

Fans Player of the Year David Carson 

 

Some of these would be much appreciated

 

 

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As the loyal Calais supporters say 'this will be tres tricky'. I am sure the players will be mindful of how Manchester City were almost there ....but blew it.  Mindful that Partick might unusually be motivated by how Rangers recovered from 1-0 down.  It is critical that our supporters at no stage feed players the message that tonight will be easy. Expect Brian Graham to be hyperactive.  Partick are as likely as any team in this league capable of beating us. Some of us still remember being favourites to win our Scottish Cup Replay against Partick on 5th March 2002 only for Scot Paterson to score a superb winning free kick. We must not underestimate their paint pot kicking Manager's ability to beat the odds.

Some more important match-day info for tomorrow night's huge game.

The success of this display replies on supporter participation. Please ensure you arrive at the stadium in good time and get your tickets in advance to avoid delays.

Let's get right behind the boys!#ICTFC #S94 pic.twitter.com/yc9EZXHX3A

— Section 94 (@ict_section94) May 5, 2022

1 hour ago, CELTIC1CALEY3 said:

As the loyal Calais supporters say 'this will be tres tricky'. I am sure the players will be mindful of how Manchester City were almost there ....but blew it.  Mindful that Partick might unusually be motivated by how Rangers recovered from 1-0 down.  It is critical that our supporters at no stage feed players the message that tonight will be easy. Expect Brian Graham to be hyperactive.  Partick are as likely as any team in this league capable of beating us. Some of us still remember being favourites to win our Scottish Cup Replay against Partick on 5th March 2002 only for Scot Paterson to score a superb winning free kick. We must not underestimate their paint pot kicking Manager's ability to beat the odds.

To be fair, I don't think that anyone associated with the club is taking victory in the tie for granted with the prevailing mantra being 'still work to be done' and the very good reason that there is indeed much work still to be done.

Is Davy Carson moonlighting in a rock band?! 

 

Edited May 6, 20224 yr by FrontRow

30 minutes ago, FrontRow said:

Is Davy Carson moonlighting in a rock band?! 

 

Until he left after finding that Michael Gardyne was a roadie.

5 hours ago, Kingsmills said:

Until he left after finding that Michael Gardyne was a roadie.

I think that's inappropriate Kingsmills 

Go get em guys. Good luck tonight

come on ict  we are all behind you 🥰

12 minutes ago, the cat said:

come on ict  we are all behind you 🥰

I remember the days you were "behind us all" and we panicked every time Cat 😺 🐱 😸 

No news on macgregor.

6 minutes ago, Moogthurso said:

No news on macgregor.

Out for the season sadly. 

11 minutes ago, Robert said:

Out for the season sadly. 

A blow but one we can overcome.

We rode our luck a bit, especially in the first half but thoroughly deserved to win the tie over both legs.

That's the job a third done. A well rested Arbroath will almost certainly be a tougher prospect and, should we overcome them, the Perth Saints tougher still.

We will have to up our game and cut out the heart in mouth defensive lapses but can definitely do this.

Time to think about the next round tomorrow but, for tonight, time to celebrate.

What a great feeling around the club again at the moment. I just wish the crowds at these past two games was bigger, I guess that’s the down side of having them on tv.

I can’t help but think of all the abuse Dodds was getting earlier in the season. If I was told we would have finished 3rd and in the semi finals of the playoffs at the start of the season I would have bitten your hand off. 
 

Football fans are so fickle aren’t they? 

Not pretty, but job done!  Well done lads.  That was a game we probably would have lost a couple of months ago.

Roll on Arbroath.  They will be fresh having had a week off, but I hope our confidence level will compensate for that.  

Cracking goal from Samuels after being put through by Sutherland.  Lets hope they can keep this double act going next week.

CTO Report

 

Two great goals from Samuels saw us through that tie. Hope he can do the same v Arbroath. He seems on a good streak right now, love the way he finishes. With him, Chalmers and Shane we have goals in this side. I fancy us against a deflated Arbroath. We are on a bit of a roll, 7 goals in three games.

Job well done. It was so important that we got the early goal, as it took the onus of us having to defend our 18 yard box in the latter stages of the game. We still have this bad habit of just punting the ball up to out diminutive strikers for it to come straight back at us, we play our best football on the deck and when we pass the ball. Great goal from Samuels, and I thought Welsh, Sutherland and Carson were our standouts. It's a quick turnaround, but, as the old saying goes, players would rather play than train, so we have the momentum with us, so on to the next game, and same again please.

Not the best of games but a great goal from Samuels that was enough to see us through.  All the players put in a good shift tonight and it was end to end.  Although it was on TV there was a good support and the young ones in the west stand made plenty noise. 

Delighted to get through. Wasn’t a great game tonight but over 2 legs we certainly deserved to go through.

Partick will be frustrated that all 3 of our goals in the tie can be attributed to bad errors by them.

Need to up our game for Arbroath,  passing (and punting) like that won't get us through to the next tie. 

Docherty  ran the show in the second half,  unlucky to be on the losing side...wonder if he fancies a move north.

The club simply must get an enclosure over that west stand for the young team! It would amplify their noise and make such a difference to the atmosphere. They were great tonight. At times watching them was more entertaining than the match!❤️🖤💙

What happened to the enclosure that was in place before the north stand?

I would say that we weren't at our best today, especially in terms of keeping the ball, but a win is a win

The plus was that we kept a clean sheet and by the looks of things, no new injuries which is a positive. 

We'll need to play a bit better on Tuesday though so hopefully the players get refreshed then raring to go come kick off on Tuesday. 

 

I must agree that the singing section were immense tonight so keep it up guys :D.

3 hours ago, The Long Man said:

Two great goals from Samuels saw us through that tie. Hope he can do the same v Arbroath. He seems on a good streak right now, love the way he finishes. With him, Chalmers and Shane we have goals in this side. I fancy us against a deflated Arbroath. We are on a bit of a roll, 7 goals in three games.

I say, you forgot to mention our saviour, Mark Ridgers, and that save in the first half. Oooooooof!!