Killie Cup Action

 

 

It's Scottish Cup quarter final action this weekend when Scotland's second oldest club Kilmarnock come North on Friday night @ 7:45 looking for a place in the semi-finals of the second oldest Cup competition in the world. However, it's the oldest trophy as it's still the original trophy that is up for grabs. At 2ft high the silver trophy was not cheap back in the day, costing £56/13 shillings and was commissioned to Glasgow silversmith George Edwards & Sons. The first ever event started in 1873 and the final in 1874 saw Queens Park beat Clydesdale 2-0 in front of 2,500 fans at the original Hampden Park. Incidentally Kilmarnock played in the first ever Scottish Cup tie, losing 2-0 to Renton in 1873. Standing in their way this season are our very own Caley Jags, Scottish Cup winners in 2015. Kilmarnock have won the Cup three times (1920/29/97). The last time they lifted the Cup in 1997, like us, they also defeated Falkirk in the final. The result was 1-0 at Ibrox in front of 45,000 fans with Paul Wright scoring the only goal. See more at The Scottish Cup.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Match/Ticket Info

Live on BBC Scotland

The Covers Are On

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Venue H2H v Killie

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	25	12	9	4	46	33	+13
Away	26	8	6	12	36	45	-9
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	51	20	15	16	82	78	+4

Overall, we still hold the edge over Kilmarnock and have met them five times in the Scottish Cup which includes a replay in 2001. This is the first 6th round tie between the cubs with Killie having won two of the previous three 5th round ties. I don't think Killie ever got over being dumped out of the Scottish Cup on the 9th of February 1985 by Highland League Inverness Thistle. Dave Milroy, Gordon Hay and Brian Black were the scorers that ensured the playing surface would be covered with big Kilmarnock bunnets and scarves. What a sight that was. That win earned Thistle an away tie at Parkhead in the last sixteen.

2001

Mar 6th	Scottish Cup (Round 4 Replay)	1 - 2	A	6,528
Feb 17th	Scottish Cup (Round 4)	1 - 1	H	5,294

2009

Feb 7th	Scottish Cup (Rd 5)	2 - 0	H	2,578

2010

Feb 6th	Scottish Cup (Rd 5)	0 - 3	A	4,473

2013

Feb 2nd	Scottish Cup (Rd 5)	0 - 2	A	3,172

Here's Killie with a late equaliser in 2001

We have the upper hand most recently, although these were all very tight fixtures.

Last 4 Competitive Meetings from season 21/22 in the Championship.

2 - 1 (H)

0 - 1 (A)

1 - 0 (H)

1 - 0 (A)

On December 3rd last season, Sean Welsh did this in a 1 - 0 win over Killie..... BOOM!

 

Last Time Out

Inverness got a welcome three points at Somerset Park despite going behind early on after top Scorer Dipo Akinyemi scored his sixteenth of the season. Sean Welsh levelled soon after then Ayr were reduced to ten men when Daire O'Connor was sent off fifteen minutes before the break. Inverness took their time but eventually got the reward their chances deserved when Jay Henderson popped up at the back post to bury a Nathan Shaw cross. Deserved three points for the Caley Jags after a lean spell and sets us up nicely for a crack at Killie in the Cup. Our own recent form over last five is also disappointing but hopefully on the up:  D L L D W

Killie went down at Ibrox last weekend as Rangers scored three first half goals. It was a poor defensive performance by the Rugby Park club in the first forty-five and they had the disappointment of a VAR penalty award on the break. In their favour, after a much improved performance, they did win the second half 1-0 when Jeriel Dorsett scored with a header and they also had a penalty claim turned down. Killie find themselves second bottom of the Premiership after a poor run of form and unless much changes they will be vying with Ross County for a relegation play-off spot with Dundee United occupying the automatic relegation slot. Last five results heading downwards: W L L D L  The only win in that run was over bottom club Dundee United on 1st February.

Latest Team News

Our fortunes are slowly turning on the injury front with Deas, Harper, Devine, Delaney and Samuels all returning, but there are still five players missing: Sutherland, Walsh, MacGregor, Ram and Woods. Billy Mckay returned after suspension last week and is chasing the goal scoring record of Dennis Wyness. On the playing surface the covers are on as another big freeze hits the North, -10 around the area already this week.

 

Kilmarnock have found the going tough in the Premiership this season but they are not without some very good players. One of our own Liam Polworth is still at Killie and featured in their last game at Ibrox. Daniel Armstrong is a danger with his attacking flair and he is top scorer with nine goals this season plus five assists. Jordan Jones has returned to Rugby Park and is another tricky customer. Rory Mackenzie is a pocket dynamo with his all action style. In defence Ash Taylor is still there and has contributed at the other end with four goals, a danger at set pieces. By all accounts, Killie will be bringing a decent away support to this one.

Yesssss! 2-1 FT. Thoroughly deserved win, well done ICT. Great noisy support too.

Second half

Three minutes into the second half Henderson did well to control the ball and get his shot away but it cannoned back off the post. Moments later, with he snow falling; he did it again. Sean Welsh picked the ball up thirty yards from goal. He stepped forward and rifled a low shot into the bottom corner from over twenty-five yards. What a strike. We could have gone further ahead, twice. Once when Shaw made space for himself to get a great delivery in but Welsh was just short of connecting with it in the six yard box. Secondly, Mckay did well to wriggle his way into the box but he was halted a couple of times before the defence cleared. Ridgers flapped at a ball into the box and had to snatch at he ball as it bounced towards the line. A timely snatch if ever I saw one. Austin Samuels almost grabbed a third with two minutes left when running through on goal but his low shot was saved by Walker. Aaron Doran came on as four minutes of added time was shown by the officials. Inverness saw out the game on top and a thoroughly deserved trip to Hampden is now a reality.

FULL TIME 2-1

Yes...... I must make my predictions (in memory of Mystic Meg) more often. Fantastic game. Well done boys. Well done Billy Dodds and coaching staff. Well done fans for your constant singing and support throughout the game. I can admit now that I couldn't face the cold tonight and watched from my armchair.....wish I had gone now. ICT are TITANIUM.

Leave the predictions to the seers 😀

Just fantastic.The best team won.We were better all over the park and hit the post as well.

True grit and determination shown by the boys tonight along with a good measure of skill

Absolutely fantastic! Well done Dodds, he had that team spot on tonight 👌

Our midfield dominated theirs. Allardyce my MOM.

Great performance by the whole team. In fact Gary Lineker has just tweeted that we reminded him of 1930’s Germany.

Deserved win. Good performances all over the park. Kilmarnock didn't create enough and only really threatened at set pieces. Welsh' s surgical strike negotiating the snowflakes was a thing to behold...😍😍

Brilliant win. Apart from first few minutes we dominated first half.  Killie came back into it a bit after they went 2-1 down, but there were not too many scary moments.  Some fantastic performances, Allardice, Henderson, for me were outstanding. But, everyone played their part.  I hope we draw the winners between Ayr and Falkirk in the semi.  That way I can see myself with 2 Hampden trips this spring.  Well done to everyone concerned in tonight's great performance.

I think the 800 Killie fans will be going home very disappointed - their team came out all guns blazing for the first 5 minutes, then offered next to nothing. We were really good but they were poor.

Agree with previous comments.I thought the worst up until 10 minutes in, then we took control.I was surprised how poor Kilmarnock were,but I want to think that was because we made them look poor.Allardyce , Welsh, Henderson and Shaw stood out that bit more.Best caley performance for a long time

First game in ages. What craic!! Was in bus with the Kilmarnock fans - nice bunch - they couldn’t believe how crap their team was. They had absolutely nothing - we could have won that 3/4- 1 if we’d taken all our chances. Billy McKay is an absolute god 

2 hours ago, Yngwie said:

I’m struggling to remember us starting a match so badly, in that first 5 minutes we couldn’t do anything right. Got better since then.

Tactics!! It was important to make the team looking for their second semi final of the season look like world beaters and help their Manager believe his fantasy about winning the cup. You may be struggling to remember us starting a match so badly but you will certainly remember how poor we were against Queens Park yet the history books will show we beat them 3-0 on our way to the Semis. 

Great result! Hopefully we can kick on in the league for a while, squad nearly back to full strength and no more cup antics for a month or so.

Tonight's game showed exactly why we are where we are in the league - too wasteful in front of goal, very flaky at the back when it comes to set pieces/corners and at times far too careless with possession of the ball.

Sort that out and we'll walk the league.

 

5 minutes ago, Satan said:

Great result! Hopefully we can kick on in the league for a while, squad nearly back to full strength and no more cup antics for a month or so.

Tonight's game showed exactly why we are where we are in the league - too wasteful in front of goal, very flaky at the back when it comes to set pieces/corners and at times far too careless with possession of the ball.

Sort that out and we'll walk the league.

 

We weren't wasteful in front of goal and we were so flaky that Kilmarnock could not equalise. That narrative does not match tonight's game. 😂😂

Jim Calder holds the record for collecting a shot at least a metre over the line in a Killie Scottish Cup tie and carrying on as if it was not a goal. However Mark looked pretty confident when it looked like he had dropped it maybe 6 inches over the line. 

2 minutes ago, jed5697 said:

We weren't wasteful in front of goal and we were so flaky that Kilmarnock could not equalise. That narrative does not match tonight's game. 😂😂

Kilmarnock were, clueless, hopeless and generally 5hite. Apart from a bit of physicality and long ball tactics they had nothing to offer.

Supporting ICT has not been easy this season, but tonight was what it is all about.  Terrific all round performance and great support from the fans. After giving Kilmarnock  a goal start we pressured them for 90 minutes and forced them into errors.  We then played some very good passing football and had we shown the same clinical finishing as we did against Livi, we could have won this by 3 or 4 clear goals.  We now need to show that level of performance in the league.  There are better teams than Kilmarnock above us in the Championship.

9 minutes ago, CELTIC1CALEY3 said:

Jim Calder holds the record for collecting a shot at least a metre over the line in a Killie Scottish Cup tie and carrying on as if it was not a goal. However Mark looked pretty confident when it looked like he had dropped it maybe 6 inches over the line. 

Ridgers was guilty of a couple of handling errors tonight, but that effort was not over the line and he was absolutely right to carry on.

Well that was unexpected and also the best feeling from a victory I've had in many a long day.

After the really bad start, I thought here we go again, having to come from behind to win the game, but we gradually took control of the game and we ended up worthy winners. Good performances from all the boys, but a special mention to our own Durecell Bunny, Billy Mckay he never stops running the channels, closing the back four down and chipping in with a pressure penalty.

Anything is possible now, so let's sit back and enjoy the other semi's and see what unfolds, and hopefully take this form into our remaining league games, let's pretend that we're playing Premier clubs in all our remaining games. Well done.

Kilmarnock haven’t reached the Scottish cup semi finals since 1997.. This is our 5th in 20 years! 4 of them when we were in the 2nd flight!

I was optimistic (or mad) before the game, but feared the worst after that early goal. But for the last 85 minutes we were easily the better team. I was worried that not taking our chances in the first half might come back to haunt us, but fortunately not. If we’d been more clinical in the second half it would have been even more comfortable. 
It felt like Kilmarnock thought they could sit on 1-0 (MacInnes must be one of the most negative managers out there, I’m glad I don’t have to watch that every week) and seemed short on ideas once they fell behind. I thought we harried them really well and didn’t let them settle on the ball. 
if we could play like this every week, we’d be a pretty good bet for the title - here’s hoping this reboots our league form. 

3 hours ago, tm4tj said:

Inverness got the game underway but two minutes in and from an Armstrong corner the ball ended up in the net behind Ridgers, Vassell credited with the goal after a near post flick on. Disastrous start for the hosts. Billy Mckay forced Walker into a great save from a close range header as Inverness responded in he tenth minute. Sean Welsh skimmed the top of the bar with a header from a superb ball into the box from Jay Henderson. Inverness got the break they deserved though when a cross from the right was handled by Joe Wright. Billy Mckay hit the spot kick down the middle as Walker dived to his left, the ball going in off his feet and it was game on.  Henderson was played through on goal but his shot was blocked by the now overworked Sam Walker. Carson was harshly booked for bringing Armstrong down as Killie sprung out of defence. Doidge made a hash of a half chance when he found the ball at his feet in he six yard box, but he ran it out of play. Robbie Deas headed over from a corner as Inverness continued to press. Liam Polworth came off second best in a challenge with Deas just before the interval and his day was over.

HALF TIME 1-1

Agree with all of that (as usual) other than Carson’s booking. He deserved it and his annoyance at it was as he knew he’d messed up rather than being upset with a harsh award. 

Best night I have had in a long time. All heroes out there.

We must be the only club to get beat in a Scottish Cup game and still got to Hampden. How's that for a pub quiz !