As Europe once said, it's the Final Countdown: 3...2...1. We are now into the final three games of our Annus Administratus and it all starts with a tricky fixture at Stenhousemuir, who will be in the promotion play-offs. Another emergency loan goalkeeper will be with Inverness for Saturdays game at Stenhousemuir with Musa Dibaga out with a hamstring injury. Marcus Gill, a youngster from Celtic's B team squad will be in goal with big Musa out injured. Marcus, 17 years-old, has played for Celtic B in the Lowland League and has also featured in the UEFA Youth League this season. Marcus has also represented Ireland at Under 19's level. What a game to be without two of the three players of the year in Dibaga, and Bavidge. We also have Danny Devine with Gregor Buchanan of Stenhousemuir also in the Team of the Year. (see full team at bottom of preview). We will be keeping a watchful eye on Annan Athletic's game at Galabank against promoted Arbroath...
Only this seasons games are relevant to current form as the previous eight games were prior to 1999 apart from a League Cup game in 2012:A dramatic penalty shootout was concluded when Ryan Esson saved Darren Smith's penalty to win the tie for Inverness 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw where Billy Mckay headed in the opener before Brown Ferguson equalised from the spot before the break. Richie Foran miss 0-1 Brown Ferguson score
Graeme Shinnie score 1-2 Andy Rodgers score
Gavin Morrison score 2-2 Bryan Hodge miss
Aaron Doran score 3-3 John Gemmell score
Andrew Shinnie score 4-4 Ross McMillan score
Ross Draper score 5-5 Stewart Kean score
Philip Roberts score 6-5 Darren Smith miss
ICTWIN.
INVERNESS CT The Season So Far
DL D DWD D DL /WL DWWWL WL
WWL WWL WD W / WL DL WL
Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game the next weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. It was then on to Palmerston on the Tuesday night but in a five goal encounter we went down 3-2. Alfie Bavidge notched his third goal in three games and Keith Bray added a second but goals from Adam Brooks (2) and Jordan Allan kept the points in Dumfries. We bounced back with a resilient 1-2 win at Alloa in our third away game on the bounce, Dunfermline bound Keith Bray with his fourth of the season and Alfie Stewart. We got our revenge at home to QotS (1-0) with Alfie Bavidge scoring his fourth goal in five appearances. Alas it was a bridge too far at Arbroath and we went down losing three without reply. The Stenhousemuir fixture was postponed and was re-arranged for March 11th. We went to Kelty and came away with a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Alfie's 5th goal in 7 appearances. Montrose proved to be stubborn opponents and it took a superb diving header from Keith Bray to rescue a point in a rather turgid encounter after Sandilands had opened the scoring in the first half. A last gasp win at Dumbarton on the Saturday with Alfie Bavidge scoring his 6th goal in 9 games. Unfortunately Alfie was injured early on against Stenhousemuir in midweek but that didn't stop us running up a 4-1 win with goals from Brannan, Gilmour, Bray and Allan. Annan came North on Saturday in a six-pointer and it was a disappointing defeat after Annan parked the bus after scoring in the third minute. Next up was a 1-1 draw with Alloa despite hitting the woodwork twice and missing a penalty. Another bad day at the office last weekend at a wet and windswept Palmerston after Queen of the South blitzed us with three second half goals to run away with a 4-1 win in Dumfries. Meh! We bounced back with a rout of our own as a Keith Bray hat-trick sunk Cove Rangers 3-0 at Balmoral Park. What a result that was! Despite what could have been a joyous occasion in front of our home fans after that great result at Cove, we once again failed to produce at the Caledonian Stadium going down 2-0 to Kelty in a six-pointer of a game. It's one step forward and two steps back as we crawl towards relative safety.
Latest Team News: Musa Dibaga is out with a hamstring injury. Marcus Gill, a youngster from Celtic's B team squad will be in goal with big Musa out and depending on the result of his scan, it could be for the remaining games. No other known new injuries at present.
Six games ago we beat Stenny in a re-arranged fixture at the Caledonian Stadium in our finest home game of the season, a crushing 4-1 win. Two 0-0 draws followed against Kelty and Cove then a slump in the last three at home v Montrose (2-3), home v Alloa (1-4) and last weeks title winning defeat at Arbroath (4-0). There are goal scorers in the side though with Corey O'Donnell on 9 and Blair Alston on 8. Yates and Aitken were prominent before injury and big Nat Wedderburn is still there.
𝘼𝙨 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨…
Musa Dibaga– Inverness
Scott Taggart – Alloa Ath Gregor Buchanan – Stenny Thomas O’Brien – Arbroath Danny Devine– Inverness
Ross Cunningham – Kelty Fraser Taylor – Arbroath Fraser Fyvie – Cove
Scott Stewart – Arbroath Mitchel Megginson – Cove Alfie Bavidge– Inverness
Warriors v Caley Jags
In 1928, the wooden grandstand at Ochilview Park burnt down in a fire, which led to a new stand being built in its place, although staircases reputedly had to be added later due to planning errors. (was Scot Gardiner in charge) The 1936–37 season saw the club register a record victory: 9–2 home win against Dundee United. More than a decade later in 1949–50, a Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against East Fife drew a record crowd of 12,525 – the highest ever at Ochilview Park. On 7 November 1951, the first floodlit game between two Scottish senior teams occurred at Ochilview Park, a friendly match between Stenhousemuir and Hibs The floodlights had been paid for three years earlier by Tommy Douglas, a butcher in King Street, Stenhousemuir.
We had our own AI back in the day- it was called Kodachrome. Here’s a shot from my first visit to Ochilview in 1992. Stenny 1 Caley 4. The old stand was on the opposite side from now. I think two of t
tm4tj
I completely disagree with both of you. Had they fielded their usual Starting XI then I doubt very much they would be losing 5-1. On the other hand only starting with four usual suspects has given Ann
snorbens_caleyman
Oi! That's my wife's family that you are talking about
What the **** did you feed it to end up with hypodermics stuck into the Ochils???
And you missed out the smell from the McCowans toff
The Final Countdown
As Europe once said, it's the Final Countdown: 3...2...1. We are now into the final three games of our Annus Administratus and it all starts with a tricky fixture at Stenhousemuir, who will be in the promotion play-offs. Another emergency loan goalkeeper will be with Inverness for Saturdays game at Stenhousemuir with Musa Dibaga out with a hamstring injury. Marcus Gill, a youngster from Celtic's B team squad will be in goal with big Musa out injured. Marcus, 17 years-old, has played for Celtic B in the Lowland League and has also featured in the UEFA Youth League this season. Marcus has also represented Ireland at Under 19's level. What a game to be without two of the three players of the year in Dibaga, and Bavidge. We also have Danny Devine with Gregor Buchanan of Stenhousemuir also in the Team of the Year. (see full team at bottom of preview). We will be keeping a watchful eye on Annan Athletic's game at Galabank against promoted Arbroath...
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Match/Ticket/Bus/Info
Admin: join the debate on CTO
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Only this seasons games are relevant to current form as the previous eight games were prior to 1999 apart from a League Cup game in 2012: A dramatic penalty shootout was concluded when Ryan Esson saved Darren Smith's penalty to win the tie for Inverness 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw where Billy Mckay headed in the opener before Brown Ferguson equalised from the spot before the break.
Richie Foran miss 0-1 Brown Ferguson score
Graeme Shinnie score 1-2 Andy Rodgers score
Gavin Morrison score 2-2 Bryan Hodge miss
Aaron Doran score 3-3 John Gemmell score
Andrew Shinnie score 4-4 Ross McMillan score
Ross Draper score 5-5 Stewart Kean score
Philip Roberts score 6-5 Darren Smith miss
ICT WIN.
INVERNESS CT The Season So Far
D L D D W D D D L / W L D W W W L W L
W W L W W L W D W / W L D L W L
Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game the next weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. It was then on to Palmerston on the Tuesday night but in a five goal encounter we went down 3-2. Alfie Bavidge notched his third goal in three games and Keith Bray added a second but goals from Adam Brooks (2) and Jordan Allan kept the points in Dumfries. We bounced back with a resilient 1-2 win at Alloa in our third away game on the bounce, Dunfermline bound Keith Bray with his fourth of the season and Alfie Stewart. We got our revenge at home to QotS (1-0) with Alfie Bavidge scoring his fourth goal in five appearances. Alas it was a bridge too far at Arbroath and we went down losing three without reply. The Stenhousemuir fixture was postponed and was re-arranged for March 11th. We went to Kelty and came away with a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Alfie's 5th goal in 7 appearances. Montrose proved to be stubborn opponents and it took a superb diving header from Keith Bray to rescue a point in a rather turgid encounter after Sandilands had opened the scoring in the first half. A last gasp win at Dumbarton on the Saturday with Alfie Bavidge scoring his 6th goal in 9 games. Unfortunately Alfie was injured early on against Stenhousemuir in midweek but that didn't stop us running up a 4-1 win with goals from Brannan, Gilmour, Bray and Allan. Annan came North on Saturday in a six-pointer and it was a disappointing defeat after Annan parked the bus after scoring in the third minute. Next up was a 1-1 draw with Alloa despite hitting the woodwork twice and missing a penalty. Another bad day at the office last weekend at a wet and windswept Palmerston after Queen of the South blitzed us with three second half goals to run away with a 4-1 win in Dumfries. Meh! We bounced back with a rout of our own as a Keith Bray hat-trick sunk Cove Rangers 3-0 at Balmoral Park. What a result that was! Despite what could have been a joyous occasion in front of our home fans after that great result at Cove, we once again failed to produce at the Caledonian Stadium going down 2-0 to Kelty in a six-pointer of a game. It's one step forward and two steps back as we crawl towards relative safety.
Latest Team News: Musa Dibaga is out with a hamstring injury. Marcus Gill, a youngster from Celtic's B team squad will be in goal with big Musa out and depending on the result of his scan, it could be for the remaining games. No other known new injuries at present.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
L D D L L L
Six games ago we beat Stenny in a re-arranged fixture at the Caledonian Stadium in our finest home game of the season, a crushing 4-1 win. Two 0-0 draws followed against Kelty and Cove then a slump in the last three at home v Montrose (2-3), home v Alloa (1-4) and last weeks title winning defeat at Arbroath (4-0). There are goal scorers in the side though with Corey O'Donnell on 9 and Blair Alston on 8. Yates and Aitken were prominent before injury and big Nat Wedderburn is still there.
Musa Dibaga – Inverness
Scott Taggart – Alloa Ath
Gregor Buchanan – Stenny
Thomas O’Brien – Arbroath
Danny Devine – Inverness
Ross Cunningham – Kelty
Fraser Taylor – Arbroath
Fraser Fyvie – Cove
Scott Stewart – Arbroath
Mitchel Megginson – Cove
Alfie Bavidge – Inverness
Warriors v Caley Jags
<<Info from Wikipedia>>