Wasps Flying High

Top of the table with a game in hand, Alloa Athletic come North on Saturday on Ladies Day for a game scheduled to kick-off at 3:00pm. It's been a great start to the season for the Wasps who were the lowest placed team to get out of the group stages of the League Cup, ousting Dundee in the process and now sit top of League1 after three games whilst almost all others have played four times. It's all happening this week in the Highlands. A hat-trick for Zimba, a lambada, rumba or samba for the ladies, top of the Mickey Mouse League for the CJ's and new strip launched at the Caledonian Sarens PSG Stadium.

The feelgood factor is back. What's not to like!

Bar 94 opens at 1200, last orders at 1430 (the bar must be fully vacated by 1445).

The bar reopens at full time 

🚍 Buses will leave the Bus Station for the Stadium at 1245 and 1415.

🚍 Buses return from Stadium to Bus Station 10 mins after the FT whistle and at 1800.

🚍 🎟️ £2.70 single (contactless payments or cash accepted), and Over 60 / Disabled and Under 22 Concession passes are valid, giving free travel on the service to passholders.

 If anyone can help us distribute the leaflets at the turnstiles from 1400 until just before kick off, please let us know at [email protected].

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Match/Ticket/Bus/Info

New Kit Launch

NosCup v Forres

KDM Trophy v Binos

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We took a deserved win at Links Park last Saturday with this squad. Paul Allan and Ross Millen missed out but Adam MacKinnon started on the bench as he builds up to full fitness, as did Chanka Zimba, Jordan Alonge, Liam Sole and Robbie Thompson. First half goals from Alfie Bavidge and Calum MacLeod did the damage as we eased to the points although questions may be asked why we tailed off in the second half. That's three wins out of four and three clean sheets for the CJ's and that puts us 7th in the table, despite the five point deduction to start the season with. Good to get into the peleton early.

League1 results so far

• Kelty Hearts 0-3 (Mckay, Longstaff, Spoony)

• Peter Reid 2-0 (Spoony, Sole)

• Warriors 1-2 (Allan pen)

• Montrose 0-2 (Bavidge, MacLeod)

We unleashed a hungry man in our midweek Mickey Mouse Cup win over the Young Dons. They took the lead through Tristan Stephen but Chanka Zimba soon warmed up. Three minutes later he equalised and was generally too much for the young Dons to handle as he stroked in another couple for his hat-trick before Billy Mckay ended the scoring in the final minute to make it an ultimately comfortable 4-1 win. With Zimba, Sole, Alonge and Thompson all starting, we were always going to be a threat in attack and that was backed up by a superstrong bench.

LADIES DAY IS HERE >>>

📅 Saturday 30th August
⚽ ICTFC v Alloa Athletic
🎟️ £70 per person
🎤 The fantastic Michael Lewis
👉 Book your spot now!
💻 Eticketing
📧 [email protected]
📞 01463 222880✨

Alloa are a game behind the rest (Kelty Hearts excepted) but still top the table being the only side with a 100% record in League1. Not high scoring at the moment, but they have shown a penchant for extra late goals this season and have conceded only once in the League. They started the League campaign with an opening day win at Stenhousemuir, coming from behind to win 1-2. Dale Carrick had opened the scoring for Muir but goals either side of the interval by Steven Buchanan and Kurtis Roberts secured the Wasps win. Another away win followed at East Fife by a solitary Dave Devine strike as they dug deep to come away with another three points. A creditable showing at Ibrox saw them bow out of the League Cup 4-2 against Rangers, although maybe that can now be viewed as a shock result... That was the game that resulted in the League1 encounter with Kelty being put on ice. Their resilience knows no bounds and last week they beat Hamilton Accies 1-0 at home with Devine again knocking in from close range to keep the Wasps buzzing. Manager Andy Graham has been keeping his hand in on the park as well and he featured in the midweek KDM Trophy drama against St Mirren. The wasps came from two down to level the game with 91st and 92nd minute goals from a Lewis Bruin Waspy Special and a Luke Rankin tap in. Alas, they were pipped at the post by a 93rd minute strike by St Mirren's Calvin. Their two KDM fixtures have yielded no points thus far. (St Mirren B @ home & Stranraer away)

***Latest News: Alloa made three late signings since yesterday. This morning, striker Callum Gallagher returns after leaving the Smokies and young center back Charlie Dewar comes in on loan from the Arabs with midfielder Calum Adamson arriving as part of a cooperation loan deal from Rangers yesterday.

Dramatic ending and some strike by Bruin

It may only be matchday 5 but this is a massive game for us.

Win and we burst Alloa’s bubble and end the day two points behind them, albeit they’ve a game in hand.

Lose and we are eight points behind them, potentially eleven if they win their game in hand, and that dents our title ambitions.

They’ve not been blowing teams away and have had some late goals, so we need to be in our ga e until the final whistle.

However, with the way we’ve been playing and what seems to be strength in depth, I’m confident we can get the three points.

Hopefully a big crowd is there too.

Real test awaits. A sign of success for me will not be loosing a goal as this remains the weakest part of our team IMO.

Hoping more than expecting a ICT victory tomorrow but looking forward to the match nonetheless!

bc

I will miss this game but hope you all see a winner for us. The internet connection here is crap. My son will hopefully be texting me when we score 😃

I hope Don will do the PotY for me or you will have to wait till Monday 😜

HT 0-0. Tight game. We have plenty of possession but no final third threat. Impressed with Alloa so far. Confident with or without the ball. Carry a threat in the air.

Nice to see the youngsters 3 matches.

Looking forward to the second half.

bc

1 minute ago, big cherly said:

HT 0-0. Tight game. We have plenty of possession but no final third threat. Impressed with Alloa so far. Confident with or without the ball. Carry a threat in the air.

Nice to see the youngsters 3 matches.

Looking forward to the second half.

bc

0-0 isn’t a disaster but we need to really try and take the 3 points here and make a statement.

We’ve had Plenty of possession but we carry no threat with it. Alloa well organised and are a threat at set pieces with there height advantage

Need to stop letting Devine distribute from the back. His passing is playing others into trouble. Get Sole, Zimba and Alonge on and have a proper go. We ran out of ideas halfway through the first half.

The best thing about this team is you know at around 60-70 mins we have real quality coming on to chase a win.

FT 1-0. A narrow win but a big win!

Great result. Would be two points clear at the top if....

Great win. Very fortunate deflection for the goal. I felt we dodged a bullet with their penalty claim against Danny though. 3 big points

Deserved win but we made hard work of it. Their keeper had 3 good saves to be fair but so did ours in the last few minutes. Didn't think much of Alloa to be honest. Played for a draw all day long and really offered little threat until the last few minutes from setpieces.

Once again, a poor referee who let so many clear fouls go unpunished which almost cost us dearly at thd end.

We were far too slow in possession at times which allowed Alloa to get organised. Bringing Sole on made a difference and ultimately won us the game. Bavidge and Longstaff were poor today and Bavidge blew on 3 on 1 break horribly. To me, he's wasted playing out wide. As someone else has said, Devine's distribution was, at times horrendous and his mistakes in defence are going to cost us at some point.

A massive win for us today against a decent team. We undoubtedly deserved it but it was hard work.

Sole’s shot looked on target but the deflection ensured it hit the net.

The Alloa goalie had a couple of good saves, but Munro had a vital save late on.

The way we started it should have been a comfortable afternoon but we couldn’t capitalise when on top.

Bavidge will be an asset to us but I wish he’d passed to Mckay when we were three on one not long after we’d scored.

A big test passed.

Onwards and upwards.

A tough, hard earned (but deserved I feel) victory.

Most important decision today for me was the (right) timing of the subs. So credit to Kells getting it right today. The subs changed the match play and won the day. Liam and Zimba provided the necessary threat we lacked. Liam’s goal was deserved if fortunate.

A word also to the defence and Alloa. Led by Rem, Danny, Oscar & Calum they kept the Alloa threat under control. Ross proved his worth in the final 5 minutes with a fine save.

I thought Alloa were a well set-out and skilful team. Calm in and out of possession and could pass quickly up the park. Carried a threat throughout. The goalie also caught the eye. There wasn’t a minute of the match I didn’t fear them. They will be there at the end of the season I feel.

Lovely the ladies day addition. Added an extra dimension (or two) and a certain ‘jenes se qua’ with gin infused singing and a waft of perfume. Didn’t mix too well with pie and bovril but welcome anyway.

And a win!

Brilliant football match.

bc

37 minutes ago, Robert said:

Bavidge will be an asset to us but I wish he’d passed to Mckay when we were three on one not long after we’d scored

I wish Bavidge was played as a central striker and not pushed out to the wing. Sole on the wing with Bavidge up top and Mckay an impact sub if needed.

Take the win.

We were too slow in transition, sideways and backwards allowing Alloa to get their 2 banks of 4 to make them hard to break down and we created very little in final third

Wicked deflection won us the game but could have lost that in last few minutes.

Had a relative up for the game and went to bar 94 for the first time since the refurb. Excellent service and a good pint, same after the game. Well done to all the volunteers.

We started really well, carving Alloa open at will but never quite finding the killer pass (or getting on the end of it when we did). As the first half progressed, Alloa came more into the game without really threatening. The second half goal gave more urgency to Alloa's play as it did look that they came playing for the draw. When they started pressing us harder, we looked a bit shaky at the back and were probably fortunate not to have a penalty awarded against us. Munro, though, again looked very solid in goal.

Overall, I thought it was a very encouraging, positive performance against a very solid and well organised side. After our initial burst, Alloa seemed to get the measure of Bavidge and were doubling up on Longstaff. The introduction of Zimba and Sole posed a very different challenge for the Alloa defence and I wonder whether we might have scored earlier if we had had more of a physical presence up front from the start.

It is good we now have genuine options throughout the team and we clearly have the potential to win the league despite the 5 point deduction. We generally play with a much more positive attitude, but from time to time certain players seem not to see team mates in acres of space, or play the ball far too late. It seems as though there remains some of Big Dunc's tactical conditioning of not playing the ball forward until the opponents' defence has got back into position. Hopefully, as the team gels and a growing awareness of teammates' strengths and weaknesses develops, Dunc's dogma will be forgotten and a sharper cutting edge will emerge. I think we are genuine title contenders and have the potential to be very competitive in the championship next year.

Scott Kellacher took over the team just under a year ago. What a fantastic job he has done!

Are some folk really having a moan after we just beat the team that's top of the league and were undefeated until today?

With Hamilton drawing this evening, this means that despite the 5 point deduction and only 5 games played, we are already in the promotion play off places! Things are looking good!

18 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

It seems as though there remains some of Big Dunc's tactical conditioning

Absolutely nothing to do with the previous manager! The bloke left almost a year ago and the team now is picked and plays to Kellacher’s game plan and style. But I’m sure if there’s a result or something negative about ICT old Dunc will be the reason and not the current management in the eyes of a chosen few!

bc

1 hour ago, STFU said:

Are some folk really having a moan after we just beat the team that's top of the league and were undefeated until today?

I think it highlights the transformation since this time last year. We now know what we are capable of and expectations are high.

I agree with you, though. Today was all about getting the job done, which was achieved.

My friend mentioned that Broras money man was all over Jack Walker like a bad suit yesterday in the main stand before KO 🤣

Our take on the game but looks like the Alloa one without their commentary

Edited August 31, 2025Aug 31 by bishbashbosh

On 8/30/2025 at 7:03 PM, bishbashbosh said:

Had a relative up for the game and went to bar 94 for the first time since the refurb. Excellent service and a good pint, same after the game. Well done to all the volunteers.

Thank you for sharing your feedback, and we are glad you enjoyed your first experience of Bar 94.

Our volunteers do a tremendous job, and we could not do it without them. It is great to see the bar so popular before and after games.

If anyone else is available to assist us, even at a few games each season, we would welcome that. Just e-mail us at [email protected].

Edited September 1, 2025Sep 1 by Robert