Bottoms v Tops

Struggling Cove Rangers are the visitors to the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday as they look for their second win of the season against the team with the most wins of this League campaign. That's us for those still unsure of our credentials. From the twelve games played so far, we have three wins more than anyone else in League1. The last time we met in early September, we came away from Balmoral Stadium with all three points thanks to a goal from Calum MacLeod. Cove won their first game with a resounding 0-3 win at Montrose recently but followed that with a 1-2 home defeat to Peterhead last weekend. Billy Mckay has a grade 2 hamstring injury and is out until around Xmas. Maybe he will be a surprise Santa. Usual niggles as well but we are not aware of any surprise casualties.

As Gringo succintly pointed out on CTO: We've been here before...top v bottom....home banker? You'd certainly think so, well, on paper anyway. Our home form/performances aren't Earth shattering that is for sure. Need to win this at least 6-0 to get rid of that bogie with a massive blow out. Aaaaaattttccchhhooooooo!

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Match/Ticket/Info

KDM v Dundee Utd 'B' Info/Tix

Hospitality see image below

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Enjoy the ultimate matchday experience in our Kingsmills Lounge for just £60 per person, or £50 if you’re an ICTFC Season Ticket Holder.
This is your chance to watch the game in style, soak up the atmosphere, and make matchday memories to last a lifetime!
💫 Your Kingsmills Lounge Experience Includes:
✨ Premium Main Stand seats - the best view in the house
🎤 Pre and post-match entertainment to get the buzz going
🥧 Tasty half-time fayre to keep you fuelled up
📄 Official team sheets
🍽 A mouth-watering two-course meal freshly prepared by the fabulous Drumossie Hotel
🥂 Complimentary welcome drink on arrival
🚗 Free car parking
🏆 Man of the Match presentation
👔 Dress code: Smart casual (No ripped jeans)
🎟️ Book Your Spot Now! Book your place by emailing [email protected] or calling 01463 227450
Tables of 4, 6, 8, or 10 available — no minimum covers required.
Don’t miss this chance to experience matchday with premium comfort, great food, top football, and unbeatable vibes!
👉 Get behind the team this November and cheer them on in style!
Book your place by emailing [email protected] or calling 01463 227450

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Last weekends squad that laboured to victory over a lively Montrose. Chanka Zimba was the difference between the sides as we hit the top of the table.

Since we last met:

1. Cove 0-1 ICTFC

2. QotS 0-2 ICTFC

3. ICTFC 4-1 E Fife

4. Accies 3-1 ICTFC

5. ICTFC 2-2 Kelty

6. P'Head 0-1 ICTFC

7. ICTFC 1-0 Monty

Our home form has been the subject of much discussion as many teams come North to sit in and Stenhousemuir certainly benefitted from that in our only home defeat and Kelty Hearts also got off lightly in a 2-2 draw. However it's up to us to dictate the pace of our own home games and that is certainly up for debate as our goals to attempts ratio shows alarming disparity at times.

ℹ️ Matchday Info: Cove
🎟️ Tickets available HERE
🚗 North & South Car Park Open

• 🍺Bar 94 open 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 the Stadium to the Bus Station 10 minutes after the full time 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.

Cove's squad at home to Peterhead last Saturday was unchanged one week after their first win of the season at Montrose. Lewis O'Donnell's goal was not enough to stop Peterhead taking the points.

Since we last met:

1. Cove 0-1 ICTFC

2. Alloa 2-1 Cove

3. Cove 0-2 Kelty

4. E Fife 2-0 Cove

5. Cove 0-1 Stenny

6. Monty 0-3 Cove

7. Cove 1-2 P'Head

David Eguaibor tops Cove's scoring chart with five goals. Bisland, Eguaibor and O'Donnell were the scorers in the 3-0 win at Montrose.

Cove had long-term absentees Fraser Fyvie, Mikey Doyle and Declan Glass all sidelined at Montrose and Mitch Megginson was added to that injury list which remained the same for the Peterhead game. Paul Hartley felt that his side missed too many opportunities without the cutting edge the likes of Megginson would have provided.

We traditionally make hard work of seeing off struggling sides, especially at home. But what better opportunity pops up to get the fans on board and boost your goal difference than playing the team at the opposite end of the table. Weather's mild too.

Pos	Team	Pld	Gd	Pts
	ICTFC	12	13	23
2	Stenny	12	5	22
3	Alloa	12	5	20
4	P'Head	12	1	19
5	E Fife	12	1	19
6	QueenS	12	-1	17
7	Accies	12	14	15
8	Monty	12	-12	11
9	Kelty	12	-16	7
☹️	Cove	12	-10	5

No listen! Here's Scott

No listen, I'll be perfectly honest with ya - last time I went to see ICT vs Cove they unexpectedly humped us 1-4, so hoping to witness a bit of retribution tomorrow!

Caley Jags Unchanged

No Megginson for Cove and only 4 subs.

Well here's hoping the team can improve their shots/target/goals ratio ! last week was a shocker! ( albeit with a win)

Cove having just four subs shows their resource issue. I cannot recall if it was them but the last time a team had so few substitutes I seem to recall we lost!! Pleased that Megginson is not in the team - he has all the attributes of Derek Adams. Good luck to the lads today.

1 0 Robertson! nice one!

Goal Mitchell Robertson!

BBC - 14 shots, 3 on target, 8 corners, 1 goal.

That's appalling! Although at least we are shooting.

Same as last week.. going to be a nervy last 15 mins for sure. Unless of course!

Let's hope the subs make a difference. Need another goal!

Now 21 shots and 4 on target!! and 1 goal. a win is welcome but Kell needs to sort this out!

Well it’s another win, but we don’t make it easy for ourselves!

1 minute ago, caley100 said:

Now 21 shots and 4 on target!!

I remember saying years ago that they should just shoot for the centre of the goal, because the ball certainly won't go there

Nice to see us top with a wee bit of daylight between us and the next teams.

But look at the form of the bottom 3 sides, who are getting pumped by everyone. Our last 3 home games were against them and were 1-0, 2-2 and 1-0. Something still missing!

Comfortable victory against a poor team. Frustrating to not score more however some of the comments in the main stand would suggest we are struggling at the bottom of the league.

Not quite as gard a watch as last week but only because Cove were really poor.

So many chances missed, poor shooting and crossing into the box were our down fall yet again plus Cove keeper made 2 really good saves to prevent goals.

Kellagher needs to revisit his team selections and tactics urgently. Zimbabwe should not be starting ahead of Bavidge. I know Bavidge hasn't set the Heather on fire this season but needs a run of games. Zimbabwe missed 2 good chances, 1 he should have buried but is a limited player. Wotherspoon is done after around 60 minutes so we'd be better starting Stewart then bringing on Wotherspoon when the opposition tires. We drop out of games too easily in the second half, not so much today but that was because Cove were poor so it really needs addressed and quickly.

A wins a win though and I'll take a 1 - 0 win all day long but our luck will run out one day if wr don't stary scoring more goals.

A tale of two halfs once again. Should have been out of sight at the interval but the second half was a complete transformation as we struggled to create too many chances and those that we did were wasted. I suppose that we shouldn't complain as at least we did manage to collect all three points

1 hour ago, Yngwie said:

Nice to see us top with a wee bit of daylight between us and the next teams.

But look at the form of the bottom 3 sides, who are getting pumped by everyone. Our last 3 home games were against them and were 1-0, 2-2 and 1-0. Something still missing!

…and yet Stenny have now been held at home by Kelty too. Even if we don’t improve our scoring rate we’ll likely still win this league because none of the other teams seem good enough to put a strong run together.

Unfortunately I’m not able to experience the joys and frustrations of match days anymore but as a long distance fan I’m just happy to see the 3 points gained so often this season. As Huisdean says, our luck may very well run out sometimes when we fail to score when we should but I’m sure we’re going to continue winning more often than not.

This season is all about getting promotion. We are getting results and that is what matters, even if it is a tough watch and we fail to put teams away.

We dominated the first half and should have put the game to bed but we only had Robertson’s goal.

Cove came at us after the break and we got penned in a bit but the substitutions put us back on the front foot eventually.

At the end of the day, not the best game. We should have done better, but we got the result.

Job done.

Hold the front page

Cove Carbon Copy

Bottom side Cove Rangers poor season continued at the Caledonian Sarens PSG Stadium as the Caley Jags remained top of the table. Billy Mckay and Ross Millen were out for Scott Kellacher's side with last weeks match winner Chanka Zimba leading the line and Calum MacLeod continuing at right back. Paul Hartley was without Fraser Fyvie, Mikey Doyle, Declan Glass and Mitch Megginson. After an impeccably observed minutes silence for the fallen and those that gave their all, we were ready for kick-off. Considering it was the first week in November, the inclement weather had relented and it was a calm Saturday afternoon as the teams took to the pitch. Oh no it wasn't said the pantomime voices as a constant heavy shower that lasted for the whole first half engulfed the stadium and then continued to p!ss down after the break. It was a Carbon Copy of last weeks squeaky bum game against Montrose where failure to put the game to bed almost resulted in dropping points. In a half dominated by the hosts, Chanka Zimba missed a sitter early on with just the keeper to beat, firing high over the bar from ten yards. We only had a solitary goal to show for our endeavours when Mitchell Robertson met an inswinging corner by Joe Chalmers in the six yard box to crash the ball into the roof of the net. Calum MacLeod came in from the right but Mutch was equal to his parting shot to keep the Caley Jags player out. Soon after, a blow for Cove when captain Aaron Darge was replaced by Mackenzie Strachan. Just on the half time whistle, Adam Mackinnon was denied by keeper Mutch who pulled off a superb low save from a thunderbastard of a daisy cutter on the sodden surface.

HALF TIME: 1-0

Similar to last week, the visitors started the second half brighter than they did in the first but without troubling the home defence. Inverness gradually got themselves back on top and Robertson headed over, as did substitute Alfie Bavidge. Ten minutes from the end Liam Sole eventually got a decent shot away as he cut in from the left but again Mutch was able to keep the ball out. As keekie winkers started to twitch, Adam Emslie was able to make his way out of Calum MacLeod's back pocket and found himself shooting goalwards. However, Ross Munro kept focussed on the job in hand and was able to usher the slippery ball over the bar as we all held our breath. We saw out the game mostly on the front foot and MacLeod was unfortunate to be nudged off balance after cutting in from the right before his effort sliced wide of the target. Still time for the gangly and awkward David Eguaibor to shoot over the bar to bring proceedings to an end. The stats will show something like 70%/30% possession for the hosts, but to be honest, once again we made hard work of putting away a poor Cove side who were there for the thrashing. No bogies were harmed in the making of this result...

We shouldn't complain too much really, but that's another nervy ending to a game we were well in control of. But 1-0 is never enough going into the final few minutes when the opposition suddenly get forward in numbers. Maybe that says more about the fear we are putting into other teams, but it would be nice to get a comfortable victory to ease the nerves.

Calum MacLeod was immense again today only letting Emslie out for air on a couple of occasions. And that's no mean feat against a tricky, pacy winger.

On a positive note, another clean sheet...........!!

23 minutes ago, tm4tj said:

But we’re not excellent at finishing!!! By a Zimbabwean country mile anyone attending today could see we’re struggling to have any striker turn-up right now. Real problem in my book and needs addressing. Whatever we’re doing at the training sessions - it’s not effective; change it!!!

bc

Have to agree Shirley.

Some wayward efforts. They played a lot of intricate stuff and cut Cove open at times but failed to stick the knife in. It's not for a lack of effort, but what are they doing in training.

In their defence however, the conditions were pretty grim for approximately 90 minutes.

Can't argue with any of the above.

Worth mentioning though, the exquisite interplay and ball control exhibited by our players - best I've seen for a long time and a joy to watch. For long spells Cove couldn't get a touch on the ball.

Now if only they coulda guided it into the net, exquisitely, just a bit more often than once!