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

12 hours ago, tm4tj said:

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.

Driving over the bridge last week, a peek to the stadium, the north half of the pitch was covered in cut out plastic replicas. I don’t think these statues can move, especially the goalkeeper. Shooting practice must be a doddle.

Go back to the old days where you would have 1st team v 2nd team. Then swap 1st team defence with 2nd team defence. Then swap midfields etc, etc.

Yesterday, some of the one touch footie was pleasing on the eye, but crossing into the box was, being non confrontational, shocking. Would a plastic right winger have done better.

Can’t get the edit buttons to work, but I thought Macleod was very good again yesterday. I wonder if we could get the original right back, back playing, Macleod’s energy and pace is something that would enhance our midfield.

Just a thought.

16 hours 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!

Obviously a concern but no surprise as these teams will be more open when they’re not playing us. But our conversion rate to chances made is pretty woeful.

Never been noted for my optimism but having seen most of the teams in the league, nobody’s winning it except us. It’s only mid-November but already my final thoughts before drifting off to sleep tend to dwell on whether we can stay up in the Championship.

I think a lot of posts in recent matchday threads highlight how far we have come and how high our expectations now are.

We’ve enjoyed the much more positive approach we now take to games and winning the majority of them.

That has led us to expect to see good football and plenty goals as we get wins, and we are now disappointed if we can only grind out a 1-0 win.

We are in a good place and I do believe the goals will start coming again in league games but I’d highlight our goalkeeper and defence as we’ve only conceded 8 goals in 13 league games, and we’ve kept 8 clean sheets. That is quite an achievement.

18 minutes ago, Robert said:

We are in a good place and I do believe the goals will start coming again in league games but I’d highlight our goalkeeper and defence as we’ve only conceded 8 goals in 13 league games, and we’ve kept 8 clean sheets. That is quite an achievement.

So, taking away the 8 games with clean sheets that leaves 5 games in which we've conceded 8...

Not so much of an achievement, unless giving goals away is the aim.

12 minutes ago, Satan said:

So, taking away the 8 games with clean sheets that leaves 5 games in which we've conceded 8...

Not so much of an achievement, unless giving goals away is the aim.

It’s still a good achievement and it’s actually 9 clean sheets as I forgot to count yesterday’s game.

In two of the four games games we conceded in, we lost goals whilst trying to win the game (against Stenhousemuir when we got caught on the break when trying to find a winner) and Hamilton (when we were trying to get back to 2-2).

I’m not saying we are perfect by any means, just that we are much better than we were not much over a year ago, and our expectations have risen as a result.

Edited November 9, 2025Nov 9 by Robert

What is this Zimbabwe stuff all about? His name is Zimba and he’s not even from Zimbabwe.

Robert bringing the sense to these threads as usual

It's league 1 ffs. The only 'achievement ' that matters is getting the f**k out of it ASAP.

Clean sheets against teams with next to no threat means bugger-all , especially if we are struggling to get the ball in their net.

The fact that we concede freely to teams that aren't lining up with a back 10 is of slight concern, when the Championship is far less forgiving.

That’s why we love this game and it’s good that we all have different perspectives.

The priority undoubtedly is promotion, however we achieve it.

I’m glad we are trying to win games rather than trying not to lose them and, in doing so, we’ve scored in every league game this season so far

There will be hiccups along the way, it’s how we bounce back from them that matters.

Maybe my glass is half fuller than some others but I’m enjoying this season 😂😂

Edited November 9, 2025Nov 9 by Robert

2 hours ago, Robert said:

It’s still a good achievement and it’s actually 9 clean sheets as I forgot to count yesterday’s game.

In two of the four games games we conceded in, we lost goals whilst trying to win the game (against Stenhousemuir when we got caught on the break when trying to find a winner) and Hamilton (when we were trying to get back to 2-2).

I’m not saying we are perfect by any means, just that we are much better than we were not much over a year ago, and our expectations have risen as a result.

Nothing to worry about then. Make room for me in the happy clappy section next home game.

Shirley!

Edited November 9, 2025Nov 9 by big cherly

4 hours ago, Satan said:

It's league 1 ffs. The only 'achievement ' that matters is getting the f**k out of it ASAP.

I think that is unfair on 9 teams in the League plus Ross County who want another shot at a playoff to enter the League.

4 hours ago, big cherly said:

Nothing to worry about then. Make room for me in the happy clappy section next home game.

Shirley!

If praising the team for getting us in the position we are currently in makes me a happy clapper then so be it.

I don’t rustle sweeties though 😂😂

Worms 👁️ View

12 minutes ago, tm4tj said:

Worms 👁️ View

That vid reminds me - we had loads of corners, and in most cases the deliveries were superb.

What a pity nobody in the box could do anything with it, except once!

Perhaps that's the next project for the training ground.