Hearts - Preview

  HEARTS V ICT 

Date: 26.08.2006 at 15:00 Tickets: This game is all-ticket. TV-info: Highlights available on ITV1 Scotsport SPL at 11pm on Monday evening.

DETAILS Hearts v Inverness Caledonian Thistle Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, Saturday 26th August at 3pm SPL Referee: Steve Conroy Others: Francis Andrews, Charlie Smith (Assistants), Colin Brown (4th official). FIXTURES Saturday 26th August: Aberdeen v Dunfermline Celtic v Hibernian Falkirk v Motherwell Hearts v Inverness CT St Mirren v Dundee Utd (all 3pm)

Sunday 27th August: Kilmarnock v Rangers (Setanta, 2pm) SPL ROUND-UP The SPL weekend kicked off at 12:30pm on Saturday at Love Street. Aberdeen only drew 1-1 at St Mirren as Crawford’s opener was cancelled out by a late equaliser from Broadfoot. Rangers went back top of the table with a good 2-0 victory at home to Hearts. A Boyd double gave the Gers a deserved victory. Hibernian kept Motherwell rock bottom with a comfortable 3-1 victory Benjoullon, Brown and Jones scored for Hibs as McDonald scored late on for the Well. Dundee Utd and Dunfermline drew a blank with Burchill missing a penalty for the Pars. Kilmarnock knocked Falkirk off top spot with a 2-1 win at the Falkirk Stadium. Wales and DiGiacomi made Latapy’s wonder strike mean nothing in terms of points. In Sundays live game, Celtic made the tricky trip up to Inverness. Pearson gave Celtic a deserved 1st half lead but Munro scored a smashing equaliser for the Jags with 10 mins left. So after 4 games Rangers lead the way with 4pts with Motherwell rock bottom with nil points. RECENT SPL FORM Inverness CT: DDDL Hearts: LDWW PAST MEETINGS The teams have played a total of 7 times (6 League, 1 Cup) with 10 goals (6 Inverness CT, 4 Hearts) between them. Inverness CT: 2 wins (1 League, 1 Cup) Draws: 3 (3 League, 0 Cup) Hearts: 2 wins (2 League, 0 Cup) A GAME TO REMEMBER For this weeks game to remember we take you back another one of Inverness’s great cup killing shocks. On the 26th January 2001 in the Scottish Cup 4th round, Inverness CT were drawn away to Hearts. Nobody predicted a shock, but Inverness weren’t listening. A tremendous display from the inform 1st Division side gave the Highlanders another giant cup killing act to add to their collection. Ross Tokely’s opener was cancelled out just before the break by Gary Wales of Hearts. A few thought that was the chance of a shock gone but Inverness showed the world how to play football in the second half when Dennis Wyness and David Bagan both slotted perfect goals to gift Inverness CT passage to the Quarter-final. Man of the match was Hearts fan Ross Tokely. The attendance was 12016. The teams were as follows: INVERNESS CT: Walker, Tokely, Mann, McCaffrey, McBain, Munro, Duncan, Chrisite, Robson, Ritchie, Wyness. Subs- Bagan (for Christie), Calder, Bavidge, Golabek, Stewart. HEARTS: Niemi, Webster, Severin, Mahe, Maybury, Flogel, Gronlund, Fulton, McCann, Fuller, Wales. Subs- Kirk (for Webster), Simmons (for McCann), Adam (for Wales), McKenzie, Kazcan. The referee was Alan Freeland and there were two bookings on the day: Duncan and Robson both of Inverness CT. Six of the Inverness players who started the match still play for the club and one is now the manager! FACTS BETWEEN THE TEAMS • All League meetings between the teams have taken place in the SPL. • Hearts have never scored more than one goal against Inverness CT. • Paul Hartley is the top scorer in the fixture with 2 goals. • One goal has been scored in the last 3 meetings. The last two matches have both finished goalless. TOP SCORERS 2 goals: Hartley (Hearts) 1 goal: Tokely, Wyness, Bagan, Juanjo, Dods, Wilson (all ICT), Wales, Skacel (all Hearts). PLAYERS TO WATCH Mark Brown (Inverness CT): The Scotland future-squad goalkeeper is a key part of the Inverness CT. He signed for the club in the summer of 2002 and has missed ONLY ONE game since then. He missed the home game against Dunfermline in order to give Michael Fraser a chance. He is a sensational stopper and was man of the match when Inverness CT shocked Celtic for the 2nd time in 2003. He is very much on the fringes of the Scotland squad and with most of his performances last season; he probably deserved a game at least. He has the determination to become the first ever Caley Thistle player to win a full Scotland cap. A great credit to the club, already a club legend and has done well especially in difficult games. Paul Hartley (Hearts): The former St Johnstone man had a terrific season last season for the Jambos. He is now a permanent addition to the Scotland squad and always gives 100% for both club and country. He has been speculated for moves to Rangers and Celtic but currently remains at his beloved Hearts. He has just returned from injury and came on as a sub against Rangers last week and is likely to feature against Inverness CT. FUTURE FIXTURES 25th Nov 2006 at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium 10th Feb 2007 at Tynecastle