Get the pies on, we’re on our way. Inverness Caledonian Thistle, a name synonymous with Scottish Cup giant killing acts.

Not since Berwick Rangers humbled the mighty Glasgow Rangers in 1967 had the Scottish Cup yielded such a David v Goliath story, history in the making. The Headliners It’s almost ten years to the day since Supercaleywentballistic & Celticwerereatrocious. One of the most memorable Scottish Cup scorelines, and headlines, that shook the footballing world to it’s foundations as the wee team from the Highlands of Scotland went down to the big city and beat, nay thrashed the multi-million pound superstars of Glasgow Celtic. This win had repercussions in the Celtic camp as manager John Barnes was hastily removed from his chair whilst his counterpart, the laid back Steve Paterson was catapulted into the limelight with his bunch of unlikely heroes.

 

The giant killing continued as Edinburgh’s big favourites Hearts were dispatched by the same scoreline two years later, with Ross Tokely opening the scoring and a certain Mr Wyness and David Bagan completing the rout. Celtic were rapidly tiring of playing Inverness in the cup and in 2003 Dennis Wyness scored the only goal at Inverness to ensure that lightning can strike twice. Yes, those were the days my friends, I thought they’d never end………however, along came the SPL years and with the underdog tag removed from ICT, our determination in the face of adversity diminished and we joined the pack. Now back in the first division, we have taken Motherwell out of the equation with a well deserved 2-0 victory over the SPL Steelmen. Goals from Nauris Bulvitis and the recently departed Dougie Imrie saw Inverness being paired with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in the 5th round draw. Nauris himself almost departed but he has returned to the fold as his loan deal appears to have been sorted until the end of the season. The Latvian defender has slowly endeared himself to the Jaggies fans with some solid defending and he pops up with the odd goal as well, so it’s great to see him here for the remainder of the season. With our country cousins and near neighbours Ross County getting the more comfortable draws in the competition it would appear that Inverness will have their work cut out to make the later stages of the Active Nation Scottish Cup, and like John Terry, we will be playing away from home in our quest to further our interest in this years competition. It will be difficult to emulate the teams best years when we reached the semi-final in 2003 and 2004, losing 2-0 to Dundee and taking Dunfermline to a replay at Pittodrie in 2004 before Barry Nicolson waltzed past our defence to effectively put the game beyond us. Think Archie Gemmill for that goal, and you will be pretty close. The olde times Killie of course have been on cup business in the Highland capital many moons ago (1985) when they visited Kingsmills Park. Inverness Thistle were in the Highland league and Kilmarnock were in the then top league in Scotland, the First Division. By the end of the afternoon you would have been hard pushed to differentiate between the teams. One big give away as to which team were the victors was the amount of ‘big Kilmarnock Bunnets’ strewn around the pitch like wreaths, in a macabre fashion, and the two hundred Killie fans demonstrating behind the main stand demanding sackings after they witnessed Thistle hammering Killie 3-0. On the other hand, the Jags fans were singing and dancing their way to the Heathmount to party on. Goals by Milroy, Hay and Fraser stunned the visitors, an astonishing result at the time and a game which earned them a trip to Parkhead to play Celtic in the next round. That’s where the fairytale ended with Celtic winning 6-0. Incidentally, Jags all time legend goalkeeper, Jimmy Calder came on as a striker in that game before deciding goals was his best option, (he never liked running). He would of course come back to haunt Celtic in that 1-3 win at Parkhead as he played a blinder between the sticks. In the same round that Thistle were thumping Killie, Caley were thrashed 6-0 by Hearts in Edinburgh. Another cup game at Inverness between the now merged sides and Killie, saw the Highlanders being taken to a dramatic replay in injury time. The game finished 1-1, with Kilmarnock equalising seconds after ICT thought they had secured a famous victory in 2001. Substitute Barry Robson had opened the scoring but Gus McPherson’s late late burst down the right wing and cross for Gary Hay to nod home the leveller meant a midweek trip to Ayrshire for the Jaggies. Andy Maclaren had a frustrating afternoon culminating in a sending off. Earlier he was denied a goal when Jimmy Calder seemed to turn round and claw the ball away from two feet over the line after the ball had smacked the underside of the bar. Oh what a shame. In the replay, a Davide Xausa goal was not enough to stop Killie going into the next round thanks to goals from Kevin McGowne and a converted penalty from Paul Wright. The SPL years Inverness are no strangers to Rugby Park in recent years and have done reasonably well against Killie in our SPL years. In fact last season we took nine points from Killie, unfortunately in what turned out to be one of the more crucial games near the end of the season big Kevin Kyle stooped to score the winner late in the game to leave Inverness staring relegation in the face, and the rest is history, thanks Falkirk. Since joining the SPL, games against Kilmarnock have been very even. The mark of the devil if you like, 666. That’s six ICT wins, six draws and six Killie wins, with only one goal separating the sides in the eighteen meetings. Killie have had the greatest winning margin, 4-1 at Rugby Park but we have weighed in with a 3-0 and a 3-1 at home. One of the most entertaining matches saw Killie win by the odd goal in seven at Inverness in 2006. A double from Darren Dods and a Dargo penalty were not enough as a pair of braces were scored by Naismith and Nish, one of which was a penalty. Squads for the weekend Inverness have parted company with two players in the trading period, with the goal hero from the last round Dougie Imrie joining Hamilton. Good luck to Dougie at New Douglas Park and thanks for the memories of that stunning free kick you scored at Tynecastle. Striking failure Andy Barrowman has rejoined Ross County after his less than sensational period at ICT. He hit the headlines when he scored our opener against Aberdeen in our first ever victory over the Dons, but it was all downhill after that for Barrowman. A combination of injury and playing formations meant his playing time was limited and with Rooney now established as the main striker then his best options for a game on Saturday afternoons lay elsewhere.

 

The squad has been picking itself recently with a more settled ICT beginning to get the rewards for consistency although they made hard work of it last weekend against Partick. Jamie Duff is the long term absentee and the only injury at present. Esson will be first choice keeper and the back four should be Tokely-Bulvitis-Munro and Djebi-Zadi, who is now free from his cuptied suspension. The midfield defensive pairing may see Proctor and Cox share the berth, although Russell Duncan might play a part. With Imrie away the forward midfielders will almost certainly be Hayes-Sanchez-Foran with Adam Rooney probably playing the lone strikers role, something he has become accustomed to. Eric Odhiambo and Robert Eagle may also have a say in the outcome of this one. Danni Sanchez has been some peoples MoM and others question his inclusion, but for me he has enough awareness and creativity to become a match winner. Other contenders for that title should be hit man Rooney, Richie Foran with Jonny Hayes being the man most likely to hit the spot. Little Jonny could be the surprise packet for ICT as Killie will be unaware of his precocious talents and the 22 year old Irishman has been in great form recently. Squad v Partick Esson, Proctor, Bulvitis, Munro, Djebi-Zadi, Cox, Sanchez, Foran (Odhiambo 81), Tokely, Rooney, Hayes. Subs Not Used: Allison, Duncan, Golabek, Eagle. Kilmarnock have a new manager since we last played them, but an old adversary for us in the shape of Jimmy Calderwood. The ex Aberdeen boss has taken over from Jim Jeffries recently with a view to stopping the rot at Rugby Park.

 

His first game ended with a three nil home defeat to Motherwell, but results since have been encouraging for the Killie fans. An entertaining 4-4 draw with Dundee United and a thrilling first win in nine years over Celtic has given them fresh optimism for the season and they will relish the visit from ICT in the cup to escape from the relegation battle in the SPL.

 

They have added experienced Scottish international Scott Severin from Watford and Aberdeen's Chris Maguire, the scorer of the goal against Celtic to the squad along with other January sales bargain Rob Kiernan, all on loan deals until the summer. Maguire will not play in this game however as he is cup-tied. The ones to look out for will be Kevin Kyle, a danger for any defence in the air, and the man solely responsible for keeping Killie in the SPL last season. Mehdi Taouil is a box of tricks and will need close attention, although he is allegedly suffering from a hamstring injury. Fortunately, Squad v Celtic Gk-Cammy Bell, Clancy, Hay, Ford, Bryson, Pascali, Taouil, Kelly, Hamill, Kyle, Maguire Subs used:- Severin, Sammon, Kiernan Unused:- Robinson, Fowler, Old, Invincible Tm4tj prediction With the pressure off both clubs for different reasons, this cup tie could be an entertaining affair. Both teams on their day have players capable of scoring goals and this encounter normally produces plenty of them. For Inverness Adam Rooney will be looking to add to his tally for the season and with a bit more composure he may well do that this weekend. He showed tremendous courage to take his second penalty last week and that will have encouraged him. His counterpart Kevin Kyle is a big threat. He has scored against us before and his aerial presence will give him a big advantage over our medium sized defenders.  I firmly believe that we have the one ace in the pack, and that is Jonny Hayes. He is really developing into an excellent winger and packs a punch with his shooting as well. If he can skin the full backs and deliver for Rooney or Foran, then we might just have the match winner in our side. Not an easy tie however and Calderwood, like him or loathe him, is an astute manager and I’m sure he will have done his homework. With that in mind, I am going for a scoring draw with ICT to edge the replay. An easier prediction for me is that the Killie pies will be delicious, mmmnnnnn.