Community Service


From the darkness of Dingwall to the bright lights of the city of Inverness, football returns with a bang on Tuesday night as Inverness entertain Dundee United in the quarter finals of the League Cup.

Tickets are priced at £15 for a seat anywhere inside the stadium and that's good value to watch two of the top clubs in Scotland battle it out for a place in the Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final, the round where Inverness faltered last season at the hands of Hearts.

The competition was blown wide open in the last round as favourites Celtic were humbled by Greenock Morton after an epic extra time scramble saw the big Bhoys lose out to a Dougie Imrie penalty and Morton clinging on for dear life to oust the Glasgow giants.

That result left the draw looking like this.

Inverness v Dundee United.......Tuesday
Hibernian v Hearts...................Wednesday
Morton v St Johnstone.............Wednesday
Motherwell v Aberdeen.............Wednesday
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Inverness warmed up for this tie with half a game in Dingwall before the lights went out and plunged the Global Energy Stadium into darkness, no goals being scored in a turgid first half. Bit of a misnomer methinks. David Raven missed out at Dingwall and Carl Tremarco got a start, showing up well before the energy left the stadium at half-time. Marley Watkins also started and both players may well feature again. James Vincent is still out with a knee injury and will not feature for the foreseeable future.

United had a full ninety minute workout on the Saturday and crushed St Mirren 4-0 at Tannadice. The increasingly dangerous striker Nadir Ciftci scored a couple and boy of the moment Ryan Gauld bagged a beauty, with substitute Chris Erskine netting the fourth. United have no injury worries but Jackie McNamara intends to use his squad to the full to get the best out of his players.

In the previous round, a Billy McKay goal was enough to see Inverness edge out Dundee at Dens Park while Dundee United were cruising past Partick Thistle thanks to a Goodwillie hat-trick and a goal from substitute Ryan Dow. United had entered the competition in the previous round and struggled past Dumbarton 2-3 Ciftci scoring a double in that game as well and Gauld getting the other.

So, the scene is set for this quarter final tie with United appearing to be in finer fettle than Inverness who have slipped up somewhat in their league games recently. The carrot has been dangled though, and a place in the semi-final could be enough to ensure an entertaining game will be played out with extra-time and penalties if required to ensure there is a winner on the night.