Replay required to separate sides

Inverness are still searching for their first win at Stair Park Stranraer after the sides drew 2-2 in their Scottish Cup 5th round encounter at a windswept stadium.

A somewhat towsy affair saw Inverness take the lead when Aaron Doran's shot come cross found the back of the net after forty minutes, but five minutes later Martin Grehan levelled from the spot after Graeme Shinnie had shoved him over inside the box. It was no more than Stranraer deserved as they had matched the SPFL side in the first half.

Maybe Inverness were feeling the effects of last weekends heroic effort in the League Cup semi-final. Whatever it was, the second half was going down the same route and Richie Foran made his long awaited comeback after 58 minutes to try and inject some urgency about the visitors. Billy McKay almost grabbed a goal but was blocked by some last ditch defending, and when Jamie Longworth capitalised on a loose header in midfield and raced forward to score with a powerful low drive, a shock looked to be on the cards. Unfortunately for the Blues, McKay popped up in the six yard box to head Inverness towards a replay after Foran headed the ball back across goal for a simple finish for wee Billy.

No more scoring and few chances in the last fifteen minutes, but Stranraer gave as good as they got and Inverness were relatively pleased to hear the final whistle and get another crack at progressing to meet Dundee United in the next round.

Full Time 2-2

Stranraer: Mitchell, Robertson, Docherty, Bell, Rumsby, McKeown, Winter, Gallacher, Longworth (Forde 87), Grehan, Stirling (McKenna 82).

Subs not used: McGregor, Kinnaird, Borris, Rafferty.

Inverness CT: Brill, Raven, Shinnie, Draper, Warren, Meekings, Watkins (Foran 58), Tansey, Mckay, Vincent (Williams 68).

Subs not used: Esson, Ross, Devine, Tremarco, Polworth.

Referee: Kevin Clancy.

Attendance: 722.

Kudos to the hardy bunch of fans that made the 500 mile round trip to stand in the wind and rain. Nostalgia is not what it used to be! Some rare sightings on the BBC highlights where Naelifts made a scarce appearance along with Capital Caley, great faces for the radio some might say, certainly kept the crows away.

Here's a fans eye view from the Immortal Howden Ender who made the journey for olde times sake:- Well that was the best away day in feckin ages. Early morning start - two carriage steam train to the End of the Earth, travelling at a maximum 40mph - two pubs in Stranraer - one called The Pub and one called The Fitba Pub - great craic all day with a crew of REAL ICT fans - A sh**hole of a ground, pissing down rain and a gale force wind. Standing on a grass embankment watching a game of football being played in a peat bog. FECKIN, FECKIN GREAT.

So, it's back to Inverness for a replay, scheduled for Tuesday 18th February, and that's still winless at Stair Park for Inverness. Dundee United await the victors after they dumped St Mirren today.

Full Draw below, with no other potential all SPFL ties, that's assuming we can get the better of Stranraer in the replay, but we will need to perform a bit livelier than we did at Stair Park. However, we did avoid the banana skin so far, unlike our olde gaffer Terry Butcher and his Hibs side who went out at Easter Road thanks to a superb winning header from Grant Anderson, scoring with a back header from fifteen yards.

Raith Rovers v St Johnstone

Aberdeen v Dumbarton

Stranraer/Inverness CT v Dundee United

Rangers v Albion Rovers