A bridge too far?

Having disposed of Buckie Thistle last Wednesday, Inverness make the short trip over the Kessock Bridge to take on Premiership strugglers Ross County in the third round of the Scottish Cup. Could this be a bridge too far in our recovery programme or will it be a warm up for the promotion play-offs. Should make for interesting viewing with the game being shown on BBC Scotland with a revised kick-off time of 7:45pm. Unfortunately covid restrictions means no fans will be in the stadium for what should be a cup cracker with Yogi now in charge at Premiership Dingwall and Neil & Billy trying to steer Inverness to safety in the Championship. Both management teams would do well to remember that the League is the number one priority, but bragging rights and a wee cup run can also lift the spirits.

Once upon a time there were three clubs...

County's Premiership status put them straight into round three, but due to delays caused by the weather and coronavirus the next round draw preceded the second round game at Buckie. 

Inverness edged out Buckie who put up a terrific fight against a much changed Inverness side. James Keatings opened the scoring in 35 seconds but big Jack Murray deservedly headed Buckie level. Sean Welsh drove Inverness ahead, but the tie looked to be heading for extra time after Callum Murray equalised with a couple of minutes left. However Dan Mackay pounced in the 90th minute to put Inverness through 2-3.

Then there were two, Ross County -V- Inverness CT

Our last ten competitive games against County are not very flattering. What can I say, the wee team from over the bridge have held the upper hand in recent seasons. Our last competitive win over County was in 2016 when goals from Liam Polworth, Ross Draper and a belter from Miles Storey saw us win 3 - 0 in Dingwall on the 19th March. Would it be clutching at straws to say County have never knocked the Caley Jags out of the Scottish Cup, ever? Yes, it's been a great rivalry with 61 games played, 26 wins for ICT, 17 wins for County and 18 draws. Goals for 95 - 70 = + 25 GD. So overall, County are still in the shadows.  Well,it's all we have to go on! Here's another thought: Inverness have the best defensive record in the Championship conceding just 23 goals. County have the leakiest defence in the Premiership with 59 goals against. Neither side have excelled in scoring goals. ICT 28 from 22 games, County 26 from 33 games.

Highlights from the 3-0 win in Dingwall

1 - 2 (H)

2 - 2 (H)

2 - 2 (A)

1 - 2 (A)

2 - 2 (H)

0 - 0 (A)

0 - 4 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

2 - 3 (A)

2 - 3 (H)

We have managed three League wins on the bounce, all by 1-0 against Raith Rovers, Dunfermline and Arbroath as the McCann/Dodds revolution picks up pace. Looks like we are flying under the radar, but it's been effective in moving us up the table away from the drop zone and closer to the Premiership play-offs. Fingers crossed on that one. A marquee loan signing has given fans some hope that we can do the latter. Scott Allan has arrived from Hibs on loan and made his debut in the last half hour against Arbroath, showing glimpses of class and hopefully he can put his illness and injury problems behind him. In his half hour cameo there were signs that Scott will add another dimension to our creative play, something we have been looking for since the start of the season.

County have blown hot and cold in recent weeks. It was only a couple of months ago they were thumping Aberdeen 4-1. However, despite also beating Celtic in Dingwall some inconsistent results have seen County struggle to stay just above the bottom two. Since then defeats to Hibs, St Mirren and St Johnstone interspersed with a 3-2 win over Killie keeps the Premiership flag flying. Billy Mckay scored a couple in that game and we know he likes to score when he wants. So, who do we know from their time at Inverness. John Hughes obviously, Scottish Cup winning manager in 2015. Billy Mckay, still got an eye for goal and a great penalty box striker. Jordan White, nothing to see here, jumps like he has his feet in a bag of cement, move on. Coll Donaldson, big defender can show some silky skills but prone to errors under pressure. Ross Draper was a fans favourite at Inverness, a big strapping lad, mostly a sub. Iain Vigurs, a booking waiting to happen. Get him down as first yellow card. Has all the skill in the world but a cynical schizer who would wind up his own granny. Carl Tremarco, agent Tremarco has not had much game time and his days are numbered. Apart from Gardyne and Shaw, the rest are mostly new names to us, but anyway, we have Brad Mckay...

***Latest Team News***

We like to keep things close to our chest of late although we were quick to inform all that Lewis Toshney has left the building last week. Injuries dictated that Lewis had played no games this season, so no big loss in the overall picture, but good luck to Lewis in his battles against injury. Anthony McDonald is still out. Aaron Doran made a fleeting return a couple of weeks ago but has not been seen since. Playing two games a week for the last two months can take it's toll and it certainly looked like it against Arbroath but we have had the novelty of six days off before this cup game. Beware, we still have James Vincent on our books, now he's a man that knows what it's like to score the winning goal in a Scottish Cup Final.

Yogi also knows what it's like to win a Scottish Cup, I'm sure he will have ambitions to go further than the entry round for his current club.