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Just to let you all know that Eric Davidson (ictewd) passed away this morning 1st March 2023. He was admitted to the hospice on Friday and he said "at least I will get WiFi in there and will try and do team lines etc as it will give me something to do". Unfortunately he was unable to manage anything and passed away this morning. Eric was a keen follower of rugby in his younger days and would have been a regular at the Barrel Vault. Eric was not a prolific poster on here, but did a tremendous amount of work in the background. He was a quiet unassuming man and after joining BT he did some studying to make his way to being a precision tester at BT, and a good friend since the 70's and along with Iain (IBM) has been working behind the scenes to help keep the site stats ticking over. Typical of Eric, he was happy to work in the background whilst others would get the glory and went about his CTO business in a dilligent and professional manner. I will miss him greatly for his contributions on here, probably unnoticed by many. More importantly, he will missed by all who knew him. Condolences to all friends and family, especially his wife Anne. x

Great posts tonight for a change! Our best game all season the team were great the support were great! Eric would have loved it tonight

As the other 6 sides battle it out over the next 2 days for a place in the semis, it’s great having that smug feeling that our name is already in the hat!

Great performance by the whole team. In fact Gary Lineker has just tweeted that we reminded him of 1930’s Germany.

Billy Dodds post match interview spot on !!!

Yesterday's game is a stark reminder of how important it is to get clarity on what the Club's financial plans are. We have a squad of players who have shown they are good enough to compete in the Premiership if we can be reasonably injury free. But bear in mind that the latest accounts (on which the club has not commented) state that the financial projections are reliant on uncertain sources of income and operational cost savings, and that new auditors have "material concerns" about the club preparing the accounts on a going concern basis. It would appear that cutting operational costs is inevitable and the biggest part of operational costs is presumably the player budget. With other costs rising (such as energy costs as highlighted in IBM's post above), it seems likely that there will be significant pressure on the player budget. Whilst it is still possible to gain promotion this season, we have to assume that we won't. Therefore unless we get clarity soon about a viable financial plan for next season, many of the players who performed so well last night on national TV will be off elsewhere when their contracts come to an end at the end of the season, or they will be sold for less than they are worth in order to reduce the wage bill. If that happens, we will do well next season not to exit the Championship through the back door. In other words, if we don't win promotion this year, we are highly unlikely to do so next year. We need to get right behind the team for the rest of the season and hope we get the major financial boost promotion would bring.

Likewise - George Elder would be well pleased. RIP Big George.

Well that was unexpected and also the best feeling from a victory I've had in many a long day. After the really bad start, I thought here we go again, having to come from behind to win the game, but we gradually took control of the game and we ended up worthy winners. Good performances from all the boys, but a special mention to our own Durecell Bunny, Billy Mckay he never stops running the channels, closing the back four down and chipping in with a pressure penalty. Anything is possible now, so let's sit back and enjoy the other semi's and see what unfolds, and hopefully take this form into our remaining league games, let's pretend that we're playing Premier clubs in all our remaining games. Well done.

Supporting ICT has not been easy this season, but tonight was what it is all about. Terrific all round performance and great support from the fans. After giving Kilmarnock a goal start we pressured them for 90 minutes and forced them into errors. We then played some very good passing football and had we shown the same clinical finishing as we did against Livi, we could have won this by 3 or 4 clear goals. We now need to show that level of performance in the league. There are better teams than Kilmarnock above us in the Championship.

Yes, I know it’s been a very long time since I’ve posted on here…life has taken a few different directions, but I did remember my password! What’s prompted me to post now is this extremely articulate and very well informed thread on a topic I’ve followed with great interest since even before the club existed as a supporter, a journalist and for the last 26 years, a shareholder as well - its finances. Moving on from that rather lengthy reintroduction, I must say that I’m rather astonished that today’s lengthy club statement of around 800 words makes no admission whatsoever of the specifics of what’s looking like an ever deepening financial crisis, as revealed yesterday by external parties. Headline items here include losses increasing 3.5 fold to £835K… deeper in hock to HMRC and trade creditors… 64% fall in net assets, large increase in staff to 92 and the auditors slapping a “going concern” notice on the accounts. These details were only revealed through Companies House yesterday, the company’s deadline for filing there, and picked up by the media… all before shareholders and supporters have been told by the club. And this information vacuum, given the absence of any financial detail in that statement, remains the case unless a calling notice is on its way for an AGM which, according to the company’s articles of association, became overdue on 21st December last year.(EDIT - AGM now called for 28.3.22.) There has been such a delay with these accounts that the information they contain is now nine months out of date, which is a long time when financial fortunes are in freefall. Has the situation got even worse? In 2021 we were told that concerts were going to be the financial Messiah… and then the concert company collapsed. What are the implications of that, because even though the Concertco was a legally separate company from the FC, although both its directors were also FC directors, there must be reputational and other issues to consider and other apsects to scrutinise. And what are the specifics of these “land” arrangements and “battery farm”? Someone in an earlier post (and it’s great to see so many of the “usual suspects” of years gone by still contributing magnificently on this forum!) suggested that ICT hasn’t had a boost from benefactors like Ross County. I’m not sure if I totally agree with that and would start with Ian Fraser’s £330K in 1996 and continue through a multi-faceted £3-ish million from Tullochs, several hundred thousand from Muirfield Mills, part of a million in new capital that appeared during 2018-19 etc etc. Then there’s goodness know a how much in loans and donations just to keep the club solvent and it’s all gone simply to sustain a long term underlying loss situation. This club has therefore had substantial external assistance but still finds itself in the financial plight described in these nine month old accounts…. or possibly worse. However any insight provided to fans, shareholders etc has been very limited. Meanwhile one major current issue is why (EDIT now called for 28.3.23.) is why the deadline was so lengthily missed for an AGM where shareholders can require the board to shed some light on what appears to be an increasingly alarming situation?

What a great result, and a really terrific 'backs to the wall' performance after the shocking red card for the captain. I really hope we appeal it. Well done everybody (Ridgers particularly). Onwards and upwards, it could still be a remarkable last few weeks of the season

Well done ICT, an incredibly resilient 10 v 12 performance.

I'm reliably informed that the AGM will be scheduled to coincide with the grand opening of the dualled A9.

That was one sided a contest as I've seen for a while. Queens Park were streets ahead of us for large parts of that match. Decent opening to the game with Eze missing two glorious chances when he had free headers from corners but he would eventually get his goal later. It was surprising that we didn't really seem to know how to counter him and were content to keep letting him win header after header almost scoring each time. Danny MacKay had a great chance to open the scoring after a nice phase of passing play saw him scamper in behind the Queens back line but he lost his footing and shot right at Ferrie. But he was to open the scoring when a long ball forward bounced off the back of Mckay and Mackay raced onto it to place a wonderful low shot beyond Ferrie at full stretch to give us the lead. Queens seemed to lose their way after this for the rest of the first half but regained their composure in the second and utterly dominated the rest of the match. The equaliser arrived when a cross from the ICT right found Savoury in acres of space with no ICT defender near him and he placed his wider beyond Ridgers to bring QP level. Despite this being the umpteenth warning to us to try and defend crosses into the box we decided to, erm, not do this and instead let Eze have another header from a cross almost unchallenged and he found the net this time to put the home side ahead. Mckay and Devine had decent chances for us to head in equalisers and Samuels fired a late effort right at Ferrie but Queens were easily deserving of the win especially as we ran out of ideas and blootered long balls to Mckay to try and win against tow defenders with an average height of about 8 ft. Bizarre decision to sub Allardice when he was probably our best midfielder and Samuels continues to be quite unimpressive in his outings. MacGregor got a few minutes before appearing to catch his studs in the pitch and had to be taken off inured so that's swell. We just didn't seem able to cope with the intensity and pace of Queens Park who moved the ball so quickly whilst we were relatively slow and ponderous when we had it. The gulf between the sides was there for all to see. Even if Queens don't win the league I'd imagine they will fancy their chances to go all the way in the playoffs and it's hard to argue they don't deserve it.

When ICT win the Scottish Cup, well......thats us back in Europe. Who would have thunk it? So where do you fancy going? Ive had a think about this and I cant see past Ireland. Can you imagine the craic?.....well, you'll probably have to!

Best night I have had in a long time. All heroes out there. We must be the only club to get beat in a Scottish Cup game and still got to Hampden. How's that for a pub quiz !

I was optimistic (or mad) before the game, but feared the worst after that early goal. But for the last 85 minutes we were easily the better team. I was worried that not taking our chances in the first half might come back to haunt us, but fortunately not. If we’d been more clinical in the second half it would have been even more comfortable. It felt like Kilmarnock thought they could sit on 1-0 (MacInnes must be one of the most negative managers out there, I’m glad I don’t have to watch that every week) and seemed short on ideas once they fell behind. I thought we harried them really well and didn’t let them settle on the ball. if we could play like this every week, we’d be a pretty good bet for the title - here’s hoping this reboots our league form.

Brilliant to get the win. I think we forget sometimes just how tight the championship is and while every win counts, a single loss can result in a tumble down the table. Personally I find the jeopardy element adds to the excitement, but I feel that some posters get too irate when we are on the losing end. There is a lot of worry off the pitch at the moment and I think that the team can benefit far more from positive comments than insults. I know I am a bit happy clappy but I think a bit of praise and confidence in our team can go a long way. Hope todays win is the start of a good run. Well done boys.

One has to take into account that the accounts refer to the 2021/2 season which was only slightly impacted by the Covid pandemic. Normal income streams therefore returned and one would expect financial figures to be improved from the previous Covid ravaged season. But they are not. There is much to be concerned about. The accounts show a loss before tax of £835K and net current liabilities (debt) of £1.71M which is up a staggering 70% from the previous year and from the last Covid free year in 2018/9 Whilst the new auditors accept that the Club Directors are right to proceed on a going concern basis given the stated plans for addressing the financial position, they do have "material concerns" about the position. Yngwie explains the position very well above. One also has to question why the club felt it necessary to appoint new auditors. The report states that the financial projections are reliant on uncertain sources of income and operational cost savings. The club will presumably not make operational cost savings if it pays more on player wages. Clearly projections would be altered in the unlikely event of us getting promoted, but assuming we don't, then there seems to be little chance we can offer much to encourage players like Robbie Deas to sign a new contract or to bring experienced and proven players in. It also states "the company remains reliant on player trading, new funding streams and the continued financial support of its directors, shareholders and supporters". Just where is the prospect of making decent sums for player trading just now? Much of our squad will be out of contract at the end of the season and can simply sign for another club with us receiving nothing. If what STFU says is correct and 3 current Directors have already in effect resigned, then that is extremely worrying unless their departure is linked with the arrival of others who can put in significantly more money than the retiring directors have in the past - and they have put in quite a bit. The continued support of shareholders is far from guaranteed when the club is in blatant breach of its Articles of Association having failed to hold an AGM since September 2021. There has been no AGM since the previous year's accounts were published last February and they, like the 2021/2 accounts just published, were submitted to Companies House on the absolute deadline for submission. The continued support of supporters is also far from guaranteed when crowds are clearly falling and many season ticket holders are saying that they are unlikely to renew for next season. If the Club wants to galvanise the fans in support of the Club, then it should be looking to work constructively with the Supporters Trust. Sadly, it only engages grudgingly and fails to capitalise on what the Trust could do if only supporters could see the Club working constructively with the Trust. It is unfortunate that the accounts have been submitted to Companies House without any statement on the Club's official website. This again shows contempt for shareholders and supporters. Perhaps now that the submission has been made, there will be a statement and a date set for the AGM, but in the meantime, the Club has to understand that their lack of communication, their lateness in filing the accounts, the change in auditor and their failure to hold an AGM in due time, all point to a suspicion that they have something to hide. The football club doesn't belong to the Directors and the management, it belongs to the shareholders and the fans. We will still be here long after they have gone. Despite the Club's long term distancing themselves from the shareholders and supporters, there still remains a lot of goodwill towards the club - but it is palpably disappearing. If the current Directors and management want to benefit from the goodwill which remains and re-kindle that which it has lost, they need to change their ways and change them soon. Either that or make way for others who actually understand that the supporters are the heart and soul of the football club. The accounts for 2021/2 and for previous years, together with other documents can be viewed on the Companies House website.

That would account for why Tiffoney was on the deck for ages getting treatment then instead of jumping straight up, grabbing his hand bag and shoving Welsh in the chest like a little girl.

See you there and I might even sing lol

Ridgers made some great saves, particularly the fingertip one in the first half. The defence did a great job too. Our football wasn’t very pretty but that’s a great 3 points.

Now whatever you want to say about this season NOBODY can complain about the 110% effort, passion and togetherness of that performance - especially when playing against 12 men. The Fat Lady is singing "A Bridge and a Castle" and onwards to the Covid Capital of Scotland.

Euan Henderson Appreciation Encounter After the heroics of the Scottish Cup win over Kilmarnock and the anticipation of the semi-final draw for Hampden Park it's back down to earth with a bang and a trip to Ochilview Park to take on league leaders Queens Park in the Championship. Queens will be hurting after beating Inverness on the park in the Scottish Cup, but off the park it was Inverness that progressed and subsequently went on to dispose of Livingston and Kilmarnock to reach the semi-finals of the Cup. If only, if only.... Anyway, it's back to league business and this is another tough game on Saturday with kick-off due at 3:00pm. The Spiders might find us better equipped this time round as injured players return and our bench fills up. Could be a bit of a grudge match to add some extra spice to the occasion. Thanks Euan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scottish Cup Semi Final Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info The Wyness Shuffle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Queens Park Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 12 4 5 3 15 14 +1 Away 7 5 0 2 14 10 +4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 19 9 5 5 29 24 +5 Only this season's fixtures are really relevant to this game as prior to this season we had not played a league game against Queens Park since *1997, although we have met them in Cup games in 1998, 2003, 2010. We have failed to beat Queens Park since they gained promotion at the end of last season. *1997 - A win for the visitors but not a convincing one. The first half was a non event with only two half-chances falling to Scott McLean in the 28th & 40th minutes - both good shots from 15 yards deflected over. In 54 minutes Queens Danny Ferry should have scored when he ran through the defence but Jim Calder came out and stopped it with his legs. Against the run of play Queens took the lead in 72 minutes. A cross from the right was headed home by Scott Edgar as Jim Calder lost the ball in the strong sun. Three minutes later it was 1-1 when a Barry Wilson cross broke to Iain Stewart and he scored from 8 yards. Two minutes later Ross Tokely celebrated his 18th birthday with the winning goal. It was an exact repeat of his goal against Albion Rovers three weeks ago and in the same minute of the match - a Barry Wilson corner was partly cleared and Tokely hammered it home from 20 yards. In the dying minutes Jim Calder saved a good low shot from Scott Edgar to preserve the score. The Inverness side are clear Championship favourites on 60 points - 11 clear of Ross County with 9 games left. Report by Ian Broadfoot March 1997 2 - 1 Last 4 Competitive Meetings (including the 0-2 defeat in the cup) 0 - 2 (H) 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) The CTO summary on the first encounter this season was complimentary to The Spiders: Queens make their point: Queens 39 year hiatus from this tier of football ended as they ventured into the Championship, and it all started well when Jake Davidson opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute. In a half of many chances, Billy Mckay levelled the score a minute before the interval. That's how it stood until the final whistle with neither side able to make the breakthrough despite numerous opportunities at both ends thanks to Callum Ferrie and Mark Ridgers and some wayward finishing. Queens Park showing they are not here just to make up the numbers and were good value for their point. Last Time Out Inverness were able to field their strongest squad of the season as they dumped Killie out of the Scottish Cup. Despite losing an early goal Inverness dominated their Premiership opponents and a Billy Mckay penalty before the interval was added to by a Sean Welsh strike from over twenty-five yards. The week prior to that we came from behind against Ayr United at Somerset Park to take a much needed three points up the A9. Akinyemi had put Ayr ahead in thirteen minutes but Sean Welsh levelled soon after. Ayr were reduced to ten men before the interval and Jay Henderson notched the winner late in the game as our pressure paid off. Last five Championship games: D L L D W Queens Park are still heading the table even without Simon Murray. They beat Cove Rangers 1-0 last week but it took an own goal to settle the points with both clubs hitting the woodwork. In their previous game Queens Park squandered a two goal lead at home to share the points with Morton. Tommy Robson and Marcus Oakley had the Spiders coasting towards victory at the interval but two second half poachers goals from George Oakley gave Morton a surprise share of the points. That left Owen Coyle less than impressed: "We were excellent. We were by far the better team. That's as good as we have been in a long long time." Queens last five: L D W D W We have failed to beat Queens Park in four games this season. There's a reason for that and it's that they have been better than us so far. However, with a better squad available for Dodds to choose from then we might just get the points here, but it won't be easy. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Updated table after Arbroath drew with Morton tonight who had a penalty saved by Gaston 1. Queens Park 28 15 6 7 56 37 51 2. Dundee 27 13 7 7 44 31 46 3. Partick Thistle 28 13 5 10 49 39 44 4. Ayr United 27 12 7 8 50 35 43 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Inverness CT 27 9 9 9 38 39 36 7. Raith Rovers 27 9 8 10 33 36 35 8. Cove Rangers 28 6 8 14 33 56 26 9. Arbroath 28 4 13 11 25 41 25 10. Hamilton Ac. 27 6 7 14 25 45 25 FRIDAY 17th MARCH 7:45pm Arbroath 1-1 Morton SATURDAY 18th MARCH 3:00pm Hamilton v Ayr United Partick v Dundee Queen's Park v Inverness CT Raith Rovers v Cove Rangers Latest Team News Billy Dodds had the unusual luxury of a relatively fit squad for the game against Kilmarnock with the added bonus of Roddy MacGregor coming off the bench to make his 100th appearance. Austin Samuels is working his way back to full fitness and came off the bench later in the second half. The rarely seen Ben Woods was back from injury and remained on the bench. Devine, Allardice Welsh and Harper have given us a massive boost since returning and Jay Henderson gives us a wee buzz when he gets on the ball up front. His deliveries are proving to be very effective. Billy Mckay is just six short of Dennis Wyness now after his penalty against Killie in the cup. He scored his first goal for the Caley Jags in a 3-2 loss at home against Dundee United on December 10th 2011. Billy will be looking for his 16th goal of the season this weekend. Owen Coyle will have a legitimate Euan Henderson available. That's their team lines for their game against Cove on 10th of March. Still plenty of fire power after Simon Murray left and Shields, Thomas and McPake have proven to be a handful for us before. Queens are heading towards the Premiership and it's their title to throw away. Only seven games left for them after this one and they have a cushion over Dundee. With that in mind, I'm sure they won't begrudge us the three points

I couldn't disagree more! This team is certainly not as good as the winning 2015 side and to get to the final would be a huge achievement. After our lucky reprieve, we have had 2 very good wins against Premiership sides and beating Falkirk would also be a great achievement as this time, all the pressure will be on us. Just getting to the final in itself would be another proud statistic in our history in the Scottish Cup. OK, so if we get there, the chances are we will get well and truly gubbed, but frankly, I couldn't care less. Obviously I would want more than anything for us to win, but I wouldn't expect us to. I would expect the team to give 100% effort, but if they do that and get hammered 10-0, so be it. I would still be cheering them to the end and clapping them as they receive their runners up medals. Far from being embarrassed, sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due and I would feel privileged to see a very good side set a record, and proud that our little team reached yet another national final. The scoreline would be far less important than the fact that we were there! The additional income would also be a much needed boost to the club's coffers.

Perhaps we have actually been spoilt over the years and playing in a major semi final no longer holds any real sense of achievement, expectation or perhaps even passion. Perhaps it is about being the favourites and not playing against a more illustrious club. Perhaps many may be anticipating a win and saving up for a bigger day out playing one side of the Old Filth. Unfortunately in the current climate the obstacles of finances, travel and TV coverage also take its toll and the game may well have been better attended if it had been played at Easter Road or Tynecastle. My sense is that this is another unforgettable and unmissable episode in the history of ICT and Inverness football. So I am going to strive to be there and look forward to meeting up with the fortunate and the rich elements of our support

Carson's booking was exceptionally harsh. Armstrong (I think) threw himself to the ground as he did on multiple occasions last night. I thought Sean Welsh turned in one of his best ever performances for us. He was everywhere and when he went forward he was a real creative spark with a nice flicked pass to Mckay (which he should have scored from) as well as hitting the bar and almost bagging another goal when he just missed a low cross from Shaw. obviously he scored a goal but he could easily have had a hat trick and an assist or two. He was magnificent.

and Big Stew. A wee peedy tonight to celebrate the result.

Leave the predictions to the seers

One would expect SG to play down any financial difficulties on national radio. One also recognises that most football clubs have financial difficulties, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned about the situation with ICT. Let's just remind ourselves of what the official financial report actually stated. The accounts reported a loss before tax of £835K and net current liabilities (debt) of £1.71M which is up 70% from the previous year and from the last Covid free year in 2018/9. The accounts do not report a turnover figure, but from memory, turnover in previous years has been just a little over £2m. Whether you consider those figures as representing a crisis or not is maybe a matter of opinion, but they are certainly a significant concern. The new auditors stated they had "material concerns" about the viability of the club relying on unproven income streams and savings on operational costs. The club waited till the deadline to post the latest accounts and has had no AGM since the previous accounts were posted, also at the deadline. It is not a pretty picture. Personally I don't think the club is in immediate risk of going bust, but unless some major financial windfall comes along, it clearly needs to find someone to pump record sums of money into the club to stop the finances getting even worse than they currently are. One hopes that when the club finally has its AGM later this month, there will be a little more openness about the financial situation than we have had to date. As things stand, unless we can somehow win promotion (or the cup!) this year, cuts to the playing budget seem inevitable. If that happens, getting out of the Championship at the right end will get more and more difficult.

That was a really important win today. As we move into the final round of matches, any lingering worries about the potential of relegation should be gone. We sit on 36 points and even were we to lose our last 9 games, 2 of the bottom 3 would need to significantly up their points per game ratio to catch us and put us in to the relegation playoff spot. The pressure is off us now. We are not expected to win our bonus cup game on Friday and nor are we expected to reach the playoffs, although both are well within our capabilities. Hopefully this will allow the team to play with a bit more freedom and produce the kind of football which the fans have only seen sporadically this season. Of course, the team needs to get the fans behind them with some good vocal support. That has been in very short supply this season, so hopefully that will change on Friday. Kilmarnock are on a poor run of form just now and their priority must be Premiership survival. It is a very winnable game with a trip to Hampden as the prize. Our season could, all of a sudden get a whole lot better.

Have faith guys! Once the battery farm is done, the concert monies taken, the freeport established, hospitality opened, the West Stand roofed, the community facilities completed, the monorail built and the injured players back we will be a force to be reckoned with in Scottish Football once again! ️ #InGardinerWeTrust

The fact we are still debating the red card for that foul just shows the real lack of refereeing talent coming through now. Absolute joke of a decision.

Given where the foul took place, between the ref, linesman and fourth official they should be getting that decision right.

What an amazing win that was. With the game looking touch and go if it was even going to be played, after the heavens opened, and losing Danny Devine in the warm up, I wondered what ICT would turn up for our latest Friday night fixture. The first half was a non event, possibly the dullest 45 mins I've sat through this season, and there's been a few. I couldn't believe how inept Partick were, they looked early on that they didn't have many ideas of how to break us down, and there was very few goal mouth incidents of note. But, second half was a different story. I was just praying that we didn't start the second half the way we've started a lot of them, by giving a sloppy goal away, but we started on the front foot, and once Henderson got behind their defence and put a terrific ball into their box for Shaw to blast into the net, it was well deserved for ICT being on top at that time. Then, came one of the worst refereeing decisions I have seen in many a year. Sending Welsh off for a tackle in our opponents half that merited a yellow, but never a red, took everybody by surprise. He just clipped the player and never injured him, but the ref couldn't wait to get the red card out, Is Grant Irvine the new Willie Collum? Then it was a 'backs to the wall' performance, that Inverness seem to relish. I thought that it was only a matter of time till they equalised by one of their numerous corners and fouls that Irvine kept giving them, or someone would trip Tiffony in the box, but we held on for an amazing victory. As someone said on here, we win when we think we'll lose and we lose when we think we'll win. If we had lost, it was thank you and goodnight, but the win still gives us a very slim chance to make the playoffs.

Under the circumstances that is probably our best result of the season. The attitude and commitment of the players after Welsh was wrongly sent off was great to see and hopefully the injustice galvanises them to go on a run. Beat Morton next week and, who knows, maybe the play offs could be a possibility. The first half was dire, with a flat atmosphere and the feeling of an end of season game with nothing at stake. The weather probably contributed to that. Ridgers’ save was the highlight in a half we started pretty well but Partick finished on top. Henderson created a great goal for Shaw then the referee lost the plot with the sending off. From then on it was backs to the wall but we got the job done despite it feeling like 10 v 12. Well done to all involved with, for me, Ridgers MOM followed by Henderson and Shaw. Hopefully Devine is fit for next week and we have some other casualties back too. It felt good getting that win against all the odds!

Not sure what planet I was on , but I thought that the game was on tomorrow and would have been there, until I saw this thread - a totally painless way to celebrate a win. Well done to all. I believe.

We are entitled to dream! I'm not really getting ahead of myself at all. I just want us to beat Falkirk and reach the final whoever awaits. I absolutely respect Falkirk as they will be thinking the exact same

Are we turning into a load of fainthearts? It’s ICT and the big cup ffs. I’ve already seen Celtic “in the flesh” rip Hibs apart this season, 4-0 at that place that the sun shines on. Who cares? Bring it on.

Not a fan of a document referring to supporters as "customers".

Ah well. Were all their players legit?

Great turn out of former work colleagues, friends and of course family. That in itself was testament to the esteem that Eric was held in by all who knew him and his unpretentious personality. Also some lovely words spoken as a tribute to Eric the family man and a moving poem in his memory by family members. Rest in Peace my friend, you will be missed by all.

I get uneasy when the dissenters go all quiet. It's a bit like an olde western when you can't hear the Red Indians at night just before they attack. Quick, form a circle..... Too late as a burning arrow sets one of the wagons on fire and the horse bites the dust. Women and children first.... Where's the Duke when you need him?

Next day now and I still can't quite get my head round it, but it's true - ICT shall go to the Hampden Ball! Yaaaaaaaaaaay! So happy for Aaron that his testimonial will be an altogether jollier occasion tonight, because of the result - wish I was going. Congrats Aaron and have fun - you deserve it.

Kilmarnock haven’t reached the Scottish cup semi finals since 1997.. This is our 5th in 20 years! 4 of them when we were in the 2nd flight!

Brilliant win. Apart from first few minutes we dominated first half. Killie came back into it a bit after they went 2-1 down, but there were not too many scary moments. Some fantastic performances, Allardice, Henderson, for me were outstanding. But, everyone played their part. I hope we draw the winners between Ayr and Falkirk in the semi. That way I can see myself with 2 Hampden trips this spring. Well done to everyone concerned in tonight's great performance.

Yesssss! 2-1 FT. Thoroughly deserved win, well done ICT. Great noisy support too.

We lined up with what looked like a 4-2-3-1. Ridgers - Delaney Deas Devine Duffy - Welsh Allardice - Henderson Carson Shaw - Mckay. Henderson started on the left after recently featuring on the right, Carson played as a 10 instead of Shaw who was shifted to the right flank whilst Duffy and Delany were the appointed full backs. Pretty even opening to the game but we gifted Ayr the opener when Delaney failed to clear the ball and it was nabbed off him by O'Connor and he found Akinyemi free i the 6 yard area with a low cross and he easily beat Ridgers from close range. Fortunately we equalised relatively quickly as a Henderson free kick looked to be missed by the Ayr defence and the ball landed close to Welsh in the box and he spun on the spot and swept the ball into the net. The main talking point was the red card for O'Connor which Ayr are claiming was harsh but at the time I thought it was the right call. Initially I thought it was Welsh who challenged O'Connor but I see reports saying it was Duffy. Regardless, both players lunged in committed to the tackle but as O'Connor seemed to have his foot lifted slightly off the ground it meant he overshot the ball slightly and carried through into Duffy's shin which looked pretty bad. The red card was out in a couple of seconds and we had the advantage. Duffy should have put us ahead before the break when he had a free header in the box but he sent it wide of goal and he had another decent effort with a shot that was well saved by the Ayr keeper. Second half was pretty open with both sides threatening. You'd have been hard pressed to tell which side had a man less at times as Ayr looked pretty threatening at various points without forcing Ridgers into many saves. Akinyemi was a handful for Deas and Devine who struggled to deal with him at times. McAlear and Ashford had decent changes that were either wide or over the bar. At times we played some nice football. Most of the threat seemed to come down the right especially after Henderson and Shaw rotated and, with the extra man, Duffy and Delaney started pushing further up the pitch to offer support. Ayr tended not to double up on the wide men so it meant that Henderson or Shaw had to beat one many and they had a chance to get a cross in. Henderson in particular was tormenting the Ayr defence and he had the best chance for us before we scored when he wriggled through a ruck of players at the edge of the box and lashed an effort over the bar. But he goal when Shaw beat his man on the left flank and sent a high ball across goal which Henderson collected at the back post and he managed to steer a shot past the keeper and defenders on the line. Some solid performances from us to win that one today with Duffy, Carson and Henderson probably the pick of the bunch. Duffy was helped out by Mullin going off injured and also the fact that Ayr played a lot of the game a man down. Carson took a bit of time to adapt to the 10 position but he carried the ball forward well and could have had a goal himself had he been more selfish and taking a shot instead of passing to a team mate. Despite their struggles Killie will be a different beast. Today was a good win and the best performance from the last 4 games I've seen but these are pretty low bars and we will need to improve again if we want to try and get through to the SF.

Spot on NJ. I find the minimalism associated with this whole affair very unacceptable. The excerpts from the accounts don’t even give profit and loss and to find the loss you have to scour the notes. This also means that there’s no indication of the vital parameter of turnover, which hence also prevents anyone from working out what the loss is as a percentage of expenditure or turnover which I think is quite important. Then there’s today’s verbose statement which is most notable for its attempts to create a smokescreen obscuring what really matters. I am absolutely astonished that a statement made on behalf of the Chairman 24 hours after the account details have leaked out via parties unconnected with the club should fail even to have an acknowledgement of how big the loss is. The statement failed to take ownership of extremely adverse circumstances which, as I write, the club itself has not yet acknowledged. And then there’s the first revelation of the date of the overdue AGM which appears incidentally to something else, and half way through this wordy statement. This doesn’t exactly make it very easy to obtain information about what’s clearly a critical situation.

As others have said, Dundee United may well be joining us in the Championship next season. If not them, the others in the relegation scrap are likely to be hot favourites to bounce straight back. While not guaranteed, it would point to our hopes again resting of a play off position. We have never had a better chance given the quality of the teams during the last I'd say 3 seasons to challenge at the top for automatic promotion but have just completely blown it. Complete change urgently needed. ..............