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I would like to put on record a huge vote of thanks to all those who worked so hard over the past few weeks to make our first Final appearance such a success. I don't personally know these individuals but everyone I encountered was top class. All the people from CaleyJags Together who gave many hours of their own time to sell tickets, organise transport, distribute travel vouchers, collect payment, etc etc, well done. Big thanks to the bloke who phoned me in Glasgow to let me know where Bus 6 was parked. Huge thanks to all volunteer stewards who gave their time to help folk on buses and trains. Massive thanks to the girls in the ICT portacabin who seemed under so much pressure but came through smiling. I even met a bloke from Edinburgh who had been promised a ticket in Glasgow from one if the ticket girls at the very last minute. He was on absolute tender hooks until the special train appeared and he got his tickets. I am sure there are loads of similar stories of togetherNess and generosity from those involved in our Final preparations. Sunday was a huge day for ICT and Inverness, well done everyone.

DROPPING, UNBELIEVABLY, NEGATIVE, DISAPPOINTING, DISGUSTING, DISGRACE, ASHAMED....I take it you are not a motivational speaker Dougal. I was at Celtic Park with ICTFC fans, players and staff.. I think you should change your words to ASCEND, BELIEVE, POSITIVE,ENCOURAGING, ATTRACTIVE, HONOUR and finally PROUD, because because that's how I felt when I left Celtic Park yesterday.

Rebelwithoutaclue you should have come and stood up the back of 113 with me! Was bouncing the whole game! High Keevens is a dick pure and simple!

I know it's on TV but not live .Yesterdays game was live on T V but it didnt stop thousands of fans coming out to support team. Sitting watching it on TV two hours after KO is hardly support. Just what does this team have to do ??????????? Sorry for rant but just saying it as I see it !!!!! Yesterday was a Sunday with lots of options to get there by public transport, most of them returning by 10 p.mish.. Motherwell is on a Wednesday night with no options of that. Most of us will have to work on Thursday morning which is not very nice when you come home around 2 p.m.. Most of us have to look how to pay mortgage, food, insurances etc., many for a whole family. This won't be made easier if they get sacked from their jobs for not meeting expectations because they run off to a footie match during the week. So I can fully understand that few will take the trip down from Inverness. But I'm sure that the central belters will be there and make the club proud with their support! Nobody is expecting a big turn out at Motherwell. You only have to think of the very small number of Hibs supporters last Wednesday night for what was a really important game for their top 6 ambitions to appreciate that you simply aren't going to get more than a handful of folk travelling to midweek evening kick offs. Hibs have a much bigger fan base than us, there are probably a lot more Hibs fans who live in easy tavelling distance of Inverness than there are Inverness fans living close to Motherwell and the journey between Edinburgh and Inverness is a bit easier than that between Inverness and Motherwell. So I wouldn't knock fans in general for not going but I do think the club should ensure there is transport for the few brilliant folk who do want to make the trip. The support of these few fans at away matches is a big boost to the team. Perhaps a mini bus or a coach provided by the club at no charge to the hardy few on a first come basis would be a reasonable gesture from the club on the back of the financial boost the final has provided.

As soon as I saw your name at the top of the post, I knew exactly what would be said, and that it was going to be pretty negative stuff.

With three minutes left of normal time a roar went up from the Inverness end that would have curdled the blood of every Don at Celtic Park. When Andrew Considine wrestled Richie Foran in the Aberdeen box there was an expectation of a penalty. It happened down the end of the ground where the Inverness fans were housed. Under their noses. They could smell victory. Penalty! GOAL ! Final whistle! Inverness's glory. Aberdeen's pain. Again. The collective howl fell on deaf ears. Steven McLean waved play on. Foran screeched in protest but to no avail. Foran was right, McLean was wrong. It should have been a penalty. It should have been an opportunity for Inverness to go a goal up with time almost done. It should have been, but it wasn't. Football is a cruel, bloody game.

I am absolutely heartbroken at the result. It's nearly 24 hours later and I am still downbeat at what happened yesterday. I've been through break ups that have been easier to stomach than the loss yesterday. When I heard that Pawlett was out and then when Hayes went off injured I thought that we would have a real chance to have a go at Aberdeen. Instead we retained the 4-1-4-1 that we used v Hibs which created almost nothing in 90 minutes and bettered it by creating nothing in 120 minutes yesterday. I think Hughes was right to stifle Aberdeen the way we did but in doing so we essentially conceded any attacking ability. Vincent was solid defensively on the left with Shinnie but seldom got forward. On the right the highlight of the day, if you can all it that, was Watkins drifting infield before falling over himself trying to shoot. Mckay got absolutely no service aside from hooked balls and lumps towards the corner.In the middle Draper, Foran and Tansey shielded the back line well and just let Aberdeen have the ball as much as they wanted and challenged them to create chances which they, more often than not, failed to do. I thought our best players were Shinnie, Meekings and Devine. Raven was decent enough and Brill less shakey than he has been recently but the other three were our best performers by far. We've gone from one of the most creative and attacking teams in the league to one that is struggling to get anywhere near the goal now. I can barely remember a chance we had in the match and whilst Aberdeen didn't create a number of clear cut chances they definitely came closer to scoring than we did with the chance for Anderson perhaps being their best opportunity along with McGinn I think getting a nice break of the ball in the box but luckily he missed. I thought that, especially towards the end, Aberdeen were there for the taking if we wanted to have a go but we lacked the guile to create anything of note to see us nick it. Not sure about this supposed stone wall penalty that Foran has been talking about. Wasn't convinced at the time about the claim by Rooney for his shout but I haven't seen a replay so I could be wrong. Langfield had clearly done his homework on how Mckay takes his spot kicks. Low and left every time (except from a couple at the end of last season when he went high and right and missed). It was a good save. Tansey - oh dear. What else can you say? Ross and Doran finished well under pressure but every one of Aberdeens spot kicks were unstoppable. Sickening when I saw Rooneys strike hit the back of the net. Whilst all the Dons celebrated Scott Vernon was straight over to the ICT guys shaking their hands. Fair play to him because I can't say I would have been doing that if I was in his boots. Congratulations to Aberdeen then and I hope they enjoyed their day. Can't say I will be anywhere near the city centre next weekend though when they have the cup procession. I will be sitting in my flat sobbing into my ICT top wondering what could have been if we were a bit more positive and tried to test Aberdeen a bit more. EDIT: Just had a thought. In the Semi Final our kids beat the Hearts kids in the half time shoot out. ICT of course went on to win at penalties. Yesterday, the Aberdeen kids won the shoot out and went on to win on penalties. It's a sign.

Can i choose Europe now ??

Just back from Glasgow. Reflecting on the event, I had great weekend with my team at a cup final, we lost and that's really disappointing having got there, but even playing well below the levels we have reached earlier this season, we were within a couple of penalties of an historic win. We lost a long term manager middle season and that's often tough, yet have managed to stay top six and reach our first ever major final. (Most) of the Aberdeen fans I met were fine folk and weren't taking us lightly. One nice touch was a 51,000 crowd in Glasgow and no-one was singing about their 'beliefs' and 'culture' just football.

Re: tactics - I think we need to remember that 2 x 5-0 drubbings in the past few weeks would be fresh in the minds. Therefore a tight formation for the first half was very sensible - don't lose an early goal (like we did at Celtic and against Dundee United) and have to chase the game ('cos you know how good we are at that!) I suspect there was a concern that Doran would not last 90 (or 120 min), so best to bring him on to make an impact, which he did. So, I don't think poor tactics lost us the game. In the first half the guys were sooooooo nervous - nothing was sticking and nothing going to feet. They settled in the second half and played some good stuff at times, but the final ball or cross just wasn't good enough to stretch a well-organised defence. The bottom line is that if you only test the keeper once in 120 min, you're not likely to win. Penalties: mckay always goes the same way and keepers have sussed him, which is why he shouldn't have been taking one. Tansey's was no better than Philip Roberts' against Hearts (but I bet he doesn't get the stick that Roberts took!) Brill went the same way every time (and McInnes had sussed that too). So, they had done their homework better than us this time. Still, what a day and what a great support! The team should be proud of what they've achieved and I hope they can lift themselves for a push to Europe!

Feck me there seems to be so many on here that think they would have got the tactics right and team choice right. Hind sight is great guys. I'm happy that we had a go, stopped them from scoring for 120mins and on another day they might have missed 2 pens. Considering their budget and fan base are both 3-4 times ours. We should be proud of our team and move on to the league.

I went to the game expecting a drubbing to be honest after our performances in the previous couple of weeks. So I can understand Yogi setting the side up so negatively to some extent. But it wasn't pretty to watch. I think Aberdeen were there for the taking if we'd been a bit more creative. Doran had some good runs down the left when he came on spoiled only by his final cross. Unsurprisingly our best players were at the back with Meekings and Devine superb. When are we going to get the message that Mckay is not a penalty taker? But a good day out all the same. Lost a lot of drinking time queueing to get into the London Road Tavern! Oh, by the way, I thought our flag was ok, but completely outshone by Aberdeen's magnificent display at the start. That must have taken some organising!

Referee was really good. Calm and in charge.

Terrific effort by the whole team. Considering the negative effects of the last 2 weeks, and the way we were written off, I thought we gave it our all, and you couldn't really ask for more. Well organised, and i thought we played the better football - though it didn't always come off we looked like a team with more ideas than Aberdeen, who seemed bereft of anything other than hopeful punts. A real shame when we had the momentum at the start of the second half that we couldn't make the breakthrough - just a little bit of guile or invention would have opened the door. Billy played his socks off, was shackled by two defenders most of the time, and will be black and blue tomorrow. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, did us proud, penalties are always a lottery. Man of the Match Ross Draper says it all - he was immense. As were they all, you could see how drained they were by the end. Respect to you all.

Very disappointed and saddened to hear no transport to game on Wed night at Motherwell. I realise money is tight for a lot of people but out of the the thousands of supporters yesterday I would like to think we could at least have managed to fill a mini bus for an important league game.....The team deserve better than this ,we are out of the cups now so we need to support them to get as high up the league as possible Im actually quite disgusted .

I think tactically we managed to subdue Aberdeen and thier support for most of the game. I thought we might have nicked it in added time, but not to be this season. Well done to all at ICT, Team, staff and Fans. We have been in a Cup Final and gave it a Right Good Go.

Don't like the negative comments on this thread about Polworth. He is a very young lad who apparently is a model professional and just learning his trade. During the limited opportunities he has had he has been at least the equal of any of the other midfielders. For example against Hibs he probably worked as hard as anyone on the park constantly breaking up the Hibs play. He may not be the finished article but well worth a few starts before the end if the season. When you look at the so called tremendous young talent that Dundee United supposedly have then we need to 'big up' our local young boys not slag them off. Young players seldom play consistently well in the early years. I say let Polworth, Christie, Pepper and Evans have a decent run now, it will pay dividends in the long run.

I would like to second that. They have all done a fantastic job and done with such professionalism in such a short space of time.

So chuffed that my local team made it all the way to a national final, yes it would have been great to win but just making a final is such an achievement. Would never imagined that walking into Telford Street all those years ago. Congrats to all staff & players and amazing bunch of fans for a great day out. We can argue about the tactics forever but I'm proud of my team. With the youth we have around the place the future could be very promising.

I think what Izzy is trying to say is that she is disappointed that there is no supporters bus/ minibus available for fans who would like to go and support the team on Wednesday. I feel the same. She is not having a go at anyone who cannot make it for whatever reason.

Perception is everything. Memories are short. In the 11 leagues games before Butcher left we were averaging 10 attempts on target per game and in the last 11 games Hughes has been in charge we are averaging 9.5. There really is not much difference in that respect. I would concede that we have lost a bit of zip and I'm not quite sure why but one thing that frustrates me now and which frustrated me before is how few players seem to look to take a shot. Obviously Billy does when he gets half a chance but of the rest, the only two who seem to be looking to shoot are Doran and on occasions when he is forward, Shinnie. Draper, Vincent, Foran, Ross and Tansey rarely take a pop at goal and time and time again the ball is moved across the width of the park and none of them ever seems to look to take the initiative to either drive forward themselves or create the space for a shot. The tactic seems to be to either manipulate the chance for an overlap down the wing and a cross or a more intricate exchange through the defence to walk the ball into the net. Doing this often leads to us getting pushed back when the long ball up to a small striker is resorted to. When he takes responsibility for a shot and it goes wrong Doran is accused by some here as being selfish, so it seems you just can't win. Tansey's strike in the semi at Easter Road will live long in the memory and I just don't know why he and the others seem so reluctant to have a go. In Billy Mckay we have a very sharp instinctive striker and I am sure that even if our midfilelders didn't score too often with shots there would be times when the keeper couldn't hold the shots and there would be scraps for Billy to feed off. It's all very well having possession of the ball but it's no use unless you do something with it. Players need to take responsibility upfront to make things happen. At the moment, it seems only Doran is doing that. I don't know whether this is a confidence thing but it needs to change. We have an absolutely crucial period coming up with 6 games in 18 days. Given the huge emotional drain of losing the final in the cruellest way it will not be easy to lift the players but lift them we must. Aberdeen must be favourites for 2nd and therefore this weeks game against Motherwell becomes a 6 pointer for third place. We need to build on the solid defencive work on Sunday and start to be more decisive in an attacking sense. We need to get back to scoring ways and we will not do that if players do not have the confidence to do anything but pass the ball (and the responsibility) to the team mate standing next to them. The fact is that we have got to the final of one cup, the quarter final of another and have secured a top 6 finish with 6 games still to play. This has been a very successful season for us and whilst that may not be good enough for some on this forum, it is something that the team should be proud of. They are a very good team with the potential to be ever better. They shouldn't be downhearted - rather, they should be proud of what they have acheived so far and have the confidence that having acheived this, they can now express themselves and develop further as a team. Hopefully a win at Motherwell will be the signal for a storming end to the season.

You are correct about the team not having the same "zip" with the new management team. Also McKay doesn't run around so much as Butcher had him doing. He used to harass defenders more , but now holds back a lot, and doesn't chase the ball. I do believe in good defending as first option, that is the difference between the managers, but of course would like to see even one goal !!!

Securing European football would be great. Seeing Christie, Evans, Pepper and Polworth getting more match time would be good.

Just to elaborate on that, in Aberdeen's great run of form over the last 13 matches, the only team they failed to score against is ICT (twice). We are certainly doing something right, and our tactics were spot on. Over the last 255 minutes we've played against Aberdeen, we're 4-0 up!

We had a tense first half and the wind made things a bit tricky......but for the 1st 30mins of the 2nd half we totally dominated Aberdeen to the extent that their fans cheered wildly when they got as much as a throw in..... even toward the end of extra time I felt we were more likely to nick it. I was surprised that Doran didn't start but rememberd that Yogi had said he had a slight knock. I didn't think it was a poor game at all, at times we played some great stuff and Aberdeen also had their moments.....Christie, Ross and Doran all made good contributions the latter two showing good late season improvement to form which bodes well for the future. Nothing wrong with setting out to contain/control Aberdeen they are after all second in the SPFL and with a massive backing, I thought Devine was outstanding, alongside the ever reliable Meekings.....I thoroughly enjoyed the game, my only reservation is that Billy McKay didn't have a decent big fella to support him (which is something we must rectify for next season) ... some else has said no one remembers the runners-up, which is true, but supporters will remember the day out and take pride that we took the eventual winners all the way

Just to elaborate on that, in Aberdeen's great run of form over the last 13 matches, the only team they failed to score against is ICT (twice). We are certainly doing something right, and our tactics were spot on.

Hi guys. First and foremost, unlucky today, thought you gave a great account of yourselves. We shaded the first half only with the chances, then 2nd half and extra time was as even as you will ever see. How poor were both teams set pieces? Lol. I predicted a tight game, it was always going to be a tight game. A fantastic atmosphere from everyone involved. Both sets of support did their team proud. Thought both teams should have had a penalty, Foran's was probably more obvious when Considine pulled him as he was heading, but Rooney's was a penalty as well, disappointed to see that Hughes said it was a dive, there is clear contact. We really, really missed Pawlett and then Hayes when he went off injured very early on. Didn't have our usual zip middle to front. Was surprised to see Doran on the bench, and a bit relieved to be honest, he looked very lively when he came on. Anyway, it's finished, I barely slept last night, maybe a couple of hours I think, so thankfully it's back to normality. Well done today and hope you all had a safe journey back up the road.

Disappointed about the result but delighted by the performance of all 29 men involved on the pitch (ok, Johnny Hayes couldn't perform very much). Maybe even by the managing teams. And certainly by the 50,000 in the stands. True Scottish football happens outside the Old Filth.

Well we all know I am a happy clapper but .. I thought our team did us proud, how many of us thought it would come to penalties? We were beaten by the suits upstairs that made us play a game during the week and therefore stole some of our strength towards the end. Anyway thanks to the team for giving me a wonderful three hours with the result going either way right up to the last few minutes.

Take more than a handful O current/former/future Inverkneesians to ravish me my old friend. Glad you identified my "cometh in peace" post Johndo. I was making an observation - not phishing mister Donview. I crawl out from under my stone and head into Inverness 5 days a week. I have yet to come into contact with an Icy Tea fan let alone anyone heading to Glasgow's East End Shytehole today, nor have I seen any visible sign of the Cub's final appearance in the city, save for the 2 banners round at the Northern Scot offices, (or is it the P&J), under the bridge - you know where I mean ? For me, that is a crying shame. Icy Tea deserve great credit for what they have achieved in 20yrs. To get to a national Cup Final is fantastic, and it's just a shame more Invernessians haven't got behind the team. I reckon more than 3//4's of the League Clubs in Scotland would take more than 6000 to this Final. I worked out of Aberdeen and the 'Shire for 3yrs and met nothing but Aberdeen fans, save a few incomers with allegiance to their home-town Clubs. Armed with this knowledge and your blatant lack of civility, I won't trust you. The merger that spawned Icy Tea has created a very unique situation within our game, and its obvious to me that many many issues remain unresolved, much to the detriment of the Club. I watched last week's game, judging by the stands it was like a home tie for Utd. Lucky if you had 1500 --- Whats that all about ? As I said in a previous post, today is your opportunity to display your potential. 6000 hardy souls aint sending the right signals to the Board, current/future sponsors. Reckon I'll avoid Guiness - it obviously makes one Girnie.

A welcome gesture from the club. Let's hope the fans respond and we can muster 4,000 home fans.

Took Mikey Diamonds flag to Parkhead yesterday. Jen Aitchison and myself were taken to the top deck of the LL stand by supervisor and Mikey's flag flew proudly! However to save us going back to collect it the stewards brought the flag back to us at end of game. They also brought back another flag too. Not sure who this belongs too but Laura at the ticket office has it. Just get in touch to collect.

It's something I've mentioned to a few folk now but we don't really have much pace in this team. No players like a Wilson or, more recently, a Hayes type who could really surge forward on a rapid counter or drift past players like they weren't there like Andrew Shinnie.

And I will limit my posts to this thread. For all the negatives being spurned that moment spoilt our day. That was as good an ICT support as I have ever witnessed. That was as good an effort from an ICT team as I have ever witnessed. Tactically that probably was the team, system and the tactics to deploy against Aberdire. And look at the substitutions - were they negative. As fer McKay he made some brilliant off the ball runs but our midfielders always looked for a sideways pass instead of looking up. What we need and what Yogi wants is a more traditional centre forward.

The Pride of the Highlands was set free above the singing section and remained there. The Together We Believe was then released to their left and was surfed by the fans to the left then back to the Singing section then was moved by the fans down the way to the goals and back up to the singing section this is where both finished their journey. They were more difficult to see from our stand, the best vantage point would have been in the red section and it started maybe 5 or 10 past two. If you watch the game again when the talking starts there is a blue fuzz on the tv in the corner it stayed at the top so it was hard to see, later on you can see the other one more clearly nearer the goals, then no more tv coverage. Ive heard there is a picture on the MFR facebook page and I would imagine some pictures should appear soon, perhaps there might be some taken by the sheep. I wonder what the players thought of them? I enjoyed doing it, the fans who had it passed over them looked happy and thanks to all who donated as together we achieved something.

What next ? Reaching the League Cup final and coming so close to winning the thing combined with securing our second top six finish means that we have had a good season. Securing Europe for the first time would turn a good season into a great one despite the disappointment of being dumped so comprehensively out of the Scottish Cup. However, given our recent form, that is going to be a tall order and to do so we are almost certainly going to have to Finish above Motherwell and turn round our alarming slump in home league form. That said, if we can quickly pick ourselves up from the disappointment and use that as motivation, we can go a long way to achieving both these aims in the space of four days. Six points from Wednesday and Saturday and Europe through the league is well and truly on and we will have righted the travesty of the first Partick home match into the bargain. It's become a bit of a cliche that the important games have been coming thick and fast but the next two matches really could define whether our season now fizzles out or whether we are left with all to play for in the closing straight. Time for, players, management and fans alike to dust ourselves down and make the effort to ensure that the season ends with a bang and not a whimper moving from merely good to the best in our history.

Doran looked really dangerous when he came on. But I'm not sure he would have if he'd been on at the start. The tactics were a return to what we looked so good at: i.e. counter-attacking. In the run-up, I'd said Foran and Tansey as the holding midfielders, with Draper playing behind the striker. I was wrong. I'd dissed Tansey for not having the pace to play that role (he hasn't) but I think he should have been pushed forward for the long shot. Not too far forward but enough for the ball to come back to him, then pow! It's over the bar! (but maybe in the back of the net occassionally). Watkins looked good (not so much yesterday but decent enough). I'd like to see a Ross-Watkins-Doran tried, with Watkins in the hole. Maybe that would give us a better chance of a goal, rather than the more midfield Vincent/Foran/Ross in there. All-in-all, we more than matched the team everyone has tipped to become the big force in Scottish football outside Celtic. A first cup final is as much an announcement as getting into the SFL or being promoted to the SPL. We are now very much a top six team. We challenge for Europe. We challenge for cups. They're not easy things to win (ask Aberdeen, Hibs etc.) but, for the first time in our history, we deserve to be spoken about in the same breath as the New Firm and more feared than the Edinburgh clubs. How far we've come.

Just watched the highlights. Didn't realise at the time, watching it live, how obvious a penalty that was when Foran was being held back. Unlucky, that might have made all the difference.

I don't see a problem with people leaving prior to the trophy presentation. The ovation had been given and losing like that is heartbreaking and most would want to get out and get it over with as quickly as possible. Post-ovation what would people have gained by staying? Or was it a 'lack of respect' to Aberdeen that was the problem?

Agree. But it was heart in mouth time when we conceded those free kicks on the edge of the area as you know the likes of Robson are normally very capable of punishing teams. When we get free kicks in dangerous areas it doesnt even raise any expectation levels in me.

Agree with this and the tactics were right for this reason if nothing else, to lose a goal in the first half or early on could have seen us implode yet again. The thing that didn't happen is that the final balls and crosses weren't there. On another day or maybe a smaller crowd or occasion then these could have made their destinations. Even against Hibs midweek, our defense was shaky and nervous every time they got the ball. The fans were nervous at every backpass but yesterday i didn't feel that. The first half really was terrible but asides from one poor pass which led to an opportunity for them i thought we were solid at the back for the entire game. Doran looked great when he came on and i feel like Nick Ross is improving all the time and answering his critics. Christie had another good performance and had the balls to show some great skill on a couple of occasions. Some negative points was our forward midfield play. Foran had quite a few poor passes forward and i thought early on he might struggle to make the end of the game due to being sent off. Draper was very good in a defending role and winning the ball back but again, we lost a few attacking chances for his poor passing. Wouldn't have given him motm. Yet again have to feel sorry for Billy, how many games does he just chase long high balls? He is so quick with some engine and when the ball is played at a reasonable height or on the ground you can see he is an absolute top class player but you have to wonder if he actually enjoys some of those games where he gets endless long balls up to fight with two tall CB's. Hats off to the fans from both teams, created a great atmosphere and was a brilliant day out. On another day this was ours....if Forans penalty had been given or even in penalties. Felt really bad for Marley's miskick, couldn't have done that in a worse game but he was another plus point for us as always, he just ran out of steam after 60 or so minutes.

Yeah, fantastic display from the Dons fans, really impressive. But was it commemorating 1903 or 1983? Our flag was great, and will hold its own as one of the best in the country.

Have to agree with some not staying to see our guys get their medals. I could hardly see then for people barging past me in a hurry to leave. We left as soon as they got the medals but I was utterly amazing Ti find thousands of Dons fans outside too wtf. Got to Belgrove for train lots of Dons fans just sitting like a morgue. Was bizarre. I'd have Bern swinging from the train roof if wed won.

Was Doran on the bench because of the injury he sustained on Wednesday so could noy be risked for the full 90 minutes. No manager sets out to play for penalties, well not in Scotland, because it is too much of a risk. Poor game overall but, as folks have sais, Aberdeen were there for the taking but we just lacked that bit of sharpness. Whether that was down to the number of games recently, don't know. Christie didokay when he came on but, in my opinion, was lucky to get on the bench ahead of Williams. For the last 3 games involving ICT, we have witnessed very poor refereeing. The Willie Collum debacle against Dundee Utd, the ref at the Hibs game was poor, didn't let the game flow and was very inconsistent and we were denied a stonewall penalty with Foran yesterday. The referee had a good view of it but why he didn't give it is beyond me. As for our 3 bookings, only Foran's could be said to be justified as Aberdeen seemed to get away with similar fouls and not get booked. How Robson and Flood didn't get booked is again, beyond me. Anyway, the ref did not cost us this game but now the guys have got a taste of the high liefe, here's to the next cup final next season. Well done ICT.

I agree, when it was announced Pawlett was out we have a real good chance to go at them, even no more so when Hayes went of injured. Dornan on the bench was a bad decision in my opinion. In Hughes defence perhaps the recent 5-0 losses and changes in defence made him go with this.

Well, a win in regular time is always better than penalties. But I did notice that the Aberdeen penalty takers had done their homework and noticed that Dean always threw himself to HIS right --did you notice the first three were all in the net to Dean's left. Aberdeen's manager has a reputation for being smart and this was shrewd pre-match training directions since he anticipated a shoot-out, Dunno that the better team won but they sure had more of the ball overall I think. Wasn't Robson the consummate professional? Rooney almost non-existent and ...NO! the tackle where he went down was never a penalty. Maybe not a desperate dive but a rolling fall that was not contra-indicated--as all good Doctors term these things. I will say that I was a tad disappointed with the penalties. Banging the ball over the bar by a mile is hardly professional and a complete waste of a lovely chance to score. Oh well, there is always next year and a fantastic overall performance by ICTwas heavily indicated.

The more the game went on the better we got, pity we didn't score during play. A nil-nil draw was a fair result and pretty good against a team who didn't concede a single goal during the competition and had recently beaten Celtic twice. The team did us proud.

Feck off you tw@t.

just back from the game, absolutely gutted but great effort from the boys! Nick Ross and Ryan Christie made a massive difference when they came on! just wasn't to be

Can't agree more with that, I was disappointed with his penalty too.