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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.

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.

First Draft Red Oh Daire Three points would have been a welcome diversion from off-field issues for the Caley Jags. Inverness missed Cammy Harper from last week and Austin Samuels dropped to the bench as Billy Mckay returned from suspension. Frankie Musonda was on the Ayr bench and the 15 goal striker Dipo Akinyemi led their attack with Josh Mullin and Ben Dempsey backing him up. At the end of the day it was Inverness that picked up a valuable win to climb to 6th in the table. First Half Billy Mckay was keen to get going again after his suspension and he hit one from distance in the opening moments but it went over the bar and he followed that with another that went wide after seven minutes. Ten minutes in and Sam Ashford replaced the injured Josh Mullin and two minutes later Dipo Akinyemi scored his sixteenth of the season to put United ahead. The lead lasted just seven minutes when Sean Welsh scored after a Jay Henderson cross to level the game. Charlie Albiston was quick off his line to deny the eager Mckay as he honed in on goal and five minutes later he was close to getting on the end of a Shaw cut back after Albiston made a mess of a clearance. Before the half hour Daire O'Connor was sent off for a challenge on Wallace Duffy. Duffy shot over before Mckay had an effort deflected over the bar and Duffy headed the resultant corner over as well. Just on the break the keeper saved well from a Duffy shot into the top corner just after Paddy Reading went close at the other end. Half Time: 1-1 Ayr began the second half on the front foot with McKenzie and Akinyemi shooting wide before Billy Mckay was blocked in the box at the other end and Scott Allardice fired one over. Ashford shot over on the hour after some good possession from the hosts and Duffy shot wide after finding himself in an advanced position again. More profligacy from the visitors as Henderson missed the top corner after a burst into the box. Welsh was blocked then had another effort deflected behind for a corner with twenty minutes left. The chances eventually paid off when Henderson connected with a Nathan Shaw cross at the back post to fire home. Mckay then shot wide after being played through ten minutes from the end. Inverness saw out the game to put themselves on the outer fringes of a play-off spot. Full Time 1-2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

Great result, well done ICT.

Full time: Ayr 1-2 ICT. Welsh and Henderson with the goals after we fell behind initially. Up to 6th, 5 points off a play off place, although the two teams above us have a game in hand (against each other). Could there be hope?

The way I see it, are the players not already unsettled? Everybody kind of knows that Billy will not have his contract renewed at the end of the season. Its like watching somebody work out their notice period. Do you get the best out of a person during that time? Then in turn, does Billy get the best out of the players we have knowing that he will not be there come the end of the season. Id be much happier to see Billy go now, get a new manager in, steady the ship and start looking as sorting out contracts for next season.

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

Yes

I loved when the noisy crew were in the north stand as they g'eed the rest of us up to make a wee bit of noise, but I also enjoy watching their antics when they are on form (not so much lately), in the west stand. Keep on making a racket guys, for those of us that are getting too old and decrepit to make much noise nowadays. Someone has to teach the words to such classics as Inverness is Wonderful to the little fans.

Superb result and well earned 3 points. A bit of luck today but as we have seen anything that tips the balance in these tight games can go either way. It is important to keep the heid as the old saying goes. Keep calm and carry on also score goals. Have a right good go at Killie Friday and hopefully keep the cup run going. Killie havent won away in the league all season so dinnae gie them a sniff Polworth might score an own goal for us just for the crack

Incidentally, ICT found the money for the squad to travel down yesterday and stay overnight.

What you mean that he has failed as a coach, a tactician and a feckin physiotherapist

Tempted to go up to 6 but will put the brakes on and stay at 5

well i didnt see that coming...........like i say every week

SG will be a guest on Sportsound this afternoon, discussing the financial pressures being faced by Scottish clubs and the loss of income the game is suffering due to illegal streaming services. Hopefully there will be some insightful comment on ICT’s specific predicament too.

Would attend for a traditional afternoon cup tie but public transport eastward from Inverness is still naff after a certain time of day sadly.

Terrible news. I knew Eric from his Barrel Vault days but I haven't been in his company for many years. A really nice guy, a pure gentleman. Rest in peace Eric. Here's to you bud.

Assuming that Dodds's contract expires at the end of the season, then the payoff he would get for being sacked is relatively small (about 3 months if it happened now) and decreasing. Wouldn't make much of a dent in the cash flow. But to be honest, unless they have some magician lined up who could take over and guarantee (!) results immediately, I don't see the point in changing managers now. I don't think we will be relegated. Get the season over and done with, then make the wholesale changes that are needed - and which should be being planned right now.

Regarding the point I have bolded in your quote IHE, that would be the best case scenario because it means that we have gone on an acceptable run of form which puts us clear of the bottom 2 and make a real push for the play offs which we are capable of, we showed against Livingston that we are capable and imho we NEED to consistently play to that level. The last thing I want is to have to pay compensation to a manager so I really want us to be successful until the end of the season and would even accept draws as it is points that could be vital to us in the long run.

Our game that was originally on 11 March is now on 11 April. Depending on the next few weeks, it could be a relegation tussle.

Oh dear.............that's awkward.

Money would be better spent improving the conditions for disabled fans. At the moment they are practically inhumane.

I'm really glad to have lived through and witnessed the golden era of the Highland League, in my humble opinion, that was the 70's and 80's. I was a Jags supporter, and would go to all home games when I was a boy, my parents wouldn't allow me to go to away games out of Inverness. So, when the Jags were playing away, I used to go to Telford Street or Grant Street if they were playing that day instead, and in the 70's especially, Caley had a great team, Johnstone, Allen, Fyfe and Park to name a few,and Clach had some great players as well, Wizzy Dingwall, Thomson, Giles and Kennedy. Other strong teams at that time were Elgin City and Ross County, so it's no great surprise that the Highland League standard has been diminished since most of these clubs are now in the Scottish League. What a team the Jags had then, I can still remember how great that side was that won the titles in the early 70's. Reilly, R.Fraser, D'Arcy, Cumming, Bremner & Lazenby, T.Faser or Tichy Black, Stephen, Cowie, Duncan & Maclean. The 12th man usually being Peter Corbett, Alan Maclaren or John Morrison. Halcyon days, sadly missed.

That's good if we're not in danger of going bust so hopefully that has allayed fans fears . I wonder if the players heard the interview and put on a performance and got a result just to prove to the CEO that they are capable and to also buy Billy and co another couple of weeks though I can accept hanging onto them until the end of the season now that we are clear of relegation; in fact we really should be looking up the table and be looking to try and catch whoever loses midweeks game in hand fixture and possibly even Partick.

Worse...how?!