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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!

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

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.

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 !

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Me too. Watched the game on council TV and like everyone else felt the worse after conceding that early goal. I think we got lucky with the pen but we took the gift gladly. We were on top at that point and deserved to be level. Brilliant result and a great confidence booster for the team and the fans. Great noise from the support too who hardly stopped throughout the game. Well done lads. It now looks like I'll be dragging my dusty ICT scarf out of the cupboard and take it on a trip to Glasgow. I'll look forward to the draw on Monday night and would like to avoid one of them.

That was a great night. I feared the worst when we conceded early on but it seemed to motivate our players even more and we were on top for most of the game. We deservedly won, and that should give us confidence if, approached with the right attitude and tactics, we can pull back the deficit on a play off place. Every player played their part and on a different night we’d have won more comfortably. Two off the woodwork, one excellent save and a couple of one on ones we couldn’t finish. Hard to pick a MoM, but it’s Welsh for me. His calmness in midfield and winning goal sneaked it. A shout out for some of the players who have had mixed reviews. Shaw’s confidence seems high and he is taking players on and creating now. Harper had a strong performance at left back. Duffy was really up for it at right back. We seemed to know Killie’s weaknesses and exploited them, whilst we did not let them exploit our weaknesses. Just one complaint. Section 94 need to stop having flares. We don’t need that, and to see Duffy and Henderson having to clear the pitch to allow the delayed kick off could have resulted in us losing that early goal as the players were all having to hang around in the cold. Keep giving the great support guys but cut out that nonsense please Well done to all the players and backroom staff. Roll on Hampden, and I’d love it if we draw Ayr or Falkirk.

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!

First game in ages. What craic!! Was in bus with the Kilmarnock fans - nice bunch - they couldn’t believe how crap their team was. They had absolutely nothing - we could have won that 3/4- 1 if we’d taken all our chances. Billy McKay is an absolute god

Deserved win. Good performances all over the park. Kilmarnock didn't create enough and only really threatened at set pieces. Welsh' s surgical strike negotiating the snowflakes was a thing to behold...

Nonsense Robert, Carson won the ball and Armstrong then rolled in agony. Within seconds, he was up and running again though. Minimal contact from Carson and a totally undeserved booking. Ref looked out of his depth at times.

An outstanding performance from all but Welsh and Allardice particularly shone for me. We absolutely dominated the middle of the pitch thanks to them. Welsh is so reliable in possession and as RiG pointed out was really effective going forward. Allardice was also good on the ball but defensively he was like having a brick wall in front of the centre-backs. I find it hard to believe he won't be playing in the top flight next season.

I went 2-1 for us and Billy Mckay to get our first on NPL….

Ridgers was guilty of a couple of handling errors tonight, but that effort was not over the line and he was absolutely right to carry on.

Kilmarnock were, clueless, hopeless and generally 5hite. Apart from a bit of physicality and long ball tactics they had nothing to offer.

Tactics!! It was important to make the team looking for their second semi final of the season look like world beaters and help their Manager believe his fantasy about winning the cup. You may be struggling to remember us starting a match so badly but you will certainly remember how poor we were against Queens Park yet the history books will show we beat them 3-0 on our way to the Semis.

Agree with previous comments.I thought the worst up until 10 minutes in, then we took control.I was surprised how poor Kilmarnock were,but I want to think that was because we made them look poor.Allardyce , Welsh, Henderson and Shaw stood out that bit more.Best caley performance for a long time

I think the 800 Killie fans will be going home very disappointed - their team came out all guns blazing for the first 5 minutes, then offered next to nothing. We were really good but they were poor.

Just fantastic.The best team won.We were better all over the park and hit the post as well. True grit and determination shown by the boys tonight along with a good measure of skill

Leave the predictions to the seers

Yes...... I must make my predictions (in memory of Mystic Meg) more often. Fantastic game. Well done boys. Well done Billy Dodds and coaching staff. Well done fans for your constant singing and support throughout the game. I can admit now that I couldn't face the cold tonight and watched from my armchair.....wish I had gone now. ICT are TITANIUM.

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

The litmuss test now will be whether we can beat Queens Park next Saturday. We have successfully avoided playing Hamilton on the 29th April following last night's performance so also need to work out how to beat them when it is re-arranged.

Agreed, probably next season before we see them performing as they can do. We are only just seeing Allardice hitting form now. Deas seems to have picked up quite quickly and now Samuels and McGregor are back so hopefully they should be hitting their stride in the next few games.

After I watched it back on tv I posted that I had changed my opinion after seeing it from a different angle. You will see it in the previous page in the thread.

Most of the season it's been "Go Now" by the Moody Blues. What a difference a day makes

Let’s come down to earth and consider the rubbish talked in the post match TV interviews. Dodds talking garbage again - He actually thinks that injuries to important players has ruined our season. The need to playing reserves has affected tactics and led to vital mistakes being made. He then suggests that the spirit is still there- well listening to and simply looking at the non verbal presentations of McKay and Welsh it is clear that the dressing room is lost and there is no togetherness. Last night was simply a fluke and a total one off. I am sure that many others will concur with my views. I also feel that the players were hoodwinked into playing better purely because it was the CEO’s birthday and there was a threat to cancel Doran’s testimonial dinner. REAL fans will not be taken in

Firstly I would emphasise that I did NOT advocate a merger between Ross County and ICT in that column. I actually dismissed it as “inconceivable” but unfortunately a headline was written implying that I had, and it appears that a great number of people who are not Courier online subscribers simply read headlines and guess the story from them without reading articles. What I actually did was to evaluate the financial situation in terms similar to what I’ve been doing here and I then concluded with the following passage (please in particular note the sentence “An obvious…… inconceivable”)…. “I now believe that two biggish clubs in this local area aren’t sustainable without serious charity from the wealthy, and Ross County have far more stable, albeit not necessarily indefinite, benefactor arrangements. Currently County are grimly hanging on in the Premiership with Inverness not even doing that. An obvious business solution would be a merger into a single, much more substantial and viable entity, but this is football where tribalism and supporter resistance make such solutions (Inverness 1994 excepted) inconceivable. Football instead resorts to its own economics of the madhouse and 30 years of that have certainly contributed to, but don't totally explain, Caley Thistle's current predicament, despite decades of wellwishers bearing gifts.”

Jim Calder holds the record for collecting a shot at least a metre over the line in a Killie Scottish Cup tie and carrying on as if it was not a goal. However Mark looked pretty confident when it looked like he had dropped it maybe 6 inches over the line.

Great result! Hopefully we can kick on in the league for a while, squad nearly back to full strength and no more cup antics for a month or so. Tonight's game showed exactly why we are where we are in the league - too wasteful in front of goal, very flaky at the back when it comes to set pieces/corners and at times far too careless with possession of the ball. Sort that out and we'll walk the league.

Second half Three minutes into the second half Henderson did well to control the ball and get his shot away but it cannoned back off the post. Moments later, with he snow falling; he did it again. Sean Welsh picked the ball up thirty yards from goal. He stepped forward and rifled a low shot into the bottom corner from over twenty-five yards. What a strike. We could have gone further ahead, twice. Once when Shaw made space for himself to get a great delivery in but Welsh was just short of connecting with it in the six yard box. Secondly, Mckay did well to wriggle his way into the box but he was halted a couple of times before the defence cleared. Ridgers flapped at a ball into the box and had to snatch at he ball as it bounced towards the line. A timely snatch if ever I saw one. Austin Samuels almost grabbed a third with two minutes left when running through on goal but his low shot was saved by Walker. Aaron Doran came on as four minutes of added time was shown by the officials. Inverness saw out the game on top and a thoroughly deserved trip to Hampden is now a reality. FULL TIME 2-1

Too right! If we don't have faith in our boys then what is the point in being a supporter? I think we will wipe the floor (icy grass) with Killie tonight and book our place in the semis. Get out there and enjoy yourselves boys and give it your best shot - you are bullet proof, nothing to lose, TITANIUM, as the song says.

CB must be rustling up ideas for his next book. Courier article, combined with his recent resurfacing on here was just a bit of clickbait to generate interest. I guess he would have posted OTB as well if that site was still in existence.

Careful with the Jackson Browne songs. Next week we might be back to "Here come those tears again", or "Running on Empty".

That's The Way I Like It, definitely, but It's About Time by Van Halen sums up my feelings as well.

No I didn't check it. Basically because this time I agreed with the commentary muppets, who didn't think it was a booking either.

Did you check Carson's booking. Telly view looks like minimum contact, if any.

No Caley, No Pyro - Come on I bet we all had flares in the 70's.

Staying at 5 but my only comment is "Who looked like the Premiership club tonight??"

I do not think that the result tonight will effect anything immediately. A positive result will naturally boost the coffers, hopefully add the confidence to leak into the remaining league fixtures and give us a trip to Hampden - even though there is a potential hammering awaiting - and of course provide a degree of respite for those in charge. A negative result - even with a good performance - will undoubtedly bring out the detractors and venom will be in abundance. And then we have to travel to play the Spiders and that could be the tarantula bite that effectively ends our season. The rumours I have heard are that there is going to be a significant remodelling of the upper echelons of the club. What we clearly need is a communication channel between the board and the fan base - and that should really be relatively simple to do, allowing a fan representative to feedback on a regular basis. That will not be to the likes of certain individuals but most will appreciate the philosophy. I am certainly geared up to be highly critical if things are not changed and I do think that the club will lose the fan base if changes are not made. Surely they can see that it would really be the beginning of the end and the people at the top will forever be deemed responsible. Anyway tonight - as the Sneck answer to Ed Balls would belt out over the tannoy "LETS MAKE SOME NOISE FOR THE CALEY THISTLE BOYS"

What is remarkable is the low level of hype in the Highlands. In days gone by reaching the QF of the Scottish Cup was seen as an amazing achievement. However, apart from the Club, it seems like it is just another game. The pressure must be on Killie as McInnes states to reach their second semi of the season. That said, I would imagine Dundee United gaining a point at Livingston in mid week focussed the Killie players minds. What is more important - SPFL survival or a Cup Semi? Here's hoping our players have practised penalties just in case.