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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.

Ah well. Were all their players legit?

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

Today's strategy is to apply the effort and guile of the livi/killie games. If they do that and pop the baw in the net (might need a couple ) then it's happy days . No point messing about at this stage of the season. Championship rounds now so time to step up and stand strong.

Great to have you back Charles, especially as you are still biting

Was relying on BBC app today and only catching up now. At half time we seemed to be well in it but sounds like we didn’t play in the second half. We’ve eight league games left and need to use them to develop consistency and learn how to play for 90 minutes. We’ve a great chance to salvage something from a car crash of a season when we play Falkirk in the semi: we can’t under estimate them and need to approach it as we did the Killie game. If we don’t, the season will peter out tamely with most of the squad out of contract and all the financial uncertainty. In my opinion, it is critical that we seize the chance and ensure we get to the final. We will probably get battered in it, but financially it could be the difference between part time and full time football in the near future, and we have been known to spring the odd upset in the cup so you never know…..

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

We were BUZZing when RiG got that tweet in the car…

Sooner the bloody better enough of this crap and dribble of excuses week in week out . Only in cup by default. And this is him with his boys back. Hopeless ,utter hopeless.

CTO offering All but ended: Inverness' play-off hopes all but ended at Ochilview after we surrendered a half time advantage once more at the same venue. Both sides had gone close early on before Daniel Mackay drilled home a tremendous low strike from around twenty-five yards after the ball broke back to him off Billy Mckay in the box. Twenty minutes after the interval the Spiders pressure saw them level when Grant Savoury headed home. They went in front some five minutes later when Stephen Eze headed into the top corner. Substitute Roddy MacGregor limped off to be replaced by the even lesser spotted Ben Woods. Both sides created opportunities as the game entered the final phase and Duffy and Samuels went close to an equaliser deep into time added on but it was Queens that took a massive step towards the Premiership as we took a massive step back into the Championship. Good luck to them. If it's any consolation, Falkirk, our semi-final opponents lost 1-0 at Queen of the South today.

That is terrible. It wasn't me, although I was sore and tired having had to walk from Kingspark to get to the stadium and then having to walk back after the game. I just couldn't believe it. I have to pick my away games because I can't sit or walk long distances with my arthritis, and with the League Cup final, when they put the bus miles down the road from parkhead and we couldn't get off at the stadium and not being allowed to use the disabled parking spaces at the final, it doesn't make for a pleasant day when you know you have a long walk after the game. So as I said, I will be watching it on the TV this time, and hope everyone has a better trip.

Poached!? Should've had a couple more. Well worth the lead.

Well we have poached a lead...............another one would be nice. Keep going lads and concentrate at the back.

The club has to request the passes for the buses and unfortunately didn't at the semi final in 2015. It has not been repeated since and the buses have been allowed in the bus park Should add you can apply for car pass through club or hampden

Thank you for your response- I will record the statistic in the sanctimonious section

Tomorrow is as difficult a match as we have had in some time. Unfortunately it is a must win for the play offs. I fear that there may be a backlash due to our recent performances and results. Personally I would be satisfied with a draw. Anything better would be the biggest confidence booster in a long time. Lets make sure that when we wash Incey Wincey spider down the spout that we plug it.

FT: ICTFC U18s 3-3 Livingston U18s Shae Keogh with two goals and Keith Bray with the other for ICT Under 18s. Frb1XlpXwAIpubx.jfif

Sadly life got in the way for us again recently but we've finally gotten round to getting a new pod out and it's a mahoosive one to compensate. Interviews with Billy Dodds, Jay Henderson, Scottish Cup chat (recorded before the KO time and prices were revealed), game review, Section 94, Guess Who and some other goodies to keep you going.

They broke the rules, we went on to beat 2 premiership teams. To me that is merit enough.

Disappointing that....looks like the play offs are slipping away...the cup should keep the focus and hopefully motivation for the remainder of the league...

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.”

I hope it's true that the supporters buses take you direct to Hampden, as this was not the case in the semi final against Celtic. The buses were not allowed to park in the coach park and were directed to park at Kingspark, which was quite a walk for someone who has mobility issues. So, knowing that, we took the car down for the final against Falkirk, so that I could use my blue badge to get parked closer, only to be told by the steward at the gate that unless we had previously applied to use the disabled parking spaces on that day, we weren't allowed to use them now. So, I was dropped off at the corner and waited for my friends to find some parking, and when we eventually got slowly to the stadium, most of the disabled parking spaces were empty! So, watching in the comfort of my own home with no walking sounds good.