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Another late but well deserved win, and it looked like another goal direct from a corner (was at the far end from us so hard to know for sure). We were the better side and dominated the second half in particular, with the wind behind us, but as is often the case we lacked any cutting edge in the final third. When we did have clear chances or tried shooting from outside the box, the finishing was often woeful. And it’s increasingly clear that we need a striker to challenge/replace Billy, sorry. The pluses for us were that the defence did its job, Savage won everything, Mousa made a great save tipping a long distance free kick onto the bar, and in midfield MacKinnon and Allan did a lot of impressive stuff. The fans turned up in good number (200?) and were in great voice from start to finish. Great scenes when we eventually got the breakthrough, and again at FT, and we will all be feeling good tonight.

A view of the Ochil's for Xmas An away day to Ochilview Park lies in wait for the Caley 'IOU' Jags on Saturday. With the creditors looming, the club still running at -£10K per week and Administrators already running up a bill of over a quarter of a million pounds, are we a viable proposition or are we running on borrowed time? The financial mess left in the wake of the ill fated previous regime uncovered by the forensic sweep over club accounts is staggering. It's embarrassing to be honest and shameful that the list of creditors still owed money has over 140 names on it. These range from a few £'s to £1.6m in the case of former Chairman Ross Morrison. In total the Caley Jags IOU total is standing at over £3.8m and rising daily. Morrison, Allan Munro and David Cameron alone are down £2,721,751. That's not a lot if you say it quickly. How low can we stoop. I hope they all paused for thought when they donned their red poppy in November, the food suppliers are owed over £26K! There's also a geezer called Scot Gardiner who is looking for £70K and O2 are £1.64p short. WTaF. Meanwhile, on the Park Inverness have to pick themselves up after tasting defeat at home to Arbroath last weekend. The dismissal of Robbie Thompson means that he will miss out along with the injured Jake Davidson, Lewis Nicolson, Charlie Reilly and Connall Ewan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Travel/Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue (only 9 meetings) Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 4 3 1 0 11 3 +8 Away 5 3 1 1 10 5 +5 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 9 6 2 1 21 8 +13 Not many games against the Warriors over the years. Prior to the earlier fixture this season that ended 0-0, our next most recent game was a League cup encounter in 2012 that ended 1-1 at Ochilview. Our one defeat was back in 1997 at Ochilview. Match report by Ian Broadfoot can be read below. The rest of our meetings took place between 1996 -1998. All 9 Competitive Meetings 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 3 - 1 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 3 - 0 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 2 - 3 (A) 5 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) Stenhousemuir 3-2 Inverness: Aug30th 1997. The game started at a fast pace and the home side thought they had scored in 4 minutes when an Innes effort was cleared off the line. In 7 minutes an excellent McCulloch 20 yard shot was painfully blocked by a defender and it fell harmlessly into the arms of Alexander. Wilson had a great chance in the 11th minute - he was clean through after a good pass from Thomson but he dithered too long. Stenhousemuir took the lead in 18 minutes when a Roseburgh cross from the left was knocked in by Farrell from close range. The visitors fought back and in 26 minutes a Wilson corner led to an Alexander save from Cherry and a Teasdale header off the bar. The Warriors took control and came close in 29 minutes when a 25 yard blast from Fisher flew low past the post. On 45 minutes Fisher collected a pass 30 yards out, calmly drew Fridge and slotted the ball home. On 47 minutes the visitors came back into the game when Wilson was brought down and Thomson hammered home the penalty. The revival lasted for 3 minutes. MacArthur was judged to have handled in the box to the amazement of all who saw the ball hit his shoulder. The soft penalty was converted by Roseburgh. In 73 minutes Henderson had the miss of the season. He was one yard out when the ball came across the face of the goal but he failed to connect. In the 85th minute a 25 yard McCulloch strike was tipped over by Alexander. Ross took the corner and Addicoat forced the ball over the line with his chest to make it 3-2. Caley Thistle chased the equaliser in the last 5 minutes but could not penetrate the well organised home defence and overall the final score of 3-2 flattered the Inverness side. Starting XI in bold Alexander Sprott Roseburgh pen⚽ (Campbell 84) Armstrong Innes Law Farrell ⚽ Fisher ⚽ Little Brown Henderson Les Fridge Richard Hastings Iain MacArthur (Ross 75) Paul Cherry Vetle Andersen Mark McCulloch Charlie Christie Mike Teasdale Barry Wilson (⚽Addicoat 75) Iain Stewart pen⚽ Brian Thomson INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L / W L D W W W L That's our League1 season so far. Scott Kellacher came in at matchday 11. His winning streak bookended by the losses at Dumbarton and the loss at home to Arbroath last week. The earlier fixture against the Warriors ended in a Bore Draw (0-0) Stenhousemuir came North for the first time since 1998 on League business when a Mike Teasdale brace won the day after Ian Little had opened the scoring for the Warriors in front of 1414 fans. Brian Thomson has been our all time top scorer against them with seven goals including a hat-trick in a 5-1 rout in 1997. Hope he has taken his boots along for this one. In an instantly forgettable first half, the only highlight was a brilliant penalty save from Musa Dibaga to keep the score level with opportunities non-existent for both sides. The closest we came was when Davidson shot just wide when we broke forward. The second half produced more of the same with neither side able to find the finishing touch. Another point and another game without a goal. Whatever way you spin it, it's another dire performance which won't encourage many fans to come back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A chilly afternoon with the threat of rain dampened the atmosphere and to be honest it must have got to the players who produced a dire first forty-five only brought to life by a superb penalty save from Dibaga. Nothing wrong with the strike, but the keeper guessed right as he dived full length low to his right to deny Matty Yates. The rest of the half was disjointed and Jake Davidson was the only other one that went close ten minutes before the interval. Half Time: 0-0 The second half was no better with half chances and missed opportunities. Anderson glanced a header a yard or two wide and Yates shot wide as the Warriors threatened to take control. However with defences on top it was unlikely that anyone would score and James Nolan lifted a shot over the bar after good work down the right flank by Longstaff and lay-off's from Billy Mckay and MacKinnon. Nobody could hit the target and Brooks dragged a long range shot two or three yards wide. MacKinnon had an effort blocked from close range from the edge of the six yard box. Highlight of this half was a tremendous block by Jake Davidson as Ross Meechan looked favourite to score. Unfortunately it was the same old same old as we struggled badly to create enough and take any chances that did come our way. Full Time: 0-0 Poor fare at the Caledonian Stadium as we huffed and puffed our way around the park to little effect. Great save from MotM Musa Dibaga to deny Matty Yates but that was all there was to cheer. We did have an early penalty claim brushed aside, as Billy Mckay seemed to be barged off the ball and another in the second half when Duffy appeared to be pushed in the box going for a cross. Either way, a draw was about right, but two poor teams on display..... That was Duncball for you! Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 17 3 28 2 Stenny 17 8 27 3 Kelty Hearts 17 9 26 4 Alloa Ath 17 6 25 5 Montrose 17 2 23 6 Cove 17 1 22 7 Queen S 16 -3 21 8 Annan Ath 17 -12 18 9 Inverness CT 16 -1 07 10 Dumbarton 17 -13 01 Stenhousemuir Last Six League1 Games: L D W W W L The Warrior's form over the last six League games is a mirror image of our own. One of the big differences is they have scored plenty goals. 4-0, 3-0 and 1-0 wins over Dumbarton, Cove and Montrose are sandwiched between defeats at and Queen of the South and Arbroath with a draw against Annan five games ago. This was their line-up in the 2-1 defeat at Palmerston last week. Reece Lyon put Queens ahead early in the first half. And look who added a second, none other than Adam Brooks with a sharp first time hit from a low cross into the box. Connor O'Donnell reduced the deficit on the hour but despite Queens keeper being the busiest, it ended in a loss in Dumfries. Unfortunately, Matty Aitken will be unavailable after suffering a kidney injury at Dumfries and has been receiving hospital treatment. Greg Buchanan is over the bookings threshold but should be available for this one. Matty Yates is top scorer with five and Blair Alston has four. Danny Devine is still our top 'striker' with three goals. Nat Wedderburn is still at Stenny. Latest Inverness CT Team News A disappointing defeat last week at home to Arbroath was not helped by the sending off of Robbie Thompson who will miss this clash at Ochilview. No news again from the Inverness camp but as we have heard nothing, can we assume we will be along similar lines with Keith Bray starting in place of Thompson. Talk of a new young striker in the New Year, but we need the goals now as Billy seems to have run dry. Missing last week were Davidson, Reilly, Ewan, Nicolson and Cairns. No news from the gaffers this week again

A big result, particularly with Dumbarton winning. I was worried all our attempts and pressure wouldn’t see us get the win we clearly deserved. We are creating a habit of scoring late winning goals. Two home games now so let’s keep the good form going. Well done to the Manager and players, and a safe journey home for the travelling fans.

charliegilmour.mov

Delighted for the Manager & supporting staff, the players and the travelling support. Well done to all have a well deserved Merry Christmas

Exactly, wonderful result. Could be crucial come April. Never say die attitude strikes again. A happy returning set of team and fan buses! Onward and upward!

Yes indeed it's a happy Christmas, well done boys!

There was massive early save from Musa Dibaga and his bar as he tipped a wicked shot by top scorer Matty Yates from half a mile out onto the bar and behind for a corner. Oooooft! Paul Allan responded but missed the target before Dibaga then had to save an effort from Michael Anderson off Ross Meechan's cross. The hosts were pushing Inverness back at every opportunity and O'Reilly saw an effort blocked in the next attack. An Inverness 'goal' was ruled out for offside as we settled into the match... HALF TIME: 0-0

Our stats system takes the score as is after full time or E/T for our statistics page, hence the 1-1 scoreline. However, we had one of our intrepid reporters at the ground that day and here is her report. Old Caley Girl faced the elements and the penalty shoot out to provide us with this report. The Gods didn't appear to be very happy yesterday. During the day the stormy weather appeared to be of biblical proportions but the artificial surface at Ochilview ensured the game went ahead. A small band of hardy ICT fans left Inverness for Stenhousemuir full of optomism despite the weather. After a short stop at the ICT adopted chippy in Auchterarder we eventually arrived in Stenhousemuir. It's no secret to anyone that knows me that I much prefer the traditional football ground to modern all seater stadia, so there wasn't much of a choice to be made between the terrace or the stand. The only disappointment was that there was no way of swapping ends at half time. The larger clubs could also take lessons from the courteous staff and stewards. It wasn't long until the terrace started to fill up with familiar faces, with the central belt fans arriving such as Govan Jaggie, Capital Caley, Red Card and Top Six Next Year. The ICT faithful congregated behind the goal, and as the game kicked off the wind and rain were still relentless. Stenny started in lively fashion and looked like they were a confident, competent team having dumped Killie out of the cup in the previous round. Billy McKay returned to the Caley Jags team replacing the injured Andre Blackman and took up his usual role as loan striker with Graeme Shinnie dropping back. This was my first time watching a competitive game on an artificial surface and it soon became plain that staying on your feet and getting a pass on target was a bit of a problem for the ICT lads. After 15 mins we had our first chance when Connor Pepper passed through to Doran who then shot straight at the young Stenny keeper. However in 23 mins a great high ball through from Meekings bounced to Billy McKay who headed past the keeper straight into the net. So we were in front and all was going to plan. Unfortunately though 15 mins later David Raven didn't stick to the script and was adjudged by ref Bobby Madden to have tripped Ferguson and he also earned himself a yellow card. We couldn't see too well from our end was it stonewalled or not so look forward to seeing the highlights. Ferguson took the penalty and drove the ball low and hard past Esson's right. 1-1. Things almost went from bad to worse just on half time when Kean got straight through but hit the crossbar. Half-Time 1-1 Main talk at at half time was the presence of Ally McCoist in the stand and also how well Stenny were playing and how this was going to be a bit of a battle. The second half didn't see much improvement to be honest. Both teams had opportunities to win but didn't take them. Morrison eventually replaced Pepper and Foran moved up front. This made us look marginally more dangerous and it was clear that players and fans alike wanted to avoid extra time. However it was Stenny that could have settled it when Kean managed to get straight through again one on one with Ryan Esson but shot into the side netting. Everyone braced themselves for extra time but neither team produced a winner. Roberts replaced McKay and annoyed the home support with a body check on one of their players and thus earned boos for the remainder of the game. Penalties arrived and standing right behind the goal gave a keepers view of the penalties but most of us seemed to watch through our hands! Up stepped Richie Foran, who struck the ball confidently and hit the post! Groans all round. The next few were scored competently until Hodge shot over the bar. We moved to sudden death until eventually hero Essson saved from Darren Smith. Full Time 1-1 Inverness win 6-5 on penalties A much relieved Caley Jags faithful left Ochilview happy to have gained a win, any win, even if it had been done the hard way. To summarise we huffed and puffed but eventually got the job done. The 4th round draw beckons and the dream of a cup run goes on. It's going to be hard but whisper it one more round to Hampden! Thanks to old caley girl for that report from a wet and windy Ochilview, I hope it was worth it and maybe a favourable draw in the next round awaits. Match report written by old caley girl

Knowing the team will give it their best shot as always Shout out to the fans travelling to the game on this wild day. C'mon Caley - get the Christmas pressie you deserve come full time.

Fantastic result and a Merry Christmas to one and all. 🎅

Key thing for us is that Annan lost so we have closed the gap back to 8 points with a game in hand. Dumbarton won so we needed this win to keep the gap to 6 points. My money is on Annan for the drop.

Yes, a nice Xmas present. Glad that we managed to score after dominating the stats once again. Well done lads. Onwards and upwards

Bit late to the party, but letting Marley Watkins go before the Europa League. Reckon he could've left a dent in Astra Giurgiu and sent us to Upton Park, leaving us with a major payday that could've pushed us back into the European Spots, and maybe back to Hampden cleanly rather than being saved by the skin of our teeth by Andréa Mutombo in the embers against Hibs for a fruitless replay

Shout out to the U14 ICTWFC Reds who were crowned champions of the Rachel McLauchlan North League today, after a 3-1 win in a play-off with Forres. 🏆🔵🔴🔵😁

I'm surprised nobody has commented on the Administrator's 43 page report released yesterday. It was sent to creditors and shareholders and so I am unclear as to what level of confidentiality applies to the content and therefore I won't go into any detail. Having said that, the main things to take from the report seem to me to be that:- Administration is likely to be a long process. The administrators are looking for a sale on a going concern basis and a number of interested parties have been given access to detailed financial information and been invited to submit bids with a view to a sale sometime in 2015. If it can't be sold, they would look for a CVA to clear the debt. Creditors are being asked to confirm by the end of the year, whether they are in agreement with this general approach and on whether a creditors' committee should be established. Clarification is still needed around the ownership of the land around the stadium The administrators have established a process to detail income and expenditure on a monthly basis and have provided details for the last 3 or so weeks. This detail will be invaluable for potential future owners. The administrators have also given detailed information of who the creditors are and how much is owed. I don't think providing any detail would serve any purpose. Suffice it to say, that the administrators appear to be going about their business in a methodical, professional and very efficient manner. But it looks to me that we could well be in administration for the rest of the season at least and we really should not be hanging on any hope of a quick fix. As fans, I feel the best thing we can do is to support the administrators in their work and get behind the club and the team, both financially and on matchdays.