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We had our own AI back in the day- it was called Kodachrome. Here’s a shot from my first visit to Ochilview in 1992. Stenny 1 Caley 4. The old stand was on the opposite side from now. I think two of the figures in the foreground are Lewis MacDonald and his dad Ken. See you there.

The Final Countdown As Europe once said, it's the Final Countdown: 3...2...1. We are now into the final three games of our Annus Administratus and it all starts with a tricky fixture at Stenhousemuir, who will be in the promotion play-offs. Another emergency loan goalkeeper will be with Inverness for Saturdays game at Stenhousemuir with Musa Dibaga out with a hamstring injury. Marcus Gill, a youngster from Celtic's B team squad will be in goal with big Musa out injured. Marcus, 17 years-old, has played for Celtic B in the Lowland League and has also featured in the UEFA Youth League this season. Marcus has also represented Ireland at Under 19's level. What a game to be without two of the three players of the year in Dibaga, and Bavidge. We also have Danny Devine with Gregor Buchanan of Stenhousemuir also in the Team of the Year. (see full team at bottom of preview). We will be keeping a watchful eye on Annan Athletic's game at Galabank against promoted Arbroath... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bus/Info Admin: join the debate on CTO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2025 Apr 19th League (League 1) - A - Mar 11th League (League 1) 4 - 1 H 1,482 2024 Dec 21st League (League 1) 1 - 0 A 719 Sep 28th League (League 1) 0 - 0 H 1,601 Only this seasons games are relevant to current form as the previous eight games were prior to 1999 apart from a League Cup game in 2012: A dramatic penalty shootout was concluded when Ryan Esson saved Darren Smith's penalty to win the tie for Inverness 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw where Billy Mckay headed in the opener before Brown Ferguson equalised from the spot before the break. Richie Foran miss 0-1 Brown Ferguson score Graeme Shinnie score 1-2 Andy Rodgers score Gavin Morrison score 2-2 Bryan Hodge miss Aaron Doran score 3-3 John Gemmell score Andrew Shinnie score 4-4 Ross McMillan score Ross Draper score 5-5 Stewart Kean score Philip Roberts score 6-5 Darren Smith miss ICT WIN. INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L D W W W L W L W W L W W L W D W / W L D L W L Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game the next weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. It was then on to Palmerston on the Tuesday night but in a five goal encounter we went down 3-2. Alfie Bavidge notched his third goal in three games and Keith Bray added a second but goals from Adam Brooks (2) and Jordan Allan kept the points in Dumfries. We bounced back with a resilient 1-2 win at Alloa in our third away game on the bounce, Dunfermline bound Keith Bray with his fourth of the season and Alfie Stewart. We got our revenge at home to QotS (1-0) with Alfie Bavidge scoring his fourth goal in five appearances. Alas it was a bridge too far at Arbroath and we went down losing three without reply. The Stenhousemuir fixture was postponed and was re-arranged for March 11th. We went to Kelty and came away with a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Alfie's 5th goal in 7 appearances. Montrose proved to be stubborn opponents and it took a superb diving header from Keith Bray to rescue a point in a rather turgid encounter after Sandilands had opened the scoring in the first half. A last gasp win at Dumbarton on the Saturday with Alfie Bavidge scoring his 6th goal in 9 games. Unfortunately Alfie was injured early on against Stenhousemuir in midweek but that didn't stop us running up a 4-1 win with goals from Brannan, Gilmour, Bray and Allan. Annan came North on Saturday in a six-pointer and it was a disappointing defeat after Annan parked the bus after scoring in the third minute. Next up was a 1-1 draw with Alloa despite hitting the woodwork twice and missing a penalty. Another bad day at the office last weekend at a wet and windswept Palmerston after Queen of the South blitzed us with three second half goals to run away with a 4-1 win in Dumfries. Meh! We bounced back with a rout of our own as a Keith Bray hat-trick sunk Cove Rangers 3-0 at Balmoral Park. What a result that was! Despite what could have been a joyous occasion in front of our home fans after that great result at Cove, we once again failed to produce at the Caledonian Stadium going down 2-0 to Kelty in a six-pointer of a game. It's one step forward and two steps back as we crawl towards relative safety. Latest Team News: Musa Dibaga is out with a hamstring injury. Marcus Gill, a youngster from Celtic's B team squad will be in goal with big Musa out and depending on the result of his scan, it could be for the remaining games. No other known new injuries at present. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 33 23 63 2 Cove 33 16 52 3 Stenny 33 4 49 4 Queen Sth 33 1 48 5 Alloa Ath 33 8 47 6 Kelty 33 -5 40 7 Montrose 33 -6 39 8 Caley Jags 33 2 36 9 Annan Ath 33 -27 33 10 Sons 33 -16 16 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Last Six: L D D L L L Six games ago we beat Stenny in a re-arranged fixture at the Caledonian Stadium in our finest home game of the season, a crushing 4-1 win. Two 0-0 draws followed against Kelty and Cove then a slump in the last three at home v Montrose (2-3), home v Alloa (1-4) and last weeks title winning defeat at Arbroath (4-0). There are goal scorers in the side though with Corey O'Donnell on 9 and Blair Alston on 8. Yates and Aitken were prominent before injury and big Nat Wedderburn is still there. 𝘼𝙨 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨… Musa Dibaga – Inverness Scott Taggart – Alloa Ath Gregor Buchanan – Stenny Thomas O’Brien – Arbroath Danny Devine – Inverness Ross Cunningham – Kelty Fraser Taylor – Arbroath Fraser Fyvie – Cove Scott Stewart – Arbroath Mitchel Megginson – Cove Alfie Bavidge – Inverness Warriors v Caley Jags In 1928, the wooden grandstand at Ochilview Park burnt down in a fire, which led to a new stand being built in its place, although staircases reputedly had to be added later due to planning errors. (was Scot Gardiner in charge) The 1936–37 season saw the club register a record victory: 9–2 home win against Dundee United. More than a decade later in 1949–50, a Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against East Fife drew a record crowd of 12,525 – the highest ever at Ochilview Park. On 7 November 1951, the first floodlit game between two Scottish senior teams occurred at Ochilview Park, a friendly match between Stenhousemuir and Hibs The floodlights had been paid for three years earlier by Tommy Douglas, a butcher in King Street, Stenhousemuir. <<Info from Wikipedia>>

Ouch. Definitely a draw that feels like a defeat.

Ifs and buts have provided a defining narrative to our season for the last 3 or 4 years. We must change this.

No need to panic. We’re at home next week and our home form has been fantastic!

Annan are at Dumbarton next Saturday then finish at home against Cove. Dumbarton have been on a reasonable run with only one defeat in six so hopefully they can beat Annan or at least get a draw. It’s good to see Mckay on the scoresheet and Longstaff back playing. A massive weekend (or two) ahead!

Sadly I expect them to play their first team against us. Kind of understandable that they gave the reserves a run out today after winning the title last week, but now that they’ve seen what happened they won’t be wanting another humiliation on their record.

Is that eight Arbroath players starting today, including the keeper, who would normally be on the bench? Disgusting to be honest.

If you are correct about Annan being done over by Arbroath (who on the other hand may be in beachball mode) then the difference between one point and all three for ICT would be enormous since a win would effectively secure safety by a minimum of goal difference.

Oi! That's my wife's family that you are talking about What the **** did you feed it to end up with hypodermics stuck into the Ochils??? And you missed out the smell from the McCowans toffee factory next door. Now sadly closed down. Could always tell when they were making raspberry.

Footage of that fire in 1928 has been found on the butchers mobile phone. It's a bit grainy but you can see the Warriors trying to dowse the flames and a petrol can with the initials SG on it can be seen close to the heart of the flames. Some locals were said to have entered the stadium unauthorised with a loaf of bread, a tub of lurpak and a tin of beans as they tried to feed the weans on the cheap before they were water bombed by the alert Warriors.

This is now extremely concerning. We can’t paper over the cracks. Saturday vs Arbroath is now a must win. If we are involved in a playoff I’m not confident. We are a full time team struggling in a part time division

The result was a blow for ICT who are going to be without first-choice goalkeeper Musa Dibaga for the rest of the season...

Ooft! That hurt. We were 7th at one point. Thought the goalie had a decent game though.

1 point out of 6 last 2 games. 3 goals lost that can be down to keepers. But not all their fault it is our inability to score, create chances and close out a game when in front. Time to question tactics ? When we were far behind we just went gung ho for everything and picked up points. Now we seem to be shot shy, passing the ball to death, slow in possession etc. Last time I said that big dunc was the manager.

This is when I am glad our previous manager didn’t question Arbroaths ‘professionalism ‘ last year.

Montrose getting a late equaliser doesn't help either. Just to think, 10 years ago we were at Hampden beating Celtic 3-2 in the cup semi-final. What a great day that was! Maybe in 10 years time we'll be back there and the experience will be all the sweeter for having come through the bad times.

Squeaky time. Annan will feel very confident after a result like that. Charlie will be gutted.

Arbroath battling bravely and putting their bodies on the line to restrict Annan to 5-1.

Let’s see this out now!

He scores when he want's! Billy Mckay.

He scores when he likes!!

Arbroath 1 up at Annan.

...Longstaff...

Apparently since he did the turn for ICT, he’s been advanced to Celtic’s first team squad and is no longer available for loan.

Rice is not available as he’s back up for their first team goalies due to Schmeichel being injured.

World beating Morecombe, under Ross County's favourite son, heading for the drop.

Said before on another thread, and I hope I am wrong ( get it in myself before someone else says it, Again?) Arbroath will play some squad players till end of season to see what they are keeping/letting go for championship football next year. Even if they play their first team will the players give it a real go after a long season of playing footie and working full time jobs. I think only ict and QOS are full time in league this season, but then again I me be wrong. hope for an Arbroath win though today and they take it easy next week. ps.. something in my head tells me in the relegation battle between QP and us last season they got a couple of unexpected results against teams who should have beaten them but the teams decided to play fringe players as they were safe.

You are having great fun with this AI I think the P&J are using it as well and the editor not checking recently!

I am thinking rabbit and hat again it worked for our last away game good luck to the team and I hope the travelling support have a great day.

In 2014/15 we had Ryan Esson, Cammy MacKay and Josh Meekings!!

Good on you for raising this, OCG! This is something I’ve never “got” about football and it begs the question of why a certain proportion of crowds actually go to games. To enjoy the sporting action? To support a team? Or simply to seek some personal gratification or reflected glory - and if they don’t get it, then it’s got to be somebody else’s fault? In an unfortunate number of cases it’s the last one and you do wonder what goes on in these people’s heads and what their world-views are? They seem neither to understand nor care that when they shout abuse at the team they claim to support, it’s worse than having no effect at all - it undermines the side and actually makes the outcome they seek less likely. ”Normal” fans sitting close to idiots like this need to make their views known to them and tell them to shut up… with “I’ve paid my money so I can shout what I like” absolutely no excuse. These people are a liability.

Talks about a lack of strikers, plays Mckay on the halfway line, benches Brooks and puts Bray out on loan. Then begins signing centre backs. Tops it off with signing a player no one else would touch - his son. Total balloon.

Spoiler alert - he blames everyone but himself for the horrendous job he did at ICT. He's a deluded fool.

Are there not rules about deliberately fielding a weakened team? From memory I think we had to defend a scenario where we played a youth team in a cup game?

Billy scores with a great strike. 30 mins to go and we sit back and let them come at us. An easy save for our keeper, he fumbles it and looked like when he is on the ground kicks ball into gilmour and ball trickles into net. Lots of possession 1st half, no cutting edge. Longstaff on 2nd half made no impact. I said this morning arbroath may make changes, boy did that make a difference. Looks like we are in free fall

Gutting, but should reflect on a good away point. Such a shame as the table looked a real picture before Montrose equalised

Gilmour og. Help!

NOOOOOOOOO

Annan walking it 2-1.