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And Breathe After the hectic January schedule we can now ease back on the throttle a tad and take a slightly more leisurely approach to February kicking off with a home fixture against East Fife on Saturday, a team we fitted in to our January schedule just a couple of weeks ago with a 0-2 win at Baltic Bayview. We saw out our January League1 duties with another win over Alloa followed by a hard earned draw away to Queen of the South. What all that means is that we still top the table, level on points with Stenhousemuir, and we still have a game in hand over them. It's very tight at the top with Queens on form and pushing hard and Alloa looking likely to be the fourth team to stay in the play off places come the end of the season. However, it's still all to play for with around forty points up for grabs. Rumours abound that Ben Brannan is coming back to us on loan from Killie for the rest of the season. Happy days! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bus/Bar/Info Ben Brannan coming in on loan? Loans: Strachan to Forfar Jack Walker to Buckie ⬇️ Hospitality ⬇️ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hospitality 🍽️ Kingsmills Lounge Hospitality Limited availability remaining! Join us for matchday hospitality on Saturday 🎟️ £70 per person (inc. VAT) ✅ Season Ticket discount available 📩Secure your place: [email protected] 🚍 Leave Bus Station 1245/1415 🚍Return Bus Station 5 & 6pm 💲 £2.70 single Contactless payment or cash ✔️ Concession passes are valid 😀 Tickets for game only ⬇️Tickets are available from HERE - Club Shop, & 01463 222880 Open Mon-Fri: 9.30am – 4pm, Sat: 10am – KO Get tickets before 12pm on Matchday (3hrs before kick-off) to save at the advanced rate Under 16s Tickets/Disabled Carer Tickets are not available online but are available in-store Sarens PSG Stadium or over the phone on 01463 222880 Last 10 Competitive Meetings with East Fife 2 - 0 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 4 - 0 (H) 2 - 3 (A) 4 - 2 (H) 5 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 4 - 0 (H) 5 - 1 (A) Our starting XI at Palmerston where we led twice but had to settle for a draw against a much improved QotS since we last played them in the 4-0 TV thrashing towards the end of November. This one ended 2-2 with a deflected Sole effort putting us ahead before a Kennedy cross nestled into the back of the net. A superb header from Alonge put us back in front before a late Hewitt strike levelled an intriguing contest. The point was enough for the us to retain top spot with the top four all drawing. Last Six League1: L L D W W D During our jam-packed January, we lost the first two in our last six League1 games, going down 1-0 at Ochilview followed by defeat at Montrose (2-1). We slowed the rot at Cove (0-0) before we lifted the spirits with wins at East Fife (0-2) & Alloa (3-1). The final game was that draw at Palmerston in a quality encounter. Last time at Bayview 2 - 0: On the Road Again Another away game as we play catch-up at Bayview. The first half passed everyone by as nothing happened. A much better second forty-five saw Inverness build a head of steam before substitute Alfie Stewart lashed home a swerving shot from outside the box. Alfie Bavidge raced clear in time added on to seal the deal and put the Caley Jags back to winning ways and back on top of the table. Good win in difficult conditions.... but that first half needs wiped from the memory. Two or three struggling according to Kells? A more encouraging performance last weekend from the Fifers but they still went down 2-3 to Montrose in a game they probably should have taken something from. Alas, it's not been a great run since they beat Elgin City in the KDM Trophy win at Elgin City, winning 2-3 before bowing out to Championship side Arbroath with a 3-0 defeat. The same side that ended their Scottish cup campaign. However, let's not dwell on Scottish Cup results this season Last Six League1: L L L L L L It's quite straightforward to be honest. Six League1 defeats on the trot! It started with two 0-1 defeats at home to Peterhead & Kelty Hearts. Thrashed @ Stenhousemuir (5-0), v Inverness (0-2), @ QotS (5-1) and the last one at home to Montrose 2-3. In the January sales, East Fife took on some fresh legs and moved a couple on. Destiny Oladipo: Forward 6 month deal. David Wilson: Defender 6 month deal. Dennis Halliday: Forward 6 month deal. Omar Elharek: Midfielder joined Jan22nd. Robert Jones has left the club after 52 appearances and 5 goals. Gregor Nicol has joined Bonnyrigg Rose on loan until the end of the season. Tommy Goss returned to Annan after loan ended. Was Dick happy after the QotS thrashing...Erm No! Alan Trouten red carded in that one Two match ban for the experienced striker and he will miss the game against Inverness. Only three League1 fixtures this weekend with Stenhousemuir & Kelty in Scottish Cup derbies. against Falkirk & Dunfermline Athletic. Also, we will find out who we play in the KDM Semi-Final with St Johnstone playing Ayr United on Saturday. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts ICTFC 22 24 41 Stenny 23 14 41 QueenS 23 8 38 Alloa 23 11 34 Monty 21 -11 27 P'Head 21 -12 27 E Fife 22 -15 25 💰 Accies 22 15 23 Cove 22 -6 18 Kelty 23 -28 14 Great strike from Sam Culbert last weekend ⚽

Tense Draw at Dumfries A big game for both teams with only three points separating the sides at kick-off, and at the end it was still three points that separated them. Peter Murphy went with an unchanged side from the one that thrashed East Fife last week with danger coming at us on a few fronts. Kai Kennedy, Jack Stott, Kurtis Guthrie to name a few. Scott Kellacher made more changes again with Chanka Zimba and Alfie Bavidge getting the nod and Alfie Stewart the driving force in midfield. The points were shared like this. Liam Sole opened the scoring inside ten minutes but Kai Kennedy squared matters ten minutes later. Just after the restart Jordan Alonge headed Inverness in front but Mikey Hewitt levelled with ten minutes left and despite a tense finish, that's how it ended. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Early pressure from the visitors with Alfie Bavidge driving forward before being taken out by Hewitt who was booked for his trouble. Could easily have seen red for that! Jordan Alonge's free kick hit the wall and his next opportunity was saved by Ross Stewart. We were rewarded for our bright start with Liam Sole's deflected effort from the edge of the box wrongfooting the keeper to put the Caley Jags ahead, flying into the opposite corner. Queens looked to hit back immediately and Kurtis Guthrie went close with a header. Alonge did the same at the other end, glancing just wide. It was now an open game and Queens drew level through Kai Kennedy with twenty minutes gone, shooting home a 'cross' from outside the box, probably unintentional, but the ball was in the back of the net and that's all that mattered. Kennedy was always going to be a handful and he shot over after half an hour. However chances were at a premium in a tight game as the interval beckoned and it remained all square with all to play for. HALF TIME: 1-1 Brennan Dickenson replaced Reece Lyon as the second forty-five got underway. Five minutes into the second period and Jordan Alonge put the visitors back in front, superbly heading home a cross from Sole after a good break forward on both flanks. Hannah took a sore one and was replaced by Rogerson. With half an hour still to play, it was a precarious lead for the visitors and Ross Munro kept our noses in front saving from Dickenson as the keeper pushed his low deflected effort round the post for a corner with around twenty minutes remaining. We were pegged back a second time when Mikey Hewitt scored into the bottom of the net from inside the six yard box from a good cut back on the left by Dickenson. In a tense ending to the game, the visitors had to settle for a point after leading twice, but this was always going to be a tough one. FULL TIME: 2-2 Mantis saw it like this: A point is fine now the dust has settled but a topsy-turvy afternoon with the score changing 4 times along with the news from Ochilview. I said that i’d be happy if we were still top at 5pm. Both goals in the first half were a bit fluky - Sole’s shot took a deflection and wrong-footed the keeper. We were well on top until Kennedy’s free hit floated past everybody and sneaked in at the far post. He let us know about it. This fired Queens into life and they probably had the best of it till half time. I thought we were the better side in the second half and Alonge scored with a magnificent header. Bav had a chance to tie it up but tripped over the ball. Guthrie had a fine battle with Remi till he was subbed late on and sub Dickenson was to have his say… Queens led the booking count by 3-0 but we overtook them with 4 in the last half hour (edit- Kel got carded too). One of them was Adam Mackinnon who was not having a great day and was replaced by Paul Allan. We had a lot of intricate passes around the box as usual without making the breakthrough and Queens defended well. Queens had a flurry of corners but nothing to trouble Munro although he made a magnificent save at one point. We weren’t exactly hanging on but Dickenson got behind us for once and gave Hewitt a tap-in. A much improved Queens today and great to see a game where the other team was actually trying to win unlike most weeks 🚌 Highlights from Palmerston>>> Kells bemoaning ignored Penalty shout>>> Pos Team Pld Gd Pts ICTFC 22 24 41 Stenny 23 14 41 QueenS 23 8 38 Alloa 23 11 34 😀 Monty 21 -11 27 6 P'Head 21 -12 27 7 E Fife 22 -15 25 8 Accies 22 15 23 9 Cove 22 -6 18 Kelty 23 -28 14 Honest appraisal from Peter Murphy>>> Date: 31/01/2026 Venue: Palmerston Park Attendance: 1938 Referee: Jamie Wilkie Queen of the South: 2 Manager: Peter Murphy Lineup: Stewart; Hewitt (MacKenzie 83), Douglas, Hannah (Rogerson 54), Charters, Lyon (Dickenson 46), Luissint, Smith, Stott, Kennedy, Guthrie (Allan 83) Subs (not used): Green; Armour, Johnstone, Ross Scorers: Kennedy (20), Hewitt (79) Booked: Hewitt (6), Kennedy (38), Douglas (52) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Munro; MacLeod, Devine, Savage, MacIntyre, Sole, Alonge, Stewart (Allan 72), MacKinnon, Bavidge (Longstaff 68), Zimba Subs (not used): Ross; Davidson, Robertson, Chalmers, Wotherspoon, Willox, B Mckay Scorers: Sole (9) Booked: Stewart (58), MacKinnon (65), Alonge (82), Zimba (83) Sent Off: none

Palmerston Test It's one of the more difficult away games of the season to round of an arduous January schedule, made more draining with multiple postponements and a demanding fixture schedule of seven away games on the trot. It all comes to a climax at Palmerston Park Dumfries on Saturday 31st January. A standard 3:00pm kick off time is set for what could prove to be a crucial meeting with Queen of the South, a team on good form at the moment, and that has seen them climb up to third in the table, just three points behind the Caley Jags and Warriors. Inverness have won the two previous encounters this season, but home advantage is often an indicator in these fixtures. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bus/Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Treat yourself to matchday hospitality at our upcoming fixture vs East Fife on Saturday 7th February at the Sarens PSG Stadium. Limited spaces available, get in touch now 🍽️ Kingsmills Lounge Hospitality 🎟️ £70 per person (inc. VAT) 💙 Season Ticket discount available 📩 Book now / more info: 📧 [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last 10 Competitive Meetings 4 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 4 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 3 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 1 (H) We had a Tuesday night KDM tie to negotiate against Stenhousemuir and after a bit of a tense battle against the Warriors we moved into the semi-finals thanks to Alfie Bavidge's second half strike. That side showed seven changes from the one that beat Alloa three days earlier where only Ross Munro, Calum MacLeod, Oscar MacIntyre and Remi Savage retained their starting places. Basically we changed the entire midfield and front players. I imagine we might revert to something along the lines of the Alloa game, depending on tired legs etc. If rumours are true, Ross Millen will be missing 10 matches through suspension Last Six League1: W L L D W W The first W was the 4-0 thrashing of Accies at home then we started our seven away games that included Scottish Cup ties, postponements, extra time's & penalties, KDM ties. That resulted in L1 defeats at Stenny & Montrose then a 0-0 draw at Cove before a mini revival with W's v East Fife & Alloa. Been a bumpy ride of late but hopefully we are through the worst of it now and the win over Stenny in the KDM has laid down a marker. Chanka Zimba is our top L1 scorer with 7 goals, 15 in all competitions and Alfie Bavidge has six L1 goals, 16 in all comps including x4 in that mismatch v Dumbarton in the KDM. The two previous meetings this season have been wins for the Caley Jags 0-2 & 4-0: Back in Sept the game at Palmerston unfolded thus: It was a second airing for the new away strip and the visitors didn't have to wait long for the pink strip to open the scoring through Chanka Zimba in the 9th minute. Thereafter it was Queens keeper Ross Stewart doing his utmost to stem the flow in a first half dominated by the Caley Jags, but with only one goal and five bookings, would we pay the penalty for not scoring more and picking up yellow cards instead? These two teams had started the day on ten points apiece and just in behind current table toppers Stenhousemuir. By half time, Inverness found themselves at the top. It took a 94th minute long range strike from Luis Longstaff to secure the points after keeper Stewart had come up for a corner only to find himself stranded as we scored on the break forward. Alas Stenhousemuir scored another couple to regain top spot. Tickets available online from Queen of the South’s website by clicking here Adults: £20, Concession: £12, U16s: £5 ICT Supporters Travel ClubThe ICT Supporters Travel Club Bus leaves the Sarens PSG Stadium at 8.30am. Picking up in Aviemore and Pitlochry. £20 a seat. Book through Facebook or on 07462218717. Queens were idle in midweek, having been put out of the KDM Trophy by Raith Rovers @ Stark's Park on 6th January by 1-0. This was their L1 squad that hammered East Fife 5-1 last Saturday, four days after we ground out a 2-0 win at the same ground in Methil. Stott, Kennedy (p), Douglas, Dickenson and Allan (p) were the scorers. Some turnaround for Peter Murphy's side since we thrashed them 4-0 on the telly back in November when Queens, to put it mildly, were hapless. Last Six League1: W W W L W W That's an impressive run for the Doonhamers with 15 points from a possible 18. W 's against Alloa (0-2), Montrose (1-0), Accies (4-1) and the solitary loss v Stenny (2-0) before getting back to winning ways over Kelty (3-1) & East Fife (1-5). Queens Top scorers L1 6: Jack Stott 5: Kurtis Guthrie 5: Matty Douglas 4: Kai Kennedy 4: Reece Lyon Pos Team Pld Gd Pts ICTFC 21 24 40 💪 Stenny 22 14 40 QueenS 22 8 37 4 Alloa 22 11 33 5 P'Head 20 -12 26 6 E Fife 21 -14 25 7 Monty 20 -12 24 8 Accies 21 15 22 9 Cove 21 -6 17 Kelty 22 -28 13

Caley Jags have got a semi This KDM quarter final match was more than just a Challenging knock-out tie. It offered the winners bragging rights and the psychological advantage in the race for promotion to the Championship as League1's top two sides squared off at the Caledonian Stadium. A bitterly cold night probably kept the crowd down to a minimum as a biting wind cut across the stadium. Not a night for brass monkeys to be honest. It has been a hectic January schedule for both sides and The Caley Jags in particular are recently off the back of seven away games on the bounce. With that seven in mind, the hosts made a number of changes, seven in fact. Robertson in for Devine, Chalmers in for Alonge and Allan for Stewart. Wholesale changes up front with Billy Mckay, Spoony, Longstaff, and Willox starting in place of Zimba, Bavidge, Sole, and MacKinnon. For the visitors, a couple of changes with Finlay Gray, Euan Reilly and Kelsey Ewen coming in and Dale Carrick and Nicky Jamieson on the bench and Mikey Anderson dropping out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Warriors came for a battle and got a bloody nose So, looks like seven changes from the win over Alloa and just the three for the Warriors as the game got underway in Arctic tundra conditions. First moment of danger came from the visitors when Ross Meechan's header went awry off a cross into the box. The early posturing came from the Warriors and Finlay Gray's inviting ball just evaded Matty Aitken. In his first start, Kieron Willox was first to make a keeper work after linking up with Billy Mckay, but it was Jamieson that won this battle as he pulled off a one on one with the loanee from Stoke. At the other end Finlay Gray slalomed past three defenders with Ross Munro denying him with a reflex save. Willox looking interested in the early stages for the Caley Jags with Finlay Gray doing likewise for Stenhousemuir. Midway through the half Oscar MacIntyre was almost on the end of Longstaff's dangerous cross into the box but Jamieson was able to smother the ball. The visitors were totting up their corner corner count some ten minutes before the break, something we would do well to stop conceding as it can often be a cause for concern, Archie Graham heading narrowly wide from one such occasion when he could just as easily have opened the scoring. Half a dozen corners to Stenny, but in time added on, we won our first corner only for David Wotherspoon's header to be blocked and the half ended without a goal. A distinct lack of big chances in a frustrating first '45 with the visitors not afraid to put themselves about. All to play for in the next hour or so. HALF TIME: 0-0 They reinforced the angry man attitude with Scott McGill getting his birthday card from the referee, booked in the first minute after the break. Calum MacLeod ended a good burst forward with a disappointing effort that missed the target. Surprise surprise, Gregor Buchanan followed McGill into the book. Paul Allan headed a Willox cross over before Willox departed around the hour to be replaced by Alfie Bavidge. A clearance by Finlay Gray kept the scores level as a ball into the six yard box was handily placed for a tap in. The substitutes flowed from the hour with Chanka Zimba and Dale Carrick amongst others entering the field. And it was a substitute Alfie Bavidge that opened the scoring with seventeen minutes remaining after his first effort was deflected behind for a corner. Following the corner Alfie shot high into the net from inside the box to put the hosts ahead after the keeper made a hash of trying to clear Paul Allan's corner kick, the ball bouncing off a ruck of players allowing Alfie to spin and lash the ball high into the net from six yards. Into time added on Zimba held up for Jordan Alonge to get a shot away with keeper Jamieson saving well. With no further scoring Inverness moved into the semi-finals to await the winner of St Johnstone v Ayr United which was postponed tonight. In the only other game that went ahead tonight, Raith Rovers progressed on penalties against Queens Park. FULL TIME: 1-0 Date: 27/01/2026 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1114 Referee: Peter Stuart Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Munro; MacLeod, Robertson, Savage, MacIntyre, Longstaff (Sole (82), Allan, Chalmers, Willox (Bavidge 58), Wotherspoon (Zimba 66), B Mckay (Alonge 82) Subs (not used): Ross; Davidson, Devine, MacKinnon, Stewart Scorers: Bavidge (73) Booked: Sole (90+2) Sent Off: none Stenhousemuir: 0 Manager: Gary Naysmith Lineup: D Jamieson; Meechan, Graham, Buchanan, Bilham (Simpson 67), Ewen, O'Reilly (Carrick 67), Gray, McGill, Whyte, Aitken Subs (not used): Lyle; , N Jamieson, Cameron, Scorers: none Booked: Whyte (36), O'Reilly (41), McGill (46), Buchanan (53), Aitken (82) Sent Off: none