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Bonus point struggle Inverness took the bonus point after a penalty shoot out, the game ending scoreless. Cammy Mackay saving twice as Todorov, Deas, Welsh and Allardice fired home from the spot. It was the first game at home since the 10th March when we beat Queen of the South 3-1 on a stormy Tuesday night. Seven months later and football is back at the Caledonian Stadium on a Tuesday night. With fans being subject to covid19 restrictions, the stadium was empty and silence prevailed. Nothing new for home games I hear many say! With live streaming not in place yet, it was left to standing on the Kessock Bridge or ICT FC Official twitter feed to keep us up to date with goings on at this League Cup group A game. One wonders why the streaming was such an issue for Inverness when practically every other side involved in the competition have managed to set something up. For goodness sake we even had a live feed for a friendly at Station Park Nairn. Here's the statement from ICT FC regarding Live Streaming. Maybe the twitter guys are locked out as well. Less than twenty minutes to kick-off and no team lines yet? Yippeee, they have arrived. Kevin McHattie and James Vincent returned to the starting XI with Cammy Mackay between the sticks. Shane Sutherland missed out through injury but Danny Devine made the bench. Game on but it was nine minutes in before we carved out the first chance of the game when Storey was sent through on goal but keeper Ross Sinclair blocked his effort with his legs. Story would go off injured two minutes later to be replaced by Nikolay Todorov. Daniel Mackay saw a shot gathered by Sinclair after twenty minutes. Five minutes later Sinclair was quick of his line to deny Mackay again. Deas shot behind from a corner and a free kick from range was fired well over as Inverness kept on the front foot. Cowdenbeath broke forward at pace, two on two but the low cross into the box bounced just behind Cox and the danger was mopped up. Five minutes before the break and there's little to enthuse over, another long range effort sails over the bar and the whistle brings the first half to a close, thankfully. It's fair to say we are dominating the game, its also fair to say it's mostly uninspiring so far. Half Time 0-0 The second period saw no changes as Toddy restarted the game and five minutes in we received a booking for simulation in the box. Dodgy if you ask me. Oliver Hamilton saw a shot drag just wide with Cammy Mackay sprawling across his line ten minutes into the half and Toddy shot wide after good play by Dan Mackay. Tremendous double diving save from the keeper to deny Sean Welsh and then Todorov, at the other end we mop up after Cox finds space in the box but is blocked. Brad Mckay heads a James Keatings corner wide as the pressure on the visitors mounts and Roddy MacGregor is inches away from getting on the end of a Todorov cross after he picked the defenders pocket. A Keatings free kick is bundled away from the box as the visitors survive again. Brad Mckay does well to stop a Cowdenbeath forage forward as they find space behind us. The Blue Brazil growing in confidence at our apparent lack of cutting edge and look to get forward more as the game enters the final phase. Dan Mackay manages to get the ball past Sinclair but it's cleared off the line inside the last ten minutes but there were no further opportunities for either side and the game entered penalty kicks to see who gets the bonus point. Full Time 0-0 Penalties ICT FC 4 Todorov, Deas, Welsh, Allardice Cowdenbeath 2 Hamilton, Swann Great work by Cammy and excellent finishes by the four scorers means that Inverness secure the bonus point. Hearts defeated Raith Rovers 3-1 with the aid of 2 penalties. However, they will need to go a long way yet to equal the shootout at Stranraer v Albion Rovers where a new record was set. Rovers eventually won 15-14. Wow! The only thing we know for sure is that the streaming works, pity about the display, but as Robbo keeps telling us, it's still pre-season! ***OFFICIAL MATCH REPORT FROM ICTFC*** Philosophical John..... Heres the penalty shootout Date: 13/10/2020 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 0000 Referee: Graham Beaton Inverness CT: 0 (4pens) Lineup: C Mackay; Duffy (Devine 77), B Mckay, Deas, McHattie (Harper 65), MacGregor, Welsh, Vincent (Allardice 65), Keatings, Storey (Todorov 13), D Mackay. Subs (not used): Ridgers; Hyde, Fyffe, Harkness, Scorers: none Booked: D Mackay (51), Todorov (83), Welsh (92) Sent Off: none Cowdenbeath: 0 (2pens) Lineup: Sinclair; Pollock, Clarke, Todd, Glass, Miller, Taylor, Kavanagh, Cox (Renton 90), Herd (Swann 53), Hamilton. Subs (not used): Whyte; Easton, Sneddon, Owens Scorers: none Booked: Kavanagh (83) Sent Off: none

Blue Brazil head North. Cowdenbeath are the visitors to the Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday 13th October as we play our second League Cup game which will also be a closed doors encounter. Don't forget, this game is an early kick-off at 6:30pm. Both sides sit at the bottom of of their group table with zero points. Hearts are at home to Raith Rovers later tonight with a 7:45pm kick-off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Streaming Statement from ICTFC In conjunction with our new streaming partners and the SPFL, tonight will see our last full test of this new technology at the Caledonian Stadium and we had planned to make the game available for free but we have subsequently been told that this would be a breach of the competition rules. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our opener at Tynecastle saw a relatively inexperienced squad go down 1-0 to Championship favourites Hearts. The game was decided through a dubious penalty decision gifted by Steven Maclean. A lot may have changed since covid19 entered our lives, but the standard of officiating in Scotland is still the same. Absolutely gross! A driven ball back into the box by Josh Ginnelly was adjudged to have been handled by the unfortunate Cameron Harper, despite his best efforts to keep his arms close to his body. Overall though, Hearts just edged the game although we had a couple of great opportunities to score, notably Nikolay Todorov near the end when he volleyed wide. Craig Gordon had denied Daniel Mackay in the fifth minute with a stunning point blank save from a header. Despite losing, the young Caley Jags side gave a good account of themselves considering we were without six regulars. One negative from the game was Shane Sutherland appearing to have done his hamstring just before half time. We had no game on Saturday as Raith Rovers entered the competition, beating East Fife 2-1 thanks to a late goal from Manny Duku. Liam Newton had given East Fife the lead but a penalty by Regan Hendry just on the break levelled matters before the 87th minute winner. Scenes! Like us, The Blue Brazil lost their opening fixture, going down 2-0 away to East Fife. Second half goals from Jack Hamilton and Ryan Wallace were the difference on the artificial surface at Bayview. Cowdenbeath had chances early in the game but East Fife gradually got on top in the second period. The first goal may have been fortuitous, but the second was a screamer from the right foot of Wallace on the volley, lashed into the top corner from the edge of the box. On Saturday, Cowdenbeath made Hearts work hard for the win before Craig Halkett headed home in the 77th minute. Beath keeper Ross Sinclair made a superb penalty save after 90 minutes to deny Jamie Walker from the spot. I'm sure we will also find the miners a difficult proposition on Tuesday night. Screamer from Wallace.... ***LATEST NEWS*** As we continue to build towards our Championship opener on 17th October it's encouraging to see that Danny Devine should be ready for Championship day one against Dunfermline. Whether John Robertson risks him tonight remains to be seen. Wallace Duffy and James Vincent are good to go as well but Shane Sutherland misses out. David Carson, Aaron Doran, Kevin McHattie and Lewis Toshney are still under wraps I presume??? Kai Kennedy is unable to make his debut as expected tonight because he has had to go into self isolation after Billy Stark tested positive for covid19. This caused the abrupt ending of the Scotland u19 international against England where Kai started the game. The match was halted before the interval and the subsequent encounter canceled. Sean Welsh will continue as club captain, let's hope he steers clear of injury this season and leads the team on the park.

Betfred Action at Tynecastle An empty Tynecastle greeted the teams for the first competitive game for nearly seven months, the fans deprived of live action due to the covid19 restrictions. Both sides were much changed from last March with Inverness requiring a whole new back four amongst other departures. New signing Kai Kennedy was on u19 international duty but should be available for the Cowdebeath tie next week. Defender Wallace Duffy comes straight into the squad along with the returning Daniel Mackay and Shane Sutherland and newbies Robbie Deas and Scott Allardice. Danny Devine, Lewis Toshney, Kevin McHattie, David Carson, James Vincent and Aaron Doran never travelled down with injury concerns hanging over them all. Keeper Craig Gordon has returned to Tynecastle. Former Caley Jag forward Jordan Roberts, Elliott Frear, Mihai Popescu and Josh Ginnelly are all new down Gorgie road and left back Stephen Kingsley is a late signing. Christophe Berra and John Souttar are out long term and Michael Smith and former Ross County striker Liam Boyce are on International duty. Here we go........... A relatively inexperienced Inverness took to the field with Wallace Duffy going straight in at right back for Inverness and Shane Sutherland, Robbie Deas and Scott Allardice also making their competitive debuts. James Keatings and Nikolay Todorov were on the bench. The Jambos had Craig Gordon in goal and the main threats up front would be former Dundee striker Craig Wighton and Scotland International Steven Naismith with Josh Ginnelly the provider. Jordan Roberts was named as a substitute. Mark Ridgers kept the scoreline blank with a tremendous double save in only the second minute from Jamie Walker and Craig Wighton but three minutes later it was Craig Gordon with the heroics to deny a point blank Daniel Mackay header from a Shane Sutherland cross, diving low to his left to keep the ball out. Josh Ginnelly was prominent for Heart in the early exchanges and Sutherland was probing well for the visitors. Gordon was able to clutch a dangerous free kick from Scott Allardice when a touch might have produced a goal and Ridgers was alert to a Ginnelly effort from the hosts. Halfway through the half Craig Halkett headed narrowly over, but it was defences on top thus far. Sean Welsh came close to the opener but unfortunately for the visitors he sliced his shot from 15 yards and the ball spun agonisingly over the bar. Wighton went even closer but his shot hit the bar and was put behind for a corner as Hearts began to pressure the Inverness defence. Ginnelly was pulling the strings for Hearts wide right and a cut back saw Andy Irving have his shot charged down brilliantly by Wallace Duffy. Game over for Shane Sutherland as he pulled up around three minutes before the break as we won a free kick which was cleared for a corner, and when it came in Robbie Deas fired a low volley back across the goal and out for a goal kick. The dangerous Ginnelly cut inside for the umpteenth time and fired just over from the edge of the box as Nikolay Todorov replaced the injured Sutherland. Half Time 0-0 No changes at the break and Ginnelly continued to provide for his strikers, Steven Naismith blocked by Robbie Deas as tried to pick his spot from the edge of the box. Good play by Roddy MacGregor won Inverness a free kick wide on the left but Allardice disappointingly lofted the ball harmlessly over. Ridgers pulled off a great save from Brandon after good work by Ginnelly, pushing the ball round the post for a corner. Five minutes later he produced another save in the top corner as Ollie Lee let fly from distance. A tricky run from Ginnelly saw the ball poked out for a corner and a second followed where Propescu slid a header just over the bar. Ridgers flapped at a high ball in the box and the resultant driven ball into the box saw Cameron Harper adjudged to have handled the ball. Harsh, but Jamie Walker didn't mind and he stroked home with Ridgers going the other way. PENALTY OR NOT! Duffy was replaced by Lewis Hyde just after the goal. Allardice moved to right back and made a good sliding tackle to deny Hearts a crossing opportunity. Inverness spurned a great opportunity as Todorov blazed a shot high and wide with 15 minutes left. Soon after, a James Keatings free kick saw the ball cleared and the follow up to Todorov who should have done better than volley wide. Jordan Roberts headed a good ball into the box wide in the last minute as the game entered three minutes of injury time. A good effort from Inverness but time ran out for the visitors as Ridgers diverted a Henderson shot for a corner in the final embers. Another injury concern for Robbo as Sutherland appears to have done his hamstring. Date: 06/10/2020 Venue: Tynecastle Park Attendance: 0 (covid) Referee: Steven McLean Hearts: 1 Lineup: Gordon; White, Brandon, Halkett, Popescu, Lee (Haring 82), Irving (Roberts 62), Walker, Ginnelly (Henderson 82), Wighton (Halliday 62), Naismith (Kingsley 74) Subs (not used): Stewart; Frear, Scorers: Walker (pen 62) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy (Hyde 66), B Mckay, Deas, Harper, MacGregor, Welsh, Allardice, Sutherland (Todorov 44), Storey, D Mackay (Keatings 80) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Fyffe, Harkness. Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none

Betfred League Cup Kicks Off It will be a step into the unknown as the Caley Jags head to an empty Tynecastle Park to face relegated Heart of Midlothian in the group stages of the League Cup. Many teams will see this competition as another step in the pre-season when the covid disrupted campaign gets underway for teams outwith the Premiership. For teams below the Premiership, it's been almost seven months since their last competitive game. Our last one was a 3-1 win over Queen of the South on Tuesday night 10th of March. The world has changed a lot since then as Covid19 has taken over and as someone once said; "there's life Jim but not as we know it" Falkirk were the first team to take full points in the competition as Kilmarnock are unable to field a side due to recent covid infections. Six players have tested positive at Rugby Park and with quarantine affecting the rest of the squad, the Bairns have been awarded a 3-0 victory. Our next League Cup fixture against Cowdenbeath has been brought forward to 6:30 on Tuesday 13th October. Hearts will be smarting from their induced relegation as last season ended early and will feel they have a point to prove. They have played Partick Thistle twice in pre-season, winning 2-0 on both occasions. They have also beaten East Fife, and Falkirk scoring eight times without reply. The Gorgie side open their Championship campaign with a tough game against Dundee on the 17th October. Like most clubs, Inverness are feeling the pinch and a mass exodus in the summer has meant we have had to replace those that left. Col Donaldson, Jamie McCart, Shaun Rooney, Carl Tremarco have all gone. That's our entire back four offski. In midfield Tom Walsh will be difficult to replace with Charlie Trafford also moving on. Up front, Jordan White found a move to Motherwell an attractive proposition. It's not all doom and gloom though and Shane Sutherland returned from Elgin City. Danny Devine has also come back for a second shot at it. Defender Robbie Deas comes in from Alloa/Celtic and Scott Allardice will add some steel to the midfield. We will also see more of Daniel Mackay who returns from his loan at Elgin and the likes of Lewis Toshney, Cameron Harper and Roddy MacGregor. Stepping up to join the big boys are Academy graduates Ryan Fyffe and Harry Nicolson who have developed considerably in their loan spell at Ft William FC. ***Latest signing news*** We have secured young Rangers player Kai Kennedy until January and he could be a straight replacement for Tom Walsh out wide. Kai was a standout when Rangers colts came North in the Tunnocks Challenge Cup games last season. Unfortunately, Kai is joining the Scotland U19’s squad as they travel to England for a double header against them this week. That means he will be unavailable for selection until he returns North. We wish him well in both games and we are looking forward to welcoming him to the Highlands on his return where he will go straight into the 1st team squad. Wallace Duffy is a later than the latest signing and he joins on a two year deal from St Johnstone. The 21 year old was released from the Perth side and snapped up by Robbo. He looks destined for the number 2 shirt at the Caledonian Stadium and will go straight into the first team squad. Here's Wally..... Our friendlies started with 14 goals in two games against Elgin City and Nairn County before a youngish side beat Clach 2-0. Our final outing was against Elgin where we struggled to a 1-1 draw on a miserably wet Saturday afternoon. James Keatings has impressed in pre-season and Sean Welsh has had some game time. Shane Sutherland has been prominent and Miles Storey has bagged some goals as we search for our best formation and team selection. Lewis Toshney picked up a knock and could be rested. Brad Mckay has come through unscathed and could be needed at right back. There has been no sightings of James Vincent, David Carson, Kevin McHattie or Aaron Doran so far which could leave us light on experience across the midfield but could well open the door for Roddy MacGregor, Cameron Harper and Daniel Mackay to show their talent. Danny Devine is also out. Hard to say what Robbo feels will be his best options, but it looks likely that this game will mean more to Hearts than it will to the Caley Jags as we continue to build towards the opening Championship game at East End Park on Saturday 17th October. Robbo has already publicly stated that being ready for the start of the Championship is his priority as that is where we will be judged at the end of the season. Therefore I doubt we will see any of the missing players in the Hearts game and anyone carrying a knock will be given ample time to get to full fitness before the 17th. This may irk some of the fans but in reality it's in our best interest to prepare for bigger things. The likes of Keatings and Toshney took knocks and Brad Mckay is maybe not up to speed yet. Anyway, I'm sure some of the fringe players will be delighted to get some game time and stake a claim for regular football. Over to you guys..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OFFICIAL PREVIEW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robbie Deas talks about his new job..... You can watch the action live on Premier Sports which is on Sky TV channel 412 or 429. Virgin Media Channel 551 or 552.

No goals for six months then nine TEN in the opening pre-season fixture...... ELGIN CITY 3-7 ICT FC (Keating 3, 54pen. Todorov 22, Storey 75, 83. MacGregor 77, 85) 3: GOAL! We have the lead through @jameskeatings as he unleashes a great strike from about 25 yards and into the top corner! Screamer..... 12: Scott Allardice goes close for the Caley Jags but his effort is just wide after a corner made its way to him at the back post. 22: GOAL! A low finish from @NNTodorov from just outside the box makes it 2-0 to the Caley Jags! 29: Goal! Elgin have one back as Hester cuts inside and fires a low strike past Ridgers. 45: Almost a second for Nikolay Todorov but his effort at a tight angle is just wide. Half Time 1-2 54: GOAL!@jameskeatings makes it 3-1 from the penalty spot! 70: Goal Elgin grab one back. Hester has second as he finishes from close range. 75: GOAL! Miles Storey makes it 4-2 to Caley Thistle. Great pick out from Cammy Mackay as his pass send Storey clean through and he made no mistake in front of goal. 77: Good save from Cammy Mackay as he keeps a powerful free-kick from Kane Hester who is on a hat-trick. 78: GOAL!@MacgregorRoddy gets Caley Thistle's 5th goal of the afternoon. Good play from Shane Sutherland in the box and his shot is deflected into MacGregor's path for a tap in! 80: Goal, Elgin get another back. Stephen Bronsky heads in from a corner to make it 5-3. 83: GOAL! Miles Storey gets his second of the afternoon after Shane Sutherland plays him through on goal. 85: The Goals are flying in here! A second goal for @MacgregorRoddy as he cuts inside in the box and finish well! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Official report from ICTFC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Highlights from Elgin City FC ################################# Nairn County 0-7 Inverness CT Tuesday 29th September ################################ Another closed doors friendly was played at Station Park Nairn with Inverness scoring seven goals for the second game running. Goals from Sean Welsh (3), Daniel MacKay (16), James Keatings (25), Lewis Hyde (30), Miles Storey (32), Shane Harkness (79) and Nikolay Todorov (81) rounded off a comfortable win with Inverness five ahead at the interval. Nairn managed to live stream the game through their YouTube Channel and the game can be seen on the attached video. OFFICIAL MATCH REPORT FROM ICTFC "It was always about attitude in these games and the attitude on Saturday and tonight has been fantastic. That's exactly what we're looking for." ICTFC Assistant Manager Scott Kellacher gives his thoughts on tonight's 7-0 pre-season friendly win against Nairn County Full game................. almost. ############################# Friday 2nd October 19:30 CLACH 0-2 INVERNESS CT ICTFC Starting XI Cammy Mackay; Brad Mckay, Ryan Fyffe, Harry Nicolson, Lewis Nicolson, Lewis Hyde, Kane Davies, Robbie Thompson, Shane Harkness, Daniel MacKay, Harry Hennem. Subs: Mark Ridgers; Kenny MacInnes, Ali Riddle, Dean Boyce, Ethan Cairns, Caillean Eaglesham, Jacob Kerr. Goals from Robbie Thompson and a Daniel Mackay penalty saw a mainly youthful Caley Jags side lead 2-0 at the break. Everyone except Mark Ridgers got some game time but there was no further scoring after the interval. ############################# Sat 3rd October 2:00pm Inverness CT V Elgin City. Some guys are hardier than others, and here's a socially distanced report from Sandy loon. Watched from the A9. Whilst a friendly, it was our last one before competitive action. I was concerned today with our defensive frailties and lack of creativity going forward. Early doors but my observations as I saw it today. Defence? Deas needs to play CH. Toddy is not a CH. Devine was a bit suspect. Fyffe and Harper both did well. Allardice did okay but doesn't offer a lot (Trafford on his bad days). Missed a driving midfielder like Carson today. Welsh was our MoM. MacGregor is wasted out wide, had a very quiet game. Storey was his usual, 1st half when wide would create space then mess up his shot or cross. When up front, struggled to do much, would lay of when he had time to turn. Keatings had some good turns/passes but doesn't offer enough as a number 10. Think we really miss someone to run beyond the striker and give us depth/trouble the oppositions centre halfs. Toddy did okay first half up front. Took his goal well. Dan Mackay wide left, came on a fluffed a great chance straight away but thought he looked sharp. Sutherland was pretty anonymous out wide. Brad came on at half time and was solid enough. Poor performance all round, City looked slicker going forwards and organised at the back. Very concerned for Tuesday night. Highlight of the day was a drunk Elgin fan going for a pee in the bushes, slipping, sliding down the hill and ending properly lodged upside down in the bramble bushes. Amazing moment! *****OFFICIAL REPORT FROM ICTFC***** Robbo in the rain. Happy birthday by the way! And here's Danny boy a couple of days ago.

A covid19 restricted pre-season kicks off for the Caley Jags with a trip to Borough Briggs to face Elgin City tomorrow (Saturday 24th Sept) The ball starts rolling at 14:00 behind closed doors but the Caley Jags media team will cover the game for you on Twitter. Good to see Robbo talking positively ahead of the new season. So, whats new I hear you say......... Some are brand new to Inverness and some have come back for another shot at it. Coming back again after seven years away is striker Shane Sutherland coming in from Elgin City. Also returning is defender Danny Devine who had been at Partick Thistle and Dunfermline since he won the Scottish Cup with ICT in 2015. Brand spanking new to the Caley Jags is defender Robbie Deas who was on the books at Celtic but had been loaned out to Cowdenbeath and Alloa Athletic over the last couple of seasons. The twenty year old will be a contender for central defence. Scott Allardice ply's his trade in midfield and began his career at Tannadice. He moved over to Ireland and played for Bohemians and Waterford. We will also see more of Daniel Mackay who returns from his loan at Elgin and the likes of Lewis Toshney, Cameron Harper and Roddy MacGregor. Stepping up to join the big boys are Academy graduates Ryan Fyffe and Harry Nicolson who have developed considerably in their loan spell at Ft William FC. Sadly, we have had to lose some essential players like Captain Carl Tremarco, Col Donaldson, Tom Walsh, Jamie McCart, Shaun Rooney and Jordan White. The silver lining in that could see more game time for Nikolay Todorov, Kevin McHattie, Roddy MacGregor, Daniel Mackay and the emergence of our young team in what will be a challenging season on and off the park. I believe that Brad Mackay is injured and might miss the start of the season. Here's Shane. He can't keep away from Elgin.....