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Replay Required. Inverness survived to fight another day after a 1-1 draw at Easter Road. James Keatings opened the scoring as the Hibees looked to be on the ascendency. Yogi had seen enough as the game passed the seventy minute mark and hooked Liam Polworth and Iain Vigurs. That altered our dynamic and it was all smiles when substitutes Lewis Horner and Andrea Mutombo combined for the latter to slam the ball home to send the tie towards a replay on 16th March. The winner of this tie now also know who they will face as the draw has paired them with Dundee United, the other semi-final will be interesting as Celtic will play the Rangers. Immortal Howden Ender has this report for us.............................. Well we are still in the cup and IF we beat Hibs - at home - we have avoided the Old Filth and the Arabs were clearly the best option, as they are probably saying about us or Hibs. Prior to the game I was really positive and optimistic. I had been talking to some Hibees on the train and they were staying that a lot of their mates were staying away. They were of the opinion that they would be getting thrashed. They also clearly dislike Mr Stokes as well. Pre-game in the Iona the spirits were flowing and “highs” all abounding. And for fifteen minutes that appeared to be the case but then it dawned that we had eight Ray Wilkins crabs in action. I am all for experimenting with systems but not away from home in a Scottish Cup Quarter Final. Personally I felt that was a sign of disrespect to Hibs. I feel that we totally underestimated them, we were cocky and we got what we deserved. Well in fact we didn’t – we didn’t get beat – but God knows how not. Perhaps I should also have read the stats for the cups this season as Hibs have knocked out Aberdire, St Jones Town, the Arabs and the Jam Tarts. We were the better side early doors but it was the side to side, tippy tappy style that I detest. Pretty patterns but NO penetration whatsoever. 3-5-2 simply did not work. I wonder whether it was to accommodate Tansey, Vigurs and Draper in midfield. Tansey played too deep, Vigurs did not get the time and Draper was wasted. To me they are three players of similar ilk who all want the ball. Polworth never really went wide and spent a lot of time covering for the back four and our intrepid central midfield. How many times did Danny Williams get the ball but instead of going at defenders stopped and played a ball in to our midfield trio. And how may times was Storey caught offside – guilty mostly of not watching the line. Two shots on target in a Cup Quarter Final is absolutely ridiculous. Hibs had 5 on target and despite our sideways passing Hibs had the bulk of the possession. And even when we were in the ascendancy, Hibs could have scored in the 9th minute when Gray and Fontaine produced great stops from Fon Williams and what looked like a third save of a goalbound effort in the melee that followed. And then four minutes later Keatings had the ball in the net but he did look offside. Following this we appeared to play a bit of side to side and either hoof or deliver a dreadful last ball. Polworth was the first to go in to the book and again our disciplinary problem of needless cautions may end up with us having half a team for the remaining games IF we progress. I had hoped that the second half would produce an immediate change in tactics but it all stayed the same. Keatings had another shot on target, the eejits shouted fer a penalty against Devine and, of all people Stokes started the move for their goal. Keatings finished things off for his first goal in sixteen games. I thought that Tansey, Warren and Storey were beginning to lose the plot and we were lucky that one of them did not get a red card. And then a miracle happened. A fan from the away support made a Van Gaal like message on his notepad, did a bit of origami and fired it into the Leith sky. It landed next to Yogi who handed it to Polworth. He read it and it started “get Polworth off” so he handed it to Warren. And that was the turnaround. We ended the game better although it was still end to end. And then fortunately we came up with a divine move. Lets give credit to the two substitutes who did both look lively. Horner produces the first overlap of the day, Roberts gets his first decent pass of the day, lays it off to MBUYI-MUTOMBO and goal and GOLD erupted on the terraces. In the dugout, Yogi gave Polworth an ear bashing, literally. His delight at Mutombo's goal warmed the lugs of the substituted midfielder who was left nursing his head after Yogi's robust celebration. So we live to fight another day and we have Hibs away to Spain and hopefully going to penalties in the League Cup Final. They will have their missing stars back but I am not sure if that is an advantage or not. And the 800+ away support heaved a massive sigh of relief. 9800 altogether was a very disappointing turn out and I bet there were quite a few Hibees who wished that they had turned up, even if it was to boo Anthony Stokes. And as for Crawford Allan? Well at least he managed to maintain the performance status of Scottish refereeing and the main stand official must have been sponsored by Specsavers. It was all Hibs bias to begin with but at least he managed to even things up later. Lets hope for a better performance and a better result on March 16th and back to our second home on Sunday 17th April. Better to end on a Yogi quote - "I felt we were lacking a little bit up top but we have great team spirit and effort and I can't ask for anymore." No shit Sherlock. SMILEYMOMETER: Out of 10 Fon Williams (7) – My MOM as he basically kept us in the Cup. Polworth (5) – Completely played out of position and his safety zone. Almost swapped with Warren in the second half which was not tactical. Warren (6) – Some may say Captain Fantastic and that is true to a degree but his “gung-ho” attitude in the second half left the defence stranded – and Polworth filling in – and could have easily got a red. He may well miss another trip to Hampden Devine (6) – Thought he had a good game and at least he stuck to his task – but again he probably had no choice. Tremarco (6) – I actually thought that he did OK. He was stranded as well at times but did not let us down. Roberts (6) – Really felt sorry for him as his movement was good and he must have been screaming about the number of times that he made space and the ball went sideways. Tansey (4) – Sorry but he was played too deep but he made no impact on the game whatsoever. Draper (4) – Well probably played too far forward and bypassed. Vigurs (5) – Probably the best of the central midfield three but that is nothing to be proud of. Danny Williams (5) – As soon as he remembers what driving forward and taking defenders on is about the better Storey (3) – Sorry but I thought that he was terrible. He looked as if he couldn’t run after 75 minutes and I was amazed that he wasn’t hooked. His vitality appears to have been sapped as has his confidence which may be linked to the goal drought. Or is he carrying an injury. For obvious reasons I will give Mutombo and Horner 7 each. Date: 06/03/16 Venue: Easter Road Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 9884 Referee: Crawford Allan Hibernian: 1 Lineup: Oxley, Gray, Henderson, Fontaine, McGeouch (Gunnarsson 26), Stevenson, McGinn, Keatings (Dagnall 86), McGregor, Stokes, Thomson Subs (not used): Virtanen, El Alagui, Boyle, Shaw, Donaldson Scorers: Keatings (54) Booked: Keatings (70) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Draper, Roberts, Devine, Tansey, Williams, Polworth (Horner 71), Vigurs (Mbuyi-Mutombo 72), Storey. Subs (not used): Esson, Williams, Foran, Wedderburn, Hughes Scorers: Mbuyi-Mutombo (77) Booked: Polworth (29), Warren (63), Tansey (64) Sent Off: none

The defence of our trophy. Inverness continue the defence of their trophy at Easter Road in a 2:00pm kick off on Sunday in the quarter finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup. This will be the last quarter final to be played and we already know the outcome of the Saturday cup games. The Rangers thumped Dundee 4-0 in the early game and ten man Dundee United knocked Ross County out as Billy Mckay scored the winner in a thrilling 2-3 win at Dingwall. Celtic take on Morton in Sundays early kick off and the Cappielow club will be hoping for a repeat of the league Cup result from three years ago when they put Celtic out after extra-time. Hibs have won the Scottish Cup twice. That in itself is not unusual, but their last triumph in this competition was back in 1902 when they defeated Celtic 1-0 at Celtic Park in front of 16,000 fans. That's 114 years and counting. Incidentally, Inverness Caledonian beat Stranraer 6-1 in the first round that same year before going down 5-1 at Ibrox against Rangers. Hibs have reached the Quarter Finals by beating Raith Rovers 2-0 away from home and then coming back from the dead to draw 2-2 at Tynecastle. In the replay, Hibs went through thanks to a Jason Cummings strike. However their top scorer will miss the tie against us as he is suspended after being red carded Inverness made it here after needing a replay to dispose of Stirling Albion 2-0. Andrea Mutombo scoring the goal of the round in that replay. Jordan Roberts was the match winner as he replicated Mutombo's feat by scoring a spectacular winner at Fir Park against Motherwell in a 1-2 victory. Hibs are coming into this game off the back of three defeats in a row in the Championship and have now slipped down to third in the division as these results take their toll. Morton, Dumbarton and Queen of the South were the teams that beat the Hibees and Falkirk are now above them in the league. Inverness have little to shout about. We have slumped to ninth in the Premiership after a series of frustratingly grim performances and gifting goals like nobodies business. It's four games since we won, beating Aberdeen 3-1 with a stirring performance, but erratic form, injuries and suspensions have curbed our desire to entertain and we now find ourselves staring at the heart of the relegation battle. Defeat at Tynecastle has thrown our season into despair and just when we thought our injury predicament was getting better, we had nine players out receiving treatment and Ross Draper suspended. Yogi has been proclaiming the Hibernian side this week and despite criticism from some fans regarding his comments I tend to agree that Hibs are a miss to the Premiership. If nothing else, it's a great day out in Leith and one of the better grounds in Scotland. It's the usual posturing prior to games and bigging up Hibs will help to make them more complacent. I'm sure Yogi will be looking to end their cup run despite his history with the Easter Road club. It's all part of the game. Alan Stubbs will be without a trio of suspended players. Jason Cummings, Paul Hanlon and Marvin Bartley. John Hughes will have Ross Draper back after his suspension and the good new continues with Josh Meekings and James Vincent likely to be added to the squad as they recover from injury. Andrea Mutombo is a doubt but Richie Foran, Aaron Doran, Alex Fisher, David Raven, Nat Wedderburn and Dean Brill are all out. tm4tj Prediction:- I'm taking Inverness to get into the semi-final, but it might take a replay to sort this one out. Our wafer thin squad has been exposed recently, but it's great to have Draper back and with Meekings and Vincent set to return things are looking up. Scoring goals is a problem and Miles Storey and Jordan Roberts will be the men asked to do just that. Hibs will miss the tenacity of Cummings up front, but in John McGinn they have one of the most talented players in Scotland. Anthony Stokes is another who will provide a challenge for any defence and he knows the way to goal. I'm banking on our midfield holding the key to our success here and our passing game to frustrate Hibs and their big support, I'm just not sure who will be scoring the goals. Replay up North and Inverness to progress.

Grim Stuff. Our miserable form continues as Hearts swept us aside in a comfortable 2-0 win for the Jambos. It was another uninspiring performance from Inverness, although it's hardly surprising with nine players receiving treatment and Ross Draper suspended. A goal in either half from Jamie Walker and Abiola Dauda condemned us to life outside the top-six for now. With another trip to Edinburgh on Sunday for the Scottish Cup tie at Easter Road, it could be a grim week for the Caley Jags unless Yogi can lift he team for the defence of our trophy. Here's a report from a Hearts perspective: Jamie Walker on scoresheet again as Hearts beat Inverness: Jamie Walker continued his goalscoring streak as Hearts moved to 50 points for the season with a comfortable 2-0 win over Inverness. The midfielder netted in his fourth consecutive Ladbrokes Premiership game after latching on to Arnaud Djoum's searching pass to get in behind a packed Caley Thistle defence in the 35th minute at Tynecastle. Inverness had not got going as an attacking force before Abiola Dauda capitalised on Greg Tansey's mistake to give the home side a cushion within eight minutes of the restart. The victory moves Hearts six points behind second-placed Aberdeen while Caley Thistle remain in the bottom six. Inverness looked content to sit in from the start and they frustrated Hearts for long spells of the first half. The first chance fell for Dauda after Walker had brought down Alim Ozturk's diagonal ball, but Danny Devine threw himself in the way of the striker's shot. Hearts continued to probe patiently. Prince Buaben had a shot saved and right-back Liam Smith - deputising impressively for the injured Callum Paterson - played a one-two with Gavin Reilly and fired a left-footed shot from 20 yards which just cleared the bar. A touch of desperation crept into the home side when Ozturk shot from the edge of the centre circle, although Owain Fon Williams had to watch the bounce carefully before clutching the ball. The breakthrough came following another diagonal ball to Walker, who took down Djoum's 50-yard pass on his foot, kept it away from two Inverness defenders, nipped round Williams and squeezed a shot inside the near post. Caley Thistle had to come out and attack after the interval but they were caught out after one of their first attempts broke down. Tansey tried to play the ball back to Williams from the halfway line but under-hit the pass and Dauda pounced before rounding the goalkeeper and finding the empty net. Inverness, who missed the suspended Ross Draper, plugged away without looking like getting back in the game. Jordan Roberts shot weakly at home goalkeeper Neil Alexander and Dauda had a good chance to score his fourth Hearts goal, but side-footed straight at Williams after being set up by Sam Nicholson. Alexander was busier in the final 10 minutes, saving from Carl Tremarco and Iain Vigurs, but it was too little, too late from the visitors. Date: 01/03/16 Venue: Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 15767 Referee: Alan Muir Hearts: 2 Lineup: Alexander, Smith, Ozturk, Souttar, Rossi (McGhee 80), Nicholson, Buaben, Sutchuin, Walker (Zanatta 66), Reilly, Dauda (Cowie 78) Subs (not used): Hamilton, Augustyn, Pallardo, Delgado Scorers: Walker (35), Dauda (53) Booked: Sutchuin (54) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Horner (Hughes 82), Warren, Devine, Tremarco, Tansey, Polworth, D.Williams, Roberts (R.Williams 70), Vigurs, Storey Subs (not used): Esson, Brown, Maclennan Scorers: none Booked: Roberts (53), Vigurs (59) Sent Off: none

Tynecastle Test Inverness make the first of two consecutive trips to the capital with a Tuesday night game against Hearts at Tynecastle in a 19:45 kick off. On Sunday we continue our mission to retain the Scottish Cup at Easter Road, but it's the Tynecastle game we will concentrate on for now. Hearts sit comfortably in third place in the Premiership on 47 points, fourteen ahead of Inverness who are just outside the top-six, but theoretically could jump into fourth place with a win over the Jambos. The Gorgie side are the second top scorers in the league and can also boast the second best defensive record as well. They have just one defeat in their last nine league games, at the hands of a battling Dundee United, although four of the other eight games were draws. Inverness are in the congested area between fourth and eleventh, separated by just eight points, and a quick learning Dundee United who are making a late charge to stave off relegation. We have two defeats in the last nine games with three wins and four draws, so there's not that much between the sides in terms of current form. In the only meeting between the clubs this season, Inverness recorded their first win in a 2-0 victory over the much fancied Hearts side. James Vincent opened the scoring that day and Miles Storey opened his account on his debut. How we could do with some more goals from our young striker now to end his barren spell. No goals in nine games since he scored against Ross County on January 2nd. I'll discount his credited goal against Motherwell as it was clear that Steven McManus knocked the ball home, Miles was miles away from the ball. Losing a two goal lead against their bitter city rivals Hibernian, then losing the replay will have knocked the confidence from Hearts young squad somewhat. That was followed by a 2-1 loss at Tannadice, although the Arabs are on a bit of a resurgence, but nonetheless their form has been more erratic in recent weeks which will give Yogi's lads plenty of optimism about facing Hearts. Robbie Neilson had made five changes to the side that faced Kilmarnock from the previous game. Callum Paterson could shrug off a shoulder injury from the Killie game and Jordan McGhee is free from suspension having missed the win over Killie. Liam Smith is ready to fill in should Paterson not recover in time. Otherwise, Hearts should have an unchanged side unless tactical changes are made. John Hughes conceded that we played second fiddle to Dundee, especially after we went ahead, and will be looking to change that. David Raven has missed the last three games with Lewis Horner deputising. Josh Meekings, James Vincent and Alex Fisher are out with Foran and Doran on the permanent casualty list. Andrea Mutombo missed out at Dundee, but that was seen as precautionary with bigger games coming up. Danny Williams will start in place of the suspended Ross Draper. tm4tj Prediction:- Well, if we try to defend in depth against the free scoring Jambos I fear for our goal difference. We struggled badly at Dens Park looking to hold what we had, but we surrendered territory and paid the price at the end. Jordan Roberts will be a key figure for us along with Miles Storey, but it's our defence that will have to work hardest to keep the eager Tynecastle lads at bay. Our midfield should be able to compete with a Don Cowie fuelled Hearts engine room and that will be another important area where we need to challenge well and set the ball rolling. Sam Nicholson and Jamie Walker will be lively customers and we have to make sure they are not given the freedom of Tynecastle, but with Osman Sow off to China then we might have enough to stifle the free flowing Jambos. Score draw at best, but we need to be on our toes until the final whistle. A win would be a huge bonus, defeat keeps us deep in the mid-table dog fight.

Another score draw, another late goal. Inverness and Dundee played out their third 1-1 draw of the season and that man Kane Hemmings scored a late leveller again, after Ross Draper had given Inverness an early lead. This result keeps the status quo in the table with St Johnstone managing a draw against Aberdeen and Ross County getting gubbed by bottom club Dundee United. It's all getting rather congested below the top three. David Raven missed out once more along with Andrea Mutombo who was not risked after taking a knock in training. Lewis Horner continued at right back in Raven's absence and Danny Williams was added to the squad after being unavailable last week. Jordan Roberts seemed to be the main striker with Miles Storey being used wider. Dundee as suggested in the preview would have the triple threat of Rory Loy, Greg Stewart and Kane Hemmings looking to cause all the problems with Gary Harkins dictating their play. Inverness started where they left off at Parkhead, passing the ball briskly and probing with intent. Jordan Roberts had a shot saved and Miles Storey had one blocked as we took the early initiative. From one of these accurate passes forward we took the lead in the thirteenth minute through Ross Draper. Liam Polworth threaded a brilliant through ball into the box where Ross Draper had made a perfect run to meet the ball and round keeper Scott Bain before clipping the ball neatly into the net off the base of the post. The visitors were looking assured at this point but scoring the goal appeared to make us believe we could defend that advantage for the rest of the match and all urgency drained from our legs. The only energy on display was channelled into fouling as a spate of yellow cards disrupted the flow of the game. Owain Fon Williams even managed to pick up a booking just before the break for apparently time wasting as we killed the game as a spectacle. Half Time 0-1 Paul Hartley must have spoken some harsh words at the interval and as we regressed, Dundee grew in confidence and took over control of the second half. Dundee squandered chance after chance in the second period, starting as early as the 48th minute when Greg Stewart shot wide from ten yards when he really should have hit the target. Hemmings made Fon Williams work as he shot at the target and Liam Polworth broke the one way traffic for a moment but he fired over. Fon Williams was getting plenty of work to do and he saved a header from Paul McGinn as Dundee pressed Inverness back, and he followed that by saving from Paul McGowan soon after. The shooty-in continued and Kevin Holt and Craig Wighton were next up to test the Welsh keeper. Hemmings and Stewart had near misses as we went further into our shell looking to protect what we had and Fon Williams was inspired saving from Stewart again. Iain Vigurs almost stole the game with seven minutes left, but Bain saved, and that was crucial as Dundee levelled three minutes later. Gary Harkins headed a deep corner back into the box and Hemmings reacted quickest to score his 20th goal of the season from close range to square the game. That ended the scoring and disappointingly for Inverness another late goal conceded cost us more points than we would care to remember. Full Time 1-1 There can only be one MotM in this one and that goes to Owain Fon Williams who almost did enough to give us all three points with a string of excellent saves to keep our noses in front. Alas, our defensive play eventually cracked and it was no more than Dundee deserved. It's frustrating to lose a lead once more, but this is the third 1-1 draw this season, so it's not really surprising it finished that way. Alternative Maryhill summed up the negative approach we adopted after scoring:- "It's a risky strategy given our tendency to concede late goals. It would be nice to think there was some reason for how negative we were after scoring, particularly as we did so well for almost an hour pressing forward at Celtic Park, and played some pretty good stuff throughout the game against Aberdeen. Maybe just an off day, but there's no way we'll get so lucky again if we try to do the same against Hearts or Hibs. Good day out in Dundee as always, but not between 3.30 and 4.50. Hawkeye The Gnu added:- "Just back from Dundee - that game made my eyes bleed. Disappointed not to have held on, but given the chances Dundee wasted in the second half and the eccentric performance of the referee (more on that later) I will take a point. And Renegade was in agreement:- "Attempting to pass the ball into the net wasn't our undoing. It was desire from around a half hour onwards to time waste, defend and drop deeper and deeper for the remaining hour. For the first time in my football going life, I witnessed a keeper booked for time wasting in the first half! We invited Dundee onto us and for most of the game our goal lived a charmed life. Inviting a side featuring the likes of Harkins, Stewart and Hemmings to attack us was always asking for trouble. We were punished as a result. Hearts coming up on Tuesday night before we head back to the capital for our cup game against Hibs on the Sunday. We will need to be a bit more adventurous if we want to defend our trophy. Date: 27/02/16 Venue: Dens Park, Dundee Attendance: 5048 Referee: Andrew Dallas Dundee: 1 Lineup: Bain, McGinn, Etxabeguren, O'Dea (Gadzhalov 46), Holt, Ross, McGowan, Stewart, Harkins, Loy (Wighton 63), Hemmings Subs (not used): Mitchell, Low, Rodriguez, Black, Kerr Scorers: Hemmings (86) Booked: Stewart (25), Ross (61) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, Horner, Warren, Devine, Tremarco, Draper, Tansey, Polworth (D.Williams 67), Roberts, Vigurs, Storey (Hughes 79) Subs (not used): Esson, R.Williams, Wedderburn, Brown, Maclennan Scorers: Draper (13) Booked: Tremarco (25), Vigurs (30), Devine (35), Fon Williams (42) Sent Off: none

The battle for top-six hots up Inverness are on the road again as they visit Dens Park to take on top six rivals Dundee, who are unbeaten at home in their last six games. This looks to be a tough test for Inverness with Dundee boosted by recent form, their last game at Dens Park a 5-0 thrashing of Championship side Dumbarton in the Scottish Cup. Paul Hartley has built a tidy team over the last couple of years. Gary Harkins undoubted technical ability in the creative department has seen the Dark Blues consolidate and build over the last two seasons, and in Kane Hemmings they have a striker who knows his way to the back of the net, his 15 goals so far a testament to that. Former Peterhead and Falkirk forward Rory Loy is another who will provide a threat along with the talented Greg Stewart, and both are capable providers. Dundee sit just two points above Inverness in the league, and that is enough for them to hog sixth place. They have scored 39 goals compared to Inverness' 33, but the Highlanders hold the upper hand in defence, five goals better than the Tayside club. There's not a lot between the sides, but home advantage could be the crucial factor here. Inverness gained plenty of plaudits for their tremendous approach and performance at Parkhead, but plaudits don't win matches and Celtic ran out flattering 3-0 winners. That result undid a bit of the good work completed against Aberdeen in our previous league game, but our encouraging forward play will give confidence to the side. The only thing missing against Celtic was a couple of goals our endeavour merited. The sides have yet to be split this season, two 1-1 draws so far and who would bet against another one. In August, they drew in Dundee, David Raven an unlikely scorer before a late Kane Hemmings goal levelled it and Andrea Mutombo saw red for hacking down Nick Ross (how dare you). In the return fixture in the Highlands, Raven was involved again, this time being sent off after fifty minutes and Rory Loy converting the resultant penalty. However, it was a tale of two penalties and Greg Tansey equalised from the spot. It's well documented that Danny Williams and James Vincent could be on their way to Dundee after the season closes. I doubt we would miss either player much given Vincent's injury riddled time here, although his most important contribution yet came in last seasons Scottish Cup final. Danny Williams has been a bit part player, although often effective when he has played and is a firm favourite with the fans. Dundee will be without Jake McPake who is out for the season. Daryll Meggatt is on the recovery trail and Nicky Low is back in training, but won't make this one. Inverness' season long injured crew are, well, still injured. Most recent injuries are Josh Meekings, Alex Fisher, James Vincent and David Raven who was not risked in the last couple of games. Lewis Horner deputised well in those games while most fans were somewhat wary of his inclusion, but like Tremarco on the other side, he has won over more followers with his displays. tm4tj Prediction:- With two draws already, and Dundee not the happiest of hunting grounds for us, it would be prudent to put your money on another draw here. Our play last week was worthy of a better outcome and would probably have seen off most other teams in the league, but putting the ball in the net has been a season long problem that needs addressed. Young striker Miles Storey has played well recently but the goals have dried up. He really needs a boost to his confidence right now and a goal or two would not go amiss. Kane Hemmings has 15 goals already this season and we need to keep him quiet. The midfield is where this game will be won or lost, and we are as strong as we have been all season. We could be just the team to end Dundee's good home form, but I will settle for a point. Third 1-1 draw coming up.