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tm4tj

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  1. Doumbouya is the correct answer. He starts tonight.
  2. Let's see the real Mr Vigurs After Saturday's disappointing performance, it's off to Motherwell on Wednesday night for a 19:45 kick off with both clubs vying to claim a top-six spot, one we hold on goal difference at the moment from Killie and County and one point ahead of Motherwell. Last time out we struggled to create much against a rejuvenated Kilmarnock and had to come from behind once more to snatch a late draw. Frustration was the order of the day as we were left chasing the game after Brad Mckay gave away a needless penalty with a clumsy barge on Coulibaly who scored from the spot thereafter. As we struggled to make some headway, Killie looked the likeliest to double their advantage, but as is the theme of late, we struck four minutes from the end when Lonsana Doumbouya forced home an equaliser from close range. It had been such a poor day at the office, even Ross Draper was substituted, raising eyebrows as to why the likes of Iain Vigurs had escaped the managers notice, conspicuous by his absence. He was not alone though and we really need to show a vast improvement if we want to take some points North. Motherwell faced a much sterner examination going down 2-0 at Celtic Park. With Mark McGhee setting out his stall intent on keeping Celtic out, they made life difficult for them at times but with Celtic's fire power they were always going to search for goals and so it proved with Sinclair and Dembele scoring. I doubt McGhee will be so cautious against us given our lack of creation in the final third and our midfield content to let the opposition control the pace of the game. We had four fixtures last season against the Well. Inverness won two games at Fir Park, one of these in the Cup. Motherwell won both games in the Highlands. Iain Vigurs scored a spectacular volley at Fir Park last season. Inverness had gone three goals ahead before Well staged a late recovery, but we held on to take the three points. Would be nice if he could wake from his slumber and help the team out once more. The cup game was won by another stunning goal, but Jordan Roberts is no longer on the books at the Caledonian Stadium. Ross Draper was subbed against Killie, not because of injury, but for tactical reasons. He has expressed his frustration at not being able to stay on the pitch to help the team out, but is fully committed to the overall cause. Larnell Cole was a doubt before Saturday and will still miss out with an Achilles injury. Ryan Esson is also out. Stevie Hammell is doubtful for the hosts with a hamstring injury but Carl McHugh is out. Mark McGhee is in a similar position to Richie Foran, still trying to work out his best XI with Louis Moult the most likely to score the goals, but Lionel Ainsworth appears to be out of favour so that's good news for us. tm4tj Prediction:- I'm not overly confident after our last six encounters have seen us gain one win and four draws with a solitary defeat to the Rangers. Motherwell fare slightly worse, one win, two defeats and three draws. It is however still very tight in the middle of the league and a win will catapult either side into the top-six, although we are already there (just). Well we were until Accies beat the Dons last night. Doh! I can't see where our goals are going to come from as Richie juggles his strikers around looking for the most productive solution. When Ross Draper is your top scorer, you know you have a striking problem. We will do well to get a point, but 1-1 seems to be a common score of late, and seeing as we can't keep a clean sheet either, that looks like the best bet. Richie & Josh speak to the Press ahead of tonight's game...................
  3. Just thought I'd say.................. Hamilton Accies FC ‏@acciesfc 9m9 minutes ago Attendance 2315 (913 @AberdeenFC fans) Thank you all As you can see, that's with 913 Dons fans. We had a poor crowd against Killie (2591), but they looked to have only around 80 to 100. Just shows the state of Scottish football. And they don't need fans, they have just knocked us out of the top-six for now after beating Aberdeen.
  4. Time to kick on We welcome Kilmarnock to the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium this Saturday for a 3:00pm kick off with both clubs sitting on nine points, so it's an opportunity for one of these clubs to climb into the top-six with a win as there is only one other match on Saturday, Partick at home to Ross County. The clubs had contrasting fortunes last time out. We lost our five game unbeaten run, going down 1-0 to the Rangers, courtesy of a stunning strike from Kenny Miller. Kilmarnock steadied the ship after a run of six games without a win by beating St Johnstone 1-0 in Perth, an excellent result given the mediocre results of the previous six games. They did however manage a 1-1 draw against the Rangers during that spell, but were also hammered by Celtic and Aberdeen. It's a topsy turvy league with every team capable of performing well on the day making it difficult to predict any outcome. But, It's time to kick on now, and try to create the gap that will ensure safety for another season. Our opponents made sweeping changes in the close season. Lee Clark removed eight defenders from his inherited squad in a bid to resolve his defensive frailties, and Lee McCulloch retired from playing. In came defenders Dapo Kayode (Dinamo Bucharesti), Jamie Cobain (Newcastle United), Joshua Webb (Aston Villa), Jonathan Burn (Middlesborough), Luke Hendrie (Burnley), William Boyle (Huddersfield) and Scott Boyd from our neighbours Ross County. Midfield has also been revamped with Callum McFadzean (Sheffield United), Martin Smith (Sunderland), Jordan Jones (Middlesborough), George Green (Burnley), Charlee Adams (Birmingham City). Forwards coming in are Flo Bojaj (Huddersfield), Nathan Tyson (Doncaster Rovers) and the young man who has made the biggest impact Souleymane Coulibaly, an Ivory coast u17 international. The most notable players making way for these guys are Irish international Josh Magennis (Charlton Athletic), Tope Obadeyi (Dundee United), journeyman Kallum Higginbotham, Craig Slater (Colchester United) and Mark O'Hara (Dundee). Conrad Balatoni, Lee Ashcroft, Kevin McHattie and Jamie Hamill have all dropped down to the Scottish Championship. Add to that a bit of boardroom unrest and it's an unsettling time to be a Killie fan. Michael Johnston appears to be the reason that Russel Smith has stepped down as one of the directors at Rugby Park. So, big changes at Rugby Park, but manager Lee Clark has kept a strong backbone to his squad, starting at the back with keeper Jamie MacDonald and up front he can still call on the experience of Kris Boyd. Killie were expected to be one of the sides that would have their hands full trying to avoid relegation, along with us. Those predictions looked ominous when we lost our first three games. Killie won one of their first three followed by three draws and two defeats before winning at Perth. It's early days but both clubs need to find a level of consistency to be able to climb the table. That has proved difficult with teams still finding their feet and positive results hard to come by. Richie Foran thought we played well last week and could have taken more from the game. "We just lacked that wee bit of quality in front of goal. I think it's our best performance over the last six games. I knew we'd get chances. Bringing Jake Mulraney and Aaron Doran on can turn a game for you and I thought they might have nicked us a goal". To be honest, we were second best in a first half dominated by Rangers after Lonsana Doumbouya missed a great opportunity as early as the third minute. It did however take a goal of the month strike from Kenny Miller to separate the sides as we fought back in the second period and fell just short as we failed to capitalise on the three or four half chances that came our way. We have played better, but we have also played much worse. We gave Rangers too much freedom in the first half which saw us chasing shadows. I doubt we will offer Kilmarnock the same respect and sit off them in the same manner. It could be time for the luxury that is Iain Vigurs to feel the bench as he has been posted missing for long spells during games, occasionally surfacing to show a touch of class, but just as likely to display a cynical side to his game that we can do without. Liam Polworth would benefit from this by moving more central where we get the best out of him. Jake Mulraney and Aaron Doran made their cases clear for a start as they livened the game up last week after their introduction. Billy King was rather subdued last week and maybe a rest will be good for him. He will be missing for the Hearts game next week anyway, so Foran will need to shape his side without him. We missed Josh Meekings last week due to a hamstring injury. David Raven stepped back into his right back role with Brad Mckay moving inside. It's the midfield where the problems start with Tansey supposedly pulling the strings. We do drift out of games and seldom seem to dominate the middle area which is odd considering the physical presence we have in there with Ross Draper being prominent every week. It's the use of Polly that is open to criticism and the inclusion of Vigurs that raises most eyebrows. The next quandary is who is our best striker. None are prolific and both Fisher and Doumbouya had glaring misses last week whilst Scott Boden appears to be out of favour. Lot's of choices for Richie the Rookie, rather him than me. By the way, Kevin McNaughton has had his protective boot removed and has discarded his crutches, so some positive news for Kev in his long road back to fitness. Larnell Cole is doubtful with an injury. Killie will be without Johnny Burn who has a broken nose, but Kris Boyd and Steven Smith should return to the squad. However, midfielders Greg Kiltie and Callum McFadzean are out injured. tm4tj Prediction:- Both sides looking to climb up the table and both capable of producing the goods on the day. Historically we have been getting the better of Killie in the Highlands, one defeat in fifteen, and we should be able to have a go at them easier than we did against the Rangers. Souleymane Coulibaly is an exceptional talent and he has scored some spectacular goals already since his arrival. He is definitely one to watch and we will need to keep our focus at the back if we want to keep him out. We might just sneak this one, but a draw is not beyond the bounds of possibility. I find it difficult to see anything better for Killie. Former Inverness manager and Hearts legend John Robertson, 52, has been rushed to hospital yesterday (Thursday) after falling down a flight of stairs at Tynecastle. It is understood that Robbo has been treated for broken ribs and is recovering in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. All the best for a speedy recovery Robbo.
  5. Tough game for our young squad. Accies usually excel at this level. 9' GOAL Accies 1-0 v ICT header by @lewisferguson7 after good work by Kurtaj and Breslin 38' GOAL Accies 2-0 v ICT @gramozkurtaj finishes after assistance by Breslin and Ferguson Half Time 2-0
  6. According to spfl website, we are away to Accies at the Superseal Stadium Tuesday evening with a 6:00pm kick off. Below is an image of Superseal.
  7. Who, Vigurs or Collum? I based it on the opinions on the poll and the majority voted poor. Otherwise, yes, Vigurs was f*****g awful.
  8. Referee gets the same as Vigurs - Poor.
  9. Miller Stunner Stings Caley Jags Inverness went down 0-1 by virtue of a stunning volley from Kenny Miller to end our five game unbeaten run. It was his 100th goal in the blue jesey having previously played in the green and white of Hibernian and Celtic. He won't score many better goals as he smashed a volley past Owain Fon Williams from a deep Lee Wallace cross from around 15 yards, the ball searing past the keepers outstretched hands on it's way to the back of the net. Inverness passed on glorious opportunities, at either end of the game, both headers and both well off target from great positions, but it was Rangers that held on to take all three points back down the A9. Immortal Howden Ender has this TV report for us all the way from Chorley.......... I should begin by emphasising that I was not in attendance at the TCS and this report is based on watching BT Sport in my “snug” in Chorley. It is often stated that it is a different perspective watching on the telly. I concede that but the telly throws up different angles, replays and commentator perspectives. From a BT perspective the only aspect that I feel may be agreed by all is that Chris Sutton is an absolute ****. Paul Ritchie, Craig Brewster, Marius Niculae and even Rory McAllister must be stumped to explain how our two centre forward options, Doumbouya and Fisher failed to connect and score from crosses in the 3rd and 86th minute. I would have knocked them both in maself. Doombars’ was more culpable as it was clear cut. Fishers’ needed a flick but they were both practically unmissable. We simply do NOT have a striker of Premiership class. Draper could well be the answer but what a feckin waste that would be. I still feel really disappointed that we did not pick up at least a point. Richie Foran said that it was our best performance in the last six games. I would disagree with that but it certainly was above average. We looked very threatening in the first 15 minutes. If Doombar had netted then we may have wreaked havoc. Rangers controlled the first half but did not really dominate. They are John Hughes “tippy-tappy” like and have not got that last killer touch. But lets face it Kenny Miller’s volleyed goal / winner was superb. Blame probably is shared between Raven and Polworth for not tracking back. Fon Williams kept us in it with a great stop in the 25th minute. Waghorn and company claimed that it had crossed the line but it clearly didn’t. Polworth then missed a half chance on the 27th minute when he ballooned a 25 yarder well over. Tansey then tried to showboat when a straight strike would have been better. To me the second half was even-stevens but we just about won it – in possession and chances – but not goals unfortunately. It could have been 3-3 in the end but for skied or blocked efforts. We were again lacking in width and we are simply impotent up front. Full Time 0-1 FON WILLIAMS 7/10 – No chance with the goal but look assured and kept us in it, although he did not really have that much to do. RAVEN 6/10 – Worried when I heard of his inclusion but he was more like the Raven of old. WARREN 6/10 – Worries me with his undisciplined impetuousness at times. Warriors do not put themselves at risk and do not take one for the team when there is cover. MckAY 5/10 – Lucky not to be dismissed. Went for balls that were never his. Clearly a better full back. TREMARCO 7/10 – Continues to be solid and consistent. Never given a chance of being an attacking option. POLWORTH 6/10 – I simply cannot believe that he is being played wide right. Drifted inside most of the night and was culpable at not giving Raven cover on quite a few occasions. TANSEY 5/10 – Scored him lower as he feckin annoys me. It was probably a 6 ½ out of 10 but why did he keep his best display of the season to the Showroom game. VIGURS 4/10 – Almost the same comment as Tansey. Appeared to make more effort tonight than he has done for weeks. KING 5/10 – Followed up from a disappointing game at Hamilton to another. Clearly right footed and not looking comfortable wide left. DRAPER 8/10 – My MOM for again filling in so many positions in one night – even taking over the main striker role in the second half. He showed his frustration by dropping too deep at times. DOUMBOUYA 3/10 – Thought that he was shocking even giving him a let off for the glaring 3rd minute miss. Simply does not appear to be Premiership quality. No real pace, won little in the air and allowed himself to be bullied. MULRANEY / DORAN 6/10 each – Have clearly staked the claims to start next game. FISHER 4/10 – Missed another chance at glory. My preference to start as he is more mobile, pacier and better in the air – What the feck more does he need !! Footage from SPFL website INVERNESS CT 0 Fon Williams; Raven, Tremarco, Warren, Mckay, Polworth, Draper, Vigurs (Doran 67), Tansey, King (Mulraney 67), Doumbouya (Fisher 80). Subs unused: Mackay, Horner, Boden, Cole. Booked: Mckay, Warren. RANGERS 1 Fotheringham, Tavernier, Hill, Kiernan, Wallace, Miller, McKay (Garner 70), Halliday, Kranjcar (Windass 75), Holt, Waghorn (Dodoo 70). Subs unused: Gilks, Forrester, Hodson, Senderos. Booked: Waghorn. Scorer: Kenny Miller (22) Referee: W Collum Attendance: 7012
  10. Terrible first half from the moment Doumbouya missed that header. I did not realise Vigurs was playing until about half an hour when he fouled someone. We afforded them the freedom of the park in the first 45. Tansey sprayed passes all over the place, unfortunately most found Rangers players. Second half we pressed higher and made a fist of it, but never looked like scoring. Should have done better with two or three opportunities but we passed them up. Tremendous goal to win it, nothing we can do about that. Pretty disappointing performance overall. Once again, too much respect given. So much for having a go at them from the start. Fortress Longman. More like a sand castle with the school bully kicking it to pieces.
  11. Meekings out with hamstring injury. David Raven in at RB, probably Brad Mckay at centre back.
  12. Here's a wee history lesson within the Preview written by Immortal Howden Ender. Who said nostalgia ain't what it used to be?
  13. If you know your History Friday night Footie returns to the Highlands with a bang as new club The Rangers visit the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium for the first time in their short history, the game kicking off at 19:45. They have made a meteoric rise to fame since their inception, climbing through the leagues in four years and getting to the final of the Scottish Cup. It's a touch of Gretna revisited. Unfortunately for them, like Gretna they also failed to win the cup at the hands of an Edinburgh club. They do look pretty slick though, having tailored their needs for each division as they made their way into the Premiership and they now have a squad capable of challenging most with Mark Warburton leading the way. Richie Foran has been named Manager of the Month for September after turning the fortunes of his slow starters around. However, we all know the repercussions of the curse of the Manager of the Month. Sounds like an adventure from Scooby Doo. Yikes! Come to think of it, have you ever seen Richie Foran and Shaggy in the same room? Me neither. Immortal Howden Ender has given us this fabulous whirlwind history lesson to rival Charlie Bannerman's Against All Odds This could be entitled the Inaugural meeting of the “Young Firm” of Scottish football. Both teams having painful and traumatic experiences in the not too distant past. Both teams are lamenting and many still grieving for the teams that they did support, whose existence was sadly terminated. Caley were even called “The Rangers of the North”. Caledonian Thistle F.C. was formed in August 1994 by the merger of Caledonian and Inverness Thistle who had been members of the Highland Football League since 1885.The league restructured in 1994 to four divisions of ten teams each. The merged clubs were elected in to the Scottish Third Division. The club's name was amended to Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. in 1996 at the request of Inverness District Council. Many still refer to the team as Caley or Thistle. They rose through the divisions at some speed, given their finances and many teams trying to halt their rise, especially when initially promoted to the SPL. The original Rangers came into existence in 1872, 13 years before the Inverness giants. The Rangers Football Club PLC entered liquidation on 31 October 2012. Sevco Scotland Ltd later changed its name to The Rangers Football Club Ltd. The new team, The Rangers FC started off life, akin to ICT, in the Scottish Third Division in the 2012-2013 season, a mere 18 years after Inverness. Due to their superior finances they climbed the leagues far quicker than ICT and made it this season. So Inverness Caledonian Thistle and The Rangers FC take to the park to on Friday 14th October 2016 in the first ever league meeting between the two clubs. Sadly I suspect that there may be as many old Caley and Thistle diehards (and their families) in the Rangers End as there are in the Main Stand and The North Stand. The two previous outcomes of meetings between the new clubs have been Scottish League Cup affairs. Inverness hammering Rangers 3-0 at Ibrox in October 2012 and Rangers scraping a fortunate 1-0 win in September 2014. In their history Inverness have only met the old Rangers team in League encounters and, at home, it does not make good reading with Rangers winning 8 and Inverness 1 and two drawn. The only ICT win was in December 2006 (Live on Setanta Sports !!) and the match was an all ticket SELL OUT. Nacho Novo scored for Rangers from the penalty spot (Craig Thompson was at it even then) before Darren Dods equalised. And many will recall the winner screamed in by John Rankin in the last minute. And we all had a fleeting look at the wondrous SEBO. We have a better record at Ibrox, winning three and drawing four of the thirteen encounters. My own personal lasting memory has to be the injury time penalty winner by Iain Black in March 2009. And Zjebi-Zadi was MotM and David Proctor won the penalty, drawing a foul from Davie Weir who was sent off. And Rangers were frightened by the pace of Dougie Imrie and Eric Odhiambo. It was fair rocking in “Brechins” that night. Going back to the Howden End days memories fade back to 18 February 1984 when the mighty old club known as Rangers visited Telford Street Park on Scottish Cup duty. A crowd of 5,500 packed in to watch Rangers win 6-0. Somebody called McCoist scored a brace that day and somebody called Billy Urquhart played against his old team. He should have stayed in Wigan !! I fail to recall any great Inverness Thistle v Rangers encounters although that was probably reserved for Brora Rangers. And finally on the trip down memory lane – we simply can’t leave out the initial Scottish Cup meeting with the old Rangers. A quarter final moved to the “neutral” ground of Tannadice Park in Dundee, on the 9th of March 1996. A crowd of 11,296 was in attendance (an estimated 5,000 from Sneck) when Rangers were the “visitors”. Rangers won 3-0, with Brian Thomson scoring an own goal and a certain Paul Gascoigne hitting a double. I can only suggest that you read the account made by Pele Paterson in his book “Confessions of a Highland Hero” - “We were Third Division and they were Champions”. That was one feckin hoore of a weekend. Hopefully the thought of the forthcoming Betfred Cup tie with Celtic will be a distraction and the Joey Barton debacle lingers on and on. Rumours are rife that Joey has put a pony on Inverness winning 2-1. That is certainly worth a wee gamble although it is unclear whether he is purely doing this out of churlish malice. Rangers have had what only can be described as an inconsistent start to the season and are clearly struggling to identify a starting eleven. The Central Belt Bluenoses however appear confident that Rangers have a clearer starting XI and expect to line up in a 4-3-3 formation. Wes Foderingham should keep his place in goals ahead of veteran Matt Gilks. James Tavernier and Lee Wallace will start in the two full-back positions. Rob Kiernan missed the last few games with an injury but looks likely to start. Kiernan and Wilson appear to have claimed the first-choice centre-back pairing (unfortunately) despite the arrival of experienced but aging duo of Clint Hill and Philippe Senderos. Andy Halliday should start in defensive midfield with Joey Barton missing (or running scared of Ross Draper). Jason Holt provides a lot of energy in the middle of the park and should keep his place whilst Niko Kranjcar impressed against the Plastic Whistle. Kenny Miller is likely to start up front as the target man with Martyn Waghorn operating as the wide forward from the right. Barrie McKay, to me the big danger, will keep his place on the left. If that is the Rangers line up then we need to go wide and offensive. Both Wallace and Tavernier are prone to leave their defensive duties and will leave space up front. Personally I would go with Fisher up front, if he has shaken off his knock, rather than Doumbuoya. Keep Draper “in the hole” behind him Tansey and Polworth to hold central midfield. I have not been impressed by Tansey this season but this is a “shop window” and I expect him to put in a MotM performance. Two wide players are a must and it looks like it will be Mulraney and King to start with. The back five pick themselves. McKay and Tremarco will be tested by McKay (need to check with CaleyD about the spelling). We certainly went backwards at Hamilton but escaped with a point, leaving us on a 5 game unbeaten run. That has led to Richie Foran being awarded the coveted Manager of the Month Award. Let’s hope that his lucky shamrock can ward off the curse that the award has placed on previous ICT Managers. And a 2-0 win would take us into the Top Six and ahead of Rangers on goal difference. But three points and a scabby one goal win will suffice. Shaggy Richie looks ahead to the game........
  14. Aye, well, Foran has been cursed, so I doubt this will be as simple a game as some might suggest. Hopefully it's with tongue firmly in cheek.
  15. Phileephilop ‏@phileephilop 33m33 minutes ago Corner in headed down and side footed beyond the keeper. @ICTFC go one ahead (I think). Above image belongs to Phileephilop
  16. ICTFC Development Squad play Dundee Utd at Grant Street Park tomorrow (Monday) evening 6pm Kick Off FREE entry.
  17. Today at 13:00, Development League Football Hibernian v Inverness CT Oriam Performance Centre Oriam From Hibs official site The Hibernian Development Squad are back in action on Tuesday 4 October at 1pm at Oriam, as they take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the SPFL Development League. Hibernian remain unbeaten in the Development League so far this season, registering two wins and three draws from their opening five matches, with last week’s match against Rangers unfortunately postponed at half-time due to one of the match officials taking ill. The match is scheduled to be played outdoors at Oriam and entry to the game is via donation. Oli Shaw will not be in the squad for the game, due to the forward being called up for international duty with Scotland under-19s for their fixture against Sweden, with the game also scheduled to be played at Oriam on Tuesday. Shaw, 18, is currently on a development loan to Ladbrokes League One side Stenhousemuir and was included in the Scotland under-19 squad for last month’s trip to Greece for two international challenge matches. From Inverness Official site Erm, erm, Nothing? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hibs: Laidlaw; Eardley, Porteous, Waugh, Crane; Watson, Donaldson, S.Martin, F.Murray; I.Murray, J.Gullan. SUBS: P.Martin, Smith, O'Connor and Galantis Inverness CT: ?, ?, Gilchrist, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ? Updates from @HibsOfficial It's been a very strong start from Hibs, with Ryan Porteous and Jamie Gullan forcing saves. But the score remains 0-0 after 16 minutes. Hibs take the lead shortly before the half-hour mark, when a cross from Adam Watson, is met by Cameron Gilchrist, who finds his own net. 1-0 Hibs are down to 10 men for the rest of the game, after Scott Martin is sent off for a second bookable offence just before half time. Half-time here at Oriam in the SPFL Development League, where Hibernian lead Inverness by 1-0, but down to 10 men. Less than ten minutes remaining here at Oriam and the scores remains 1-0 to the hosts, despite Inverness' numerical advantage. Full Time 1-0, Hibs played whole second half with 10 men.
  18. tm4tj posted a topic in Caley Thistle
    I make no apologies for this report. It's a football forum, deal with it. Cheers Johndo.
  19. Liam's late show again Liam Polworth extended Caley Thistle's unbeaten run to five games with a superb injury time leveler against Hamilton Accies. The home side had taken the lead in the eighteenth minute after Alexandre D'Acol scored from a rebound. Hamilton enjoyed the lions share of possession, but Inverness were able to fashion an equal share of the chances, however a point looked unlikely until Poly pounced in the 93rd minute. Foran benched Jake Mulraney, handing luxury man Iain Vigurs a start with Lonsana Doumbouya given the striker role. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Immortal Howden Ender has this report for us. For the benefit of those with a humour bypass, some of this may be tongue in cheek. Junior Strictly Come Dancing or Green Street? Are they simply getting nervous at the thought of IHE watching from the stands? It certainly was nowhere near as bad as Tynecastle, although Hearts may well have hit five against us and we were fortunate that their last touch was very poor and their shooting was rushed and mainly way off target. The statistics will suggest that this was a close affair but I feel that we did NOT deserve to take anything from this and that was a real “smash and grab” in injury time. But playing poor away from home, coming away with a point and stretching the unbeaten run to five games. Well you shouldn’t complain but I have enjoyed better games down the park on a Sunday morning. I wonder if other away teams lament the Hamilton experience. Due to the unfriendliness of local hostelries we enjoyed our pre-match bevvy in the Auctioneers in down down Glesga prior to catching the 14.20 train from Central Station. Then a wee trudge through a shittty alleyway and in to a practically empty stadium. Attendance was given at 1611 but it did not even look like that. Only two stands in use. The Main Stand had three sections full and the rest sparsely populated. We must have had 200-300 but we were spread out all over the place and there was little atmosphere to enthuse about. The only craic was the exchanges between our Young Team and their Hamilton counterparts. I don’t think that I will have to use much space to report on the actual game. We looked the part for the first ten minutes but it was tippy-tappy stuff. Then we faded and let Hamilton take control. It looked like a Warren error that allowed D’Acol to put the Accies ahead in the 18th minute. Their young kids basically looked like they had more energy and commitment until we went for broke in the last ten minutes when Accies also looked as if they had run out of steam and settled for a 1-0 win. It sounds as if that is the story of their season. Not sure why Foran decided to start Vigurs instead of Mulraney. He then took Mulraney on to play wide left whilst Hamilton's right flank looked as unsteady as one of the nearby slum tenements. Draper appeared to be in more of a centre forward role and it appeared that a lot of balls were being launched at him instead of Doumbouya. Again the match stats state that we had 7 attempts on target. Well we were looking dangerous only from dead ball situations. Mckay and Warren (twice) had half efforts in the first half. Draper had a great header saved by the substitute keeper, Scott Harrison late on, and then of course Polworth's drive deep into injury time. I suppose that people will say that Foran got the substitutes right but I don’t. Our main saviour was the amount of injury time which resulted from two stoppages for the keeper, time wasting by the Hamilton substitutions and Hamilton sitting back and us going for broke. We could even have snatched three points if Doumbouya had put the last minute header on target. It was nice to see Dougie Imrie prostrate and distraught at the end. I have to add that Hamilton’s youth Academy appears to continue to bring up talented youngsters. I would love to know their recipe for success. Docherty looks a winner and he and Crawford bossed the midfield which turned the whole game in their favour. Imrie to be fair did look illustrious and effective. But I feel that we missed a trick by not targeting the young lad, at left back, making his first appearance. I also thought that Sarris dominated and bullied Doumbouya. I can’t even be bothered doing a Smileymometer as I think that I have summed up the performance previously. Fon Williams did nothing wrong. McKay looked less reassured. Warren and Meekings looked shaky at times but probably not helped by Hamilton totally bossing the midfield. Tremarco continues to be consistent and gets my MotM. Cant believe that we continue to play Polworth wide right and he proved that by coming through the middle for the late goal. I only noticed Tansey for the first time when he went off injured. Same could be said of Vigurs!! King had an off day. Draper had to slot in to three different roles but he looks wholly suited to the front hole role. The surface did not appear to bother him and he looked like our real driving influence. Sorry but I am still not enthralled by Doumbouya. I felt that he let Sarris bully him. Get him down the Gym and on the weights and a wee bit of sprint training as well. But again what service and support did he get. I have already decried taking Mulraney on to the left and when we switched we began to look dangerous. Boden simply looked disinterested and added nothing. Cole is clearly “green” but got involved, appears to have a good touch and pace. Then I bet Doran is one cheesed off punter forced to watch that for 97 minutes. So in essence the first 93 minutes were shocking but the last 4 were promising. As fer Mr Cook – well we would have been better with Mary feckin Berry in the centre. He upheld the current reputation of Scottish officialdom. Talking about bullying earlier on, a wee mention for the so called Hamilton Youth Team. What a feckin firm. They joined us at the trudge back down the alleyway to the Station. They spouted filth at families and disabled supporters. They passed by us and ignored our shouts of abuse encouragement. Some of them were 11 or 12 years old. They did not retaliate. They then grouped at the end of the alley in clear sight of the Polis and entered in to the dancing and come on gesturing. It looked more like Junior Strictly Come Dancing than Green Street. However, please don't try this at home children. Match footage from SPFL Website Post match Richie added – “I thought we had the better chances, their keeper pulled off one or two decent saves, we had one cleared off the line so on chances alone I think we deserved a point. On overall play, I thought they were the better team.” Not sure if he was at the same game. Video from Caley Jags TV Hamilton:- 1 (D'Acol 18) Matthews (Thomson 81), Seabourne, Gillespie, Imrie, Docherty, D'Acol (Bingham 65), Crawford, Longridge (Want 85), Mackinnon, McMann, Sarris. Subs not used: Redmond, Roy, Tierney, Hughes. Inverness CT:- 1 (Polworth 90+3) Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings, Polworth, Draper, Vigurs (Cole 75), Tansey (Boden 50), King (Mulraney 59), Mckay, Doumbouya. Subs not used: Mackay (GK), Doran, Horner, Fisher. Referee: Barry Cook. Attendance: 1611.
  20. Here's one of the original voyages Author:IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER Date: 03-06-04 19:54 As the days went by the proud little HMS Sneck floated defiantly as the waves grew bigger and bigger. The storm clouds were gathering but the gallant crew battoned the hatches and vowed to fight to their dying breaths. And then suddenly in the early evening of Thursday June 3rd 2004 a flotilla of friendly vessels came to view on the horizon. HMS Jam Tart and HMS Hibee sailed to either side of HMS Sneck and promised to help flotate the crippled vessel and allow its crew time to rethink and regroup. And on the distant horizon the two biggest nuclear submarines HMS Billyboy and HMS Tim Molloy watched on in apparent admiration. The pirate subs were noted to have submerged and their gloating crew, especially on the stricken HMS Plastic Whistle, were gloating no longer and the prospect of walking the SPL plank became a distinct possibility once again. The sharks of the Scottish media hovered around the mutinous, greedy five submarines whilst a school of 10000 loyal dolphins cried in delight and soared into the sky on an evening when the sunshine finally broke through again. The proud little HMS Sneck remains disabled but has the momentum and the energy to soldier on and looks to the starboard and to the port and delights in the glorious green,white and maroon supporting fleet. FECK THE SPL .... LONG LIVE ICT. Lets bury the Liviscum and hit the Top Six

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