tm4tj

Groundhog Day Yes folks, it's our annual League Cup semi-final pilgrimage against Hearts at Easter Road coming up this weekend at erm, well, Easter Road. The prize for the victors is a final appearance against Aberdeen who thumped St Johnstone 4-0, with Jonny Hayes and Adam Rooney prominent and amongst the goals. Similarities to last season are scary. Inverness riding high inside the top six, Hearts struggling at the wrong end of the table, trying to cook the books to enable new recruits to be conjured up out of thin air, Mr Ngoo springs to mind, and the possibilities of us falling out of both cups within a week. Hearts are once more massaging the SFA in their attempts to bend the rules in their favour, conveniently getting Ryan Stevenson's suspension out of the way prior to the semi-final and looking to bring in fresh faces, despite a signing embargo imposed upon them because of their administration woes. They are of course in a positive mode, well their points tally is anyway having trounced our near neighbours in last weeks SPFL fixture at Dinwgall and coming from a goal down inside a minute to beat St Mirren in that re-arranged midweek fixture to leave them with a total of +5 points, We have beaten the Jambos twice already this season, both wins were comfortable and both by two goals to nil, home and away, where we could and should have won by even greater margins. However, the gloss seems to have disappeared from our game. Our blistering start to the season has been eroded away and we seem to have been swallowed up by the pack. Our goals for has dried up, only three goals in our last six games. Billy McKay was prolific at the start of the season and even he has endured lean times recently. Mind you, were it not for Billy's eye for goal, we would be lingering in the also rans stables and surely it's time for Inverness to get some help for the wee man who has been ploughing a lone furrow recently. Much has been said about Hearts having a youthful side. That itself is true, but what they lack in experience, they more than make up for with a total lack of fear and plenty of tenacity. They have taken a couple of batterings this season and that was to be expected as they were badly exposed against Celtic. However, put them into a battle with arch rivals Hibernian in a fierce Edinburgh derby and they fought to the bitter end and in fact ended Hibs run in the last round of the League Cup, although they just lost out in the league game a couple of weeks ago, but not for the want of trying. Inverness have not been firing on all cylinders since well before Xmas, and the departure of Terry Butcher has not helped. John Hughes has a thankless task trying to maintain Butcher's excellent start to the campaign, and it will be impossible to better it, given that we reached the heady heights of second in the League giving some of our supporters the notion that we were going to challenge Celtic for top spot...........steady on chaps and chapesses. The confidence of the fans looks as though it has matched the teams belief at the moment and even the most ardent of loyal supporters are, to put it mildly, shiting themselves over the thought of facing a resurgent Hearts in front of yet another hostile crowd in Edinburgh, and rightly so. We struggled to get out of second gear at Kilmarnock while Hearts were ripping into County at the weekend. Last year we were maybe over confident and paid the price as Hearts rolled up their young sleeves and got stuck in. This time I see no difference to that format and we need to match Hearts exuberance or the outcome may well be similar. It took extra-time and penalties to separate the sides last year although Billy McKay should have scored the winner but he inexplicably forgot he was a predatory striker for a couple of seconds and missed a glorious chance to strike in extra-time. The rest is history and the Phillip Roberts penalty miss is the one lasting memory of that fateful day that lingers longest. That and the miserable treatment we received in Paul Kane's pub pre-match where nobody ordered pies for the ravenous Inverness support, despite the thousands of pounds being emptied into the tills at the Four in Hand. Rank rotten treatment from the former Hibee and one to avoid this time methinks, although the promise of grub is once more on the table. Inverness skipper Richie Foran is playing it close to his chest about his chances of playing on the Sabbath. He is well under way with his training and he could be influential, even from the bench. Yogi has a full squad otherwise and team selection is vital for this game with Draper, Tansey and Vincent all vying for a start in midfield, an area where this tie may well be won or lost. Hearts have brought in this seasons Mr Ngoo with a replica loan signing in the shape of big Paul McCallum from West Ham. Ryan Stevenson's ban was completed in that midweek win over the Buddies and he will be an important player for Hearts who have lost Adam King to Swansea and have Jason Holt and Jamie Walker out injured. tm4tj Prediction:- Well, we have beaten Hearts twice already this season but this is a different kettle of fish. The Jambos are on a high after consecutive wins have put them into positive points. But it's not only their points tally that is positive, they have been playing with real desire of late and with little else to play for this season, then all their eggs will be in the same basket and they will be fully committed to this one. They won on penalties last year and it might take extra time to settle this one, but Inverness have the quality to win this outright provided the attitude and application matches that of the capital side. I'll settle for a 1-0 win for Inverness to make their first major final. These guys can be heroes, just for one day............................

Pre Cup-Semi Wobbles Kilmarnock deservedly defeated a lethargic Inverness who played with one eye on next weeks league cup semi-final. That's not to say we never created anything, Billy McKay squandered a hat-trick of chances himself, but proven striker Kris Boyd showed no mercy lashing home a second half goal to ensure the points stayed at Rugby Park. Lee Ashcroft glanced home a header in the first quarter to set Killie on their way as they ease themselves out of the play off position and Inverness stutter along in the top six for now. Killie hit the woodwork twice and Brill made a couple of excellent stops but they did enough overall to make Russell Latapy's dugout debut one to forget, and this performance leaves the management duo plenty to ponder ahead of next weeks league cup semi-final against Hearts, who notched an impressive away win at Dingwall. Let's hope there's not a touch of Deja Vu about this as we tumbled out of both cups last season and lost our way in the league momentarily, all within a week, and at exactly the same time of the season. From Scotsman This was arguably Killies best display of the season. While they were less impressive in the second half than they had been in the first, goals by Lee Ashcroft and Kris Boyd gave them a deserved victory that lifts them to eighth in the Premiership. Boyd’s 13th of the season comes amid speculation that Blackpool, now managed on a caretaker basis by Barry Ferguson, are keen to sign him. “We cannot afford to lose somebody like Boydie,” said Allan Johnston, the Kilmarnock manager. “It’s as simple as that. He is too big a player for us.” Kilmarnock, in fact, were on the front foot from the moment Muirhead’s early shot, which took the slightest of deflections, forced Dean Brill to save with a low dive. No sooner had that danger been averted than Boyd was exchanging passes with Rory McKenzie and thumping a left-foot effort straight at the goalkeeper. The breakthrough arrived after only 16 minutes, courtesy of a devilish free kick. Sammy Clingan’s inswinger from the left, expertly slid behind the visitors’ back four, enabled Ashcroft to steal in and direct a glancing header into the far corner of the net. With a little luck, Kilmarnock might have added to their lead before the interval. Boyd blazed high and wide after another clever one-two with McKenzie. Then, when Clingan’s free kick from deep was headed back across goal, Muirhead sliced a left-foot volley against the post. Inverness were making little headway, save for the odd long-range effort and a foray into the box by Liam Polworth. After he had beaten two men and flicked his cross along the edge of the six-yard area, Billy McKay couldn’t get enough on the header, which drifted wide. In the early part of the second half, Inverness were stronger in possession and quicker with their passing, although it was a defensive mix-up that almost gave them an equaliser. When a pair of Kilmarnock defenders contrived to let McKay loose on a bouncing ball, the Inverness striker found himself with only Craig Samson to beat, but he tried to chip it in with the outside of his boot, but the goalkeeper reached high enough to block. It proved to be a crucial miss. Just when Kilmarnock needed an old hand to steady them, Boyd obliged with a goal that allowed them to breathe easy. When Muirhead stroked the ball into his path, the striker executed a crisp finish from 16 yards. As the game stretched, Boyd might have grabbed another. This time it was McKenzie who set him up, but the striker’s left foot proved to be less effective than his right. From the same position he had scored, he fluffed it wide. As Inverness grew desperate, a shot by Graeme Shinnie dropped onto the roof of the net, and McKay’s close-range effort was cleared off the line, but in the end, they left Ayrshire with no less than they deserved. Date: 25.01.2014 Venue: Rugby Park, Kilmarnock Attendance: 3035 Referee: Willie Collum Kilmarnock: 2 Lineup: Samson, Irvine, Pascali, Ashcroft, Tesselaar, Clingan, Slater, Kiltie, Muirhead, McKenzie, Boyd. Subs (not used): Reguero, Maksimenko, Nicholson, Johnston, Gros, Clohessy, Gardyne Scorers: Ashcroft (16), Boyd (74) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Brill, Raven (Draper 77), Meekings (Devine 68), Warren, Tremarco, Shinnie, Doran, Polworth, Williams, Ross (Watkins 69), McKay Subs (not used): Esson, Tansey, Vincent, Christie Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none