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Paisley man to play at Olympics This game needs little introduction from me. The season is all but over, SPL status retained, and virtually nothing but pride and contracts to play for. We play our last away game of the season in Paisley, home of the Rossco haters and Scotlands representative at the Olympics, Paolo Nutini. Correct, we are playing St Mirren at New Love Street as they try to become the best of the rest and we struggle to keep above Hibs. It has been a troubled season for Inverness with old players leaving, new players arriving, injuries, suspensions and poor performances all making it one of our worst seasons in the SPL. I think I can speak for everyone on CTO when I say that we will be glad to see the back of this season. A clean slate next season, with Highland derbies to look forward to once again will add a bit of spice to get your teeth into. There will however be some putting plenty of effort in this weekend. The Highland March will begin after full time at Paisley and the marchers will be off for a 160 mile stroll back to Inverness; nutters if you ask me. Capital Caley will tell us more about it in his preview, as he will be walking from end to end; as I said, nutters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Clapping pills - check Every river I try to cross, every hill I try to climb, every road I try to find, all the rest of the march, I’ll know we’re SPL. The point against the Pars, no matter how bad the game was will make the Highland March even more enjoyable! Safety has been reached and we hope that it is onwards and upwards for Caley Thistle from here. The Highland March returns to Paisley for its tenth year. This year, the HM troops will be walking 160 miles from Paisley to Sneck for the final game of the season against Hibernian. Well done to everyone that’s taken part in this event over the years. It is truly a pleasure to be involved in such an event. Thanks in advance has to be given to St Mirren as well who have again shown that clubs can help support ‘opposition’ fans and ‘opposition’ events as well. With the season effectively over there may be a very low turnout on Saturday. Quite a few Caley Thistle fans (and regular posters on CTO) will be taking a break from the football on Saturday to watch the rugby 7’s tournament. I must say, I don’t blame them but Caley Thistle seem to play at their best when the pressure is off. Even Pie and Bovrils infamous Captain Sensible hasn’t had anything to say about the game or Ross Tokely yet. Caley Thistle travel to Paisley on Saturday for what most supporters would describe as a meaningless game. However with the goal now to hang on to 10th place and a final day showdown with Hibs, the 3 points are vital. The higher up the league a team can finish, the more prize money they receive from the SPL. With Hibs one game away from a European space and the likely financial rewards of reaching the Scottish Cup Final, Pat Fenlon will be financially boosted for their relegation battle next season. With many Caley Thistle players out of contract at the end of the season, they should be playing at the top of their game. However, pardon the cliché but the poor performances as we edge closer to the summer are the story of the season. Lets look at the positives though. This summer will see the management team preparing for another season in the SPL. We have the Highland Derby to look forward to. We do have quality in our team, despite the dreadful season. Some players will go but some players will stay. Hopefully Terry Butcher can keep the top players and add to the squad in the summer with equally top players. Another positive to take into consideration right now is with Hibs winning on Wednesday night, it’s likely we won’t need to go to Dumbfarmlife for at least another season! Even better, it’s only around 2 and a half months until the annual Caley thistle pre-season tour. Bristol Rovers and Aldershot away again please! Yes, I have got my summer holiday hat on again! With Ross Tokely out of contract at the end of the season, there’s a chance that this may be his last game against St Mirren. Although I hope he stays for one more season. I’m sure the Buddies fans will do their usual to try and put him off if he starts. So lets give all the encouragement we can to Rossco and the rest of the team. After all, it’s the last CaleyAway of the season! Our previous trips to Paisley have been overall very successful. Last season, we defeated St Mirren 2-1 and drew 3-3 in an entertaining end of season game. In December we beat the Buddies 2-1, moving off the bottom of the table. Andrew Shinnie had put the Caley Jags ahead on the 11th minute before Steven Thompson headed in an equaliser with the last touch of the first half. Jonny Hayes grabbed the winner with a spectacular goal from the edge of the box. It was an important turning point in the season. It took Caley thistle off the bottom of the table and also saw the introduction of Billy McKay to the starting XI. McKay has impressed in his performances and has shown the commitment level that is required when wearing a Caley Thistle shirt. There’s even more good news from the Caley Thistle camp. With Aaron Doran and Andrew Shinnie back in the team and impressing in their come back performances, they can show us (hopefully) what to expect. They are the future of the team and it is now their time to step up. If they are starting on Saturday, they will have to be at the top of their game. St Mirren are on course for their highest ever SPL finish. They are now just one point behind 7th placed Kilmarnock after beating them 2-0 on Wednesday night. With the Saints having dangerous forwards such as Nigel Hasselbaink and Steven Thomson, they are a much improved side from last season. CapitalCaleys prediction:– Most seasons, Caley Thistle seem to perform well post split. However, defeat to Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and the midweek 0-0 draw at home to Dunfermline continued our recent poor run of form. But maybe Caley Thistles post split success in previous years has something to do with the pressure being off. I would prefer the great performances to occur when we really need them. It makes the match day experience more exciting! But even though we are mathematically safe now, there’s no reason why the team can’t carry on their excellent Paisley form. So c’mon! Those playing for contracts, show us what your worth! Those leaving the club in the summer, give us one more great CaleyAway day for the season! St Mirren 1-3 ICT Latest Team News Inverness will have Jonny Hayes back after his one game ban. Chris Hogg is still out, but Andrew Shinnie made a welcome return against the Pars and showed no ill effects, and Aaron Doran is gaining match fitness after a couple of starts. No other injury problems known at time of press. St Mirren defender David Barron has a knee injury and will sit this one out. Marc McAusland is back after suspension and will be included in the squad. Could be a farewell day for Shuggie Murray, and he may get a chance to say bye bye to the Buddies fans.

Safety First Oh well, that's relegation out of the equation after a no scoring draw saw Inverness retain SPL status for next season. Dunfermline still look favourites for the drop although they could still pip Hibernian should results swing their way, but it does look like a long shot for them. A minutes silence was impeccably observed before the match started to pay respect for Inverness fan John McDonald who passed away in the stand at Kilmarnock last Saturday. Without Jonny Hayes, Inverness relied on Aaron Doran for the spark to ignite their fire, but it was a difficult task with Dunfermline defending in depth and neither side able to fashion many clear scoring opportunities. Esson retained the No 1 jersey ahead of Jonny Tuffey and Roman Golobart was on the bench, with Steve Williams partnering Ross Tokely in central defence. Nick Ross made a rare start but Welsh international Owain Tudur-Jones was rested with Andy Shinnie, Gregory Tade and Shane Sutherland named as substitutes. The Pars looked to former Hearts man Andy Kirk to get them out of the mire with the experienced Martin Hardie on the bench, full-backs Austin McCann and Jordan McMillan returning to the starting line up. The dangerous David Graham was providing the width in the Pars late throw of the dice to stave off relegation, and hopes were raised after their thumping 3-0 nwin over the Dons at the weekend. A bright evening was the setting for this 19:45 kick off and hands were raised to the eyes in the main stand as the game kicked off with the sun shining directly into the away support as it dropped slowly behind the Black Isle. A perfect evening for football, with a delicate breeze cooling the late spring air, pity only 3036 bothered to turn up for what was an important game for both clubs and referee O'Reilly started the proceedings with a sharp puff into his whistle as the noisy 300 or so Dunfermline fans took on the reserved Highland crowd. So, the scene is set and ajsict92 will take up the story.......... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Safety achieved…but not without minds being frazzled Well safety has now been achieved with 2 games to spare but it wasn’t by digging out a hard fought win and it wasn’t by tearing apart the opposition with the new style of football we were promised. It was achieved by dragging out arguably the most mind numbing and tedious 0-0 draw I have ever witnessed during my young life as an ICT follower. ICT went into this game with arguably the strongest squad they’ve had available but it was minus the suspended Jonny Hayes and long term injury victim Chris Hogg, but otherwise Terry Butcher had plenty options at his disposal including Aaron Doran and Andrew Shinnie, both of whom have missed large chunks of the season through injury but have been dreadfully missed through out the campaign. The match itself was put aside for a moment before kick off in order for everyone to observe a minutes silence in the memory of John McDonald who passed away suddenly at our away match against Kilmarnock on Saturday. The game began slowly. Both sides seemed to be rather cagey with the importance of the game. ICT seemed to be showing a bit more quality though, Aaron Doran in particularly looking very lively and it was he who had the first real chance of the game. He weaved his way around a couple of defenders before unleashing a low drive which he dragged across goal and wide. Inverness continued to threaten and from a Doran corner the ball bounced around very close to Chris Smith's box with Williams and Foran attempting to connect with it but it was eventually cleared. Billy McKay was next to come close as he picked up the ball and made a run across the box before squeezing off a deflected shot that was easily gathered by Smith. News was beginning to filter through that Hibs were leading Aberdeen which had a direct influence on Dunfermline’s position come full time. Kyle Hutton had the Pars main chance when he let fly from the edge of the box but his effort was straight at Esson. Dunfermline were beginning to threaten though with a dangerous run from McMillan thwarted by Gillet who made a wonderful slide tackle to prevent any danger. The first half was beginning to drag on with both sides beginning to grind out the remainder of it, the last chance of note being a long range effort from Aaron Doran which flew harmlessly wide. The half time whistle sounded and with Hibs already 2-0 up at Pittodrie it wasn’t looking good for Dunfermline. Half time – ICT 0-0 Dunfermline Without question it was ICT who started the 2nd half the brighter, there seemed to be more of an edge to the play and an increase in the tempo. However a real thorn in our young side this season has been the lack of quality in the finishing department and that old bugbear reared its ugly head as yet again in a short space of time ICT spurned multiple opportunities to take the lead. The first culprit was Graeme Shinnie who cracked a tame effort straight at Smith but he then managed to miss the pick of the bunch. Greg Tansey played a delightful switching ball across the park for Billy McKay who held it up long enough for Shinnie to get into position, on his stronger left foot you would have hoped he’d score and for a moment I think everyone in the ground thought he had but he somehow managed to curl his shot wide of Smith’s far post. He managed to miss an even better chance after being put through by Foran but fortunately for him an Offside flag spared his blushes. Dunfermline were beginning to put pressure on us as the introduction of Martin Hardie to the game added a new dimension to Dunfermline’s play. They won a free kick at the edge area which was well floated in by Cardle, who was a nuisance throughout the game and Alex Keddie connected well with it but his header was inches over the crossbar, skimming the roof of the net. Butcher responded to this by making a double switch Shane Sutherland replacing Graeme Shinnie and Nick Ross being replaced by Andrew Shinnie who made his first appearance since January having been out with a broken foot and he added a bit of much needed quality to a game that was getting more and more desperate as it went on. A couple of dangerous moments in Dunfermline’s final third were not enough as ICT fans grew more and more frustrated but Shinnie’s first effort of the game was a lovely dipping shot which fell wide of the top corner but did leave Smith scrambling a bit. Martin Hardie then blew a great chance to grab a lead for Dunfermline as he shot straight at Esson from the edge of the box and then curled wide a free kick that was tailor made for him from about 25 yards. By this point it was becoming more and more clear that neither team was going to muster a goal. Aaron Doran was becoming frantic in his own search of a goal, firing high and wide from all angles and with ICT beginning to play for a point the referee eventually brought an end to the game. Full time – ICT 0-0 Dunfermline To summarise:- It was never going to be pretty, none of the games between the two sides have been this season but ICT’s goal scoring problem is in need of being addressed. Several chances were spurned tonight and had Dunfermline scored, heads would have been dropping. Billy McKay was working his socks off but was getting little support. In order for him to play his game he is in need of a strike partner who can get into good areas but I shouldn’t moan too much. We are safe and that’s what matters but we haven’t done it by winning, if I’m being blunt we have done it simply because Dunfermline are worse. A striker has to be top priority in the summer though. I’m glad we can chill out though for the last 2 games and look forward to seeing what changes are made to the squad in the coming weeks and months. Roll on 2012-13. ajsict92’s motm:- Ross Tokely – Mopped up anything that came into his path and is still an important part of the squad who’s experience must a great asset to this team. If Butcher has any sense he will give him another season. 2nd May 2012 Scottish Premier League Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness C.T. 0 - TEAM: Esson, Gillet, Williams, G.Shinnie (A.Shinnie 70), Tokely, Meekings, Doran, Tansey, Ross (Sutherland 70), McKay (Tade 88), Foran SUBS: Tuffey, Golobart, Piermayr, Tudur-Jones Booked: Foran (74) Sent Off: none Dunfermline 0 - TEAM: Smith, McMillan, Dowie, Keddie, McCann, Cardle, Kerr, Hutton, Mason (Hardie 66), Graham (Buchanan 84), Kirk (Barrowman 84) SUBS: Fernandez, Boyle, Willis, Thomson Booked: McCann (64), Keddie (73) Sent Off: none Referee Stevie O'Reilly Attendance 3037