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Relegation Fight Intensifies Given our circumstances, our relegation fight looks likely to go down to the wire with Annan Athletic, and Kelty Hearts our main adversaries over the final five games. We still have to play Kelty, but our other games feature Cove (a) this weekend followed by Kelty (h). It's then a final three of Stenhousemuir (a), Arbroath (h) and a final game at Montrose (a) that will make or break our Admin season. All this will happen without Luis Longstaff, Alfie Bavidge and the rest of our longer term casualties. Paul Hartley's Cove will be without the suspended Mitch Megginson. Declan Glass and Arron Darge are facing a fitness battle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bus/Info ICTFC Monthly Magazine Admin Topic on CTO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LINK ABOVE This issue contains: The latest from Head Coach Scott Kellacher Focus on feature with Danny Devine Charlie’s Chat – The latest from Interim CEO Charlie Christie Scott Young on the 30th Anniversary Dinner Staff Insight with groundsman Dale Stephen Loan Watch: Sam Nixon at Forres Mechanics ICT Academy Update ICTWFC with Karen Mason Meet the Player: Alfie Bavidge ICT Community Trust Column ICT Supporters Trust news Venue: H2H Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 7 4 2 1 18 10 +8 Away 5 3 0 2 6 7 -1 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 12 7 2 3 24 17 +7 You can see when the power shift started in earnest and that is all down to Administration as Cove have picked us off easily in the last two meetings since we caught them late in the League game back in November. Only half a dozen games ago we were banging in six and four goals at the Caledonian Stadiums. How quickly times can change Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Cove 1 - 4 (H) 0 - 2 (A) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 6 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) Happy New Year: Inverness began 2023 with a crushing win against Cove. Two from Billy Mckay and one from Danny Devine countered the opening goal from Jack Sanders. Two quickfire own goals within five minutes of the restart put the hosts 5-1 ahead. Mckay notched his hat-trick from close range as we ran away with the game. Big win to start the year, just what we needed. Jay Henderson started in his first game for the Caley Jags after a signing on loan for the rest of the season. Zak Delaney returned after injury but he was the only returnee with a sparse bench, Oakley and Boyd were the only senior outfield players on it with returning loan players. Gilmour and Logan missed out for Cove who had Iain Vigurs on the bench. After a minutes silence for the legend that was Pele, the game got underway on a crisp afternoon in the Highlands. Billy Mckay struck the post in the first minute from twenty yards. Megginson flicked a header just over five minutes later and Longstaff shot over after fifteen minutes as Cove got to grips with the pace of the game. Doran has a shot blocked by McKenzie and Billy Mckay put the rebound just wide. Hyde then saw McKenzie block with his legs as Mckay put him through on goal. Jack Sanders headed in the opener after twenty two minutes. Doran went close soon after, his deflected shot sliding past for a fruitless corner. Just after the half hour Billy Mckay drew Inverness level with a diving header from six yards after a Sean Welsh cross. Danny Devine put Inverness ahead five minutes before the break with a half volley into the bottom corner, Sean Welsh again the provider. A minute before the half time whistle, it was 3-1 when Billy Mckay netted from the spot after hand ball by Jack Sanders. Just after the interval a Dan Mackay shot/cross ended up in the net via Kyle McClelland. It's raining own goals now and Scott Ross was next to put through his own net. Mark Ridgers denied Fraser Fyvie and Luis Longstaff with excellent saves and Dan Mackay went close on the hour. Billy got his hat-trick and Dan Mackay went close to number seven. The three returning youngsters came on for the final ten minutes and more followed as we saw out the game. Who saw that coming??? And a Billy Mckay hat-trick INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L D W W W L W L W W L W W L W D W / W L D L Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game the next weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. It was then on to Palmerston on the Tuesday night but in a five goal encounter we went down 3-2. Alfie Bavidge notched his third goal in three games and Keith Bray added a second but goals from Adam Brooks (2) and Jordan Allan kept the points in Dumfries. We bounced back with a resilient 1-2 win at Alloa in our third away game on the bounce, Dunfermline bound Keith Bray with his fourth of the season and Alfie Stewart. We got our revenge at home to QotS (1-0) with Alfie Bavidge scoring his fourth goal in five appearances. Alas it was a bridge too far at Arbroath and we went down losing three without reply. The Stenhousemuir fixture was postponed and was re-arranged for March 11th. We went to Kelty and came away with a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Alfie's 5th goal in 7 appearances. Montrose proved to be stubborn opponents and it took a superb diving header from Keith Bray to rescue a point in a rather turgid encounter after Sandilands had opened the scoring in the first half. A last gasp win at Dumbarton on the Saturday with Alfie Bavidge scoring his 6th goal in 9 games. Unfortunately Alfie was injured early on against Stenhousemuir in midweek but that didn't stop us running up a 4-1 win with goals from Brannan, Gilmour, Bray and Allan. Annan came North on Saturday in a six-pointer and it was a disappointing defeat after Annan parked the bus after scoring in the third minute. Next up was a 1-1 draw with Alloa despite hitting the woodwork twice and missing a penalty. Another bad day at the office last weekend at a wet and windswept Palmerston after Queen of the South blitzed us with three second half goals to run away with a 4-1 win in Dumfries. One win each and a draw in the League games so far this season but Cove also won the Scottish Cup tie 2-0 at Balmoral Park. They hammered us 4-1 last time out at the Caledonian Stadium Scott Kellacher was dealt a massive blow with the news that he will be without Luis Longstaff and now Alfie Bavidge for the remainder of the season. That's massive as we enter the final five. Latest Updates from Scott Kellacher talking to Paul Chalk @ P&J: Unfortunately Alfie Bavidge's second scan results will mean he will miss the last five games. Calum MacLeod returned last week coming on as a second half sub but he has a hip injury and Musa Dibaga was back in goal after his international trip abroad. Remi Savage was badly missed at Dumfries but will return for this one. James Nolan came off injured at Palmerston but no info regarding this although he has been seen training with the squad, so hopefully he is fit and good to go. Casualty List Luis Longstaff (groin op recovery) Alfie Bavidge (hamstring recovery) Lewis Nicolson (knee op recovery) Jake Davidson (knee op recovery) Calum Davidson (hip) Ethan Cairns (appendix post op) Jack Walker (tonsilitis) Shae Keogh (calf) Ben Corner (knee cartilage recovery) Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 31 18 57 2 Cove R 31 17 49 3 Stenny 31 11 49 4 Queen Sth 31 -2 42 5 Alloa Ath 31 4 41 6 Montrose 31 -4 39 7 Kelty 31 -1 37 8 Caley Jags 31 1 33 9 Annan Ath 31 -24 33 10 Sons 31 -20 13 LAST SIX: L W W D D L Six games in March for Cove starting with a 2-1 defeat at Alloa followed by a 3-1 home win over QotS and a big away win over Kelty (0-4). A 2-2 draw at Montrose and a no scoring home draw v Stenhousemuir was followed by last weeks top of the table clash at Arbroath that ended with a 1-0 defeat and a red card for Mitch Megginson. He will be a big miss for Cove, being the joint top scorer in League1 with 12 goals. Fear not Cove fans, Adam Emslie has bagged 9, Findlay Marshall has 7 and Fraser Fyvie 6. Defence wise, both sides have conceded 35 times, the big difference is that Cove have scored 16 more goals than the Caley Jags. Will Gillingham and Quinn Coulson are back in the squad while a late decision will be taken on the fitness of both Declan Glass and Arron Darge. One win each and a draw in the League games so far this season but Cove also won the Scottish Cup tie 2-0 at Balmoral Park. They hammered us 4-1 last time out at the Caledonian Stadium in one to forget. We did win here back in November. Caley Jags Get Vital Win: Top versus bottom ended in victory for the Caley Jags who climb into positive numbers at the foot of the table. Cove had made one change from the win at Dumbarton as they looked for their fifth win on the trot. Findlay Marshall replaced Arron Darge. For Inverness, graduate Sam Reid took his place on the bench with Lewis Nicolson missing. On the field, Charlie Gilmour returned to midfield to bolster the squad with Connal Ewan out injured and boss Scott Kellacher would be looking to get into positive numbers with his positive team talks. However, it only took Cove ten minutes to get in front through top scorer Mitch Megginson. Megginson failed to convert a first half penalty with Dibaga saving and two minutes later it was all square when Adam MacKinnon drilled high into the net. With 25 minutes left, Keith Bray popped up with a much needed and deserved winner. This was a great result played out at Cove, sharpened at Inverness but made in the Isle of Lewis. Click on below Images to enlarge

Doonhamers hammer Jags It was back to the scene of one of the more entertaining games of the season as we faced Queen of the South at Palmerston with just six games left of the Admin season. Both sides were desperate for the points for different reasons, Queens looking to get involved in the promotion play-offs and the Caley Jags looking to avoid the relegation play-offs at the other end. A few players missing since we last locked horns in Dumfries, notably Luis Longstaff and Alfie Bavidge for us although Calum MacLeod returned to a depleted bench and the Doonhamers were minus a few defenders in an unchanged side from the one that drew at Dumbarton. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Things took a more positive turn off the park yesterday with Alan Savage making a bid for the club, could we add to that with three points at a difficult venue on a windy afternoon? The short answer was no as the Doonhamers hammered us doon 4-1! We opened the scoring through Alfie Stewart but Jack Hannah headed in an equaliser five minutes later. Jordan Allan slotted in Queens second after the interval and ten minutes later Admin Brooks added a third before completing the rout with a minute remaining to end our miserable afternoon. It's a long way home with no points in the bag. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a miserable afternoon down South as the game kicked off and after the posturing was over, Ben Brannan put the first effort of the afternoon wide in the tenth minute. Alfie Stewart went even closer from distance. It had been a good opening twenty minutes from the visitors and after Keith Bray had a header saved Alfie Stewart scored into the bottom corner from inside the box. Perfect start from the Caley Jags but we were quickly pulled level when Jack Hannah headed high into the net from a Kai Kennedy ball into the box. That was Hannah's first goal for QotS. Bray had one chalked off for offside as Inverness responded to that setback but it was the hosts who were starting to look more threatening as half-time approached and Harry Cochrane went close after he latched onto a cross from the left but shot inches wide. HALF TIME: 1-1 Shortly after the break Connal Ewan blocked a shot from Kennedy as the hosts went on the front foot. Cochrane went close again and a minute later Jordan Allan put Queens in front, slotting into the bottom corner after an assist from Admin Brooks. Alfie Stewart tried his luck from outside the box but his namesake in goal saved easily. Musa Dibaga saved from Taylor Charters after a quick counter attack with Kennedy providing the opportunity. With around twenty minutes left Admin Brooks stuck the knife in lashing home from a tight angle into the top corner. Game over, but not the scoring. Kennedy was chief tormentor winning a free kick from which Luissint went close to a fourth but for Dibaga keeping the ball out. It was a bit of backs to the wall in the final moments but Admin Brooks finished his vendetta against us with a fourth in the last minute, smashing in a powerful strike to end our day of pain in the rain. FULL TIME: 4-1 CaleyCiuinn on CTO: Drove down to this game today fairly optimistic we might get something, even with a depleted squad. Rubbish weather, rubbish performance, rubbish result. Right back in the relegation playoff fight. Now for a rubbish drive home HaughAye: 1st half was acceptable. 2nd half...what a shocker. Like watching a Ferguson team. I remember 1 effort on goal and lots of wayward passes, no pressing and shocking defending. As for the guy with the whistle, I'll not give him the title of referee, 2 blatant penalties for ICT not given, Keith Bray pushed to the ground from 2 handed pushes between the shoulders at least 5-6 times one of which lead to a QoS goal nothing given. MoM--Fans. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 31 18 57 2 Cove 31 17 49 3 Stenny 31 11 49 4 Queen o Sth 31 -2 42 5 Alloa Ath 31 4 41 6 Montrose 31 -4 39 7 Kelty Hearts 31 -1 37 8 Inverness CT 31 1 33 9 Annan Ath 31 -24 33 10 Dumbarton 31 -20 13 Scott Kellacher talking to Paul Chalk of the P&J “Listen, for the first half an hour, I thought we were really good. We controlled the game, got our goal and then we seemed to think the job was done. It was far from done. ‘It was a really poor goal to lose’ “They wanted to get back in the game and their first goal came from us not stopping a cross into the box. “If we stop a cross into the box, we don’t then have to defend it. There was a mix-up between Musa (Dibaga) and James (Nolan) in the box and they scored – it was a really poor goal to lose. “After that, Queens did what we were telling our boys to do – go and get the second goal. “In the second half, Queens were hungrier and they won more second balls. We can’t lose the kind of goals we lost today – it’s criminal. “We’ve been far better than that. We’ve taken the plaudits, but let’s not get away from it – we’re in a dog-fight. We must get the sleeves rolled up and try and win as many of these last five games. Pregnant footballer Jack Hannah wheels away in delight after scoring his first goal for Queen of the South. Jack, who identifies as a footballer, scored the equaliser five minutes after Alfie Stewart had opened the scoring for the visitors. Queens eventually routed the Caley Jags 4-1 with further goals from Jordan Allan and a brace from Admin Books. He really has it in for us and was a pain in the rain. Match Highlights from Queen of the SouthTV Date: 29/03/2025 Venue: Palmerston Park, Dumfries Attendance: 1006 Referee: Duncan Williams Queen of the South: 4 Manager: Peter Murphy Lineup: Stewart; MacIntyre, Lyon, Hannah, Charters, Kennedy (O'Donnell 88), Cochrane, Luisint, Smith (Walker 93), Allan (Bryden 92), Brooks Subs (not used): Johnson; Douglas, Harkness, Thomson Scorers: Hannah (29), Allan (57), Brooks (68, 89) Booked: Lyon (63) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Brannan, Devine, Ewan, Nolan (Strachan 59), Bray, Gilmour, Allan (MacLeod 74), MacKinnon (Gardiner 75), Stewart, B Mckay (R Thompson 74) Subs (not used): Rebilas; Scorers: Stewart (24) Booked: Brannan (72) Sent Off: none a

  Latest Updates on Admin March 28th   In a fast moving Administration news couple of weeks, the Joint Administrators issued a worrying statement on the 17th of March stating there were no offers on the table. That prompted former vice chairman Allan Mackenzie to hold a powwow on Wednesday 19th March where interested parties, or maybe more correctly, parties with an interest gathered round the peace pipe in an effort to come up with a way forward that will assist in the sale of the club. Subsequently, with the path for a sale cleaned up, Alan Savage has now put in a bid of £800K. We now await BDO to play their hand. That's much more promising news for the Caley Jags fans as the team do their best on the park.   STATEMENT BY JOINT ADMINISTRATORS OF INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE FC March 17th 2025 Despite a strong level of interest from several parties, the Joint Administrators (JAs) of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (ICT) are disappointed to confirm that no offers were received for the club by the deadline of 5pm on Thursday 6 March 2025. Feedback from interested parties highlighted three concerns. Firstly, as any transaction would include the use of a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to compromise ICT’s debt, interested parties expressed concern re the current level of loans (circa £3.5 million) from former directors of ICT (the Loan Creditors). A CVA requires 75% or more of creditors voting in favour. Interested Parties indicated agreeing any sale and purchase agreement was problematic as a number of loan creditors were at a value where they could veto a CVA proposal. Secondly, the nature of the club’s disparate shareholdings is impacting the ability of a potential acquiror to have adequate control. And finally, the uncertainties stemming from the ownership of land surrounding the stadium. While the JAs are continuing to work towards a resolution, which would include a transaction and CVA to allow the club to exit the Administration free from historical debts and retain its status in the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), a sale transaction does not appear to be achievable in the absence of new parties coming forward and the future of the club is now at significant risk. The JAs are continuing to work to seek resolution to these issues. Prior to the JAs’ appointment in the summer of 2024, the Loan Creditors had agreed to write off their loans. The JAs have written to the relevant former directors requesting that they now fulfil their agreement. Some have agreed, others are pending. The JAs remain hopeful that this issue can be resolved shortly. To address the concern about the nature of the disparate shareholding, the JAs have also written to a number of material shareholders setting out the position and requesting that their shares are returned to the club, or the potential acquiror, at no cost. Further letters will be issued next week. A number have agreed to this request and the JAs hope that this issue can also be resolved. The JAs have also approached Alan Savage, former club Chair, to ascertain if he could be prepared to support the club on an ongoing basis. Mr Savage has provided support to ICT in administration and has ensured funding is in place for the club to complete the 24/25 season. His commitment since the summer of 2024 until the end of the season will be circa £1million. Mr Savage has indicated he would be prepared to provide the following level of support to enable the survival of the club: Provide 25% of the acquisition price of the club, and 25% of the funding requirements for the next two seasons after 24/25. This funding would be based on prepared budgets, with cost controls in place. Any deal Mr Savage would support will also require the resolution of the issues outlined. If an acceptable offer is put forward, the JAs hope to present a CVA to the creditors for their consideration with a meeting of creditors to take place by the end of April. A BDO spokesperson said: “We appreciate that this latest update will be disappointing for players, fans and the wider community. “Given what has been achieved both on and off the pitch throughout the Administration period, we would very much like to see a sale of the club to ensure that its future is secured and we would encourage all parties to cooperate in this endeavour. “We are grateful for Alan Savage’s ongoing financial support and would urge any interested parties to come forward with a view to acquire the club. The JAs would welcome the opportunity to discuss and provide a guide in respect of an acceptable price.”   ICT FC Press Statement - Wednesday, 19th March, 2025 Issued by Allan Mackenzie (former vice Chairman and adviser) following a meeting held earlier today with key Shareholders. Meeting attendees – Allan Mackenzie (Chairman), David Cameron, Ross Morrison, Allan Munro, David Sutherland, Graham Rae, Roddy Ross, Alan Savage, Graeme Bennett and George Moodie (representing the Supporters Trust). Craig Maclean (Minutes). (Apologies were intimated from Dougie McGilvray (Weldex) and Richard Smith (ICT Trust). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Allan Mackenzie statement: Following the Statement issued on Monday 17th March, 2025, by BDO, the Joint Administrators (JAs) of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC, (ICT), I offered to convene a meeting of the key shareholders of ICT to try to explore the possibility of finding a fast and meaningful way forward, to addressing the key 3 issues identified by BDO as currently inhibiting their drive to procure a sale of the club to a new Buyer. I was delighted by the attendance at the meeting and thank all attendees for coming with a positive intent to look for solutions, geared to an aim of wanting to do their very best for the club to ensure its survival. The 3 key uses from the BDO statement have been identified as  Loans  Shares and  Land. (surrounding the Stadium). I am pleased to report, that after long, commercially focused and collaborative debate, all parties agreed to sensible proposals to address all 3 matters, subject, of course, to getting appropriate assurances from BDO on each matter. For my part, I undertook to engage with BDO, as a matter of urgency, to ask that they capitalise on this tremendous goodwill and to assiduously advance the Administration with a view to securing a successful CVA, securing a buyer and exiting the process by the end of the current season. BDO should now have a very much better “sales pitch” for the people who have expressed interest in buying the club and, needless to say, the parties today and the staff at the Club will use best endeavours to assist them in that enterprise. Much needs to be done in a very short space of time, but I am now very much more optimistic that this exercise, which has been necessary, albeit painful for all, can advance to an early conclusion. We owe it to the loyal and dedicated staff at the club and to Scott Kellacher and the team, (all of whom have done their best from their perspective) to demonstrate the same commitment and focus. Inevitably in a commercial deal, such as this, there will follow a period of “purdah” whilst detailed negotiations take place. Please do not treat this as stasis. Rest assured everyone is working diligently to secure the positive outcome mentioned above and as soon as is possible, a further update(s) will be issued publicly. Meantime, thank you all for your patience and commitment to the ICT cause. See you on Saturday! Allan Mackenzie Inverness. 19.III.25 Mr Mackenzie's efforts were very much appreciated and subsequently Alan Savage has made his opening bid to buy the Club. Alan released this statement on 28th March 2025.   Alan Savage bids £800K   Everyone who has an interest in Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club knows the predicament the Club is in. With the clock ticking I thought it was the right time to bring my personal offer to the table to buy the Club out of administration. It is as follows: I am setting up a company, let’s call it FC Inverness as a special purpose vehicle to buy the Club out of Administration for £800,000 and this offer is open until close of business 11th April 2025. My offer to James Stephen, BDO’s Administrator is conditional on:   100% of the shares are transferred to FC Inverness.   All long-term loans are written off.   All the trade creditors sitting in Administration accept that their debts are settled.   The company PropCo gives a written undertaking to sell the peripheral lease (excluding the triangle) to Inverness Caledonian Thistle for the price agreed at the meeting on Wednesday 19th March with an assurance that the purchase can be completed by 18th April. Under my control the immediate drivers will be to keep the Club’s football licences, stay in Division 1 and prepare for next season. The team around me will remain the same Kell, Billy, Charlie, Grassa and Andrew. The medium-term goal is to be playing mid table Championship within the next couple of years. Obviously as I have said before, the Club will need help and I am hoping that being out of Administration and debt free will encourage local Businesses and Governmental bodies to step up to the financial plate. For the record: If my action prompts the acceleration of a better offer from another Buyer I will immediately step aside. My offer last August was to fund this club for 3 months until a buyer was found, this was extended to the end of the season and that still stands. But without ownership and full control I can only pay up to June’s wages if my offer is not accepted. Over to BDO. End of statement.            

Palmerston Perils Only six games left to save our skins and we face a perilous trek to Dumfries to play Queen of the South in what has always been a tricky place to extricate points from. Our last visit to Palmerston saw Admin Brooks take 'revenge' on his former club as he scored twice in a 3-2 win for the hosts. We came from two nil down to level the game through Bavidge and Bray but were undone ten minutes from the end when substitute Jordan Allan scored the winner. We did avenge that a couple of weeks later with a 1-0 win in Inverness courtesy of another Alfie Bavidge goal. Unfortunately injuries have somewhat thwarted our progress up the table lately with Bavidge, Longstaff and MacLeod missing. Add red carded Remi Savage to that list as we head for Dumfries. On the plus side, Musa Dibaga is back after his squad call up for Gambia. An encouraging statement was released by the Joint Administrators this week after productive talks with interested parties appear to have ironed out some issues to enable the Admin Process to progress to a conclusion without further legal issues being raised. It is expected the process will continue through April. Read the statement in the Positive Admin Link below. STOP PRESS 28th March 2025 Minutes after publishing the Preview, Alan Savage played his opening hand with an £800K bid to buy the club. "For the record: If my action prompts the acceleration of a better offer from another Buyer I will immediately step aside. My offer last August was to fund this club for 3 months until a buyer was found, this was extended to the end of the season and that still stands. But without ownership and full control I can only pay up to June’s wages if my offer is not accepted. Over to BDO. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus/Info Positive Admin Developments STOP PRESS SALVAGE CARDS ON THE TABLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue: H2H Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 23 14 3 6 40 26 +14 Away 21 8 7 6 36 25 +11 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 44 22 10 12 76 51 +25 The away fixture at Palmerston is a lot tighter than the fixture in the Highlands where we hold a good advantage over the Doonhamers. This one is always a difficult encounter with the extra mileage adding to the misery on a poor day at the office. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Queens 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 3 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 3 - 0 (A) Biggest away win in recent times was a 3-0 win in the Championship in 2020. Inverness deservedly opened the scoring through Kai Kennedy in the 20th minute, his first goal for the club as he cut in from the left and scored low behind Leighfield from a tight angle, the ball coming off the keepers leg. Roddy MacGregor scored a second with a tremendous finish five minutes after the break to give Inverness a cushion. Miles Storey secured the points with a vicious left footed shot into the bottom corner from fifteen yards. Great three points for Inverness and consolidation in the middle of the table. Queen of the South were the last side we played back in March before covid19 came along and changed our lives. On that occasion Inverness ran out 3-1 winners. INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L D W W W L W L W W L W W L W D W / W L D Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game next weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. It was then on to Palmerston on the Tuesday night but in a five goal encounter we went down 3-2. Alfie Bavidge notched his third goal in three games and Keith Bray added a second but goals from Adam Brooks (2) and Jordan Allan kept the points in Dumfries. We bounced back with a resilient 1-2 win at Alloa in our third away game on the bounce, Dunfermline bound Keith Bray with his fourth of the season and Alfie Stewart. We got our revenge at home to QotS (1-0) with Alfie Bavidge scoring his fourth goal in five appearances. Alas it was a bridge too far at Arbroath and we went down losing three without reply. The Stenhousemuir fixture was postponed and was re-arranged for March 11th. We went to Kelty and came away with a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Alfie's 5th goal in 7 appearances. Montrose proved to be stubborn opponents and it took a superb diving header from Keith Bray to rescue a point in a rather turgid encounter after Sandilands had opened the scoring in the first half. A last gasp win at Dumbarton on the Saturday with Alfie Bavidge scoring his 6th goal in 9 games. Unfortunately Alfie was injured early on against Stenhousemuir in midweek but that didn't stop us running up a 4-1 win with goals from Brannan, Gilmour, Bray and Allan. Annan up North on Saturday in a six-pointer and it was a disappointing defeat after Annan parked the bus after scoring in the third minute. Next up was a 1-1 draw with Alloa despite hitting the woodwork twice and missing a penalty. Scott Kellacher will be without Luis Longstaff who has a hamstring operation and missed the last four games. Kellacher said in last midweek to the press: “Alfie won’t be involved against Alloa. The scan came back a wee bit unclear so he is waiting to do another scan. “He has to rest for probably the next 10 days to see if it settles down, and then they will try to get another image of it. Then we’ll know where we go from there. “We also had two or three wee niggles which included Calum MacLeod who missed out again. With Remi Savage red-carded against Alloa, he will miss the game in Dumfries. Musa Dibaga should return after Aidan Rice filled in last week with a good performance from the young Celtic B keeper between the sticks. I presume Connal Ewan will slot in at centre back. Alas our bench has a dearth of quality which goes hand in hand with administration. Latest Updates from Scott Kellacher talking to Paul Chalk @ P&J: Inverness have had three trialists training up North this week. One goalkeeper, Yan Gromov, right back Diste Camara Sylla, and forward Malick Diakite from North West Counties League side Squires Gate. The club awaits Alfie Bavidge's second scan results. No further update on Calum MacLeod. Big Musa is back and raring to go. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 30 17 54 2 Cove 30 18 49 3 Stenny 30 12 49 4 Alloa Ath 30 5 41 5 Queen of Sth 30 -5 39 6 Kelty Hearts 30 0 37 7 Montrose 30 -5 36 8 Inverness CT 30 4 33 9 Annan Ath 30 -25 30 10 Dumbarton 30 -21 10 LAST SIX: L W L L W D They started their last six losing 0-3 at home to Arbroath. That was reversed by a 3-0 humping of Montrose before defeat at home by Kelty (0-1) and 3-1 at Cove. They picked up a win at home to Alloa (3-2) before last weeks 0-0 draw at Dumbarton. So, mixed results for Queens since we beat them 1-0 (which was followed by a 2-1 loss at Stenhousemuir 7 games ago). Admin Brooks is their top scorer with 7 goals. Tricky former ICT winger Kai Kennedy is one to watch. Here's our run-in over the (hopefully) last five games after Queen of the South. April 2025 5th 3:00:PM Cove Rangers (A) League (League 1) - - - 12th 3:00:PM Kelty Hearts (H) League (League 1) - - - 19th 3:00:PM Stenhousemuir (A) League (League 1) - - - 26th 3:00:PM Arbroath (H) League (League 1) - - - May 2025 3rd 3:00:PM Montrose (A) League (League 1) - - - Never an easy ground to come away with a favourable result.

Inching towards safety Despite dominating the opening exchanges and Alfie Stewart arrowing in a sublime strike, the Caley Jags failed to capitalise on their early dominance and had to settle for a point in the end when Scott Taggart nicked a header/cross into the bottom corner early in the second half to earn the visitors their share of the spoils. It was a disappointing and frustrating result given the same happened a week ago against Annan. Stewart hit the woodwork just before Alloa equalised. Billy Mckay had a penalty saved on the hour as was his follow up, and from that point on it looked like it would be another fruitless day. Keith Bray cracked the bar when a goal looked simpler. It almost got worse late in the game when Sammon leapt to gain a free kick on the edge of the box. Worse was to follow as it was Savage and the referee that he conned and Remi was sent off for a second 'bookable' offence. As it was, they ended up lashing a shot against the bar following the free kick with Rice blocking the rebound and eventually they were deemed offside. That would have taken the biscuit but it ended thereafter a point apiece. A better result for a poor Alloa side and a point further away from Annan for the Caley Jags. A word for Rice, good display by the promising young keeper who produced a really good save in the first half from a powerful Scott Taggert strike. However, another frustrating game and more winnable points dropped. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With Big Musa away this weekend, young Celtic B keeper Aidan Rice was between the sticks on an emergency loan after Musa Dibaga’s Gambian call-up. Longstaff, Bavidge and MacLeod all missed out again. Alloa suffered an early setback having to replace Calum Waters in the third minute. Maybe that unsettled them as we dominated the opening exchanges and got a well worked opening goal after we moved the ball smartly down the right wing before Billy Mckay chipped the ball to the left side of the box where Alfie Stewart took a touch before drilling a shot across the keeper into the bottom corner. That ball was in as soon as it left his left peg without touching a blade of grass until after it hit the back of the net. Boom! We were in total control of proceedings for around half an hour with numerous efforts blocked or off target before Aidan Rice earned his corn saving a thunderous strike from Scott Taggart's twenty-five yard effort, diving high to his left to keep the ball out in what was the visitors first serious foray forward. From this point until the interval we seemed to lose our way slightly and it was now the visitors that were winning the midfield battle, getting second balls and picking up loose passes as we regressed. Luke Rankin had an effort saved by Rice five minutes before the interval, but this one was more straightforward than his previous save. Remi Savage picked up a booking as we had pushed forward to the left of Alloa's goals. For some reason he ended up with a yellow card for possibly a shove on the bye line as he tried to keep the ball in play. Nothing in it really but it would come back to bite him on the arse later. HALF TIME: 1-0 We started the second half on the front foot and Stewart hit the keepers right post from a position similar to his opening goal at the other end of the park. Here we go we all thought and rubbed our hands in anticipation, or was it getting colder. Two minutes later Alloa levelled the game after a ball cleared from our box to the left side was crossed back in by Kurtis Roberts for Scott Taggart to get the merest of glances on the ball, and like Stewart's goal, whether it was an attempt at goal or an attempt to head the ball into the box, it was in as soon as it spun off his head with the keeper stranded at the other side of his goal. We upped the pressure on the visitors goal but too many blocked attempts and misses followed before we were awarded a penalty when Ben Brannan was upended in the box as he honed in on goal. Billy Mckay took responsibility of taking the spot kick and unfortunately Billy can't buy a goal just now. Morrison did well to deny Billy, not once, but twice as he blocked the rebound attempt as well. His third penalty save of the season. Twenty minutes later we should have been ahead but after great work Keith Bray took the more difficult option of smacking the ball off the crossbar when he should have been bulging the net. The introduction of Conor Sammon was instrumental in the red card for Savage. Sammon was fishtailing his way across the front of the box before when he went over an outstretched leg. Referee desperate Dan saw it as a second booking and sent Savage off. We weathered the free kick but five minutes later Alloa thought they had stolen the points after they crashed a shot of our bar before Rice blocked on the line, the loose ball being poked into the net. That would have been hard to take but fortunately the far side lineman flagged for offside we think. A bit of a frantic ending to a game we should have cantered through, but given the circumstances, we are a point better off than we were last week and with Annan losing, a point further away from them with a vastly superior goal difference. FULL TIME: 1-1 FT: Cove 0-0 Stenny in late game. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 30 17 54 2 Cove 30 18 49 3 Stenny 30 12 49 4 Alloa Ath 30 5 41 5 Queen of Sth 30 -5 39 6 Kelty Hearts 30 0 37 7 Montrose 30 -5 36 8 Inverness CT 30 4 33 9 Annan Ath 30 -25 30 10 Dumbarton 30 -21 10 Share of the points between the Caley Jags and the Wasps under the Kessock Bridge. Five points dropped in the last two games which could have secured our safety. It's going to the wire... The lack of firepower through injuries to Longstaff and Bavidge is hurting us just now with Longstaff unlikely to feature again this season and young Alfie's season in the balance with a second scan required to assess the extent of his injury. It's going to be a bumpy ride over the next six games with two difficult away games coming up next at Palmerston and Cove. Red carded Remi Savage will miss the game against Queen of the South. It doesn't rain but it pours. FULL HIGHLIGHTS Date: 22/03/2025 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1655 Referee: Dan McFarlane Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Rice; Brannan, Devine, Savage, Nolan (Ewan 87), Bray, Gilmour, Allan, MacKinnon, Stewart, B Mckay (R Thompson 91) Subs (not used): Rebilas; Strachan, J Walker, S Thompson, Cairns Scorers: Stewart (8) Booked: Savage (41, 86) Sent Off: Savage (86) Alloa Athletic: 1 Manager: Andy Graham Lineup: Morrison; Taggart, McKay (Dewar 46), Devine, Waters (MacKenzie 3), Roberts, Scougall (Sammon 83), O'Donnell, Donnelly (Cawley 82), Honeyman (Buchanan 63), Rankin Subs (not used): Ogayi; Mullen, Neill, Thomson Scorers: Taggart (52) Booked: Roberts (36), MacKenzie (54), Dewar (90+4) Sent Off: none a

Another week of turmoil In a week where we started with hope and optimism we suffered defeat at home to Annan Athletic and then the Administration movement went from static to plumbing the depths before a powwow brought it back to status quo. We needed to fill the gap left by Musa Dibaga's sojourn to Gambia for World Cup qualifiers against Kenya and Ivory Coast and have done that with an emergency loan in Celtic's youth keeper, 18 year old Aidan Rice. We hope it will end on a lighter note with the game against Alloa to look forward to this Saturday, (without Longstaff and Bavidge). The joys of Admin in League1. We will stick to the on field events on here and will provide links below to certain Admin Statements. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bar94/£5offer/Info Aidan Rice GK Administrators Statement March17th Allan Mackenzie Pow Wow March19th CTO Topic on Admin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you haven't got any friends, borrow some! Venue: H2H Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 21 9 10 2 37 22 +15 Away 24 12 6 6 49 25 +24 Neutral 1 0 1 0 4 4 0 Total 46 21 17 8 90 51 +39 Twenty-one home games versus Alloa since 1994 when they came North and played out a 2-2 draw at Telford Street in front of 1,150 fans. None other than Hugh Dallas was the referee Caledonian Thistle (as we were called back in the day) were in the lead for a long time in this game, had territorial advantage for most of it but in the end were fortunate to earn a draw. They had chances in the early minutes through McCraw and Lisle but Jim Butter saved well. In 18 minutes Charlie Christie collected a Martin Lisle pass and weaved past McCormack before scoring with a blistering 20 yard drive. In 67 minutes Barrie Moffat equalised after a McAvoy cross and in 78 minutes Neil Bennett put Alloa in front. Caley Thistle fought back with efforts from McKenzie and MacMillan but it took until the 86th minute before they equalised. Keith McCulloch handled in the box and Mike Andrew scored from the resultant penalty. Report by Ian Broadfoot Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Alloa 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 0 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 2 - 0 (A) We are unbeaten against Alloa this season and could have won all three given that we were 2-0 up in the first encounter during the Duncball era. Having gone two ahead through goals from Devine and MacLeod we were pulled level just six minutes later when Sammon and Donnelly quickly restored parity. Danny Devine lashed in the opening goal from twenty-two yards in the seventh minute to give the visitors the perfect start. After the interval MacLeod gave us some short lived breathing space following a swift break forward as he drilled the ball across the keeper into the bottom corner, however Conor Sammon quickly pulled a goal back with a great header three minutes later into the top corner finishing a well built move from back to front. Moments later it was all square when Donnelly looped a ball behind Dibaga after a long throw from Taggart and a touch from Sammon. Having been well in control we were now under the cosh but despite some hairy moments towards the end it finished all square. INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L(11)D W W W L W L W W L W W L W D W / W L Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game next weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. It was then on to Palmerston on the Tuesday night but in a five goal encounter we went down 3-2. Alfie Bavidge notched his third goal in three games and Keith Bray added a second but goals from Adam Brooks (2) and Jordan Allan kept the points in Dumfries. We bounced back with a resilient 1-2 win at Alloa in our third away game on the bounce, Dunfermline bound Keith Bray with his fourth of the season and Alfie Stewart. We got our revenge at home to QotS (1-0) with Alfie Bavidge scoring his fourth goal in five appearances. Alas it was a bridge too far at Arbroath and we went down losing three without reply. The Stenhousemuir fixture was postponed and was re-arranged for March 11th. We went to Kelty and came away with a narrow 1-0 win thanks to Alfie's 5th goal in 7 appearances. Montrose proved to be stubborn opponents and it took a superb diving header from Keith Bray to rescue a point in a rather turgid encounter after Sandilands had opened the scoring in the first half. A last gasp win at Dumbarton on the Saturday with Alfie Bavidge scoring his 6th goal in 9 games. Unfortunately Alfie was injured early on against Stenhousemuir in midweek but that didn't stop us running up a 4-1 win with goals from Brannan, Gilmour, Bray and Allan. Annan up North on Saturday in a six-pointer and it was a disappointing defeat after Annan parked the bus after scoring in the third minute. Scott Kellacher will still be without Luis Longstaff who has a hamstring injury and missed the last three. Kellacher said in midweek to the press: “Alfie won’t be involved this weekend. The scan came back a wee bit unclear so he is waiting to do another scan. “He has to rest for probably the next 10 days to see if it settles down, and then they will try to get another image of it. Then we’ll know where we go from there. “We also have two or three wee niggles, but hopefully we’ll be clear after tomorrow.” Hopefully MacLeod will return after injury as we were a bit thin on the bench last week against Annan. This will be a tough game with Alloa still on course for a play-off place at the top end and Inverness still trying to avoid a play-off place at the bottom end. Our task will be made more difficult because of injuries to Longstaff and goal machine Alfie Bavidge. However, we showed that we can cope without these players in the entertaining win over Stenhousemuir, but the flip side was our inability to break down Annan last week where a bit of composure might have gone a long way to keeping Annan at arms length. I've been well impressed with Ben Brannan in his couple of games with us. He will be an important player with his driving runs forward and long throws and he's not scared to have a pop. Our defence will need to keep a 'Luke' out for Alloa's main scorers as they are amongst the higher scoring sides in the table with 43 goals. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 29 17 53 2 Cove R 29 18 48 3 Stenny 29 12 48 4 Alloa Ath 29 5 40 5 Queen of Sth 29 -5 38 6 Kelty Hearts 29 0 36 7 Montrose 29 -7 33 8 Inverness CT 29 4 32 9 Annan Ath 29 -23 30 10 Dumbarton 29 -21 09 Last Six: D W W W L L Alloa started their last six with a 2-2 draw at Montrose. Wins at Kelty (0-2), home to Annan (4-3) and Cove (2-1) before losing their last two (2-3) at home to leaders Arbroath and a 3-2 defeat at Palmerston last week. Despite the recent defeats they remain in the fourth play-off position eight points above Inverness. Luke Rankin tops their scoring charts with 8 goals followed by Luke Donnelly on 7 and Connor Sammon with 5. Starting XI v QotS last week This will be the 47th meeting between Caley Jags and the Wasps, also known as Alloha Athletic, One game was played at a neutral venue and that was the 1999 Challenge Cup Final played at the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie with an Attendance of 4,043. Alloa came out on top after an entertaining encounter, winning 5-4 on penalties after a 4-4 draw. Bummer for Paul Sheerin who scored a hat-trick including two penalties but failed to score his spot kick in the shoot out. Meh! Bitter disappointment for Caley Thistle as they lost their first ever senior cup final on penalties. They came from behind three times in normal play then again in extra time to take the game to a penalty decider. Alloa took the lead in 20 minutes when Gary Clark hit a low ball past Les Fridge from 15 yards. Barry Wilson equalised in 29 minutes with a neat chip over the keeper. A defensive error let in Mark Wilson to score Alloa's second in 33 minutes but Paul Sheerin equalised from the penalty spot just after half time. This lasted 2 minutes before Martin Cameron made it 3-2 with a 15 yard angled volley. Another penalty goal by Sheerin made it 3-3 in 56 minutes. 14 minutes into extra time Alloa again took the lead when Martin Cameron beat the defence and ran on to score. Paul Sheerin completed his hat trick 8 minutes from time with a 16 yard shot. It was 4-4 on penalties after the regulation 5 attempts each. Alloa keeper Mark Cairns was the hero when he scored to make it 5-4 then saved Mike Teasdale's penalty. The Cup was on its way to Alloa after an exciting match. Alloa Penalties (Irvine, Boyle, Cameron, Little, Cairns) Beaton miss. Inverness Pens (McCulloch, Tokely, Byers, Wilson) Sheerin, Teasdale saved. Match report written by Ian Broadfoot