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  Every Point is a Prisoner   Apart from the top three teams, every point gained is crucial in the Championship, especially at the end of the table we find ourselves rooted to. Like us, Dunfermline hit a sticky patch but look to be over the worst and came away from Firhill with all three points on Friday night after nine winless games. We salvaged a draw in stoppage time at Arbroath. No rest for the wicked though, so it's back to action against our fellow strugglers on Tuesday night at 7:45pm. Ferguson has wholesale injuries to contend with for this one. It might be quicker to say who is fit. What could possibly go wrong! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Pars Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 24 10 9 5 31 22 +9 Away 25 9 11 5 30 27 +3 Neutral 2 0 1 1 3 4 -1 Total 51 19 21 11 64 53 +11 Overall, we have had the beating of Dunfermline over the years since we first crossed swords with them back in August 1999 where our first taste of Championship (Division 1) football ended in a 4-0 defeat at East End Park in front of 4865 fans. You can read the report on that game HERE. Five out of the last ten meetings have ended in draws with two wins apiece. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Pars 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 2 - 1 (A)  Our last home win over Dunfermline:  2 - 0 Looking promising...Inverness took a massive step towards a play off place by defeating Dunfermline Athletic for the first time this season. An encouraging but goalless first half where Reece McAlear had hit the post was replaced by a two goal second half with chances at both ends. The deadlock was broken by a man who only scores screamers. Reece McAlear lashed the ball across the keeper and into the top right corner of the goal from a difficult position wide on the inside right area. What a strike that was but it only woke the Pars up from their lethargy and they had three or four great opportunities before substitute Austin Samuels sealed the points after he sprinted on to a through ball from Aaron Doran to slot neatly behind Mehmet in goal. Comfortable thereafter for the remainder of the game and an excellent three points to strengthen our hold on third place with Raith, Arbroath and Partick all dropping points.  Last Time Out A week after we let slip a two goal advantage over Partick Thistle, we salvaged a point at Gayfield with a 94th minute goal from Cammy Harper after loanee Adam Mackinnon had put Arbroath ahead ten minutes from the end. To be honest, we spurned far too many good opportunities, enough to win three games, but credit to the players for snatching a point at the death. Always a difficult venue, made moreso by a lengthy injury list that saw us without around ten players (Longstaff, Mullen, Ujdur, Boyes, Duffy, MacGregor, Lodovica, Nicolson) and a suspended Max Anderson who will miss the Dunfermline game as well. That left us with a sparse bench of only four outfield players, and not all of them were fully fit. Last five Championship games:  L W L D D  Dunfermline threw a relegation spanner in the works last Friday a week after they also drew with Arbroath to complete this wee quadrangle of fixtures. However, they landed us all in the kacke by defrauding Partick 3-1 at Firhill where shockingly poor refereeing decisions affected the result in Dunfermline's favour. Brian Graham should have had a hat-trick but officially is only credited with scoring once. Goals from Walcott, Todd and Benjamin turned this game on it's head, much to the chagrin of bottom clubs Arbroath and Inverness. Last five Championship games: D L L D W  Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Full fixture list on Tuesday night 1. Dundee Utd 24 15 6 3 49 14 51 2. Raith Rovers 24 15 5 4 44 33 50 3. Partick Thistle 24 10 8 6 47 40 38 4. Morton 24 10 6 8 34 28 36 5. Ayr United 25 8 5 12 34 45 29 6. Dunfermline 24 7 7 10 28 34 28 7. Airdrieonians 23 8 4 11 23 29 28 8. Queens Park 25 7 6 12 32 44 27 9. Inverness CT 25 6 8 11 30 32 26 10. Arbroath 24 5 5 14 25 47 20 Tuesday night 27th Feb all at 7:45pm Ayr United v Partick Thistle Dundee United v Airdrieonians Inverness CT v Dunfermline Queen's Park v Arbroath Rovers v Morton Latest Team News Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen is out for the season with a stress fracture in his back. We already have long term issues with Longstaff, Lodovica and Nicolson. Added to that list is Ujdur, Boyes, MacGregor, Duffy and now Charlie Gilmour who limped off injured to be substituted after an hour and is out with a knee injury. Alex Samuel managed to play the full game with his hand strapped and also picked up stitches after the tackle from Adam Mackinnon. Nathan Shaw was also a doubt on Saturday but played all 95 minutes as well. The good news is that Max Anderson is not injured. The bad news is that Max Anderson is suspended. Of our injured squad, Wallace Duffy and Alex Samuel look the most likely to make an appearance. Expect a another sparse bench tonight. We're injured, aren't we>>>   The addition of Chris Kane to the Pars squad was a great bit of business for them in the January sales. Here's all of their new additions, all loans: Chris Kane, forward (St Johnstone); Xavier Benjamin, defender (Cardiff City); Malachi Fagan-Walcott, defender (Cardiff City); Brad Holmes, forward (Blackpool). Pars team at Partick on Friday night Mehmet   Benjamin (Welch-Hayes 80)   Hamilton   Fagan-Walcott   Todd (Moffat 67)   Otoo   Allan   Edwards   Holmes (Jakubiak 61)   Kane   McCann   Subs Not Used: Little; Chalmers, Sutherland, Summers,     

Harper saves the day After last night's result at Firhill, this game took on an even more significant role with far reaching consequences for teams caught up in the collateral damage. To add insult to injury at Firhill, Partick can feel particularly aggrieved after an astonishing display of incompetence by the match officials who should be asked to resign with immediate effect. Brian Graham had two perfectly legitimate goals chalked off by shockingly poor refereeing decisions. I couldn't care less about Graham or Partick, but those decisions could be crucial come the end of the season and neither Arbroath or ourselves will be happy about the end result borne out of sheer incompetence, 3-1 for Dunfermline. Gayfield is a difficult enough place to go to with a full squad, therefore Duncan Ferguson had his work cut out today with a number of players unavailable including the suspended Max Anderson and a depleted bench of four outfield players. However Alex Samuel returned to the starting XI with Billy Mckay dropping to the bench. Arbroath were without Tam O'Brien but top strikers Michael McKenna and Leighton McIntosh were on the bench with new loan signing Charlie Reilly and defender Ricky Little. Plenty of half chances but not enough on target to overly trouble the keepers at the interval with Boruc the busier goalie. Inside the last ten minutes and MacKinnon scored from close range after a corner. It looked like time was running out but Cammy Harper drilled in an equaliser for a deserved share of the points. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A six pointer if ever there was one kicked off on a bright afternoon and Kyle Robinson saw an effort blocked in the opening minutes. Inverness responded and Kerr, Shaw and Gilmour all had shots blocked around the hosts box. Cammy Kerr brought Boruc into action direct from a free kick with twenty minutes gone. Cammy Harper was denied by Boruc at the expense of a corner. Kerr was again denied by Boruc, his low shot was well saved by the keeper after good work by McAllister. The chances were racking up for the visitors and Bim Pepple went very close. The shooting practise continued with Harper firing just over the bar from outside the box fifteen minutes from the break. David Gold shot wide for the Smokies as half time approached and the hosts upped the pressure on Mark Ridgers' box with Innes Murray firing a free kick wide. HALF TIME:0-0 No changes at the interval but Ricky Little replaced Hamilton ten minutes into the half after a clash with Alex Samuel who was booked. Aaron Doran then replaced the injured Gilmour and Billy Mckay replaced Pepple. Arbroath also brought on the big guns with Bird and McKenna joining the play. Substitute Charlie Reilly shot wide and Alex Samuel did the same at the other end. A penalty appeal for Inverness was ignored. Possession was swinging towards the hosts as we entered the final fifteen and yellow cards looked like they were going out of fashion. Arbroath opened the scoring following a corner when Adam MacKinnon, on loan from Ross County, scored from close range. Ridgers saved from Reilly and Alex Samuel had one attempt close and another saved by Boruc as we tried to salvage a point. In a frenetic finish, Nathan Shaw had a shot blocked and Kerr fired wide before Cammy Harper shot home to earn a point, but not before McKenna shot over right at the death. Phew, and breathe! FULL TIME 1-1 We left it a tad late but eventually got the point we deserved with Harper's strike into the bottom corner from outside the box. Boom! More detail and reaction to follow. Highlights from Arbroath FC TV We drew didn't we>>> Date: 24/02/2024 Venue: Gayfield, Arbroath Attendance: 1539 Referee: Kevin Clancy Arbroath FC: 1 Manager: Jim McIntyre Lineup: Boruc; Walker,Teale, Hamilton (Little 54), Stewart, Gold (McKenna 66), MacKinnon, Murray (Reilly 58), Dow, Slater, Robinson (Bird 66) Subs (not used): Gaston; Stowe, McIntosh Scorers: MacKinnon (82) Booked: Slater (37), Little 77), McKenna (80) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Kerr, Carragher, Devine, Savage, Shaw, Gilmour (Doran 58)), McAllister, Harper, Pepple (B Mckay 63), Alex Samuel Subs (not used): C Mackay; Duffy, Austin Samuels Scorers: Harper (90+4) Booked: Alex Samuel (49), Kerr (76), Devine (83) Sent Off: none a

  Back to the start   We head to Arbroath on Saturday, the scene of Big Dunc's first game in charge of the Caley Jags, where we earned our first win of the season in our seventh Championship game and his tenure at the Caley Jags began with only one point on the board prior to this game. We now sit on twenty-five points, but still perilously close to the relegation zone, unable to put a consistent run together to climb the table like others have done (Morton the prime example). Max Anderson is suspened and something like five definite outs and another five struggling with knocks.  Nothing new there then!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Travel info  Max Anderson  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Arbroath Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 25 17 4 4 60 21 +39 Away 24 11 6 7 35 29 +6 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 49 28 10 11 95 50 +45 We have always generally had the edge over Arbroath but have found them to be more resilient of late, losing at home last time we met. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath 1 - 2 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 2 - 4 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 3 - 0 (H) Looking Down:  1 - 2  For cod's sake! Inverness slumped to an embarrassing defeat as Arbroath stunned Ferguson's flops at the Caledonian Stadium. Arbroath with big players out and only three outfield players on the bench proved too good for an overrated Inverness bunch of haddies who were easily beaten by the Smokies. With both sides losing in midweek, this game took on more significance for Big Dunc's side and Jim McIntyre was also looking to get away from the bottom of the table after he replaced Dick Campbell. David Wotherspoon was fit enough to start and good to see Keith Bray return to the squad alongside Robbie Thompson. Arbroath came North with only four on the bench with Michael McKenna and Ricky Little still out injured and O'Brien suspended. As it turned out we are now looking down the table instead of up after back to back defeats to the two teams who were below us only four days ago as Arbroath won 2-1. That was new manager Jim McIntyre's first win and it moves Arbroath off the bottom of the table. one point behind Inverness. All the goals came in the first half from Jay Bird, Billy Mckay and two minutes later David Gold. Looks like a few will be going cheap in the January sales.   Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Partick Thistle v Dunfermline: Friday Night TV game (mon the Harry Wraggs) 1. Dundee Utd 23 14 6 3 46 13 48 2. Raith Rovers 23 14 5 4 42 32 47 3. Partick Thistle 23 10 8 5 46 37 38 4. Morton 23 9 6 8 32 27 33 5. Ayr United 24 8 5 11 33 43 29 6. Airdrieonians 22 8 4 10 22 27 28 7. Queens Park 24 7 6 11 31 41 27 8. Inverness CT 24 6 7 11 29 31 25 9. Dunfermline 23 6 7 10 25 33 25 10. Arbroath 23 5 4 14 24 46 19 SATURDAY 24TH FEBRUARY   Arbroath v Inverness CT Ayr United v Raith Rovers Dundee Utd v Queen's Park  Morton v Airdrie    Latest Team News We threw away a two goal lead last week against Partick Thistle and ended up hanging on by a thread as Partick pushed for a late winner. Highly entertaining stuff, but disappointing to only take a point after going two ahead through Kerr and Savage. Pegged back by Fitzpatrick and a Graham penalty, Shaw then restored our lead only for Graham to volley in the equaliser with five minutes left. Frantic ending to the game, but we kept our point. Both sides feel they should have won and defences are being questioned about giving away cheap goals. At least we scored a couple in the Home end, so that's a small crumb of comfort. However, every point is a prisoner now with only twelve games left to preserve our status and we can not afford to give away preventable goals. Inverness failed to get Max Anderson's red card rescinded and he misses the next two games. His direct replacement Roddy MacGregor has a foot injury. We have five definite crocks and five doubtful crocks, so it's back to making your own selection for this game. Here's Dunc to explain all... It's someting like this plus the usual mirrors, smoke screens and cloak & daggers. OUT INJURED: (Longstaff, MacGregor, Lodovica, Nicolson, Mullen, Duffy, Anderson suspended) Maybe Out: (Alex Samuel, Austin Samuels, Boyes, Shaw) We've got injuries, haven't we>>>     Jim McIntyre's Arbroath had a battling 1-1 draw at East End Park last week after going behind in the 18th minute through Walcott. An early second half header from Tam O'Brien levelled the game and that's how it ended. Arbroath have secured the services of Charlie Reilly on loan from Dundee for the rest of the season. The wide midfielder is available for selection tomorrow. Leighton McIntosh took a knock last week and is a doubt. Line-up v Pars last week Boruc   Gold   O'Brien   Teale   Hamilton (Walker 90+4)   Stewart   Dow   Norey (Murray 45)   Slater   Stowe (Mackinnon 45, Bird 90+7)   McIntosh (Robinson 45) Subs Not Used:  Gaston; Lyon, Dunnwald-Turan  

KerrPlonkers Inverness boss Duncan Ferguson was without Luis Longstaff, Wallace Duffy and striker Alex Samuel through injury although Austin Samuels was on the bench alongside Nikola Ujdur, Danny Devine, Aaron Doran and Roddy MacGregor amongst others. On paper it was a team bereft of attacking options. (what's new I hear you say). McMillan and Diack missed out for Partick Thistle but plenty of other threats on the park including Graham, Lawless, McInroy and Fitzpatrick. Cammy Kerr opened the scoring half an hour in to open his own account at Inverness, a welcome goal for the home fans, albeit at the South Stand end of the stadium. Be patient I hear you say and we were rewarded with a North Stand goal from Remi Savage ten minutes after the interval. Another ten minutes later and Fitzpatrick shot in from twelve yards to throw Partick a lifeline. Brian Graham converted a penalty but Nathan Shaw restored our advantage two minutes later. Unfortunately, the man we love to hate, Brian Graham, slammed in a volley after some head tennis to end the scoring and Max Anderson saw red in time added on. Meh, some game but a disappointing outcome despite the goals at the home end. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The visitors set the ball rolling and the hosts looked spritely in the opening exchanges with Billy Mckay having an effort blocked. However Partick looked dangerous going forward and Brian Graham had a couple of efforts after quarter of an hour, Ridgers doing well to deny Brian Graham's first effort, the second one was headed off target by the big striker. The corner count and possession had all but levelled off after twenty-five minites with clear opportunities difficult to come by. Having just said that, Cammy Kerr opened the scoring just before the half hour with a strike from distance into the bottom corner. Five minutes later Nathan Shaw fed Mckay on the edge of the box but the striker shot over. Charlie Gilmour was next to have a go but he missed the target as well. As half time approached Jamie Sneddon saved well from on-loan Everton youngster Sean McAllister as he shot goalwards after good play by Mckay. HALF TIME: 1-0 After the break Partick went on to the front foot and Kerr McInroy went close from outside the box after a Partick corner. Doran and Devine replaced McAllister and Mullen and three minutes later a Doran corner was headed in by Savage to double our lead. Aidan Fitzpatrick pulled one back for Partick, shooting home from twelve yards. Another twelve yard effort drew Partick level. This time from the spot after Nathan Shaw had fouled Robinson in the box. Brian Graham made no mistake. Shaw made amends two minutes later shooting home from inside the box. Alas, the scourge of Inverness, Graham, levelled again four minutes from the end as he volleyed into the top corner. FULL TIME: 3-3 BishBashBosh said on CTO: Highlight of first half was a pass back to Ridgers, I think he hit his clearance into their player and ball spun into air on our bye line. Ridgers is now facing the north stand and attempts a hoof of the ball over the stand. Total fresh air kick resulting in him then heading the ball out for a corner. You couldn’t make it up. Anderson red card was straight out of the ref pocket, no second to think. Anderson first touch for a pro footballer was so poor today, the ball rising into the air as he tried to control it many times. That was what happened for the sending off as he raised his boot into the players head to get the ball. The Partick guy went down clutching his head. Once the red was shown he miraculously recovered and didn’t require hospital treatment. Robert on CTO: We started on the front foot, with none of the back and fro passing that’s dominated our recent performances. Kerr’s goal was a cracker, calmly taken after a great pass by McAllister, and we deservedly led at the break although we had some nervous moments. Partick came out flying in the second half and our second was against the run of play, and we were then let down by poor defending for their first and getting caught napping at a free kick and conceding the penalty. I thought we were done for then, but credit to the players for lifting themselves and taking the lead again, and we should have gone 4-2 up but Pepple went alone when he should have played Harper in. We then conceded, meaning its twelve points we’ve lost late in games. Satan won the quote of the day: I am glad we've strengthened at the back Highlights from ICT>>> We scored goals didn't we>>> Date: 17/02/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2215 Referee: Grant Irvine Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Kerr, Carragher, Chilokoa-Mullen (Devine 51), Savage, Harper, Shaw, Gilmour, Anderson, McAllister (Doran 51, Ujdur 90+3), B Mckay (Pepple 68) Subs (not used): C Mackay; MacGregor, Samuels, Brooks Scorers: Kerr (27), Savage (54), Shaw (79) Booked: Shaw (45) Sent Off: Anderson (90+2) Partick Thistle: 3 Manager: Kris Doolan Lineup: Sneddon; Williams (Adeloye 84), Muirhead, Neilson, Milne (O'Reilly 88), Lawless, McInroy (Robinson 68), Bannigan, McBeth, FitzPatrick, Graham Subs (not used): Stewart; Mitchell, Ngwenya, Alston, Stanway, MacKenzie Scorers: Fitzpatrick (64), Graham (77 pen, 86) Booked: Fitzpatrick (65), McBeth (88) Sent Off: none a