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Caley Jags through We did it! If you thought the first half at Inverness was poor, then step forward the first half from Gayfield. Shockingly poor forty five from both sides as Inverness struggled to get out of their own half into the face of a stiff breeze. On the other hand Arbroath did absolutely nothing either. The second half saw Danny Devine sent off, Shane Sutherland stretchered off and later on Wallace Duffy sent off as we ended the game with nine men. Farcical stuff. However, we got through to the play off final after a 5-3 penalty shoot out win. Bobby Linn of all players having his spot kick saved by Mark Ridgers and Kirk Broadfoot with the final winning penalty after that save. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a goalless draw in the first leg, the Caley Jags went to Gayfield to conclude the Premiership play off semi-final. The prize in a winner takes all game was a crack at St Johnstone in a two leg finale to the season and promotion to the Premiership for the victor. Logan Chalmers and Austin Samuels came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first leg in a game of limited opportunities. Who will prevail? All would be revealed around 10:00pm on Friday the 13th. Billy Mckay was benched for this one after cutting a lone figure in the first leg. Aaron Doran replaced the striker in the starting XI. Arbroath were unchanged from Tuesday night. A big crowd greeted the teams onto the pitch with similar conditions to the first leg prevalent. Inverness kicked off into the wind and that was the highlight of the first forty-five, apart from Aaron Doran breaking into the box but unable to dig the ball out from under his feet and Scott Stewart firing over the bar from the edge of the box. The only other thing of note was a booking for David Carson . Some things never change. HALF TIME: 0-0 Billy Mckay replaced Austin Samuels at the interval. Shane Sutherland got the break of the ball and burst into the edge of the box on the left side but his shot rippled the side netting. Carson shot over the stand minutes later as the visitors pushed forward. Better spell for Inverness and a wee melee in the box saw Arbroath clear the danger. Out of nothing, Danny Devine was red carded for next to nothing as he challenged for a high ball with Jack Hamilton. What a joke decision that was. Worse was to follow when Shane Sutherland left the field on a stretcher after looking like he has damaged his knee when pulling up. Hardy dribbled forward into the hosts box after the ninety but as the tackle came in his shot was lifted over the bar. A flurry of activity round our box in time added on as the nine men tried to hold out for extra time. We did that so on to another thirty minutes. 0-0 after ninety minutes. Inverness were back up to ten men with Lewis Hyde coming on in extra time. Mark Ridgers kept Inverness in the game when he blocked an effort from Jack Hamilton as he went one on one with the keeper. Colin Hamilton went close with a header after Low recycled a corner back into the box, the ball going just the wrong side of the post. Inverness wasted a free kick and corner just on the break and it was still 0-0 with the final fifteen minutes coming up. Wallace Duffy was given a dubious second yellow and we were back down to nine men for the final five minutes of extra time and Michael McKenna drifted a shot wide after a corner. A Nicky Low cross saw Colin Hamilton head across goal and the ball came back off the crossbar as Arbroath went for the jugular, and after yet another corner was cleared, blundering referee Willie Collum ended the tie and it's on to penalties. FULL TIME (after extra time): 0-0 Penalty Shoot Out B Mckay , Hardy Welsh Harper Broadfoot McKenna Low Colin Hamilton Linn Inverness through to Play Off Final after 5-3 shoot out win. Brilliant save from Mark Ridgers From BBC Sport Arbroath manager Dick Campbell: "Anybody who knows anything about football knows we were way, way in front. But I've seen it happen in the play-offs. We had 600 passes, they had 300-odd. "We're not ones to feel sorry for ourselves. The whole season has been a fairy tale, it'll be memorable. We were close to immortality. We've got to repeat that next year. Christmas has come early for Inverness tonight I wish them all the best." Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Billy Dodds: "It wasn't about us getting through tonight, it was the circumstances we did it in. I have my feelings - I'm just keeping quiet because I'll get myself into trouble. "My boys gave me absolutely everything. We had to work our socks off That's the best bunch of boys I've worked with. I would have been proud of every one of them if we lost the penalty shootout tonight." Date: 13/05/2022 Venue: Gayfield Park, Arbroath Attendance: 5154 Referee: Willie Collum Arbroath: 0 (3 pens) Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Gaston; Thomson (Donnelly 90), Little, O'Brien (Henderson 105), Colin Hamilton, Stewart, Low, Chris Hamilton (Gold 105), McKenna, Craigen (Linn 76), J Hamilton (Wighton 111) Subs (not used): Antell; Swankie, Ford, Bakare Scorers: none Booked: Colin Hamilton (55), Chris Hamilton (73), Wighton (120) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 (5 pens) Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Broadfoot, Devine, Deas, Samuels (B Mckay 45), Welsh, McAlear (Duffy 74), Chalmers (Harper 68), Doran (Hardy 60), Sutherland (Hyde 90), Subs (not used): C Mackay; Allardice Scorers: none Booked: Carson (27), Duffy (95, 113), B Mckay (115), Hyde (118), Deas (120) Sent Off: Devine (66), Duffy (113) a

Friday the 13th looms... Not quite as drastic as the original Friday the 13th, but expect plenty of blood and guts on display as these teams battle it out for a Premiership showdown with St Johnstone after it was confirmed in midweek that Dundee are officially relegated. A goalless draw in the first leg means that it's a blank canvas for both sides in their quest to get to the promised land. A land of milk and honey, a land where riches, trophies and big crowds are mythical, but bottom six, relegation and empty seats a reality. The first leg was fraught with tension and anxiety in abundance, the first half especially. Logan Chalmers and Austin Samuels came close, but Dick Campbell's game plan of snapping at our ankles reduced us to making hurried decisions. Unfortunately these were mostly the wrong ones, and along with poorly executed passes, worked in the Smokies favour. They played to their strengths and we went along with it. There's a lot of hard work to be done on Friday, this time we need to be prepared to muck in right from the first whistle. CTO 1st leg summary: 0-0 Arbroath were up for this one shutting Inverness down high up the pitch in a poor first half. Logan Chalmers was nearest to breaking the deadlock when he hit the bar with a rasping shot from close to thirty yards. Inverness upped the pace after the break but it was too little too late. Sleeves will need to be rolled up on Friday from the start if we are to get through. The whole of the first half passed Inverness by as Arbroath were in our faces. That needs to change on Friday and it might work in our favour if Arbroath decide to have a go which will give us more space to exploit. So, who will prevail? Arbroath are the media darlings, and rightly so this season. The Caley Jags had their time, but that's consigned to the history books now. Beating Arbroath 5-2 with a hat-trick from the legend that is Alan Hercher in our first League game with the big boys on August 13th 1994. Feb 8th 2000, Scottish Cup glory in 2015. We've had our share. Arbroath can point to a 36-0 win over Bon Accord on 12th September 1885. As there was no TV, mobiles, WhatsApp or Messenger back then, not even teletext, the result never filtered through until the next day. So we'll take that as the 13th as well. 15-0 at half time, the game was over as a spectacle but they went on to score a further 21 goals. Bloody bullies if you ask me. We have never played Arbroath on the 13th since that opening day 5-2 win at Telford Street that set the club on their way. Bring on the 13th!!!

All to play for at Gayfield Arbroath were up for this one shutting Inverness down high up the pitch in a poor first half. Logan Chalmers was nearest to breaking the deadlock when he hit the bar with a rasping shot from close to thirty yards. Inverness upped the pace after the break but it was too little too late. Sleeves will need to be rolled up on Friday from the start if we are to get through. The whole of the first half passed Inverness by as Arbroath were in our faces. That needs to change on Friday and it might work in our favour if Arbroath decide to have a go which will give us more space to exploit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Premiership Play-Off 1st leg paired Inverness with second place finishers Arbroath, everyone's favourite wee team. Could Inverness upset the apple cart and take a lead down to Gayfield for the return leg on Friday? All would be revealed at a breezy Caledonian Stadium. Tom Walsh and Roddy MacGregor were missing for Billy Dodds as he went with the same team that started against Partick Thistle with Wallace Duffy added to the bench along with just six others. Dick Campbell unsurprisingly made eight changes from his last game against Morton and managed a full bench of nine. Arbroath set the ball rolling in between the showers on a blustery evening and as the visitors pushed forward in the fifth minute, Mark Ridgers produced a vital tip away from a deep cross with Nicky Low about to head into the net. It was a typically cagey start from the hosts. Kirk Broadfoot gave away the ball and when Arbroath transferred it into the box a half chance presented itself but the ball was knocked high over. The Smokies were in our face and we were struggling to make any headway with fifteen minutes gone. Any football that was being played was coming from the visitors. Twenty minutes gone and the Caley Jags had not started yet in a scrappy affair. Maybe they thought it was a 7:45 kick off. A long free kick into the box almost found Ricky Little on the lunge but it just evaded him and out for a goal kick. On a rare jaunt forward, Austin Samuels almost set up Billy Mckay, but his awkward flick went out for a goal kick. Moments later Logan Chalmers struck the bar with a superb near thirty yard shot. A booking for Broadfoot gave Arbroath a free kick twenty five yards out, but Ridgers was equal to Low's strike as he made a decent but routine save, and at the other end Logan Chalmers drilled a left footer just wide from outside the box as the interval loomed. That half took forever to get going, but opportunities did manifest themselves just before the break, but there's no scoring so far. HALF TIME: 0-0 Just after the start of the second half a well timed sliding tackle by Devine stopped Arbroath bursting into the box to thwart a run forward. A swift break upfield started with David Carson bursting forward at pace and ended with Chalmers winning a corner from his blocked shot. It was a brighter start to the second period from the hosts. A super run forward by Robbie Deas on the other wing offered Chalmers another opportunity but the final ball wasn't ideal and Chalmers eventual shot missed the target. Arbroath responded and Hamilton drilled a low ball into the box which was put behind for a corner. The action raged to the other end and Derek Gaston denied Samuels with a tremendous save. That would be the closest to a goal all night and moments later Aaron Doran volleyed just over. Chris Hamilton smuggled the ball away from under the feet of Samuels in the box and from the corner Broadfoot headed over when he should have hit the target. A Michael McKenna snapshot saw Ridgers parry to safety and the defence cleared. Chalmers volleyed over after a clearance fell to him on the edge of the box, just after Dick and Dodds had a wee spat on the touchline An untidy spell ensued with play broken by fouls and substitutions. The chances stopped coming for both sides as time slipped away and a late free kick was wasted and that was it. Not a great night for Inverness to be honest, but still all to play for at Gayfield. Best performers were in defence with maybe Sean Welsh the only midfielder to put his foot on the ball. More match reaction to follow... From BBCSport Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Billy Dodds: "I'm happy we're in there pitching because it's going to be so tight on Friday. There's going to be nerves and tension because both teams have left themselves in a decent position."I didn't think we played our best but we had the best chances. We hit the bar first half but we weren't doing the things we're good at. Second-half was a bit better; thought we created the better chances but we just couldn't take one." Arbroath manager Dick Campbell: "If you'd asked me before the game if I'd be happy with that, I would be. The game is still alive and that's all I wanted to happen. The strongest survives on Friday."We will have a go and have our trumpets out. What does it mean to us? You'll see on Friday. They're part-time players. Two games this week, two games next week. It definitely sways towards the full-time clubs. Even if they lose, they'll still be immortal in my eyes." Dick, you forgot to add that you never played for ten days before this game whilst we played twice against Partick Thistle Why do they call him Clean Sheet Ridgers........ Because there's no Mark Date: 10/05/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2201 Referee: Euan Anderson Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Broadfoot, Devine, Deas, Samuels, Welsh, McAlear, Chalmers (Hardy 79), Sutherland (Harper 71), B Mckay (Doran 63) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Duffy, Hyde, Allardice Scorers: none Booked: Broadfoot (39), McAlear (65) Sent Off: none Arbroath: 0 Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Gaston; Thomson, Little, O'Brien Hamilton, Stewart, Low (Henderson 84), McKenna, C Hamilton, Craigen, J Hamilton (Donnelly 84) Subs (not used): Antell; Swankie, Ford, Linn, Bakare, Gold, Wighton Scorers: none Booked: O'Brien (58), Henderson (90+3) Sent Off: none a

First Leg v Smokies After an edgy quarter final play off win over Partick Thistle, we face Championship team of the season Arbroath on Tuesday night at 7:05pm. Dick Campbell takes his team North as favourites to progress to the final, with St Johnstone being the likely candidates for the opposition. The game will also be screened live on the BBC Scotland channel. Arbroath have had a fantastic season falling just two points short of automatic promotion and finishing second in the Championship, six points ahead of third placed Inverness, and with a superior goal difference of seven, and losing only five Championship games all season. The one thing in our favour is that we beat them twice, the most recent a slightly flattering 3-0 win a couple of months ago. TICKET INFO OFFICIAL PREVIEW Venue H2H all comps Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 21 16 2 3 56 18 +38 Away 19 9 4 6 26 22 +4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 40 25 6 9 82 40 +42 This seasons meetings with the Smokies 3 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) Interestingly, over the final six games of the Championship, Inverness were the team on form, finishing with a flourish ahead of the Play-Offs Overall Home Away Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Inverness CT 6 4 1 1 12 5 3 0 0 8 1 1 1 1 4 4 +7 13 2. Arbroath 6 3 2 1 13 6 2 1 0 11 4 1 1 1 2 2 +7 11 3. Kilmarnock 6 3 2 1 9 6 3 0 0 6 2 0 2 1 3 4 +3 11 Last time we faced Arbroath we were on an eleven game run of no wins since we thumped Morton 6-1 at Cappielow on December 11th CTO Report March 12th: 3-0: The spell is broken: A blistering start by Inverness put them on their way to a first win in 12 starts. Goals from Shane Sutherland and Reece McAlear set them on their way inside eleven minutes. Billy Mckay sclaffed in a third with twenty minutes to go and there was no way back for Arbroath who lost ground at the top of the table with Dick Campbell sent to the stands. As Partick Thistle lost to Morton, we closed the gap to two points behind them with Raith still one point behind us. Away to Rovers next week. That's a massive game now as both sides chase a play-off spot. I said to my grandkid's at the game "that was an emphatic win" At only seven years old, Ava said "granda, what does win mean?" Yes, it's been a long time coming... Well done Mark, great stuff. 68 clean sheets, that's some size of linen cupboard pal! TEAM NEWS Roddy MacGregor has cracked a bone in his jaw and could be out for the next few games. Tom Walsh is likewise after being injured inside twenty minutes at Firhill. Wallace Duffy missed the last couple after being injured against Accies on matchday 36. Scott Allardice made it onto the pitch as an injury time sub for the first time in months, so that's a positive and here's another one, Aaron Doran came on as a sub for the last half hour after taking a knock at Cappielow on matchday 35. Well deserved April's Player of the Month award for Logan Chalmers who has chipped in with some massively important stunning goals recently in our drive for promotion. He scored five goals in a five game purple patch starting with a match winning fiercely struck brace over Raith Rovers. He followed that up with a belter against Ayr United, a sweet winner against Killie a a wonderful solo thumper against Queen of the South. That's some left peg lad.

Smokies next A draw would have been sufficient for Inverness to progress in the Premiership Play-Offs after winning the first leg 2-1 at Firhill. After a cagey opening Austin Samuels scored a superb opening goal when Sutherland fed him into the box. Graham rattled the bar and Ridgers denied the big striker from a goalbound header as Partick came back at their hosts but at the break it was advantage Inverness. Inverness weathered the expected storm after the interval and restricted Partick to half chances and but for Sneddon Inverness could have added another couple of goals, but it's job done and Arbroath up next. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At home to Arbroath was the prize for getting through this game. Inverness carried a slender advantage from the first leg at Firhill into this tie at the Caledonian Stadium. Tom Walsh, Wallace Duffy and Roddy MacGregor were all out for the hosts leaving just six on the bench including the returning from long term injury, Scott Allardice. Cammy Smith and Ricky Foster were in the Partick starting XI with Brian Graham and Scott Tiffoney still the ones to watch. The game kicked off in bright sunshine and in the third minute Logan Chalmers got the break of the ball off Ricky Foster but he shot over as he approached the corner of the box. Robbie Deas lashed one over from the same area three minutes later as a loose ball came back to him outside the box. Partick almost got the opener when Scott Tiffoney whipped a great ball into the area where Robbie Crawford met it on the run but it just cleared the bar. Very close but no cigar this time. Inverness responded and Billy Mckay shot just wide but he won a corner as his effort was deflected. From the corner Sean Welsh had a shot blocked on the edge of the box The game was littered with loose passing with so much at stake, neither side wanting to make the first error. Brian Graham turned Kirk Broadfoot well twenty five yards out but his shot curled three yards wide of Ridgers left hand post. A wayward back header from Ross Docherty gave Inverness a corner but it was curled just behind, possibly off the corner of the bar. Tiffoney was causing all sorts of problems down the Partick left and he drifted inside but his shot was weak and dragged wide with almost half an hour gone. Almost against the run of play Inverness opened the scoring when Shane Sutherland sent Samuels into the left side of the box where he lashed a powerful shot high into the net behind Sneddon. Great strike, two important goals in two games for the striker. What a time to start scoring. AUSTIN POWER Partick struck the bar moments later through Graham when he got the break of the ball off the chest of Welsh after a corner, his shot from ten yards smacking the bar and bouncing clear. Six minutes before the break an absolutely fantastic save from Ridgers denied Graham as he dived low to his left to save what looked like a certain goal for the big striker. Back up the other end and Samuels almost snatched a second for Inverness but the ball just evaded him. Partick may be aggrieved to be one down, but Inverness hold a two goal aggregate advantage at the interval. Inverness would be well advised to cut out the loose passing to avoid a nervy ending to the tie. HALF TIME: 1-0 Immediately after the break Graham gave substitute Jakubiak an opportunity that won them a corner and almost another chance came from that. It was a sluggish start to the half for the hosts. What a save from Sneddon to deny a Broadfoot header after Carson had won a corner. Great agility from the keeper. Samuels then hit the bar from close range but Mckay was adjudged offside when he clipped the ball across goal. Ridgers gathered a speculative effort from Tiffoney just before the hour. Deas returned the speculative efforts and his one went wide. A bit of a lull since the substitutions after sixty five minutes as the game entered the final twelve minutes with Joe Hardy replacing Billy Mckay. Cammy Harper almost got on the end of a great Sean Welsh ball into the box, Sneddon just beating Harper to the ball to snatch it away from the Inverness player as we broke forward at pace. Sneddon made another tremendous save as Sutherland shot goalwards after a corner, that would have been game over but for the keepers reflexes. We appeared to have weathered the mini storm from Partick and their opportunities seemed to have dried up with eighty seven minutes gone. Decent performance in a tough game where we stood up to Partick and eventually nullified them. Great goal again from Austin Samuels and some tremendous defending with Carson MotM and Devine a close second. Onwards to face Arbroath next Tuesday and Friday, another tough tie. On BBC Sport Inverness CT manager Billy Dodds told BBC Scotland: “It’s a brilliant result I'm so happy for the boys! “I can't say I enjoyed the game, we weren’t at our best, but I don't want to be downbeat because we're through. It's a tremendous result to get through and have a crack at Arbroath. "We worked our socks off, we always do. I'd have liked another one to go in because you've always got that feeling in case they got one back. "We deserved to go through over the piece." Inverness' goalscorer Austin Samuels told BBC Scotland: "I thought I took it too wide but the power on the shot took it past the goalkeeper. "Shane is a really reliable player, as long as I've been here he’s always done a job for the team. "We had a tough period but the gaffer always told us to keep positive and that our time was coming, and it looks like our time is now. On facing Arbroath in the semi-finals, he added: "It’s going to be tough, they’re in the play-offs for a reason, we’ve got to focus on ourselves and hopefully we’ll be in the final after it. Goal can be seen HERE on BBC Sport BOOM!!! Date: 06/05/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2470 Referee: Kevin Clancy Inverness CT: 1 (agg 3) Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Broadfoot, Devine, Deas, Samuels (Doran 66), Welsh, McAlear (Hyde 90+2), Chalmers (Harper 66), Sutherland (Allardice 90+2), B Mckay (Hardy 79) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Scorers: Samuels (29) Booked: Carson (61), McAlear (85), Devine (89) Sent Off: none Partick Thistle: 0 (agg 1) Manager: Ian McCall Lineup: Sneddon; Foster, Akinola, Holt ( Bell 66), Hendrie, Crawford (Murray 82), Bannigan (Turner 45), Docherty, Smith (Jakubiak 45), Tiffoney, Graham ( Alegria 66) Subs (not used): Firth; Stanway, McKenna Scorers: Booked: none Sent Off: none a

Time to Complete Job With only one goal between the sides, these two teams come to the Caledonian Stadium on Friday night (7:45pm) for the return leg of the Premiership play-off quarter final. The first game at Firhill on Tuesday night saw Inverness come from behind to take a slight advantage back up the A9. With away goals not counting double the tie is still in the balance. At Firhill Neither side were able to dominate on the tattie field and they went in goalless at the break although Logan Chalmers looked to be impeded in the box as he tried to get a shot away midway through the half. Robbie Crawford opened the scoring when he got onto a reverse ball from Brian Graham to shoot high into the net from inside the box to put Partick in the driving seat. Inverness turned it round in the second half with goals from Shane Sutherland and Austin Samuels. So here we are back to the Highlands on Friday night to conclude this tie. The downside of playing on that pitch in such a fiercely competitive match saw Tom Walsh injured inside twenty minutes which is a great pity as he was starting to get back to his former self. We were without Aaron Doran, Wallace Duffy and Roddy MacGregor in the first leg, hopefully precautionary in Doran and Duffy's case. Roddy MacGregor might be out for the season. Scott Allardice managed a place on the bench but was rightly not risked on that pitch. Arbroath await the victor. Ahead of Partick game Highlights from 1st Leg The better surface at the Caledonian Stadium will benefit both sides. Scott Tiffoney is a tricky customer although David Carson stuck to the task well at Firhill, but he can be a handful. Brian Graham is always a threat in the air with his physical style and Danny Devine and Kirk Broadfoot need to watch him closely as he will try anything to gain an advantage, including diving in the box. We have our own players to look out for and Logan Chalmers has come on leaps and bounds since joining on loan, and he also has a lethal left foot. Players Player of the Year Shane Sutherland was MotM on Tuesday and is looking good value for his award. Austin Samuels has the pace to trouble defenders and our defence is normally solid. OFFICIAL PREVIEW & TICKET INFO Billy talking after win at Firhill