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untilSt Mirren -V- Inverness CT Scottish Cup 4th round tie @ Simple Digital Arena @ St Mirren Park, Paisley Friday 16th April 2021 @ 6:00pm covid restrictions no fans live streaming available
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We don't really have enough time left for a slip up here and there. We only have four games left, no scope for slip-ups. In truth it's almost out of our own hands even if we win every game. Defeat at Palmerston will possibly end our chances with Dunfermline playing Arbroath and Alloa in their final two games and Queens also having a game in hand. All ifs and buts at the moment...
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Have some...
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I wouldn't particularly say it flattered us. We could have scored another two or three but that's being greedy. Plenty of huff and puff by Morton but little cutting edge. The pitch was a great leveller early on. After the break Morton got their reward for hard graft but when Toddy scored his sensational goal the wheels fell off the Morton buggy. Dan was the icing on the cake, so thoroughly deserved win at an often difficult venue. Same again on Saturday on a better surface and things will be looking up. Its goals that count and we got three more than them, good enough for me.
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HOT TODDY SCORES A PEACH This crucial week kicked off at Cappielow and despite the condition of the pitch Inverness managed to score twice in the first half. We benefitted from what looked like an infringement for a pass back seven minutes before the break. Scott Allardice lashed the ball high into the net after much confusion and two minutes later Nikolay Todorov turned in the box to lash the ball into the net after some defensive bloopers. Two up at the break but the next goal could be important and it was Muirhead that gave Morton some hope. However Todorov superbly volleyed home after chesting down the ball to restore our two goal cushion and Danny Mackay scored a tremendous fourth with a curling shot from the edge of the box. Back up to fourth for Inverness with Dundee also winning at Ayr. After the Scottish Cup heroics at Dingwall we went to Cappielow on a more serious mission, to capture three points in our bid for a play-off slot. Morton find themselves in desperate need of points at the other end of the table and something was going to give. Three league defeats on the trot for Morton, three league wins on the trot for Inverness, but Morton were the last side to beat Inverness. Gus MacPherson made four changes from the side that put East Fife out of the cup. In come Luca Colville, Steven McGinn, Gary Oliver and Robbie Muirhead. For Neil McCann, Wallace Duffy and James Keatings disappear without trace as he goes with the same line-up that put County out of the cup. Morton kicked off on a dry but chilly night in Greenock with Inverness playing in their pink away strip with a change before a ball was kicked as Roddy MacGregor replaced Sean Welsh in the starting XI. It was a scrappy opening to the game on a pitch that has seen better days after a testing winter. First opportunity to make a keeper work fell to Todorov from a Scott Allan free kick but it was headed well wide. Ridgers made a comfortable save fifteen minutes in but the pitch was making passing difficult. He made another save a couple of minutes later from a close range header pushing it out for a corner as Morton threatened. However, it was brutal stuff akin to a welfare league match at the Bught Park. Claims for a penalty were dismissed as an Inverness player went down in the box as the ball bobbled around. Storey ballooned a bouncing ball well over the bar from a decent position on the left side of the box as the surface dictated the pace of the game. Friday's goal hero Danny Mackay was fed through on goal by Scott Allan but his initial shot was weak and McAdams blocked it; when the rebound came back to him he lifted it over the bar from close range. Great opportunity missed. Morton then forced a couple of corners that came to nothing although Aidan Nesbitt was looking dangerous wide on the right. Mystery moment in the Morton box soon after as referee Reid picked up the cleared ball and carried it thirty yards back into the hosts penalty box via the linesman. Rumour has it it may have been a pass-back spotted by the line judge. Unperturbed Scott Allan touched it to Scott Allardice and he ended up lashing the ball high into the net from eight yards. Two minutes later another Scott Allan free kick caused havoc in the Morton box and when the ball was headed back in by Daniel Mackay and Colville fresh aired it, Nikolay Todorov swivelled and opened up his body before hammering it into the net from around 15 yards, the keeper rooted to the spot. Half Time: 0-2 The second half saw no changes and it was only two minutes in when Mark Ridgers had to make a crucial block when McGinty burst into the left side of the box. The resultant corner was perilously close to the goal line as well as Morton's urgency looked to get them a foothold in the game. Morton were pressing the Inverness midfield better in this half and the visitors were living dangerously at times as they forced a number of corners. It was little surprise when Morton pulled a goal back on the hour when Robbie Muirhead drilled a loose ball into the net from twelve yards, swiftly followed by two attacking substitutes with scorer Muirhead going off. Shane Sutherland replaced Scott Allan with twenty minutes left as we became increasingly desperate as our composure deserted us momentarily. He made an immediate impact after collecting the ball on the right before fighting a great ball into the box. Todorov scored a goal of the season contender as he chested the ball down from high and volleyed it into the net on the turn from fifteen yards before the ball hit the deck, the ball flashing high past the astounded keeper. What a fekkin strike from a hot Toddy! Danny Mackay got in on the act as he picked up another great ball from Sutherland before curling a beauty into the top of the net from the edge of the box. Another beauty. James Vincent was denied a fifth as McAdams did well to block the substitutes effort from inside the box and Toddy looked for his hat-trick diving low to try and head a cross goalwards. Full Time:1-4 The game was over as a contest and the points were heading North long before the final whistle with Morton lucky not to concede more. Great win for Inverness who keep the pressure on the top six and jump back up to fourth, but Morton are deep in trouble at the bottom. Dundee beat Ayr 3-0 on the night Match reaction and highlights to follow Date: 06/04/2021 Venue: Cappielow Park, Greenock Attendance: 0000 Referee: Steven Reid Morton FC: 1 Manager: Gus MacPherson Lineup: McAdams, Ledger (Orsi 62), McLean, McGinty, McGinn, Strapp, Colville, Hynes, Nisbett, Oliver (McGuffie 72), Muirhead (Sterling 63) Subs (not used): Fjortoft, Jacobs, Blues, Lyon Scorers: Muirhead (61) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 4 Manager: Neil McCann (temporary) Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, B Mackay, Devine, Deas, D Mackay (Harper 81), Allardice, Allan (Sutherland 69), MacGregor, Storey (Vincent 72), Todorov Subs (not used): C Mackay; Lyall, Welsh, McHattie Scorers: Allardice (38), Todorov (40, 71), D Mackay (81) Booked: none Sent Off: none a -
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Big week starts tonight The race for a play-off place is entering the final laps now with just five games left for the Caley Jags to try and overhaul one of the clubs above us in the table. Off to Greenock on Tuesday night for a 7:00pm start to face Morton who beat us in Inverness last time we met. In reality, the best we can hope for is overhauling one team before the end of the season and take our chances against the rest if we make the play-offs. Whilst we were on Cup duty last weekend beating the village team from Dingwall, we were looking for Hearts to do us a turn by beating Dunfermline at Tynecastle on the Saturday. They failed to do this in a 0-0 draw and that result has knocked Inverness just out of the coveted top four slots. Fair play from the Pars I suppose who recovered well from the 5-1 hammering they took off Raith Rovers last time out and now sit one point above Inverness. Our next two games will shape our season and are crucial to our success this campaign. Away to Morton followed by a trip to face Queen of the South at Palmerston. Aye, there are no easy games left, it's then Dundee at home, Hearts away and our final game is a home tie with Ayr United. STREAMING £14 from Ton TV OFFICIAL PREVIEW We have dropped five points to Morton this season already. A draw at Cappielow against ten men for over half the game was a low point, especially as we threw away a lead. Worse followed at the Caledonian Stadium when Morton's Aidan Nesbitt scored the only goal as we struggled to make headway and Morton got their first win in ten games. However, since then we are unbeaten in six games, winning the last five including the two cup games. Mark Ridgers made his 150th appearance for the club in the Cup game at Dingwall and he is on a run of three clean Championship sheets in a row. Another one would not go amiss. However, a word of caution. It's all very well owning the bragging rights after the Highland derby, but the big prize this season is promotion, and while that's still achievable it would be criminal to undo the good work of the last few weeks and rest on our laurels, albeit it is rather satisfying. Ayr United v Dundee also tonight at 7:00pm Last 10 Competitive Meetings against Morton 0 - 1 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 3 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 5 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) Morton were in cup action at the weekend and had to go all the way before edging past East Fife 1-2 after extra time. They were heading out of the cup until Sean McGinty equalised in the 91st minute before substitute Robbie Muirhead settled the tie with eight minutes of extra time left. Kevin Smith had given the Fifers the lead on the hour and made Morton work hard for their place in the fourth round draw, as they did to Inverness early in the season in a league cup encounter. The Ton were also looking for a wee favour on Saturday when Arbroath hosted Alloa Athletic but the Wasps were unable to help out and went down 2-1. Not a great result for Morton who are now level on points with Arbroath and only hold a one goal advantage over the Smokies. So, for different reasons points at Cappielow will be a prized possession for both clubs as games run out in pursuit of their goals. Our cup exploits have earned us an away tie at Paisley in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup on the weekend of 17th/18th April. That means the League game against Dundee has been re-scheduled for 20th April @ 7:00pm Fabulous goals from Nikolay Todorov, Daniel Mackay and Shane Sutherland were enough to see of County in the cup who opened the scoring through Billy Mckay. St Mirren will offer a much sterner test than County's defence and this will be a difficult tie with the winner heading for a tie at Kilmarnock or Montrose. Morton's extra time win over the wee Fifers earned them an away tie at Motherwell in the fifth round. ***Latest Team News*** Scott Allan has played around an hour and a half now over two games and we have yet to see the best of him as his match sharpness returns. Aaron Doran is reputed to be close to a return but Anthony Macdonald will do well to get any game time this season. Almost a full squad, that's as good as it get's this season. Gus MacPherson is in charge of his sixth game since taking over at Greenock. He began when Morton were sixth in the table a month ago. Strangely enough that was the day after Morton beat Inverness at the Caledonian Stadium where top scorer Aidan Nesbitt got the only goal of the game. He is on four goals at the moment. MacPherson has secured a loan deal for Steven McGinn from St Mirren as they look to avoid a fourth Championship defeat in a row since beating Inverness. -
Ok in Inverness but has been a lot of snow flurries. Slochd summit and Drumochter might be different though...
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Big week starts tonight The race for a play-off place is entering the final laps now with just five games left for the Caley Jags to try and overhaul one of the clubs above us in the table. Off to Greenock on Tuesday night for a 7:00pm start to face Morton who beat us in Inverness last time we met. In reality, the best we can hope for is overhauling one team before the end of the season and take our chances against the rest if we make the play-offs. Whilst we were on Cup duty last weekend beating the village team from Dingwall, we were looking for Hearts to do us a turn by beating Dunfermline at Tynecastle on the Saturday. They failed to do this in a 0-0 draw and that result has knocked Inverness just out of the coveted top four slots. Fair play from the Pars I suppose who recovered well from the 5-1 hammering they took off Raith Rovers last time out and now sit one point above Inverness. Our next two games will shape our season and are crucial to our success this campaign. Away to Morton followed by a trip to face Queen of the South at Palmerston. Aye, there are no easy games left, it's then Dundee at home, Hearts away and our final game is a home tie with Ayr United. STREAMING £14 from Ton TV OFFICIAL PREVIEW We have dropped five points to Morton this season already. A draw at Cappielow against ten men for over half the game was a low point, especially as we threw away a lead. Worse followed at the Caledonian Stadium when Morton's Aidan Nesbitt scored the only goal as we struggled to make headway and Morton got their first win in ten games. However, since then we are unbeaten in six games, winning the last five including the two cup games. Mark Ridgers made his 150th appearance for the club in the Cup game at Dingwall and he is on a run of three clean Championship sheets in a row. Another one would not go amiss. However, a word of caution. It's all very well owning the bragging rights after the Highland derby, but the big prize this season is promotion, and while that's still achievable it would be criminal to undo the good work of the last few weeks and rest on our laurels, albeit it is rather satisfying. Last updated: 03.04.2021 at 13:41 Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Hearts 23 14 5 4 50 24 47 2. Raith Rovers 22 10 6 6 39 27 36 3. Dundee 21 9 6 6 40 37 33 4. Dunfermline 22 8 7 7 30 28 31 5. Inverness CT 22 7 9 6 28 23 30 6. Q.O.S. 22 9 3 10 36 44 30 7. Ayr United 22 6 8 8 28 27 26 8. Morton 22 6 7 9 19 27 25 9. Arbroath 23 6 7 10 19 28 25 10. Alloa Athletic 23 4 6 13 27 51 18 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 0 - 1 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 3 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 5 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) Morton were in cup action at the weekend and had to go all the way before edging past East Fife 1-2 after extra time. They were heading out of the cup until Sean McGinty equalised in the 91st minute before substitute Robbie Muirhead settled the tie with eight minutes of extra time left. Kevin Smith had given the Fifers the lead on the hour and made Morton work hard for their place in the fourth round draw, as they did to Inverness early in the season in a league cup encounter. The Ton were also looking for a wee favour on Saturday when Arbroath hosted Alloa Athletic but the Wasps were unable to help out and went down 2-1. Not a great result for Morton who are now level on points with Arbroath and only hold a one goal advantage over the Smokies. So, for different reasons points at Cappielow will be a prized possession for both clubs as games run out in pursuit of their goals. Our cup exploits have earned us an away tie at Paisley in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup on the weekend of 17th/18th April. That means the League game against Dundee has been re-scheduled to Tuesday 20th April @ 7:00pm. Fabulous goals from Nikolay Todorov, Daniel Mackay and Shane Sutherland were enough to see of County in the cup who opened the scoring through Billy Mckay. St Mirren will offer a much sterner test than County's defence and this will be a difficult tie with the winner heading for a tie at Kilmarnock or Montrose. Morton's extra time win over the wee Fifers earned them an away tie at Motherwell. ***Latest Team News*** Scott Allan has played around an hour and a half now over two games and we have yet to see the best of him as his match sharpness returns. Aaron Doran is reputed to be close to a return but Anthony Macdonald will do well to get any game time this season. Almost a full squad, that's as good as it get's this season.
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Away to St Mirren it is.
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All the goals on Caley Jags TV
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Definitely Deas, great header back across the box, great finish.
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Demolition derby Unfortunately no fans were allowed in for the first Highland derby since April 2019 when County beat Inverness 2-1. This time round Inverness demolished County with a clinical display of finishing to come from behind and win the tie 3-1. It was a dour first half that sprung to life after thirty eight minutes when former Caley Jags favourite Billy Mckay scored with a close range header after a corner had been flicked on. It took Inverness less than a minute to respond when Nikolay Todorov lashed the ball home following a free kick. In truth the game needed the goals as it had been a war of attrition prior to these strikes. County upped the pace in the second half but it's easy to see where their problems lie, a lack of a cutting edge and poor defending would cost them. In the fifty-fourth minute Dan Mackay burst forward on the left, ducked inside two defenders before finishing with aplomb. The best County could offer was a header wide by Jordan White as Inverness continued to look like the team in the top division. The icing on the cake was complete when substitute Shane Sutherland turned in the box to drive home as County failed to clear their lines. Best chance for County was a late scramble in the box but we're getting used to them now and cleared the ball much to the chagrin of the wee team over the bridge. There has been a lack of Highland derby's recently but tonight there was one in the third round of the Scottish Cup as Premiership hangers on Ross County hosted Championship hopefuls Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Inverness got here after edging out Buckie Thistle in a five goal second round tie. County start their Scottish Cup campaign tonight. Nick Walsh is the man in charge, I wonder who is in charge of Nick Walsh. Previous games he has refereed have been a mystery to both sets of supporters. County have been in charge of the derby's recently and it's eleven games since Inverness won over ninety minutes, a 3-0 victory in Dingwall in 2016. The best defence in the Championship versus the worst defence in the Premiership. Neither team impressing in the scoring game; who will come out on top in this one. The much awaited Highland derby kicked off on a decent night for football and it was Inverness that took the game to the Premiership side. In truth it was a poor first half and very little of note happened in the first half hour. Devine headed wide early on but neither keeper were involved in anything of note as defences were on top. That changed when Billy Mckay headed home a flick on from Shaw to put Dingwall ahead. Perfect for Billy, a header from two yards, no missing them for the wee striker. 43 seconds later it was all square when Todorov got the ball inside the box following a free kick by Sean Welsh. Robbie Deas rose highest to nod the ball across the box and Toddy lashed the ball home brilliantly from around twelve yards after steadying himself. The goals prompted a flurry of activity but it remained level at the break. Half Time: 1-1 The second half saw County playing with more intent, but still without doing anything in the final third. Daniel Mackay showed them how it should be done with a brilliant solo goal after he cut in from the left between two defenders before drilling the ball behind Laidlaw to put the visitors ahead. A deep corner had been headed clear by Danny Devine and David Carson strode onto it before sending a delightful ball down the line. Danny had plenty to do and did it with pace and accuracy as he left two defenders in his wake before striking the ball firmly under the keeper from sixteen yards. Danny Boy Still County failed to register anything on target despite a triple substitution just after the hour mark and Inverness were comfortable protecting their lead whilst looking dangerous on the break. Sub Jordan White headed wide with twenty minutes left in County's best/only chance of the game and as they grew more desperate it was Inverness that sealed the win with three minutes remaining. One of our own substitutes Shane Sutherland ended the contest when he combined with Roddy MacGregor to rifle the ball home from the angle following a free kick. Another superb finish as Shane took his strike early to score across the keeper from around fifteen yards on the right side of the box. After failing to get the better of our defenders following a scramble in the box it was over and out for County and into the next round for Inverness. Full Time: 1-3 Match reaction on BBC Sport Inverness CT manager Neil McCann: "That's as good a team performance as you're likely to see. It needed to be against a Premiership side but I thought we were comfortable. "The character they've shown in the past wee while was evident. I thought the shape was brilliant tonight, was really hard to break down, and we scored two great goals [in the second half]. "We're starting to pick up momentum. You can see the belief starting to grow in the group." Full match Highlights available on BBC Sport at the moment. All the goals from Caley Jags TV Date: 02/04/2021 Venue: Global Energy Stadium, Dingwall Attendance: 0000 Referee: Nick Walsh Ross County: 1 Manager: John Hughes Lineup: Laidlaw; Hjelde, Naismith, Donaldson, Watson, Kelly, Vigurs (Hylton 63), Lakin, Shaw (White 64), Gardyne (Charles-Cook 64), Mckay, Subs (not used): Hilton; Tillson, MacKinnon, Paton, Maouche, Draper Scorers: Mckay (38) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Neil McCann (temporary) Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, B Mckay, Devine, Deas, D Mackay (Harper 83), Welsh, Allardice, Allan (Sutherland 72), Storey, Todorov (MacGregor 72) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Lyall, Duffy, McHattie, Vincent, Keatings Scorers: Todorov (40), Dan Mackay (54), Sutherland (87) Booked: Devine (15) Sent Off: none a -
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A bridge too far? Having disposed of Buckie Thistle last Wednesday, Inverness make the short trip over the Kessock Bridge to take on Premiership strugglers Ross County in the third round of the Scottish Cup. Could this be a bridge too far in our recovery programme or will it be a warm up for the promotion play-offs. Should make for interesting viewing with the game being shown on BBC Scotland with a revised kick-off time of 7:45pm. Unfortunately covid restrictions means no fans will be in the stadium for what should be a cup cracker with Yogi now in charge at Premiership Dingwall and Neil & Billy trying to steer Inverness to safety in the Championship. Both management teams would do well to remember that the League is the number one priority, but bragging rights and a wee cup run can also lift the spirits. Once upon a time there were three clubs... County's Premiership status put them straight into round three, but due to delays caused by the weather and coronavirus the next round draw preceded the second round game at Buckie. Inverness edged out Buckie who put up a terrific fight against a much changed Inverness side. James Keatings opened the scoring in 35 seconds but big Jack Murray deservedly headed Buckie level. Sean Welsh drove Inverness ahead, but the tie looked to be heading for extra time after Callum Murray equalised with a couple of minutes left. However Dan Mackay pounced in the 90th minute to put Inverness through 2-3. Then there were two, Ross County -V- Inverness CT Our last ten competitive games against County are not very flattering. What can I say, the wee team from over the bridge have held the upper hand in recent seasons. Our last competitive win over County was in 2016 when goals from Liam Polworth, Ross Draper and a belter from Miles Storey saw us win 3 - 0 in Dingwall on the 19th March. Would it be clutching at straws to say County have never knocked the Caley Jags out of the Scottish Cup, ever? Yes, it's been a great rivalry with 61 games played, 26 wins for ICT, 17 wins for County and 18 draws. Goals for 95 - 70 = + 25 GD. So overall, County are still in the shadows. Well,it's all we have to go on! Here's another thought: Inverness have the best defensive record in the Championship conceding just 23 goals. County have the leakiest defence in the Premiership with 59 goals against. Neither side have excelled in scoring goals. ICT 28 from 22 games, County 26 from 33 games. Highlights from the 3-0 win in Dingwall Last 10 Competitive Meetings don't make for good reading for Caley Jags fans 1 - 2 (H) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 4 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 3 (A) 2 - 3 (H) We have managed three League wins on the bounce, all by 1-0 against Raith Rovers, Dunfermline and Arbroath as the McCann/Dodds revolution picks up pace. Looks like we are flying under the radar, but it's been effective in moving us up the table away from the drop zone and closer to the Premiership play-offs. Fingers crossed on that one. A marquee loan signing has given fans some hope that we can do the latter. Scott Allan has arrived from Hibs on loan and made his debut in the last half hour against Arbroath, showing glimpses of class and hopefully he can put his illness and injury problems behind him. In his half hour cameo there were signs that Scott will add another dimension to our creative play, something we have been looking for since the start of the season. County have blown hot and cold in recent weeks. It was only a couple of months ago they were thumping Aberdeen 4-1. However, despite also beating Celtic in Dingwall some inconsistent results have seen County struggle to stay just above the bottom two. Since then defeats to Hibs, St Mirren and St Johnstone interspersed with a 3-2 win over Killie keeps the Premiership flag flying. Billy Mckay scored a couple in that game and we know he likes to score when he wants. So, who do we know from their time at Inverness. John Hughes obviously, Scottish Cup winning manager in 2015. Billy Mckay, still got an eye for goal and a great penalty box striker. Jordan White, nothing to see here, jumps like he has his feet in a bag of cement, move on. Coll Donaldson, big defender can show some silky skills but prone to errors under pressure. Ross Draper was a fans favourite at Inverness, a big strapping lad, mostly a sub. Iain Vigurs, a booking waiting to happen. Get him down as first yellow card. Has all the skill in the world but a cynical schizer who would wind up his own granny. Carl Tremarco, agent Tremarco has not had much game time and his days are numbered. Apart from Gardyne and Shaw, the rest are mostly new names to us, but anyway, we have Brad Mckay... ***Latest Team News*** We like to keep things close to our chest of late although we were quick to inform all that Lewis Toshney has left the building last week. Injuries dictated that Lewis had played no games this season, so no big loss in the overall picture, but good luck to Lewis in his battles against injury. Anthony McDonald is still out. Aaron Doran made a fleeting return a couple of weeks ago but has not been seen since. Playing two games a week for the last two months can take it's toll and it certainly looked like it against Arbroath but we have had the novelty of six days off before this cup game. Beware, we still have James Vincent on our books, now he's a man that knows what it's like to score the winning goal in a Scottish Cup Final. Yogi also knows what it's like to win a Scottish Cup, I'm sure he will have ambitions to go further than the entry round for his current club. -
Meanwhile in the jailend, a post started a week ago has three replies. I'm sure there will be stimulating reading on P&B to keep everyone happy.
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A bridge too far? Having disposed of Buckie Thistle last Wednesday, Inverness make the short trip over the Kessock Bridge to take on Premiership strugglers Ross County in the third round of the Scottish Cup. Could this be a bridge too far in our recovery programme or will it be a warm up for the promotion play-offs. Should make for interesting viewing with the game being shown on BBC Scotland with a revised kick-off time of 7:45pm. Unfortunately covid restrictions means no fans will be in the stadium for what should be a cup cracker with Yogi now in charge at Premiership Dingwall and Neil & Billy trying to steer Inverness to safety in the Championship. Both management teams would do well to remember that the League is the number one priority, but bragging rights and a wee cup run can also lift the spirits. Once upon a time there were three clubs... County's Premiership status put them straight into round three, but due to delays caused by the weather and coronavirus the next round draw preceded the second round game at Buckie. Inverness edged out Buckie who put up a terrific fight against a much changed Inverness side. James Keatings opened the scoring in 35 seconds but big Jack Murray deservedly headed Buckie level. Sean Welsh drove Inverness ahead, but the tie looked to be heading for extra time after Callum Murray equalised with a couple of minutes left. However Dan Mackay pounced in the 90th minute to put Inverness through 2-3. Then there were two, Ross County -V- Inverness CT Our last ten competitive games against County are not very flattering. What can I say, the wee team from over the bridge have held the upper hand in recent seasons. Our last competitive win over County was in 2016 when goals from Liam Polworth, Ross Draper and a belter from Miles Storey saw us win 3 - 0 in Dingwall on the 19th March. Would it be clutching at straws to say County have never knocked the Caley Jags out of the Scottish Cup, ever? Yes, it's been a great rivalry with 61 games played, 26 wins for ICT, 17 wins for County and 18 draws. Goals for 95 - 70 = + 25 GD. So overall, County are still in the shadows. Well,it's all we have to go on! Here's another thought: Inverness have the best defensive record in the Championship conceding just 23 goals. County have the leakiest defence in the Premiership with 59 goals against. Neither side have excelled in scoring goals. ICT 28 from 22 games, County 26 from 33 games. Highlights from the 3-0 win in Dingwall Last 10 Competitive Meetings don't make for good reading for Caley Jags fans 1 - 2 (H) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 4 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 3 (A) 2 - 3 (H) We have managed three League wins on the bounce, all by 1-0 against Raith Rovers, Dunfermline and Arbroath as the McCann/Dodds revolution picks up pace. Looks like we are flying under the radar, but it's been effective in moving us up the table away from the drop zone and closer to the Premiership play-offs. Fingers crossed on that one. A marquee loan signing has given fans some hope that we can do the latter. Scott Allan has arrived from Hibs on loan and made his debut in the last half hour against Arbroath, showing glimpses of class and hopefully he can put his illness and injury problems behind him. In his half hour cameo there were signs that Scott will add another dimension to our creative play, something we have been looking for since the start of the season. County have blown hot and cold in recent weeks. It was only a couple of months ago they were thumping Aberdeen 4-1. However, despite also beating Celtic in Dingwall some inconsistent results have seen County struggle to stay just above the bottom two. Since then defeats to Hibs, St Mirren and St Johnstone interspersed with a 3-2 win over Killie keeps the Premiership flag flying. Billy Mckay scored a couple in that game and we know he likes to score when he wants. So, who do we know from their time at Inverness. John Hughes obviously, Scottish Cup winning manager in 2015. Billy Mckay, still got an eye for goal and a great penalty box striker. Jordan White, nothing to see here, jumps like he has his feet in a bag of cement, move on. Coll Donaldson, big defender can show some silky skills but prone to errors under pressure. Ross Draper was a fans favourite at Inverness, a big strapping lad, mostly a sub. Iain Vigurs, a booking waiting to happen. Get him down as first yellow card. Has all the skill in the world but a cynical schizer who would wind up his own granny. Carl Tremarco, agent Tremarco has not had much game time and his days are numbered. Apart from Gardyne and Shaw, the rest are mostly new names to us, but anyway, we have Brad Mckay... ***Latest Team News*** We like to keep things close to our chest of late although we were quick to inform all that Lewis Toshney has left the building last week. Injuries dictated that Lewis had played no games this season, so no big loss in the overall picture, but good luck to Lewis in his battles against injury. Anthony McDonald is still out. Aaron Doran made a fleeting return a couple of weeks ago but has not been seen since. Playing two games a week for the last two months can take it's toll and it certainly looked like it against Arbroath but we have had the novelty of six days off before this cup game. Beware, we still have James Vincent on our books, now he's a man that knows what it's like to score the winning goal in a Scottish Cup Final. Yogi also knows what it's like to win a Scottish Cup, I'm sure he will have ambitions to go further than the entry round for his current club.
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untilHearts -V- Inverness CT Championship Football @ Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh Saturday 24th April 2021 @ 15:00pm Covid Restrictions - No Fans Streaming available
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Ooft, Fon Williams saved that one like a painter
