KirkieRobRoy

Did wonder whether the Irish/Welsh teams were much bothered about their participation in this competition. I think the Crusaders' performance and attitude in the second half answered that for me.

No Kevin Byers for Kennoway in the Junior Cup tie at Kirkie Rob Roy (6-2 to the Roy). Believe he may now be in the dugout but 1) Programmes had sold out when I arrived and 2) Eyesight no longer up to recognising people in dugouts across the pitch so can't confirm. I'd be a rubbish fitba reporter.

Aye, eighteen years. Still wear the same hat and scarf to games as I had that night (I'm cheap, not superstitious). Passing thought - phones didnae have cameras then. There'd be a lot more on the web about the game if they had.

First time I'd seen him. Thought he put in a good shift, worked hard, chased things and didn't hide. Didn't score either, but the goals will come.

Suspect it might have been over the line from my memories of it, but we do get these decisions our way sometimes as well. Swings and roundabouts.

I found today quite encouraging on the whole. St Mirren clearly deserve to be top of the league - no great shakes but do the easy things well. Really good second-half shift from ICT but lacking in front of goal. Of course, there was the 'disallowed' goal. Same linesman as didn't give that Hibs one the other week, apparently. Several players got touches and it was all very fast but my impression was that Samson hoicked it out from behind the line. Generally, I thought today was a great advert for the championship - big crowd, good game (pity about the result). What a shame there'll be minimal press coverage and nae telly. In other Championship news - whit in the name o the wee man happened at Falkirk?

I do feel for the genuine Rangers fans and their children , My suggestion to them is to go round to Partick or St. Mirren and take their kids there. I don't feel anything for Rangers or Celtic fans but you are making the (not uncommon on here) mistake of thinking that all or even most Rangers fans are in Glasgow. They are actually a nationwide pox - I suspect there are more people who would identify as Rangers or Celtic in Sneck than ICT. Every town and city in Scotland, from Falkirk to Forres, from Perth to Paisley, has people who either go to watch an Old Firm team and ignore their local side, or never go to football at all but still call themselves Rangers or Celtic supporters and, again, ignore their local side. Anyway, thought this was a thread that needed a god kicking into life.

Ian Black apparently signed for Tranent Juniors.

Scottish Junior Cup draw today pitted Kirkie Rob Roy at home to Kennoway Star Hearts... among whose players is Kevin Byers. I'd almost forgotten about him.

Yet FW has good connections to Glasgow, isn't far away from Sneck and can draw on another big-for-the-Highlands town (Oban) that disnae have an HL team. They're better placed for recruitment than some HL teams.

Coming to this late as I was in Inverness without advanced IT equipment. Definitely one of the worst games I've ever seen. QoS were surprisingly poor too but they had the consolation of a few decent attempts and some decent form earier in the season. No punch up front and still some worrying defending, saved by OFW. I thought our yellows were deserved and there could have been more for some of the daft tackles. I liked the comedically awful QoS free-kick too, but don't forget the ICT (forget who it was) fresh-air shot at the edge of the box in the second half at a time when we had a wee bit of pressure. It's early days and I'm not a Mad Manager Sacker but the team and club need to take action before too long. Can't see Brechin getting off the bottom but Falkirk are getting back on track and we need to do the same.

Owen Coyle is a high-risk appointment, with an unimpressive recent managerial record, just like most of the prospective bosses we could attract. He's just more expensive.

Or get cheap advance tickets First Class to Falkirk Grahamston on the Highland Chieftain both ways. That's what I'd do.

Married an Invernessian from a Caley family and started going to away games, mainly, after the merger as the club were now playing regularly in the Lowlands. And all downhill from there. Every summer I hope for a Kirkie Rob Roy v ICT pre-season friendly, so that I can wear two scarves in July and expire from heat exhaustion.

Well, it's a terrific goal, at least. I tried to be positive after the St Mirren result but it's harder this time. Dumbarton are never going to get out of this division northwards, but they have built a reputation for scrapping and gathering enough points to avoid relegation. Might be worth learning from them...

Sadly we'll be in Inverness anyway on the 30th and are committed to being at the QoS game. Kirkie Rob Roy currently in 2nd place in the West Central Juniors, too...

Anything really surprising? St Mirren are emerging as a decent side with lots of home-grown youngsters (now there's an idea!) making an impact. Did anyone expect a result there? In retrospect, scoring twice must be a pretty hopeful sign, and it's obvious to everyone that the defence is a problem to solve so let's assume Robbo and team are onto it. St Mirren have taken a couple of seasons to regroup after relegation. We might need something similar. Not ideal, but if it's a way back, it's a way back. And would you really fancy seeing Celtic or Aberdeen launching attacks at that defence next season?

My concern would be - is this £500k a 'soft loan' of the kind (albeit much smaller than) those with which the new Rangers club are papering over their cracks? Hope not. What kind of 'investment' is it then?

Remember posting here yonks ago about how in most tourist cities you can buy jerseys of the local team in tourist shops. Why not ICT jerseys in the tartan tat shops? Something genuinely Scaddish and Invernessian to take back to Littleville, Wyoming? While some of the suggestions above may or may not be practical or feasible, at least it shows the fans are thinking and trying to be innovative in terms of ideas. Is the club?

Brown should probably have been sent off, but even before his booking, England's Walker (I think it was - don't follow English football) did a right nasty one on Morrison, causing the injury that took him off, and wasn't even booked. The two minutes between Griffiths' goal and Kane's sneaky equaliser are the best I've felt at Hampden since you-know-what.

Something in the P&J today about him being out with a toe injury rather than being frozen out. Is this mince?

Not an outcome any of us wanted or can be happy about, yet the right one all the same. I'm surprised, though - I thought he was staying put. Worried now about the replacement. Will the board dither about that as they did while we were slowly and agonisingly getting relegated?

Quite a bit of Dunbartonshire, including my bit, is.

Aye, really enjoyed the semi-final, even though beating Celtic was getting a bit passé by then (things have changed now, though). Was dreading it if we'd made the play-offs and ended up paired with Falkirk. Coulda been payback time. In the end payback wasn't needed, and they didn't make it anyway.

Accies, from the point of view of it being a shorter away trip for those of us based in the west. Mind you, I watched that doc on BBC TalkFunny the other night about United's UEFA Cup run in 1987, beating Borussia Munchengladbach and Barcelona on their way to the final. Remember watching the Barcelona away leg live on telly. What a come-down for them to be trying to overcome Accies to get promotion.