DoofersDad

It could have been played this week if the abandoned game against County had been rearranged far earlier - as it should have been. Some fixture congestion is the price of success, but when matches need to be arranged for other reasons, they really should ensure rearranged matches are played as soon as reasonably possible, particularly with a league structure that requires all rearranged matches to be played well beyond the end of the season because of the slpit.

What price is the first class seating?

Many years ago I went to an early evening meeting at a school where the premises were surrounded by a 6ft iron fence with 3 pronged spikes at the top. I parked in the school car park. After the meeting 3 of us decided to go to the pub and we stayed a while. When I returned the gate was locked so there was no way I was going to be able to drive home. However, the bigger problem was that my house keys were in my coat pocket - and my coat was in the car! I therefore decided to climb over the gate to get my keys. I did that fine but getting back again was more of a problem and I caught my foot on the spikes and gave myself a significant gash on the ankle. I limped the 2 miles home and then limped back the following morning to collect my car. I couldn't blame the school caretaker for doing his job, the fact that my car was locked in and then that I injured myself was the result of my own stupidity. I was happy to have a laugh about the situation and move on. From what 12th man says, it would appear that as my car remained in the car park, the caretaker should have left the gates open. How absurd would that be! The gates are there for a purpose. I could have decided to have a few beers and walked home leaving the car there all night. That would have left the gates open for anyone to come in at night and do whatever it is that the gates are there to stop them doing. In these circumstances, if the law says the school caretaker should have left the gates open then the law is an ass. No. Irrespective of the technicalities of the law, if you park inappropriately then it is at your own risk and if your car gets locked in then so be it. Accept responsibility for your actions and get over it.

Trains plural sounds promising. Yup. One going down and one coming back

We saw that as well. Looked like he was sarcastically having a go at someone in the main stand. Players can only take so much slating. Maybe it's the same people big g was talking about on a previous post :) no doubt some will say they should accept it but some of the vitriol and crap aimed at the players is ludicrous. Good on Richie I say for letting them know. I thought he was applauding Yogi's decision to take Draper off

I think I might buy the Highland News for a change this week. I'm sure they will have something to say. I would have thought it was entirely reasonable for private owners of property to close off access to their property when they no longer require the access themselves. I know that at other times when their staff have required access they have found it difficult to park because of football fans parking there. If you park on private property when you have no business with the owners of that property then you do so at your own risk. If they then lock their property when they leave and your car happens to be in there then that's just too bad. If people want to use a car park close to the ground they can always use the club car park. Not only will the gates be open at the end of the match, the parking charge will make a welcome contribution to the club's coffers. But make sure you bring your wellies.

Fair enough, but what a poor perfomance! It looked like the priority for all the players was simply not to get booked. Far too often there was nothing on except a square ball or playing it back and it illustrated what an important player Doran is for us. When he came on he provided an outlet and was always looking for the ball. We suddenly looked a much better team. To be fair, Nick Ross started brightly and offered more penetration than anyone else but then he slipped back to the mediocre standards of the rest of the team. Yes we won, but play that poorly against anyone else this season and we'll lose.

Wasn't at the game but the highlights make for interesting viewing. Appreciate you just get a few key moments, but several of ICT chances came as a result of good flowing passing moves and it seems that a combination of the woodwork and good goalkeeping prevented this from being a pretty comfortable victory. Greg Tansey seemed particularly unlucky but at least he is not frighted to have a go and could well get a useful few in the weeks ahead. With Vincent signing an extended deal we now have just about every main player in the squad signed up until at least the end of next season, and with several beyond that. Of course it is disappointing not to have won yesterday, but with the continuity the contract situation provides, the team will continue to develop their understanding of how each other plays and I honestly think this side can develop into something pretty special. Some team some day soon is going to be taken apart by ICT and I have a sneaking feeling it just could be Stranraer on Tuesday.

We had a good laugh at County being dumped out of the league cup by Stranraer earlier in the season so we certainly don't want to suffer the same fate in the Scottish Cup. I would hope the team got a bit of a scare at the weekend and will be in the right frame of mind next week. They should not be under-estimated and I don't think they will be. A factor here is that with fixture congestion looming we need to be business like and not allow the game to go beyond normal time.

Hmm. Just think what we might have achieved with a decent manager during that time.

I've suddently become an ardent Albion Rovers supporter. I fancy a cup upset.

Very much a potential banana skin today after the euphoria of last week so I am just glad we are still in it. With Celtic going out it is a very open competition so we have as good a chance as we are ever going to have to pick up a trophy. Apart from making it more open, the good thing about Celtic's elimination is that it removes the possibility of them being drawn against the Rangers. When those two clubs have their first meeting the publicity surrounding it will be all encompassing so it is good we can avoid it for another year and have the focus of attention on other more deserving clubs. Well done Aberdeen Obviously it would have been better had we won but with Hibs getting beaten by Raith it's not been a bad set of results today. Aberdeen being drawn against the Rangers tomorrow would make the weekend even better.

I think I'm right in saying that 8 of the starting XI on Sunday were English. In recognition of that, I think a nice celebratory Morris dance outfit in team colours would be appropriate.

Who? You should know. He's talkin' bout your generation.

If they had been making any noise themselves, they wouldn't have heard what our small section of the crowd was singing.

Perhaps they feel it fitting that the final should be played at a Premier League ground.

Was just going to say the same. I can't think there can be a good reason. Efforts should be made to get these games played ASAP because you simply don't know what is going to happen later in the season. We are clearly going to have some level of congestion and if we get a period of bad weather in the next two months, the congestion could be worse still, requiring more than 2 games a week. Smacks of County wanting to wait till they strengthened and for when it was most inconvenient for us in preparing for the latter stages of cup competitions.

I'm sure they'll choose Ibrox. After all, it is overdue a game between two top flight teams.

I spoke to someone on the train who confessed to leaving when Meekings was shown the red card. He was very philosophical about it!

One thing I noticed on Sunday and was reminded of when I saw the re-run. With our 2 central defenders red carded, Draper played extra time in central defence. After we won a free kick on the edge of the Hearts box toward the end of the first period, Draper came up for it and took up position in the box. As soon the play broke down, Draper sprinted to get back to his defensive duties. Draper is a big man and I thought that really epitomised the effort and commitment of the team. Top man!

Amidst all the righteous indignation about the injustice of the red cards, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the players must share some of the blame - it is not all down to poor refereeing decisions. Warren's second yellow was an awful decision but he wouldn't have been off if he hadn't got the first yellow and I don't think he can have any complaints on that. With no chance of getting the ball he puts his arms up as if to say "I'm here but I'm not making a challenge for the ball" but yet he steps into the Hearts players path. He knew exactly what he was doing and the referee got that one right. He was on a tightrope after that. You could argue that justice was done with Meekings. Whilst the offence that gave him the red was never a sending off offence, it was certainly an intentional and cynical foul and a very unnecessary one. If he hadn't been so petulant then there would have been no decision for the referee to make. Also, he could easily have got a yellow for the foul that led to the second goal in which case his later foul would have seen him off in any case. We can't do anything about poor refereeing decisions but the club should be able to drill some discipline into the players so that they don't pick up cards as a result of challenges where there is clearly no real attempt or chance to win the ball.

On the contrary, the players need to remember just how good it felt to win a league cup semi final and to think just how good it would feel to win a semi final in the main cup competition. I know what you mean though. They can't afford to be complacent and I don't think they will be. Stranraer will defend in numbers but we have the players to stretch them and to get behind the defence. Laying the ball back so that Tansey and co can get a bit of shooting pactice should be the order of the day. Having seen how hard Tansey can hit a ball, I don't think they'll be queueing up to throw their bodies in the way.

Just watched the re-run in full. Still can't believe it!

Who would have taken the spot kick if he had? (always asuming Beaton awarded one!) No pressure, like.

Whilst agreeing that he gave a tremendous performance when he came on yesterday, he wasn't in the starting line up and I think will find it hard to force his way back in. For me I felt Tansey showed the extra drive and determination and willingness to shoot that is often lacking in Ross's game. There's an option for playing him wide but both Doran and Watkins offer more in pace and ability to take players on. I think the competition can do nothing but good for Nick's game and will force him to show the extra forcefulness needed if he wants to be a regular feature in the starting XI.