Robert

He’s been recovering a hip operation so I don’t know if he’s made his debut yet. He has had bad luck with injuries in the last few years so hopefully this gives him a stepping stone back to a higher level.

I’d have taken 1-1 before kick off and then when Raith took the lead. Credit the players for getting back into it and a draw was a fair result. It was quite a scrappy game, particularly the first half. Broadfoot was booked in only 50 seconds and the only chance I recall was a Welsh free kick that nearly went over the stand. Neither ‘keeper was tested. The pitch seemed slippery and was not helping with players losing their footing a few times, notably Mckay and MacGregor. So much for plastic surfaces! The sending off worried me as I thought it would galvanise Raith and, after we started the second half brightly, they got their goal from a cross from Zanatta. It was the only time he got the better of Duffy all game and the scorer got between our defenders to give Ridgers no chance. After that, I thought we would struggle to break them down, but we had our best spell and got a deserved equaliser when the ball fell to Welsh about 20 yards out and he finished well. It is good to be top, and we matched up to Raith well, but it was a game we could have won. However in past seasons we would have probably lost it, so in my book a point gained. We now need to keep our 100% home record going against Arbroath on Tuesday and then we have Partick away which will be another big test.

That first half didn’t look like first v second. The teams have cancelled each other out with few chances and a lot of loose passing. A Raith player was controversially sent off just before half time: were his studs up? We don’t often do well against 10 players so hopefully that changes this afternoon.

Kevin McHattie has joined Brechin.

Cammy MacKay could score……

Team (copied from RaithTV) sees Duffy in for McAlear: Ridgers Duffy Welsh Deas Devine Gardyne McKay Sutherland MacGregor Broadfoot Allardice Subs Mackay Doran Walsh Jamieson Duku McAlear Big afternoon ahead. We’ve a good record against Raith and we need to keep that up! How we defend, and protecting the back four particularly the full backs, may be key. Maybe Sutherland will score on his birthday? Update: McDonald also on the bench: https://mobile.twitter.com/ICTFC/status/1451900667040354316/photo/1

A great result. Riddle and Hennem got the goals, two of the youngsters we signed on professionally in the summer who are on loan to Highland League clubs.

The club’s preview: https://ictfc.com/match-preview-raith-rovers-a-2 Harper misses out but no word of any other possible injuries so hopefully everyone else is available.

Airdrie @ 1.83 please.

HT 1-0 FT 1-1 ICT Mckay Raith Zanatta Crowd 1687

Wish I could say I did it on purpose to grab your attention….. Must just be senility kicking in! Thanks for pointing it out, now updated.

Ticketing and PPV information again nice and early for next Tuesday’s game against Arbroath: https://ictfc.com/match-info-arbroath-h-26-10-2021

If anyone is free on Friday afternoon, the Under 18s have a cup game against Kilmarnock at the stadium at 3pm. Admission is free. With the schools off, hopefully they get a few fans along.

Ticketing information here: https://ictfc.com/match-info-raith-rovers-a PPV passes available from Friday on Raith TV: https://www.raith.tv/ Another top of the league clash and hopefully we get another win, but I am worried about this one. Raith are on a good run after a shaky start to the season and, whilst we normally do well against them, Zanatta caused us problems when we played them earlier in the season and he will fancy his chances against whoever we play at right back.

People around me were commenting on his lack of excitement. It’s harsh to judge on one game only.

This weekend I have noted: Nathan Austin (2) for Kelty Andrew MacAskill for Buckie Andy MacRae for Brora Jack Brown (2) for Rothes

The club’s report, which includes the goals and Dodds’ comments: https://ictfc.com/match-report-ictfc-2-0-morton-16-10-2021

It shows our expectations have risen! I thought I was realistic, not negative, and the comment above about Welsh is harsh. A shout out for Allardice playing out of position, as he handled things pretty well. I also thought McAlear had a good game and gave protection on the right side. Once again Gardyne was the pick for me. I was sceptical when he signed but he has become a key player for us and has weighed in with important goals. I was please Mckay started and it was great to see him on the score sheet. His confidence must be really high now. We have a good mix of youth and experience. We just need to tighten up on some slack play and we can really go places!

A deserved win, but on several occasions at 0-0 and 1-0 we did our best to let Morton get into the game by poor passing and some comic book defending. Ridgers’ kicking was not to his usual standards, but the one that counted was great vision and very accurate to set Mckay up for a cool finish into the corner. Gardyne pounced for the second after Mckay could have scored in the same move. We could, and possibly should, have got more against a poor defence, with Jamieson coming closest. Other than when we gifted them chances, Morton didn’t trouble us too much. I recall one Ridgers save in the second half with the ball rebounding to a Morton player who headed wide when it looked easier to hit the target. It was good that Gardyne was able to play the second half after his injury right on half time I didn’t see what happened but hopefully the Morton player is ok too. The 15 minute delay didn’t hamper us as we had probably our best spell at the start of the second half. We had a lot of injury stoppages, with Sutherland going off with a knock as well as Gardyne and Duku getting treatment on the pitch. Hopefully they are all fit for next week. A nice touch was Mckay holding up Carson’s shirt after he scored to show the players’ support for him at a difficult time. Not our most convincing display and some worrying lapses in possession, but another three points, and a five point lead after the first round of fixtures is a good place to be. Raith next week in another top of the table clash.

Mckay starts. Allardice at right back presumably: https://mobile.twitter.com/ICTFC/status/1449362559832928258/photo/1

Hamilton 1-6 Partick……. Makes our display and result a fortnight ago even more disappointing.

Sounds like we have some players carrying knocks in advance of tomorrow’s game: https://ictfc.com/match-preview-morton-h-2 And a request to watch where we park: https://ictfc.com/local-business-parking-during-matchdays

Ali Sutherland for Brora in the Highland League last night.

Credit where it is due though. We have won three of those four games 1-0 so he has been key to us (hopefully) securing second place in the group.

And one of their players had a career here with Forfar and Keith!