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Good Point for the 252 Hopes amongst the Caley Jags support were at rock bottom ahead of this one with the threat of relegation looming large. With all hands to the pumps, Shaw, Boyes and Ujdur were brought back into the squad whilst not really 100% fit. Shaw started as did Pepple and Boyes with Billy Mckay, Lawal and Danny Devine dropping to the bench. Cammy Harper was given the Captain's armband today. It's a daunting task going to the lions den to face title favourites but underdog is our preferred tag. Anyway, 252 of them turned up at Tannadice in eternal hope and Duffy heightened the intensity only for Louis Moult to level things up. That's how it ended, a result we would have bitten your hand off before kick off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness got the game underway on a decent afternoon for a game in the City of Discovery. Alex Greive and Nathan Shaw exchanged efforts at either end of the ground, both going wide. Inverness took an early lead through Wallace Duffy after a cross into the box from Aribim Pepple was parried by the keeper out to Duffy who stroked a left footer into the empty net. Kevin Holt headed wide as United responded and Mark Ridgers pulled off a big save when he denied Ross Docherty and when the ball came back into the box Glenn Middleton headed wide. Ross Graham replaced the injured Holt after twenty-three minutes. The gamble to play Shaw failed and he was replaced by Samson Lawal before half an hour had been played. Ridgers pulled off another crucial save low down to keep our noses in front after Tony Watt ran through towards goal. The pressure on the visitors goal was mounting though and substitute Graham shot over from a Middleton cross two minutes later. Kai Fotheringham headed over after a corner ten minutes before the break. We forced a couple of corners five minutes before the interval. Just on half time Alex Samuel glanced a Cammy Kerr free kick wide and at the other end Ross Docherty saw his deflected shot held by Ridgers. Half Time: 0-1 No changes at the interval for the visitors but striker Louis Moult replaced Liam Grimshaw for the hosts. Cammy Harper had no takers for his whipped cross and Fotheringham shot over as United burst forward and when Max Anderson countered Pepple saw an effort blocked as he went forward. Substitute Moult bounced a shot over Ridgers from just inside the Inverness half. Great vision from the United striker but Inverness will be disappointed with that one. Declan Gallagher hit the post with a half volley and Graham was denied in the follow-up by Ridgers as United threatened to take control of the game. With twenty minutes to go Ridgers saved a Docherty header as the hosts pushed for an advantage. Billy Mckay replaced Pepple for the final twenty minutes. Into the final ten minutes and Tony Watt shot over the bar. It was backs to the wall stuff for the majority of this game and the plan to take something from Tannadice hung by a thread going into the last few minutes. Our MotM saved from Chris Mochrie as the clock ticked down. A late flurry for Inverness almost gave us the win when James Carragher's shot was cleared away from the line by Docherty and Lawal's powerful drive was tipped behind for a corner, alas it ended all square with Inverness seeing out the game in United's half. Full Time: 1-1 Hard earned point for the Caey Jags with Mark Ridgers a busy man this afternoon. Gary Bollan was booked alongside James Carragher at United's goal as they firmly believed that Cammy Kerr was fouled in the build up to the strike. The video is not conclusive, but my best guess is that Kerr was fouled and Moult turned round and thumped the ball away fully expecting a free kick to be given. However, instead of a free kick, he got a goal. Sickener to be honest. The managers spoke to BBC Sport after todays draw: Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin: "The goal we concede is a disaster from our point of view. It was a wonder goal to equalise. [Inverness goalkeeper] Mark Ridgers is everyone's man of the match today, which speaks volumes. It's not good enough from our perspective, it feels a bit like a defeat. It might be a valuable point on the board but we should be getting three points." Inverness CT manager Duncan Ferguson: "We were absolutely outstanding. It took a wonder goal to beat our goalkeeper. We did very well and managed the game well. We could feel the stadium was edgy. On another day, we might have nicked it. Nobody gave us a chance here, bar us. I was well pleased with a point. It doesn't matter who wins round about us, it's about us." Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table after todays games 1. Dundee Utd 30 17 8 5 57 21 59 2. Raith Rovers 29 17 7 5 49 36 58 3. Partick Thistle 30 12 10 8 56 49 46 4. Airdrieonians 28 11 6 11 33 32 39 5. Dunfermline 30 10 8 12 34 39 38 6. Morton 29 10 7 12 35 34 37 7. Queens Park 30 9 9 12 43 48 36 8. Ayr United 29 10 5 14 41 53 35 9. Inverness CT 30 7 11 12 34 35 32 10. Arbroath 29 6 5 18 30 65 23 Just the goals for now>>> We got a point didn't we>>> Full Highlights>>> Date: 23/03/2024 Venue: Tannadice Park, Dundee Attendance: 7567 Referee: Chris Graham Dundee United: 1 Manager: Jim Goodwin Lineup: Walton; Thomson, Gallagher, Holt (Graham 22), Grimshaw (Moult 45), Fotheringham (Cudjoe 58), Sibbald, Middleton, Docherty, Greive (Mochrie 75), Watt Subs (not used): Newman; Macleod, Glass, Meekison, Tillson Scorers: Moult (55) Booked: Middleton (44) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Carragher, Duffy, Boyes, Savage, Shaw (Lawal 29), Kerr, Anderson, Harper, Pepple (B Mckay 71), Alex Samuel (Brooks 77) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Ujdur, Devine, Austin Samuels, Doran Scorers: Duffy (12) Booked: Pepple (25), Boyes??? 56) Carragher (56), Kerr (78), Gary Bollan assistant manager (56) Sent Off: none a

  Beyond the pale...   With most fans patience having been tested to the limit, we head into the first of two difficult away games starting at Tannadice on Saturday to be followed the week after by a visit to Firhill. Zero points from these two fixtures is a distinct possibility given our current predicament and the repercussions of that are horrendous. The only thing in our favour is that both are away fixtures as our home form has been abysmal. Clutching at straws, all three previous games this season have been close encounters. And now for the wake up call. ONLY FIVE GAMES LEFT TO SAVE OUR SEASON AFTER THESE TWO AWAY GAMES. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Arabs Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 35 10 10 15 35 45 -10 Away 29 7 11 11 37 43 -6 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 64 17 21 26 72 88 -16 United have always held the Indian sign over us. More recently, it's ten games since we beat them. That was a televised Scottish Cup game in 2019 when Joe Chalmers curled in a beauty to give us an early lead before Nicky Clark levelled from the spot. However, Aaron Doran scored a deserved winner after 92 minutes to send us off to Hampden for a semi-final date with the Jambos. (That ended in a 3-0 defeat for the Caley Jags) Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Dundee United 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 0 - 3 (H) 1 - 4 (A) 0 - 3 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 0 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) Last time out We slumped badly once again at home. In fact our last two matches were home games against the only two teams we have beaten in the Championship this season. Airdrie was played out as a scoreless draw. Against Ayr we looked well off the pace and were fortunate to go in level at the break when we were gifted an unlikely penalty on the stroke of half time. That squared the game after Stanger had given Ayr the lead with only five minutes gone. Ayr took all three points when Bryden scored on the hour with the home defence floundering. We didn't lack effort, but we were sadly lacking in quality and managerial direction at a stage in the season when we need it most. Last Five: D D W D L  United faltered badly a week after thrashing Arbroath 4-0. On the telly last Friday they went down 3-1 to a resurgent Dunfermline who were all over them like a rash at East End Park. All United had to show for their effort was a late consolation goal, and that was an og from Benedictus. Oh well, that shows that they can be got at although you have to attack in the first place to make something happen. You have to be in it to win it as they say. Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin said this on BBC Sport after last weeks defeat: "We didn't start the game well enough, it's as simple as that. The first 45 minutes is one of our worst performances, there's no doubt about it. We didn't offer anything going forward. "We didn't carry a threat at all in the final third and we weren't at the races in the first half. Dunfermline looked as if they were a little bit more energetic than us, picking up a lot of second balls. I can have no arguments about the result." Last Five: L D W W L  Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Airdrie in Challenge Cup final on Sunday - that makes Raith Rovers idle as well. 1. Dundee Utd 29 17 7 5 56 20 58 2. Raith Rovers 29 17 7 5 49 36 58 3. Partick Thistle 29 11 10 8 55 49 43 4. Airdrieonians 28 11 6 11 33 32 39 5. Morton 28 10 7 11 35 33 37 6. Dunfermline 29 9 8 12 33 39 35 7. Ayr United 28 10 5 13 40 51 35 8. Queens Park 29 8 9 12 41 47 33 9. Inverness CT 29 7 10 12 33 34 31 10. Arbroath 28 6 5 17 30 64 23 Championship games on Saturday 23rd March    Arbroath v Partick Thistle Ayr United v Queen's Park Dundee Utd v Inverness CT     G Morton v Dunfermline   Latest Team News Inverness' injury problems are no better. Still a whole team of players missing or carrying knocks. Here's Dunc ahead of the Arab's game. Nathan Shaw will reluctantly be thrust back into the squad as will Nikola Ujdur and Morgan Boyes.     Dundee United have the biggest squad of luxury players available in the Championship yet they are still struggling to break free at the head of the table. Maybe Jim Goodwin should try another job. United team beaten last week at EEP Walton   Thomson   Gallagher   Holt   McMann   Tillson (Middleton 45)   Sibbald   Docherty (Mochrie 64)   Greive   Moult (Fotheringham 64)  Watt   Subs Not Used: Newman; Cudjoe, Meekison, Grimshaw, Graham, McLelland        

All conquering Arab's await It's a massive test for Big Dunc's battlers as we head to Tannadice this Saturday for a game against runaway League leaders and promotion favourites Dundee United. I'm sure he will be remembered fondly by the Arab's faithful. Dunc made 88 appearances for United and a £4million pound transfer profit when he joined Rangers before a 'clash' of heads saw him spend some time at her Majesty's pleasure in 1994. 3:00pm is the scheduled kick-off time for this one and it will be a foolish man who will put money on an away win. We are, however, often better without the favourites tag although this one might be a bridge too far as Jim Goodwins unbeaten team are sweeping all aside mercilessly. They won the first fixture at the Caledonian Stadium 1-0 back in September, just after the end of Doddsball when we were managerless. We are more solid at the back now with Ujdur, Devine and Boyes to choose from but still a bit toothless up front although David Wotherspoon showed on his debut what a bit of class will do for you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/ticket/travel info Forces go Free ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue: H2H v Dundee Utd Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 34 10 10 14 35 44 -9 Away 28 7 10 11 36 42 -6 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 62 17 20 25 71 86 -15 As expected, United have the edge in these fixtures, especially over the last 10 fixtures. Last 10 Competitive Meetings: 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 0 - 3 (H) 1 - 4 (A) 0 - 3 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 0 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) The last time we won at Tannadice was in March 2019 in a Scottish Cup Quarter Final tie. KARMA BIG STYLE: Full report 2 - 1. Inverness opened the scoring when Joe Chalmers cut onto his left foot and curled the ball into the roof of the net from sixteen yards for a sublime goal. Chalmers almost added a second but he volleyed onto the bar from six yards when the ball found him unmarked. The first half ended at 1-0 with Ridgers a virtual spectator. Substitute Paul McMullan blatantly cheated to earn a penalty and Nicky Clark slotted his second in two games. In a dramatic finish, Nathan Austin had a marginal offside decision go against him as he superbly headed home a Polworth free kick, however, Aaron Doran nodded home after a fantastic knock on from Jordan White to win the tie in the second minute of time added on. Aaron Doran was MotM, and not just for his goal, his all round game showed he was a menace to United from the start. To be honest you couldn't fault anyone in a total team performance. Jordan White has become a fans favourite after a stuttering start at Inverness and he showed yesterday how important he is to our game plan. Chalmers was incredible as well and Liam Polworth showed his value with some great through balls. Unsung heroes all over the park and none moreso that Charlie Trafford who was immense in the engine room. Hampden here we come! In the first encounter this season: 0 - 1 Late Strike Ruins the Day: Another very late goal ruined what had been a reasonably resolute performance by managerless Inverness. However, the end result remains the same and we went down to an avoidable sclaff in time added on when substitute Chris Mochrie poked the ball home after Ridgers had cleared a bouncing effort away from the top corner only for the United players to react quickest to prod the ball into the bottom corner with the aid of a deflection. Meh! It doesn't rain but it pours... Last Time Out Inverness recorded their first home win of the Championship Season after Big Dunc led the team to a narrow 1-0 victory over Airdrieonians. The winner came when David Wotherspoon showed quick feet and composure on his debut to stroke home eight minutes before the break. Not a vintage performance but we restricted Airdrie to very little as we kept the visitors out to record a clean sheet and three points in the bag, albeit withstanding a late push from the visitors as they tried to salvage a point. Last Five: L L W D W Dundee United beat Airdrie at the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium on Tuesday night having hammered Arbroath 6-0 last Friday night. Kai Fotheringham scored twice against the Diamonds to put the Arabs on 27 points at the top of the table. Louis Moult scored a brace against Arbroath as United flexed their muscle. Docherty Fotheringham, Watt and Cudjoe were also on the mark. That's eight goals for Moult, the former Motherwell striker. Kevin Holt has 7 with Kai Fotheringham on 6. Cudjoe has 4 goals attributed to him and thats a pretty potent strike force, four scorers in the top ten Championship goalscorers. Moult was an unused sub against Airdrie. Last five: W D W W W Dunfermline beat Morton 2-1 last night to keep Morton below us in the table ahead of today's games. Latest Team News Inverness will be without the usual long term casualties (MacGregor, Nicolson, Doran, Welsh, Duffy, Samuels). Wotherspoon debuted last week as did Cillian Sheridan who looks like he will need to get up to speed before we see any benefits from him. Luis Longstaff, one of our most promising player of late, was subbed off injured last week and is a doubt. Aye eye, Morgan Boyes might feature......... I'll take that as a yes. Dundee loan player Max Anderson will relish this task and I'm sure he will be a target for the 'Shed' boo boys. Ear plugs at the ready Max! Here's Dunc, learning quickly from the ICT managers handbook: Tell them nothing>>> Jim Goodwin has a wealth of funds and a Premiership squad to play around with>>> He will be without Ross Docherty for this one though as the midfielder faces a couple of weeks out with a groin strain. United team in 0-2 win at Airdrie on Tuesday night, Walton Grimshaw Gallagher Holt McMann Sibbald Docherty (Tillson 20) Fotheringham (Cudjoe 83) Glass (Mochrie 76) Middleton Watt Subs not used: Newman (gk); Denham, Graham, Moult, Freeman, Stirton Here's a date for your diary..... almost We enter the Scottish Cup with a third round home draw against Cowdenbeath. The game will be played on the weekend of the 25th of November but the date and time have still to be confirmed.

Tannadice drookit John Robertson was without the injured Sean Welsh who has been out of the side most of his time here. Some say he is made of wafers, but he will be a big miss for us tonight. Former United player Lewis Toshney was on the bench with Brad Mckay coming into the back four. First time back at Tannadice since the departure of Coll Donaldson; who will they vent their anger towards instead? Louis Appere came back into the starting XI with American Ian Harkes dropping to the bench. Former Hamilton Accies striker Rakish Bingham made his home debut. Lawrence Shankland, the scorer of five goals in two games against Inverness was United's main striker. United kicked off with constant rain falling at Tannadice and James Vincent had to charge down an effort on the edge of the box, but moments later Lawrence Shankland should have opened the scoring as he latched onto a ball in the box with just a couple of minutes on the clock but fired just over the bar. Ten minutes gone and the game had turned into a midfield tussle. Or did I speak too soon........ Inverness failed to defend positively when United probed forward and Louis Appere side footed home brilliantly from the edge of the box with Mark Ridgers unable to get an early vision of the shot, the ball nestling in the bottom corner beyond the keepers outstretched hands. Mark Connolly headed over from a corner a minute later as United began to dominate the midfield and Shankland saw a twelve yard shot deflected over the bar for a corner which Ridgers claimed well given the slippery conditions. Inverness responded well and put United on the back foot momentarily before James Keatings dived shot over. Storey dragged a shot well wide as well as we tried to get a foothold. Vincent found himself offside after some neat interplay as we pushed forward. Brad Mckay did well to stop a surging run by Peter Pawlett and as the play went to the other end Jordan White shot over. David Carson robbed Shankland in the visitors half and the move ended when Tom Walsh curled a shot just over the bar. United did likewise as Connolly drove forward and Appere forced Ridgers to save his angled shot low down. Inverness went to the other end and won a corner. Keatings swung a great ball into the near post and big Jordan White put his head in the mix to power a header behind Siegrist to level the score. Some confusion in the home box allowed White to turn and shoot but the ball was deflected agonisingly wide with only five minutes to the interval. The corner showed more indecisiveness in the United box as it was hacked clear. Moments later White tried to get space in the box but United eventually broke the move down. There was no let up in the weather as the break approached and Shankland tried to burst into the box but Brad Mckay once more dominated him. Just on the break a flick goalwards was scooped up by Ridgers and that endeth a decent first forty-five. Half time 1-1 No replacements at the break as the rain continued to dampen the atmosphere. Walsh brought out a save from Siegrist at the start of the half as Inverness continued on the front foot but Carson who was walking a tightrope after a soft booking in the first half upended a United player to the derision of the home support. Another Keatings corner almost brought white into play agfain at the near post but United survived. Robbo thought better of the Carson incident and replaced him with Charlie Trafford as united refreshed as well. Against the run of play, Shankland turned and rammed home from the edge of the box to put United ahead once more with Bingham providing the assist. Great strike from a class striker, his 28th goal of the season. In the 70th minute Inverness wee fortunate to see a Harkes strike deflected for a corner as United looked to kill the game Shaun Rooney almost equalised in the final minutes when he headed just over the corner of the bar as Inverness chased an equaliser. It almost came when a long ball over the top found Tremarco coming in on the blind side but he was only able to find the side netting. A great tackle from Mckay halted Appere as he sprinted forward on the wing, but time ran out for the Caley Jags. The game ended just out of reach for the Caley Jags, but a decent performance all round which could have gained at least a point was the final outcome. Meh!!! Match reaction to follow................. Here's Robbo on BBC Sport "We need to mark Shankland in the box, it's as simple as that. That's why United will win the league - they're more clinical than us and everyone else. "We're too nice. We react to things, we don't anticipate. It's difficult to criticise effort and honesty, but to be a top player, you need to have that extra quality, desire, and that bit more know-how. "We've got masses still to play for. We should, in my eyes, be pretty clear in second place. This is the frustration - we've dropped too many silly points and haven't been clinical and ruthless enough." Match Highlights on BBC Sport Date: 21/02/2020 Venue: Tannadice Park, Dundee Attendance: 7583 Referee: John Beaton Dundee United: 2 Lineup: Siegrist; L Smith, Powers (Harkes 57), Connolly, Pawlett (McMullan), Bingham (Reynolds 87), Robson, Butcher, Shankland, Appere, Watson. Subs (not used): Mehmet, Sporle, Glass, Mochrie Scorers: Appere (12) Shankland (59) Booked: Watson (54) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Ridgers; Rooney, B Mckay, McHattie, Tremarco, Keatings, Carson (Trafford 59), Vincent, Walsh (Todorov 86), Storey (Doran 66), White Subs (not used): C Mackay; Harper, Toshney, MacGregor. Scorers: White (32) Booked: Carson (14), McHattie (73) Sent Off: none a

Friday Night Footie We are on the telly again tonight. No it's not just the James Keatings diving show but we face runaway League leaders Dundee United at Tannadice tonight in a Championship game that kicks off at 7:05pm for the benefit of BBC Scotland TV. Been a hectic week or two with one thing or another so I'll keep this short. Inverness will be without Sean Welsh again who has a twisted ankle. Man of the moment James Keatings will be available for this one as his 'ban' will only come into effect for the same competition that the faceless imbeciles at the incompetent SFA decided that he dived. Nicky Clark is out for United but is hopeful of a return before the end of the season. United hold the upper hand over the Caley Jags this season and we will do well to hang on to their coat tails in this one. In our favour, the Arabs have faltered somewhat in the last few games since thumping Partick Thistle 1-4 on the 11th of January. They have since been knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Hibernian and had draws with Morton and Alloa and were beaten 1-0 by Arbroath. Mon the part-time teams. We had a morale boosting win over Livingston in the Scottish cup, but otherwise have let slip opportunities to narrow the gap at the top whilst the Arabs lost points. A defeat at Ayr, where incidentally Mr Aitken officiated, and a poor 1-1 draw with Alloa Athletic have also seen our Championship hopes stutter since an excellent away win at Dens Park after New Year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Official match preview Includes ticket information The SPFL have confirmed that The Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Cup Final against Raith Rovers will take place on Saturday 28th March 2020 at McDiarmid Park, with kick-off at 4.10pm and the game being shown live on BBC Alba. We are all James Keatings also Our home fixture against Partick Thistle has been rearranged for Tuesday March 17th and will kick off at 7.45pm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's a leaked video of James dressed as a giraffe rehearsing his dives Hopefully the recent poor weather will relent and the game will provide an entertaining spectacle for the throngs of onlookers checking to see the artistic dives and antics of the Caley Jags players.

New Striker nets the goals. Unfortunately for Inverness it was United's new man Lawrence Shankland that grabbed a brace of headers in the first half to put the Arabs into the break 2-1 ahead. Tom Walsh had levelled for Inverness but that only lasted for a couple of minutes before Shankland restored United's advantage. James Keatings had hit the post before the opening goal came along. Brad Mckay was stretchered off midway through the half with Carson moving to right back and James Vincent coming on. Shankland completed his headed hat-trick in the 53rd minute. Jordan White and James Vincent went close for the visitors and Vincent cleared one off his own line. However, Shankland completed the misery for Inverness when he scored a fourth with five minutes left. Nearly 200 visiting fans saw new signing Miles Storey make the bench for Inverness and James Vincent and Nikolay Todorov sat beside him with David Carson starting. Top striker Lawrence Shankland started and it wouldn't take him long to make his mark........... A frantic start saw Inverness survive a melee in their own box and then James Keatings hit the post from twelve yards after a ball in from Jordan White with the keeper beaten. Lawrence Shankland was brought in to score goals and he opened his Championship accounts in the seventh minute as he headed a Louis Appere cross behind Mark Ridgers. Keatings forced Siegrist into making a save as Inverness hit back two minutes later and at the other end Nicky Clark shot over on the break. A sore one for Brad Mckay as he is helped from the park in a neck brace after falling awkwardly, James Vincent replacing him with David Carson moving to cover at right back. The visitors were gaining a foothold in the match and following a couple of corners, Tom Walsh was on hand to knock the loose ball home after a Jamie McCart header rebounded near him. Sadly, we never got time to settle on that leveller and Shankland headed his second of the game within a minute of Walsh scoring, Paul McMullan the provider. We steadied the ship once more but at the break United had a slender but not insurmountable lead. Half-Time 2-1 Eight minutes into the second forty-five and 'Lawrence of Arabia' notched his third goal of the afternoon. Another cross from Appere, another header from Shankland, another goal for United. What on earth have our defenders been doing in training? Big turning point came a couple of minutes after the goal when Jordan White missed a great opportunity to get us back into contention, but he missed the target from close range. And that my friends is the difference between success and failure. Keatings also shot over as we came to terms with our predicament and soon after a double substitution, but it was the same olde story (no pun intended). Doran came close to connecting to a ball from Walsh at the back post but the final nail in the coffin was coming. Cammy Smith saw an effort hacked clear as United went for a fourth to kill the game off and it duly came with around five minutes left on the clock. Who else but Man of the Match Lawrence Shankland who will be given the freedom of the city before the end of the season as he turned and shot past Ridgers effortlessly from inside the box before Inverness were spared any further punishment as Shanks was subbed. Predictably, our familiar slow start to a season continues to haunt us and it looks like the long ball approach is not going to get us far in this division given that every team has seen it coming for the last couple of years. Time to knuckle down and start playing football before we get left behind once more. Our normally reliable defence has taken a battering of late and that's three right backs down now. Coll Donaldson needs to re-focus and get back to his player of the year status. It appears that his performances are suffering recently. If anyone finds his mojo, please return it to John Robertson, c/o The Caledonian Stadium, Inverness (for now anyway). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Speaking to BBC Sport Dundee United head coach Robbie Neilson: "I was delighted with the performance right from the start. I thought to a man they played very well. "Shankland has been great since he came in. I think the other players have got to take credit for the as well because they brought him into the group and you can see he's getting the benefits." Inverness CT manager John Robertson: "There were key parts of the game where we felt that had we defended properly first we'd have kept in it, but we missed good opportunities at the wrong time. "And they had a man who they paid big money for and that's exactly why they've done it, that was a masterclass in finishing." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Caley Stan was a touch more lenient to the cause: "So, a painful watch - United were better than us in every department but i still think the main issue is in the centre of the park - there isn't a combination among Trafford/Carson/Vincent that either protects the back 4 or provides a platform for the creative players to get into the game. The long ball is a necessity as a result, and Doran and Keatings are wasted without balls to feet. We have to hope United are just way too good for this league and we're having our usual slow start. Video footage will be added when available. We've had better days.............. Man of the Match................I'll have to think about that one............. No doubt about it, it's Lawrence of Arabia with his four goal performance. What a start to his United career as he takes the plaudits. Shanks very much. Here's Robbo talking after the game Here's another Storey for you........... Date: 03/08/2019 Venue: Tannadice Park Attendance: 7023 Referee: Steven McLean Dundee United: 4 Lineup: Siegrist, L Smith, Connolly, Reynolds, Robson, McMullan, Stanton (Harkes 76), Butcher, Appere, Shankland (Banks 88), Clark (C Smith 65) Subs (not used): Mehmet; Chalmers, King, Banks, Watson Scorers: Shankland (7, 31, 53, 86) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Ridgers; B Mckay (Vincent ), Donaldson, McCart., Tremarco, Trafford, Carson, Doran, Keatings (Storey 71), Walsh, White (Todorov 71) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Harper, McHattie, MacGregor. Scorers: Walsh (30) Booked: Carson (61), Trafford (77) Sent Off: none a

The return of the 'Magic Hat' It's another visit to the City of Discovery on Saturday as the Championship season kicks off with a trip to Tannadice to take on title favourites Dundee United, where we will discover if they have what it takes to get back into the premiership, or are they flattering to deceive. We know a little about Dundee after the League Cup tie last Sunday where we bowed out of the competition after we lost 1-0 thanks to a strike from Danny Johnson. In truth, there was little between the sides and but for a calamitous goal we would still be in the event. However, we are out and can concentrate on bigger things. Dundee United also wimped out of the League Cup after a surprise 0-2 defeat by East Fife at Tannadice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The OFFICIAL SITE has more information regarding ticket prices and Supporters Travel Club etc. OFFICIAL PREVIEW can be read HERE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robbie Neilson has a wealth of talent at his disposal and if anything they could be an even better side than they were last season. The acquisition of top striker Lawrence Shankland and permanent signing of Mark Reynolds underlining their intentions. Here's the list of newbies at Tannadice: Adrian Sporle, defender (Banfield); Mark Reynolds, defender (Aberdeen, loan to permanent); Adam King, midfielder (Swansea City); Lawrence Shankland, forward (Ayr United); Liam Smith, defender (Ayr United); Deniz Mehmet, goalkeeper (Queen of the South). Notable departures are Pavel Safranko (loan ended), Billy King, Callum Booth and Fraser Fyvie. For the new season, Inverness have brought in five new faces. James Keatings, David Carson, Nikolay Todorov, Mitchell Curry (loan & now injured) and the return of cup final man James Vincent. We are of course a few light as well with Liam Polworth off to Motherwell, Joe Chalmers over the bridge, Nathan Austin to Kelty Hearts, Darren McCauley back to Ireland and Owain Fon Williams painting & decorating at Hamilton, but at least he's off our wage bill. Young loan player Anthony McDonald has returned to Hearts. Tannadice was the last place we visited on Championship duty last season as we went down 3-0 in the play-offs. It all hinged on a couple of penalty decisions in both legs and a red card farewell for Polworth. At the end of the day we were ultimately well beaten. United went on to lose out to St Mirren in the decider after a penalty shoot-out. How ironic! Last season we played United seven times. Our only success was a 2-1 win at Tannadice in the Scottish Cup. United won four Championship games including the play-offs with the other two being 1-1 draws. The Betfred League Cup has been unkind to both clubs although it's difficult to gauge just how much desire either club had to stay in the tournament. Inverness had drawn with Peterhead, beaten Raith Rovers and Cove but lost out 1-0 to Dundee at Dens Park where many thought we underperformed. The best thing about the narrow defeat showed that Dundee are little, if any, better off than us. Like us, the Arabs won twice, drew one and lost one in Group A, missing out on the best second place team back door entry into the next round as well. They defeated Stenhousemuir and Cowdenbeath, drew at Tynecastle and had a shocker against East Fife who hadn't won at Tannadice for 73 years. What does it all mean I hear you ask? Well, the bulk of United's starting XI appear to have played against East Fife, as did ours against Dundee. Personally, these early League Cup games have a pre-season feel about them, despite the managers telling us otherwise. Unlike many fans, I'm not going to get too hung up over a narrow defeat at Dens Park against one of the sides tipped for promotion. I would be slightly more concerned if I were in Robbie Neilson's camp. McMullan, Shankland, Clark, Butcher, Stanton, Robson, all drawing a blank against East Fife. That tells me one of two things. United are at the same stage as us or East Fife are very good! We'll find out on Saturday. Robbie Neilson took a squad of twenty down to Shrewsbury during the week and they went down 2-1. Louis Appere won, and scored a penalty to give United the lead but Shrews hit back to win. Some of United's bigger names played the final half hour in preparation for the League opener this weekend. Inverness sent a young squad to Lossiemouth on Wednesday night to play a North of Scotland cup tie at Grant Park. They were bolstered by a handful of more experienced players and goals from Nikolay Todorov, Matheus Machado and Aaron Doran saw us progress to the next round by a 3-1 scoreline. United have no concerns ahead of the game and Robbie Neilson, having given Inverness the once over last weekend, saw nothing different from last season. Just saying..... Inverness will be without longer term casualties Sean Welsh and Shaun Rooney. Mitchell Curry can be added to that casualty list after coming off against Dundee and it's reported he will be out for a couple of months with ankle ligament damage. I expect we will be along similar lines to last weeks game at Dens Park. Toddy, Doran, Carson, McHattie, Roddy MacGregor and Daniel Mackay all played in the midweek game at Lossie. That would indicate that they might not start on Saturday. Over to you Robbo. ***LATEST NEWS*** The man who wears the 'Magic Hat' is coming back to Inverness. If you believed the speculation surrounding Miles Storey you were right. He has signed a two year deal to re-join the Caley Jags. A bit of pace up front could be just what we need to chase after knock downs from our target men. He will be included in the squad to face Dundee United after the deal was completed in time. And it has now been confirmed the 'Magic Hat' is back. In the opening game of the Championship on Friday night, Dunfermline paid the penalty against Dundee as Danny Johnson scored twice from the spot to earn the Dark Blues a point at East End Park as they came from two down to earn a draw. Go to around 1:40 and let's hope we see more of this from Miles. What a story!

Season Ends Now Whilst the final scoreline looks comfortable enough, the outcome of this game hinged an a dubious penalty offered by Kevin Clancy in first half injury time. It's no shock that we succumbed to a controversial refereeing decision, the first leg went the same way, but it did leave a bitter taste in the mouth for the near 500 away support who were right behind the team. However, that incident on the stroke of half-time took the last embers of resistance out of the players and the second half just emphasised the difference a few grand makes. Nicky Clark scored from the spot and further goals from Osman Sow and Pavol Safranko ended our season, but not the bitterness as John Robertson said what we all knew. Looks like Robbo will be hauled in front of the beaks, but maybe it's about time they investigated their own backyard to see if the people they employ are up to the job. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On BBC Sport:- Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager John Robertson branded the "arrogance" of Scottish officials as a "disgrace" after his side were condemned to another season in the Championship. Robertson was sent off after Dundee United were awarded a penalty in his side's 3-0 Scottish Premiership play-off semi-final defeat at Tannadice. The 4-0 aggregate loss loss ends the Highlanders' chances of promotion. "I've had enough; I'm happy to go all the way with it," Robertson said. "This can't be allowed to go on. The inconsistency of the refereeing is incredible. It might sound like sour grapes, and it is a wee bit tonight, but the standard is poor." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Up to the penalty award, Inverness had been the busier side with Tom Walsh Aaron Doran and Joe Chalmers being denied by Siegrist in the Arabs goal. Jordan White headed just over from a corner and all was rosy. Up steps cowboy Kevin Clancy to ruin the entertainment and the rest is history. Nicky Clark hit woodwork twice when it looked much simpler to score, it mattered not, the damage had already been done, thanks Kev. Absolutely titanic effort from the players who gave their all and were out of their feet at the end after being sunk by the iceberg Clancy. It was also a titanic effort by the Caley Away fans, some of them going over and above the call of duty to get behind the team. And when was the last time United had over 8500 fans at Tannadice. Great crowd and I'm sure the Premiership accountants will be glad it's United that progress and not the famous Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Here's one such account from Immortal Howden Ender:- Well I sat in a motorway queue for four feckin hours, made me hit the Forth Road Bridge at rush hour and got to Dungdee 45 minutes before the kick off. Feckin stone cold sober !! Up until that ridiculous penalty decision we were the better team, playing some nice football and looking the team to score by a country mile. But our lack of power and flair up front and the age old inability to take chances let us down again. We really should have been 2 or 3 up and there were scoreable chances for Walsh, White and Doran. The penalty, it's conversion and the timing appeared to simply break our hearts. But we put so much into that first half that it would have been a miracle if we had maintained that level after the second. Only a sniff of a comeback would have possibly riled us up. But the Arabs went for the throat from the start of the second half, pressed higher up the pitch and the second was the beginning of the end. It could well have been 5 or 6 in the end and we never looked like scoring. You would have to say that everybody gave their all but I thought that some showed their flaws. There weren't many who didn't look absolutely flecked 10-15 minutes before the end. Again that is the cruelty of our play off system. I will leave the Smileymometer alone but Ridgers did nothing wrong, Rooney ran and ran and did well before being flecked. McCart was superb and my MotM. Should Coll have been playing when clearly 50 to 60% fit - I would say not. McHattie was caught out for the second goal and struggled defensively. Our midfield ran their socks off but we went for the long, high ball [often diagonal] too often and did not utilise the width and especially Walsh snuffed. Doran played like he did against Hearts and did not come up with the goods. White had little support but did not hold things up enuff and lost too much in the air. Not sure either where Brad McKay was playing but it did look like he was employed to provide cover for the ailing Coll which was a waste of a player. May sound critical but we played well until half time and missing chances killed us again. Some of the officials decisions, other than the penalty, were shocking and there were some ridiculous offsides called. BUT what an away support and not a bad home one either. Glad I was there to the seasons death. Bring on the anguish of 2019-20. Caleytillidie It's All Over Now............. Date: 17/05/2019 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 8540 Referee: Kevin Clancy Dundee United: 3 (4) Lineup: Siegrist; Watson, Connelly, Reynolds, Robson, Bouhenna, Harkes, McMullan, Clark (Stanton 78), Pawlett (Safranko 63), Sow (Booth 73). Subs (not used): Currid; Frans, Chalmers, Smith. Scorers: Clark (45+1 pen), Sow (54), Safranko (89) Booked: Reynolds (33). Sow(58), Safranko (70) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 (0) Lineup: Ridgers; B Mckay, Donaldson, McCart, McHattie, Rooney (Austin 56), Trafford, Chalmers, Walsh (Harper 90), Doran (McDonald 74), White Subs (not used): C Mackay; McCauley, MacGregor, Gunn. Scorers: none Booked: Mckay (45+1), Doran (38) Sent Off: none a0

It's Now or Never Last chance saloon for Inverness Caledonian Thistle as they travel to Tannadice on Friday night to face a Dundee United side who hold a one goal advantage from the first leg. Do we have the desire to summon up the energy for another high tempo game? The players believe, the fans believe, let's hope the board believe as well or it will be another season in the Championship for us if we fail to overcome United. There's no away goals rule in these play-offs so basically whoever scores the most over the two legs wins the tie. In the event of a draw it's extra time and penalties if required. We start the game one goal down so plenty to play for given the pounding we gave United in the Scottish Cup game at Tannadice. Paul McMullan was the man that made the difference on Tuesday night when he took advantage of a rebound off one post to send the ball into the net off the other post. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances surrounding the goal that you couldn't make up. The big talking point however was the sending off of Liam Polworth minutes after the break. High foot or low head, referee Walsh sent of Polly and that was a big game changer. It enabled United to gradually grind Inverness down but not without the hosts putting up a tremendous fight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Signing David Carson has signed a two year deal at the Caledonian Stadium. Carson is a 23 year old midfielder and arrives from Morpeth Town having scored 14 goals this season. More on David on the OFFICIAL SITE. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For Inverness, nothing much has changed since the game on Tuesday night which Tom Walsh and Carl Tremarco missed through injury. Robbo expects Walsh to be available tonight but Tremarco is out. Liam Polworth will sit this one out through suspension and that's disappointing as we could have seen the last of him in a Caley Jags shirt. Shaun Rooney was the newbie last time out and he performed brilliantly as a dashing wing back with Brad Mckay in the full back position. Kevin McHattie took Tremarco's role. Pavol Safranco came off at half time and is a doubt. Peter Pawlett took a heavy knock as well and Callum Butcher limped off the park. Off to Tannadice now, so you'll have to make up the rest as you go.

KARMA BIG STYLE Inverness opened the scoring when Joe Chalmers cut onto his left foot and curled the ball into the roof of the net from sixteen yards for a sublime goal. Chalmers almost added a second but he volleyed onto the bar from six yards when the ball found him unmarked. The first half ended at 1-0 with Ridgers a virtual spectator. Substitute Paul McMullan blatantly cheated to earn a penalty and Nicky Clark slotted his second in two games. In a dramatic finish, Nathan Austin had a marginal offside decision go against him as he superbly headed home a Polworth free kick, however, Aaron Doran nodded home after a fantastic knock on from Jordan White to win the tie in the second minute of time added on. Hampden here we come..................... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A place in the semi-final beckoned for the winner and an opportunity for some welcome income to go along with the prestige of a kick about at Hampden. It doesn't get much better than that surely! The last time we were at Hampden Park we came home with a nice wee trophy to show for our efforts against Falkirk as local artist Sophie Robb depicts, despite Tommy Tremarco falling over the ball and making us sweat. That was in May 2015. The Arabs have waited a bit longer for Scottish Cup success. They lifted the trophy in 2010 beating the wee team from the Highlands in the final. The olde adage, big team big cup, wee team wee cup still stands today. A big home support were out in force today as they remembered James Jack, a local fan who sadly passed away recently and a minutes applause would break out in the 31st minute in his remembrance. To the game, and John Robertson made three changes from the side that lost at Tannadice on Tuesday night. In came Carl Tremarco, Aaron Doran and Jamie McCart, and on to the bench went Charlie Trafford, and Shaun Rooney with Kevin McHattie and Anthony McDonald out injured. Robbie Neilson has Fraser Fyvie and Cammy Smith back in but Calum Butcher missed out through injury. Frederic Frans is out for around six weeks. Over 7200 fans were on hand to watch this spectacle as United kicked off but it was the visitors that pressed high and forced United onto the back foot in the opening exchanges. Big Jordan White has grown into his role up front for the Caley Jags and he did well to hold up and feed the ball to Aaron Doran who fired the first effort towards goal. Benjamin Siegrist felt the need to push it round the post for a corner. Doran was teasing the United defence and he was brought down on the left side. Liam Polworth flighted a lovely ball into the box but White got under it and headed over from an inviting position. The opening goal would come in the 19th minute and a thing of beauty it was. We won possession on the halfway and Doran linked brilliantly with Polworth, a cheeky wee backheel from the wee man allowing Polly to chip a ball to the left edge of the penalty box where Joe Chalmers gathered. He stepped inside the defender and curled a magnificently sweet shot into the keepers top right corner. It was his first of the season and I doubt he will score a better goal. Three minutes later it could have been two and no more than our dominance deserved. A teasing ball from Doran skimmed off a defender and Chalmers came in behind to crack one off the bar from six yards. What a let-off for United. Tremarco made a trademark 'putting your body on the line' block as Peter Pawlett tried to get a shot away. Tenacious defending from Tommy. The 31st minute saw a rousing round of applause for James Jack as the whole stadium joined in. United had settled into the game a bit more but the Highland rearguard were repelling the feeble United attacks and Mark Ridgers was a mere spectator other than grabbing a few crosses with confidence. The first penalty appeal for United passed without action from the referee. He would be fooled later in the game. A dominant performance by Inverness in the first half who could easily have been three up. However, the strike from Chalmers it was that separated the sides. Half-Time 0-1 The procession continued in the second half and Polly fired one straight at the keeper. Neilson had seen enough rubbish from his side and removed Cammy Smith to replace him by Paul McMullan who would play an active part in their equaliser later in the game. If memory serves me right, this is not the first time same player has managed to con a referee. The one way traffic continued though and Polly and Chalmers threatened to add a second. It was Charlie Trafford who was inches away from it with a thunderous drive that whistled high past the post with maximum power. United had brought on Morgaro Gomis by now and he seemed to add a bit of steel to the Arabs midfield. They managed to create an opening for a strike that was similar to Trafford's effort. This one from McMullan was a legitimate effort that Ridgers had to deal with, diving to his right to beat the ball away, Coll Donaldson completing the clearance at the expense of a corner. From the corner we failed to execute a decisive clearance and United burrowed into the box. White stuck a toe out and McMullan felt a tap on his boot. His delayed reaction told me he thought about it before leaving his two legs behind to con Steven McLean into awarding a penalty. Like Tuesday night, Nicky Clark took it and like Tuesday night he put it behind Ridgers in a replication penalty. Undaunted we took up where we had left off, on the front foot and big Jordan was denied twice as he forced his way into the box, Siegrist doing well to smother after he had turned his marker. Doran also was foiled by the keeper. With ten minutes left Nathan Austin thought he had scored with a magnificent header across the keeper. The celebrations were cut short when the linesman flagged for offside. Wow, that's some eyes that man has as this must have been down to millimetres. Great effort from the Inverness sub. The board showed that there would be three minutes of time added on as the game was heading for a replay. We still looked the most likely to win the game and in the 92nd minute Doran paved the way for Robbo to sprint onto the pitch in joyous celebration. Brad Mckay would take a throw in deep down the right flank. He launched a beauty into the box where big Jordan was in between two defenders. He won the ball cleanly to head flick it into the box and there was Aaron arriving at the right time to head the ball bravely into the net with Siegrist scrambling the other way across his line and a boot almost connecting with Doran's ear. Scenes! Cue wild celebrations from Robbo, the players and the visiting fans. What a climax to the game and you could see what it meant to all involved. That'll be Robbo out of breath for the week after his exertions. Off to Hampden for a semi-final game and a day out for our fantastic support. Also a wee financial boost for the accountants who will be chuffed about this. Rooney and Austin picked up late bookings as we frustrated United into submission. One booking we could have done without was an earlier one for Donaldson at the dubious penalty award. Aaron Doran was MotM, and not just for his goal, his all round game showed he was a menace to United from the start. To be honest you couldn't fault anyone in a total team performance. Jordan White has become a fans favourite after a stuttering start at Inverness and he showed yesterday how important he is to our game plan. Chalmers was incredible as well and Liam Polworth showed his value with some great through balls. Unsung heroes all over the park and none moreso that Charlie Trafford who was immense in the engine room. So, a cup semi-final to look forward too. We will find our destiny after the Partick v Hearts game tonight. Action can be seen on the BBC Sport website Here's an ecstatic Robbo talking after the game......... Enjoy.................. Here's another version of the game............. Date: 03/03/2019 Venue: Tannadice Attendance: 7274 Referee: Steven McLean Dundee United: 1 Lineup: Siegrist; Seaman, Reynolds, Robson, Connolly, Harkes, Fyvie (Gomis 64), Clark, C Smith (McMullan 53), Pawlett, Safranko. Subs (not used): Laidlaw; Watson, Booth, Nesbitt, Stanton Scorers: Clark (pen 67) Booked: Fyvie (58), Safranko (85) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Ridgers; B Mckay, Donaldson, McCart, Tremarco, Doran, Polworth (Rooney 90+3), Trafford (Austin 77), Welsh, Chalmers, White. Subs (not used): C Mackay, McCauley, MacGregor,, D Mackay, Hyde Scorers: Chalmers (19), Doran (90+2) Booked: Donaldson (69), Rooney(90+4), Austin(90+5) Sent Off: none a

Cup Quarters Back down to Tannadice for the second part of the two game Arabfest as we face Dundee United in the quarter final of the Scottish Cup, having lost the first installment 1-0 on Tuesday night in a very close Championship encounter. 30th May 2015. A day we never thought would be possible. One that is etched on the minds of all Caley Jags fans, right up there with Feb8th 2000. So, here we are again, the prospect of returning to Hampden for a Cup Semi-Final and with it the opportunity to earn a few bob. Dundee United have confirmed that there will be a cash gate at the Cup game. Cash prices are set at Adults £20, Concessions £10 The @feddusc are holding a minutes applause in the 31st minute of tomorrow's match in memory of, loyal United fan, James Jack. We'd ask all #ICTFC supporters attending tomorrow's match to to share in this mark of respect This tribute to James is from the Federation of Dundee United Supporters Clubs. With great sadness, the Dundee United Family lost one of our finest a few weeks back when James Jack sadly passed away aged just 31. In tribute to James on Sunday before the game against Inverness there will be a march from The Snug Bar at 3pm to Tannadice to which all are invited. In addition there will be a minutes applause held during the game at the 31st minute in remembrance of a true gent . RIP James Jack Tuesday night saw John Robertson trying to rest some of his creaking squad. Tom Walsh and Anthony McDonald missed out through injury with Carl Tremarco and Jamie McCart on the bench. The only goal of the game came from the penalty spot after Coll Donaldson went through the striker. Nicky Clark put Ridgers the wrong way and that was enough to win all three points. United are expecting a big crowd for this tie with allegedly upwards of 6000 advance ticket sales already off the shelf. A trip to Hampden for the semi-finals will be the reward for the winners and more importantly, especially for Inverness, a wee financial boost for the coffers of our cash strapped club. The other ties in the round begin with Hibs v Celtic. Now that's an interesting one, what with Brenda Rodgers leaving and Neil Lemon arriving at Parkhead. Might even be worth watching just to hear the songs. Oh the banter! The game ended Hibs 0-2 Celtic (Forrest, Brown). Aberdeen v Rangers, another injury strewn fixture should have some wonderful poetic chants. I expect a few renditions of "Who's that lying over there......." with witty retorts of "Sheep shagging bastards." I suppose we'll just have to go with our elongated stereotypical Highland reserve and long standing erstwhile chant of "Give me an I..........." The Partick v Hearts game. Will the "Red and Yellow" drown out the "Hearts Hearts Glorious Hearts". It's down at Tynecastle they play. Would you believe it! The draw for the semi-finals will take place immediately after the Firhill clash on Monday night. I would be more concerned if I were a Dundee United fan after the performances of both sides last Tuesday. While we rested two or three, United with their lush depth of squad went for the points. They achieved that although we could easily have picked up a point with some better finishing or choice of ball around the box. Carl Tremarco and Jamie McCart will surely return to the back four giving us a more familiar look. Tom Walsh will be a major blow should he not recover though. It turns out that the much maligned Jordan White is one of the top scorers in the Scottish Cup this season. Who knew? The big man has his knockers (ooh err missus), but he has been knocking them in in the cup, a hat-trick against Edinburgh City helping the cause. Leader Stephen Dobbie is out of the competition, so let's give Jordan our support and see if he can top the scoring charts, starting with a couple at Tannadice on Sunday. Inverness have major doubts over the fitness of Tom Walsh and Anthony McDonald has a groin injury. Jamie McCart should be fit enough to resume with the squad but defender Kevin McHattie is out after suffering a couple of injuries in midweek. Knee and shoulder problems will sideline him. Listen to Robbo ahead of the cup game at Tannadice...... Robbie Neilson will be without centre back Frederic Frans and Calum Butcher. Frans will be out for around six weeks with a groin injury. Rachid Bouhenna will return to bolster the squad. If you like a wee flutter, our site partnership with FansBet can offer you something. Just click on FansBet to get started. "Remember to select CaleyThistleOnline when you register and you’ll be helping us support ICT fan causes." 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Tannadice woe. Dundee United would inflict further woe on cash strapped Inverness after a close encounter of the third kind. A Nicky Clark penalty was sufficient to swing the game towards United with Inverness just failing to get back on level terms. John Robertson would rest Carl Tremarco and Aaron Doran, although Jamie McCart made the bench, but Tom Walsh and Anthony McDonald were out injured. United kicked off with over 4700 watching and immediately put Inverness onto the back foot creating three or four openings inside the first ten minutes. Peter Pawlett and Charlie Seaman narrowly missing the target from great positions inside the box and Nicky Clark heading tamely wide. Kevin McHattie was booked in the 17th minute as the Inverness defence came under sustained pressure. It took Inverness half an hour to fashion out a decent opportunity and Shaun Rooney headed over. Nathan Austin then drove into the box but his shot had the sting taken out of it and Ben Siegrist gathered. Coll Donaldson followed that up by heading over from close range as we began to threaten the home defence. Pawlett was the Arabs danger man as he drove forward and at the other end a Connolly error almost led to Austin getting in on goal. It was Pawlett that was causing most problems for the visitors, but at the break it was all square. Half-Time 0-0 There were no changes at the start of the second half as Liam Polworth kicked off. United were first to try after the break but Ridgers easily mopped up an effort from Clark. Inverness responded with Polworth firing over from outside the box and Austin almost flicked on to White, but United got it clear. Harkes had to clear one away from the line after some confusion in the Arabs ranks. Inverness were having a good spell and a Rooney cross was headed over by Austin................ However, It's the kiss of death and United get a penalty awarded after Coll Donaldson tripped Nicky Clark in the box, Clark converting from the spot. Three minutes later, the problematic Pawlett became a problem for United as he was sent off for a second bookable offence. Charlie Trafford shot just wide from outside the box as we looked to get back on level terms and an Austin header and a Chalmers shot had to be saved by Siegrist. Plenty of Caley Jags pressure in the final ten minutes with United down to ten men and the last fling is Daniel Mackay replacing Joe Chalmers as the clock ticked past ninety minutes. Safranko passed on a great chance to seal the points at the end but he blazed the ball over the bar and Donaldson saw a deflected effort tipped over, but it was too little too late as United held on for all three points. After tonights results, Dunfermline closed the gap to two points behind Inverness after a 3-0 win over Partick Thistle, Morton a further point behind after they beat Queen of the South and Ross County stretched their lead at the top by beating Ayr United thanks to a Billy Mckay hat-trick. Stirling Observer observed thus on CTO:- Entertaining game for one we didn't manage to score. Took a while to settle to the diamond midfield and Utd could have been out of sight. Gradually worked our way into the game and were arguably on top despite not creating much. Second half was really open and end to end. They were on top for a spell when they won the pen. I would have said it was a fair award. Coll lunged in to block the shot but took the players legs before the ball. Mchattie took an awful touch to draw Pawlett into a rash challenge for his second booking. This killed the game as our lack of creativity against there solid unit meant the classic sit deep and let us punt it. Coll's last second deflected shot was the closest I think we got, but Safranko did miss a great chance late on. Speaking to BBC Sport the managers had this to say:- Dundee United head coach Robbie Neilson: "I thought the first half we played well but couldn't get the ball over the line. "It's massive for us. It takes us a step further and now second in the league." Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager John Robertson: "I'm disappointed. I thought United started very well. Coming down the slope, they got at us with good chances, but then we settled. "We changed our system a bit tonight by playing a diamond in there just to upset them." Action from Tannadice.............. Date: 26/02/2019 Venue: Tannadice Attendance: 4737 Referee: Barry Cook Dundee United: 1 Lineup: Siegrist; McMullan (Nesbitt 59), Clark (Gomis 78), Reynolds, Robson, Butcher, Seaman (Watson 84), Connolly, Harkes, Safranko, Pawlett. Subs (not used): Laidlaw, Fyvie, Sow, Smith. Scorers: Clark (pen 68) Booked: Connolly (32), Pawlett (48, 72), Safranko (82) Sent Off: Pawlett (72) Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Ridgers; Rooney, B Mckay, Donaldson, McHattie (Doran 76), Austin, Trafford (McCauley 82), Polworth, Welsh, Chalmers (D Mackay), White. Subs (not used): C Mackay, Tremarco, McCart, MacGregor. Scorers: none Booked: McHattie (17), Rooney (47) Sent Off: none a

Arabfest First game of the Dundee United double header tonight as we head to Tannadice on League business. The recent hectic schedule has been taking it's toll and our wafer thin squad is being stretched to the limit after some physically draining games since the turn of the year. Nonetheless we will need to protect our position within the play-off zone as we near the final rounds of Championship games. Off the field of play the financial side of things has taken a battering. On the park we are faring slightly better. Fourth in the table and a cup quarter final to look forward to. It's the 25th anniversary of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but unfortunately, the off field financial situation is grabbing all the headlines at the moment with a massive loss of £810,000 being reported for season 2017/2018. It looks more like a Go Fund Me page will be incoming soon, and that's not really a joke. If you ask me, Robbo has worked wonders on a shoe-string budget and it looks as though that will get worse before it gets better. Chairmans Message The sides have met twice this season, both games ending in 1-1 draws. Safranko opened the scoring in the first game but Jordan White levelled with twenty minutes to go. Coll Donaldson was sent packing ten minutes from the end as we held on for a point. In the next fixture at Inverness in mid December Tom Walsh scored early for Inverness but former Caley Jags player Billy King equalised with quarter of an hour to go. Meh! Our last game was a 1-0 win over Morton. The result was better than the performance with Carl Tremarco notching the goal. United faltered against Dundee United at the weekend with the Bairns coming from behind to grab a draw. Cammie Smith had put United in front just after the break but Falkirk got their point when Ciaran McKenna's header powered home with five minutes remaining. Ross County face Ayr United tonight in a top of the table clash. Inverness will wait to see who is fit enough to start in this game. The Cup game follows on Sunday and that could be seen as more lucrative for Inverness, given the financial benefits of a Cup run to Hampden situation. With a five point cushion in fourth spot, that could pave the way for one or two to be rested tonight. Tom Walsh missed out against Morton and Jamie McCart went off injured. Coll Donaldson was supposed to be resting but was called into action and he too took a couple of heavy knocks. Maybe a chance for some of the youngsters that Mr Rae is talking about to stake a claim for a start. Dundee United have sufficient resources to not have to worry about who will be fit enough to start. Recent acquisition Peter Pawlett will feature tonight. Here's Robbo talking ahead of the Arabs Championship clash.

White earns point for Caley Jags Inverness came from behind to take a hard earned point away from Tannadice in Robbie Neilson's first home game in charge of Dundee United. It was a hard fought point for the visitors after Safranko headed the Arabs in front after the break. Inverness levelled when a Liam Polworth free kick was headed into the top corner. Jordan White wants it but Coll Donaldson was not so sure that he was the scorer, both players claiming it. Either way, a goal it was and that ended the scoring but for Donaldson his day still had a bit to run as he was red carded with around ten minutes left. A decent day in Dundee saw over five and a half thousand welcome Robbie Neilson to Tannadice, with around two hundred and eighty visiting fans in the Shed to see if Inverness could remain unbeaten. Riccardo Calder has had some impressive outings off the bench recently and he was handed a start with Aaron Doran on the bench. Joining Aaron was Daniel Mackay fresh from scoring a brace for the under 18's at Rugby Park the day before and fellow striker Nathan Austin. It was the proverbial stalemate in the first half with neither defences giving much away and it was fully twenty minutes before a keeper was asked to do anything meaningful, Ridgers saving from McMullan. Rachid Bouhenna headed wide as United began to get the better of proceedings but Ridgers was never seriously threatened. Joe Chalmers had our first attempt, a shot from distance saved low by Siegrist, and at the other end Safranko brought Ridgers back into action as he saved his shot. Billy King was next to have a pop and as the half wore on Inverness were being pushed further back, Safranko being prominent in most things United. Brad Mckay made a tremendous block to deny a certain goal as Ridgers scrambled back across his goal. The half time whistle was a welcome sound to the ears of the visitors as we defended deeper and deeper. Half Time 0-0 Jordan White headed high over just after the break and Safranko went close with a header at the opposite end. However, two minutes later he would enjoy more success as he headed powerfully past a helpless Ridgers from an inviting Fraser Aird cross. No more than United deserved at this point and it was going to be an uncomfortable half hour for the visitors as United looked to extend their lead. Donaldson picked up a booking before the hour and that would come back to bite him on the bum before the end. The game turned a bit towsey and yellow cards were dished out at will as we held on to our one goal deficit. With twenty minutes remaining, Inverness won a free kick wide right. Liam Polworth curled a luscious ball into the danger area and someone headed it high into the net from a bundle of players. Jordan White wants it, but so does Coll Donaldson. It matters not one bit, what did matter was that we were back on level terms. With ten minutes left, White could have won the game as he turned on a ball in the box fed through neatly by Polworth but he couldn't wrap his foot round the ball properly and it went by the post. United made a late surge to try and win all three points and Donaldson was shown a second yellow for fouling Nicky Clark. Jamie McCart replaced Coll with Sean Welsh being made the scapegoat for Coll's misdemeanours. Despite a late flurry of activity around the visitors box, the wasteful United attacks came to nothing as their desperation to score grew and Inverness held on to take a hard earned point back North. Full Time 1-1 Still unbeaten and with all the signs pointing towards a home win, this was an excellent point against a United side who had the added boost of the new manager adrenaline rush. The United fans love to hate Coll Donaldson, maybe that's why he wanted to claim the goal. What a guy and he's my Man of the Match just for his nuisance value. He'll have a job convincing White that it's his goal having watched this footage. Mark Ridgers was solid in goal and Sean Welsh and Liam Polworth put in a good shift. Here's all the action from Tannadice.......... Robbo was delighted with the point and acknowledges that either side could have won, Robbo aftermatch reaction.... Date: 20/10/2018 Venue: Tannadice Attendance: 5628 Referee: Euan Anderson Dundee United: 1 Lineup: Siegrist; Murdoch, Bouhenna, Frans, Booth, Aird (Loemba 84), Stanton, Fyvie, King (Clark 75), McMullan, Safranko Subs (not used): Barton; Smith, Robson, Rabitch, Rakovan, Scorers: Safranko (55) Booked: Fyvie (64) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Ridgers; Rooney, B Mckay, Donaldson, Tremarco, Walsh (Mackay 70), Polworth, Chalmers, Welsh (McCart 83), Calder (Doran 57), White Subs (not used): Hoban; Austin, Trafford, Harper Scorers: White or Donaldson (72) (to be confirmed) Booked: Chalmers (40), Donaldson (57), B Mckay (63), Polworth (65), Rooney (90+2) Sent Off: Donaldson (82) a

Tannadice test Inverness head to Tannadice this weekend and Caley Stan is yer man with a Preview to set up this clash for you. Dundee United are now spending a third consecutive season in the second tier of Scottish football. It feels weird to write that. Even though I don’t remember much about the eighties (youth not drugs), their incredible achievements throughout that decade (League Champions, UEFA Cup finalists, European Cup semi-finalists, perennial conquerors of FC Barcelona) formed a veneer of great stature around the club that barely seemed to diminish through the many years of mediocrity that followed. But relegation, boardroom wrangling, falling crowds and home defeats to the likes of Dumbarton and Ross County have taken their toll. Csaba Laszlo was sacked with the club on its knees, staring down the barrel of a fourth year out of the top flight, their grand history looking more and more like a curiosity, the answer to an obscure quiz question. Dundee were once European Cup semi-finalists too, you know. Isn’t that funny. History of the Fixture Won 16 Drawn 17 Lost 18 We first played Dundee United in the Scottish Cup Fourth Round of 1998 when a Paul Sheerin goal saw us lead at for the best part of an hour at Tannadice before a late Kjell Oloffson strike forced a replay. The replay was unforgettable – Gary McSwegan appeared to have finished the tie when he put United 2-0 up in the 85th minute. Then, in a turn of events that was typical of the Pele era, a quickfire Brian Thomson goal was followed, in the dying seconds, by the best goal of all time from Mark McCulloch. Lars Zetterlund won it for United in extra time, but the crowd of almost 6000 (yes, 6000 for a midweek replay) left elated – we had just gone toe-to-toe with an established top tier side for the first time in our history. The two sides didn’t meet again until 2004, and we failed to get the better of them in our first six attempts following promotion, though goals from Liam Fox and Barry Wilson saw us come out on top in a 2005 League Cup tie in Inverness. Our maiden league victory over United took place at Tannadice in February of the following year, and in some style. Craig Brewster had left Caley to take over there just a month before, threatening to take some of our best players (and David Proctor) with him. But Charlie Christie had us purring at the time, and while United led twice through two stunning free-kicks from Charlie Mulgrew, Darren Dodds headed home in between to keep us in the game before Wyness and Dargo ran riot - each getting on the scoresheet before Alan Morgan sealed the 4-2 victory. There have been some cracking encounters since, like this 4-0 stroll in the Caley Park, the time we went 3-0 down after 8 minutes but still felt gutted to leave with a point, and another time we did them 4-0 at Tannadice that I can’t find on youtube. League Form Dundee United Last 6: DDWLLW ICT Last 6: DWWDDD The two sides are tied on 14 points, though we have a game in hand and a superior goal difference. Our 19-game unbeaten run started 7 months ago with a 1-1 draw at Tannadice, but it’s starting to look tired. United won at Firhill last week in Robbie Nielson’s first game in charge after consecutive defeats put Laszlo out of his misery. With over a thousand Arabs making the trip to Maryhill, and a big crowd expected to welcome the new manager, it feels like circumstances might matter more than form on this occasion. Basically, it’s a crap time for us to be going there. Teams and Tactics Robbos’s faith in the White-headed 4-2-3-1 that was so effective at Dunfermline seemed to finally waver in the second half last week, with the half-time introduction of Daniel MacKay and subsequent sightings of Calder and Austin. However, I still fully expect to see the same starting eleven and shape – it’s at its best away from home against proactive opponents and is therefore ideal for this game. George Oakley is back in training but won’t feature tomorrow, while the existence of Angus Beith remains unconfirmed . Neilson played a 4-4-1-1 last week with Fraser Aird and Billy King in the wide positions and Paul McMullan playing off Slovakian internationalist, Pavlov Safranko. On paper, they look a cut above the rest of the league, with Fraser Fyvie anchoring the midfield and an enormous centre-half pairing of francophones Rachid Bouhenna and Frederic Frans, combined height – 12 feet and 7 inches. The Shed We’ll be back in ‘The Shed’ tomorrow, a wonderful throwback to a different era of stadia, with a sixty year-old corrugated iron roof that acts as effective amplifier and visible reminders of the terracing that once stood beneath it. Prediction Ach, it’s only a game. Win, lose or draw you’ll get home to your bed just the same.

Cold Comfort at Tannadice A perishing cold and breezy March afternoon brought Inverness down to Tannadice to face Dundee United as our season hangs by a solitary thread, the IrnBru Cup thread. Defeat today coupled with an expected Dumbarton win over Brechin will plunge us into dangerous territory with a top four finish highly unlikely. It was pleasing to see that Coll Donaldson and Nathan Austin were deemed fit enough to make the bench along with Jake Mulraney, Riccardo Calder Aaron Doran and Daniel Mackay. Charlie Trafford comes in to midfield with Connor Bell reinstated up front. Brad Mckay partnered Gary Warren at the heart of the defence. United had Paul McMullen, Scott McDonald and William Edjenguele on the bench with midweek goal scorer Matty Smith keeping his place in the starting XI. A crowd of 4772 put their winter woolies on to brave the elements. Connor Bell got the ball rolling and Inverness were first to get into gear in a bright opening spell but it was United that threatened first, Tremarco blocking Mikkelsen. Vigurs put Oakley through on goal at the other end but Harry Lewis denied him. Gary Warren had a header cleared off the line after Lewis misjudged a cross and Oakley had the loose ball blocked behind for a corner which United managed to clear. Good spell for the visitors. Polworth found Oakley inside the box and he had another effort blocked as we kept the pressure on the home defence. Just past the half hour and Inverness got the lift they needed when our talented midfielder Iain Vigurs headed home a Liam Polworth corner and United can have no complaints as Inverness have taken the game to them at every opportunity, a complete reverse of our midweek fail. Vigurs was leading by example and he fired a long effort that keeper Lewis managed to hold. Five minutes before the break and Mark Durnan prevented Connor Bell from knocking in Oakley's cross. Would have been a tap-in for Bell had Durnan not intervened. It had been a good first half for Inverness who were able to exploit space behind the United defence with Iain Vigurs outstanding. Seedorf and Trafford both took heavy knocks in the first half and we will need to see if they will be back out for the second forty-five. Oakley had been wasteful so far, would that come back to haunt us. With the half time challenge going to team ICT by 6-4, the teams were back out for the second half with United replacing Quinn with Macdonald. Lewis saved from Vigurs and Chalmers as the second half got underway, and it was following the same pattern as the first half. Vigurs collected a booking as he halted a United burst forward. How often have we seen this turn into a red card this season. On the hour, United got an equaliser when Mikkelsen on the stretch knocked a ball to the back post back across goal and in from a Jamie Robson cross. Jake Mulraney replaced Charlie Trafford with twenty minutes left and United took Matty Smith off with Paul McMullen coming on as they looked to find a winner. Doran replaced Bell with ten minutes left as Vigurs fired a shot over the bar as we tried to get our noses in front once more. He almost made an immediate impact, bit his goalbound effort was blocked and United forced a corner at the other end as they broke up the park. Mark Ridgers had to look lively to tip shots from McMullan and Flood over and Inverness made their final change with Nathan Austin replacing George Oakley. Austin offered Mulraney a chance but he shot over and that was about it as the game ended a point apiece. RIG thought "we were best serve throughout by Warren, Bell and Tremarco as our standouts. Bell brings a real energy to our attack buzzing all over the place to try and support Oakley whilst Tremarco is much more solid at LB than Calder. If we want to win the Challenge Cup next weekend we will need to up our performance again but I'm not too sure if some of these players have much more to give". Iain Vigurs was prominent in the first half especially and Mark Ridgers continues to impress with a couple of crucial saves near the end. This was a vast improvement from the midweek game at Dunfermline and the stats will show that Inverness had the better of the game without being able to create a two goal cushion that would have gained us all three points. This draw means that Dumbarton have closed the gap at the bottom to just four points behind Inverness, albeit we have a game in hand which is another tough encounter with the Arabs, scheduled for Tuesday 27th of March. Next week is the IrnBru Cup Final at Perth against Dumbarton and the winners of this will gain more than just a cup, it will breed confidence for the battle at the bottom. Date: 17/03/2017 Venue: Tannadice Park, Dundee Attendance: 4772 Referee: Steven Kirkland Dundee United : 1 Lineup: Lewis: Murdoch, Durnan, Scobbie, Robson, Quinn (McDonald 45), Flood, Smith (McMullen 74), Stanton, King, Mikkelsen (Fraser 85) Subs (not used): Mehmet: Edjenguele, Slater, Ralston Scorers: Mikkelsen (64) Booked: Smith (70) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Ridgers: Seedorf, B Mckay, Warren, Tremarco, Polworth, Trafford (Mulraney 71), Vigurs, Chalmers, Bell (Doran 78), Oakley (Austin 87) Subs (not used): Esson, Calder, Donaldson, Mackay Scorers: Vigurs (30) Booked: Vigurs (57), Oakley (67) Sent Off: none a Full Time.jpg_large

Play-Off Possibility Inverness face Dundee United on Saturday with the season hanging in the balance after another defeat in midweek at East End Park. We are now closer to the relegation play-offs at the bottom end of the table than we are to the promotion play-offs. Our schoolboy errors on and off the park leave us with little hope of progressing this term and the outlook is bleak. All we have left to look forward to is the IrnBru cup final at McDiarmid Park Perth against Dumbarton. That is assuming we can stave off the relegation play-off position. After a lifeless performance against Dunfermline, we went down 1-0, but by all accounts we got off lightly with Mark Ridgers making a couple of wonderful saves to keep the score down. Our attempts to score were negligible and our antics off the park were laughable. I'm talking about the farce that ended with Brad Mckay not being named at all until Riccardo Calder pulled up, then only being named as a substitute but Cameron Harper who made his debut was suddenly injured after five minutes therefore Brad got on the park after all. What the hell was that all about? Our opponents, Dundee United managed to get back on track after a poor run of results. They came from behind to defeat Queen of the South with Mathew Smith bagging a brace, the first a thumping long range effort. Thomas Mikkelsen had scored the equaliser to get United back into the game. It was their first Championship win since they beat Brechin on the 2nd of January. During that poor run they had been thrashed 6-1 by Falkirk and 3-0 by Morton. Coll Donaldson and Nathan Austin are still sidelined so that leaves our back line a bit fragile. Who knows what's going on behind the scenes, but the Brad Mckay farce was odd to say the least. Let's hope this is sorted before it's too late. The Arabs have made an emergency loan signing in Anthony Ralston. I'm buggered if I know what the emergency is, but the young Celtic defender is at Tannadice for the rest of the season. He has made six starts for Celtic including a Champions League game against PSG. United went with this line-up against QotS:- Lewis, Durnan, Quinn, Scobbie, Murdoch, Flood (Slater 88), King (McMullan 84), Stanton, Robson, Smith, Mikkelsen (McDonald 73). tm4tj prediction:- Given our lame effort at East End Park, and without Coll Donaldson, I see no reason that we should expect anything from this game. Thumping win for United which coupled with a win for Dumbarton over Brechin City will leave us perilously close to the relegation play-off slot. Further news on the Official Site

Caley Jags dump the Arabs Inverness threw the form book out the window as they went to Tannadice and convincingly beat United 2-0 thanks to first half strikes from Iain Vigurs and Connor Bell. It was no more than Inverness deserved as they kept the home side relatively quiet throughout and the three points went back up the A9. Thankfully, they paid no attention to my pre-match prediction of a home win and went about their business with some authority. John Robertson went with an unchanged side from the excellent draw at Falkirk. Under fire Arabs boss Ray McKinnon brought in Scott McDonald and Sam Stanton to try and give him some attacking promise. Out went Billy King and Jordie Briels missed out through injury. That went well Raymond! A board meeting was hastily arranged at Tannadice on Saturday night. ICT Chris was in attendance and he was suitably chuffed with how things went, here is his account of the game. We were excellent today, thoroughly deserved the win and it probably should've been more. We appear to have stumbled on a formation and style that works, or it has the last two weeks anyway. We built on the performance against Falkirk and improved on it. We set up in a pretty standard 4-4-2, relatively flat in midfield with Chalmers left and Mulraney right. Vigurs and Polworth sat in the middle in front of the the same back four as previously, including returning hero Donaldson. Up front we had Baird and Bell. United had a few chances early and forced Ridgers into a reflex save from a shot (didn't see who hit it) and then we had to scramble clear from within the six yard box after a prolonged stramash. After that we really took over and started having an impact in an attacking sense. Baird and Tremarco missed headers and we had a few other openings before opening the scoring. Following a corner the ball was headed clear to Vigurs who shot in from the edge of the box. We then doubled our lead with one of the best goals I've seen us score in years. A United attack broke down around our 18 yard box and we broke with a little dink into midfield from Donaldson (I think). We then moved the ball quickly through midfield and released Mulraney with a weighted through ball. Mulraney rinsed the left back for pace and drove into the box, where he hit a driven low cross that Connor Bell drilled in from a couple of yards. It was a ******* belter, everything about it was perfect, the passing, the pace, the finish. When Mulraney got the ball I said to my mate that this would be goal of the season, I can't imagine us scoring a better one this season. We had a couple of other breaks which could've lead to goals in the first half, Mulraney, Baird and Bell all had opportunities. Into the second half and we again sat strong and broke, with Mulraney probably having the best chance when he was put right through but didn't shoot quickly enough. Donaldson also had a header that he put over but should've got on target. United, oddly, played with their centre half Durnan up front from an hour but that had zero impact, I don't think a single chance came from it. There were a couple of set pieces that Ridgers had to save but weren't really threatening. It was nervy for the fans because we've been so bad but looking back, we cigar'd it in the second half. Full Time 0-2 Overall, we were excellent. Vigurs was at the heart of everything, he ran the midfield. He has been superb this season, strolling though games and dominating possession. He can switch the play but it's the way he plays little passes to create space, flicks round the corner of players and turns with the ball that makes him so effective. He really has been a class act and is the heart of our team. Defensively we have somehow become settled and solid. Having two experienced full backs in Tremarco and Raven is a help but Donaldson has been a rock the last two weeks, defends well, no nonsense, quick and good in the air. He clearly loved getting that win, going by his celebrations at the end. He looks like being a real find. Up front Baird and Bell aren't likely to be prolific but the way they pull defenders about, hold the ball and make runs is vital to creating the space for our chances. Mulraney has kicked on in the last two weeks, another confidence filled game today, including an actual assist, miracle of miracles! Second week in a row he dominated the full back and his end product was better. Great stuff You can see why ICT Chris was drooling over the second goal. She's a belter as Gerry Cinnamon would say.......... Robbo was suitably chuffed as well Date: 21/10/2017 Venue: Tannadice Attendance: 5560 Referee: Willie Collum Dundee United: 0 Lineup: Lewis; Durnan, Toshney, McMullan (Murdoch, 60), McDonald, Stanton (Fraser, 76), Edjenguele, Flood, Robson, Keatings, Fyvie (King, 52). Subs (not used): Mehmet, Scobbie, N'koyi, Smith. Scorers: none Booked: James Keatings (65) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Ridgers; Raven, Tremarco, Chalmers, Polworth, Baird, Vigurs (Oakley, 87), Mulraney (Cooper, 74), Bell (Trafford, 82), Mckay, Donaldson. Subs (not used): Esson, Warren, Elsdon, Mackay. Scorers: Iain Vigurs (28) Connor Bell (36) Booked: Brad Mckay (16) Sent Off: none a

Tannadice Test Inverness travel to Dundee to take on faltering Dundee United at Tannadice on the back of three successive clean sheets, the Arabs finding the going tougher than their big spending board might have thought. The League campaign kicked off for both clubs back in August when the two sides met at the Caledonian Stadium on matchday one. That game was settled by a softish penalty award when Paul McMullen went down under a challenge in the box. He picked himself up and took the spot kick, scoring the only goal of the game. In all honesty, there was little between the sides other than that goal and some defensive errors from Inverness that gave United further opportunities. It's been downhill for Inverness since then with only one league win, and that against bottom club Brechin. Three draws interspersed with defeats have given us a meagre six points out of a possible twenty-seven. That's relegation form in any division. Recent results have been slightly more encouraging though and the clean sheets breed confidence. The first round of games have been played in the Championship and Inverness find themselves in second bottom place. However there were signs at Falkirk that maybe some progress has been made and a third clean sheet in a row gives the team something to build on. On top of that, we were much more prominent in attack and assured in midfield. The downside was the familiar lack of a cutting edge. Plenty of chances were created, but none taken, and that needs to change soon or we will be cut adrift at the wrong end of the table. The Arabs suffered a 2-0 defeat at Livingston last week, after two good wins over Dunfermline and Morton. They drew with Falkirk and Dumbarton prior to that when they would have been looking to take full points from those games. The defeat at Livingston was their first in seven games. Despite recruiting well over the summer, it's still a tough league to stamp your authority on. Although United have under performed in some games, they still sit at the right end of the table, in fourth place, four points behind leaders St Mirren and a massive eleven points ahead of second bottom Inverness. Both sides have scored ten Championship goals, but United's defence are six better off than us despite our recent upgrade in defence. Inverness are without Aaron Doran, Collin Seedorf, Zak Elbouzedi, big Susan and Owain Fon Williams. Gary Warren and Charlie Trafford might be included in the squad, although both will be sporting hand protection after suffering damaged thumbs. Injuries seem to be hindering our progress once more although Coll Donaldson has shown some form since his introduction at center back. United have a doubt in Dutchman Jordie Briels with a hip injury. Scott Fraser could make the squad after showing no adverse signs on his return to full training, but is not yet ready for the rigours of a match. Paul Quinn is available. Manager Ray McKinnon expects a tough game with Inverness starting to get to grips with life in the Championship, pointing to the three clean sheets in the last three games. tm4tj prediction:- It's a tough place to go to at the best of times, but when your at an all time low then it becomes a tremendous weight on your shoulders and it will be like running in treacle. I'm heartened by the clean sheets, but the lack of a cutting edge counteracts that. I didn't think there was too much between the sides in the opening game, but maybe United afforded us too much respect and sat in a bit. I fully expect a torrid afternoon and unless we have discovered a way to score goals, then a goalless draw is our best bet for a point. I'm not too confident about this one though and we might have to take one on the chin at Tannadice. Home win for me. More details in the Official preview from the ICTFC website.

Bottom Six It Is. Inverness were confined to the lower half of the league despite an accomplished 2-0 win at Tannadice, a result that pushes Dundee United closer to the drop. Goals in either half from Miles Storey and Iain Vigurs were enough to collect the points and this proved to be an important win with Kilmarnock and Hamilton both picking up vital points in an effort to stave off the dreaded relegation play-off. Only Partick Thistle failed to read the script that would have given Inverness the slim hope that a win against Hearts in midweek would put us into the top-six, alas, they lost in Dingwall, a result that means County make the elite. A rare occurrence, but hey ho. A large home backing came out to see if United could perform the great escape, but like Steve McQueen the end product was just the same. Sadly for them it looks improbable now, but they live in hope. Billy Mckay would spearhead the United attack but there was no sign of Edward Ofere. For Inverness, Greg Tansey returned to the starting X1 with Liam Hughes on the bench and Andrea Mutombo the provider for our target man Miles Storey. Gavin Gunning would provide the comedy show when he picked up the ball and left the field, only for him to return without the ball and collapse to the turf. Scenes. There's no truth in the rumour that he was muttering 'it's ma ball and I'm no playing ............ Full Report to follow............. Date: 09/04/16 Venue: Tannadice Stadium, Dundee Attendance: 6927 Referee: Craig Thomson Dundee Utd: 0 Lineup: Kawashima, Dixon (Murray 37), Morris, Paton, McKay, Rankin, Knoyle, Dow (Fraser 54), Gunning (Dillon 59), Anier, Demel Subs (not used): Szromnik, Erskine, Spittal, Donaldson Scorers: none Booked: Murray (85), Rankin (90) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings, Draper, Devine, Tansey, Polworth, Vigurs, Mbuyi-Mutombo (Vincent 62), Storey (D Williams 80) Subs (not used): Esson, R Williams, Foran, Horner, Hughes Scorers: Storey (13), Vigurs (50) Booked: Mbuyi-Mutombo (52), Tansey (57), Tremarco (61), Fon Williams (92) Sent Off: none

Last Chance? It's crunch time at the bottom end of the table as Inverness travel to Dundee to take on basement boys United as we enter the Last Chance saloon. An almost surreal situation where we could still make the top-six or face relegation in a season blighted by injuries, lack of signings, tactical disasters, late goals and worst of all, fan expectation after last season where finishing third in the table and lifting the Scottish Cup were the norm. United may be at the foot of the table, but I doubt they are the worst team on current form and it would take a brave man to write them off as the great escape still awaits Mixu Paatelainen and his squad. I also doubt if Billy Mckay would want to see the word relegation on his CV again, having already been involved in Wigan's demise. To be honest, it's quite a daunting task ahead for Yogi's side given our recent results. Defeat last week against Motherwell was disappointing when a freak goal and stoppage time breakaway confined us to zero points and all but killed off our top-six ambitions. United played Partick in midweek and went down 1-0 to leave them with two wins in their last six league games. That's still better than us with one win in six, equalled by Hamilton and bettered by Kilmarnock with none. To be fair to Hamilton, they beat us for that win so that leaves Inverness as one of the contenders for the drop, make no mistake about it. The saving grace could be that we have accumulated seven more points than Killie, and three more than Accies with a superior goal difference over both. United are adrift a further five points worse off than Killie. What can we expect tomorrow? I doubt very much that caution will be thrown to the wind hoping that an unlikely combination of results would catapult us to top half safety. We have struggled all season for one reason or another, but the bottom line is that we are in a dogfight now against other teams in a similar position. Don't expect any favours from any of them this weekend. Andrea Mutombo was a bright spark last week but even his dazzling display could not ignite the players round about him. It was left to full back Carl Tremarco to try and stoke the embers and he almost managed that with two or three efforts that were close to giving Inverness all three points. However, our lack of penetration once more scuppered us as we let Motherwell off the hook and were caught with that very late sucker punch. Unfortunately, something that has happened too often this season. The teams have met twice this season and both games ended all square. A 1-1 draw at Tannadice when who else but Billy Mckay put United ahead in the first half before a Josh Meekeings bullet header squared the game in the second. In the return fixture at Inverness, we had to rely on a stoppage time counter from Lewis Horner to get a point after coming from behind twice. Former players John Rankin and he scores when he wants Billy Mckay scored for United and Liam Polworth got our first, 2-2 the final score. John Hughes has more players at his disposal than he has had all season so the injury excuses are starting to wear thin now. One mystery is surrounding David Raven who has been missing for large chunks of the season. It was reported a week or two ago that he was nearing fitness but he was not on the bench against Motherwell fuelling speculation that he is out of favour. Odd, considering our lack of natural right backs. James Vincent is another on the fringes, but that is less surprising with his and Danny Williams' pending departure for Dens Park at the season end. The main casualties are Aaron Doran and Dean Brill, although Brill has played for the development squad last week. Alex Fisher is another who has been out, but like most of the others he is reputed to be on the mend. Another mysterious omission is Jordan Roberts who looked to have a promising career ahead of him once he got over his injuries, but he too has fallen foul of the bench syndrome, being left there when he might have appeared to be a better attacking option than others. What I can tell you is that Greg Tansey is back after suspension and he will no doubt start against United. The Arabs will be looking to bounce back after the setback at Firhill and defender Coll Donaldson is back after suspension. Mixu has a few knocks to contend with but he is keeping his squad ailments close to his chest. John Hughes audio:- https://audioboom.com/boos/4406812-ictfc-john-hughes-match-preview-v-dundee-utd-07-04-16 Danny Devine audio:- https://audioboom.com/boos/4406811-ictfc-danny-devine-match-preview-v-dundee-utd-07-04-16 tm4tj prediction:- We will do well to take anything from this game. United's urgency for points is greater than ours at this moment in time and that might just be enough to give them the edge. They will be backed by a large vociferous crowd for this one as they have been the last few games as their fans try to help them out, whilst our fans are busy looking for a successor to John Hughes. In Billy Mckay and Edward Ofere they have proven scorers at this level and that is a worry for our goal shy squad. We displayed some neat touches against Well, but the killer instinct is missing and that has been our downfall all season. We went looking for a winner, something that I doubt will happen on Saturday and I suspect Yogi will be content with a point. Survival at all costs even if that means missing out on top-six. Draw at best, but defeat is staring us in the face. We still have the twice postponed Hearts game to play next Tuesday to conclude all games up to the dreaded split. The result of that one could be immaterial depending on the scores this weekend. I suppose it's fingers crossed for a draw at Dingwall and Hamilton beating Dundee. I'm not holding my breath to be honest. First and foremost we need to do the business at Tannadice then take it from there. It's a long shot, probably just too long for us now.

Point Taken Inverness and Dundee United shared the points in a hard fought 1-1 draw at Tannadice. It was inevitable that Billy Mckay would score against his old club, but Josh Meekings powered home a header just after the break to level the score. It was a glorious day in Tayside as Inverness visited struggling Dundee United at Tannadice. The shirt sleeve weather made it a tremendous day for a game of football and the pitch looked in magnificent condition as the sides took to the park. A decent away support saw Inverness start with a similar side that took to the field against Hearts. News that Tobi Sho-Silva was out injured was a bit of a downer but we were looking to build on our excellent win against the Jambos. Iain Vigurs also missed out but James Vincent and Josh Meekings continued their comeback. United had Billy Mckay in the main strikers role and Darko Bodul and Scott Fraser were the men providing the ammunition. The opening exchanges were fairly even but Ross Draper picked up a booking inside a minute for hand ball. Ryan McGowan fired one just wide after five minutes as United looked for an early opening, and they got the breakthrough after seven minutes. Inverness will feel they could have averted the goal which had a bit of fortune about it and who else but Billy Mckay scored from less than a couple of yards. Familiar territory for Billy who got the break of the ball after a John Rankin close range effort was blocked on the line. Unfortunately for Inverness Billy did what Billy does best and he knocked the loose ball into the net. It looked bleak for Inverness five minutes later when Rankin met a Morris cross about ten yards out bang in the centre of goal. This time we got the break as Owain Fon-Williams spread himself and blocked the ball with his legs. A let off for the visitors and it really should have been two nil for United. Mckay was looking lively early on as we afforded him the freedom of the park, allowing him to link and run directly at the heart of our box. A couple of frantic tackles kept him at bay and he turned and volleyed one just wide. A good effort that could have caught the keeper out, but Fon-Williams soon had to dive smartly to divert a vicious shot from the edge of the box as United and Mckay threatened to run away with the game. We needed half time to arrive sooner rather than later and we reached the break without further damage. Half Time 1-0 Harsh words must have been said over the half time cuppa as straight from the kick off, Ryan Christie drifted goalwards before sliding in Williams who was upended on the edge of the box. Nothing given though and that stung Inverness into determined mode. Following a couple of corners, Josh Meekings rose majestically at the far side of the six-yard box and powered a Christie corner into the roof of the net. Game on! Carl Tremarco was linking well going forward and had a shot savedthe angle before Danny Williams and Greg Tansey lashed shots close to the goals, but just wide. The tide had turned and Inverness looked the most likely to go on and win the game with United reduced to chasing shadows for long spells. Miles Storey was running the lone strikers roll and it was taking it's toll on the lad who gave his all before being substituted near the end, but he looked knackered long before that. Richie Foran replaced Williams with ten minutes left. Scare for Inverness with four minutes of normal time left as United broke out of defence, but despite a swift break the 'goal' was chalked off for offside. Sit down shut up! The game fizzled out thereafter and a point apiece it was in the Autumn sunshine. Full Time 1-1 Maybe not the best of games, but always something happening to keep you interested. At the end of the day, a point each was probably fair enough. United were on top in the first forty five but failed to extend their lead and were rightly hauled level by Inverness who upped their game after the break, no doubt having been ear bashed by Yogi. Billy Mckay was prominent in the first half but faded as we came out stronger in the second period. Spoke to a couple of United fans after the game and we all agreed it was the right result. We were also unanimous in our praise of Scott Fraser who showed quick feet on numerous occasions when in a tight spot. Ryan Christie once more shone for Inverness and Carl Tremarco looked good going forward in the second half. Tremendous header from Meekings to level the game, but Owain Fon-Williams kept us in touch in the first half and he gets my vote as our MotM. Date: 19/09/15 Venue: Tannadice Stadium, Dundee Attendance: 6235Referee: Kevin Clancy Dundee Utd: 1 Lineup: Zwick, McGowan, Morris, Durnan, Dillon, Dow (Spittal 65), Kuhl, Fraser, Rankin, McKay, Bodul (Murray 82) Subs (not used): McCallum, Telfer, Connolly, Taggart, Donaldson Scorers: Mckay (7) Booked: Rankin (28), Bodul (68) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Meekings, Devine, Tremarco, Draper, Tansey, Vincent, Christie, Williams (Foran 83), Storey (Polworth 90) Subs (not used): Esson, Lopez, Wedderburn, Horner Scorers: Meekings (56) Booked: Draper (1), Tremarco (10) Sent Off: none

News Storey... After our first win of the campaign last weekend, it's off to see fall guys Dundee United at Tannadice this Saturday, Billy Mckay and all. It does leave a nasty taste in the mouth seeing Billy in an orange shirt, a bit like seeing Graeme Shinnie in a red one, but we have to move on. Miles Sorey could be the man to start a new chapter in the history of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The curse is strong and anyone leaving will regret it sooner or later. We broke our duck against Hearts in a game that was always interesting and entertaining but never really took off until we scored in the second half. Tidy goals from newly repaired James Vincent and debut striker Miles Storey sent the Edinburgh club home with nothing other than a red card for Oshinawa who thought he could get away with knocking people on the head without repercussion. The plus for us was the return from injury of Vincent and defender Josh Meekings. This allowed Carl Tremarco to play in a more familiar position at left back and Ross Draper was released from his withdrawn role at Centre Back. With new boy Storey showing his pace up front, suddenly the league has become more interesting for Caley Jags fans, and our other new force is Tobi Sho-Silva who could be quite a character to have around. He certainly wanted to get involved in everything on his debut from the bench and is an exciting prospect. Dundee United have taken on the Kilmarnock FC role as one of the frontrunners in the race for relegation. They have gone into free fall since the Dundee derby, losing all four games since then. Their only win was against Motherwell 2-0 at Fir Park and those results have them sitting second bottom on four points, one more than Partick Thistle. Last week they were shocked at home by Killie going down 2-1, Mckay notching his first goal for the Arabs with a spot kick. Who are the men responsible for the demise of Dundee United this season. Jackie Macnamara apart, they have put their faith in Darko Bodul, Coll Donaldson, Mark Durnan, Justin Johnson, Adam Taggart and Aaron Kuhl. Who, I hear you say. Well, here is one name more familiar to us. It's Billy (small k) Mckay. The former Inverness favourite failed to get into relegated Wigans elite squad and is at Tannadice on loan for the season. Darko Bodul has plenty of experience at top European clubs in Portugal, Denmark and Austria and is expected to be the ideal candidate to replace the extrovert Nadir Ciftci. United have more departures than arrivals and Ciftci left for Celtic, surprise surprise. Keeper Radoslaw Ciernziak and Jaroslaw Fojut are back in Poland, Calum Butcher at Burton Albion, Brian Graham and Michael Gardyne at County. Keith Watson, Darren Petrie and Jamie Montgomery dropped divisions in Scotland and Robbie Muirhead has been loaned to Partick Thistle while Henri Anier finds himself at Hibernian. That's a lot of bodies to replace, especially on top of Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Stevens who joined Celtic last season. It's not worked out for United yet and their season got off on the wrong foot, going down to Aberdeen on matchday one. They defeated Motherwell the week after, who we all thought would be a decent benchmark after they thrashed us on opening day. But being pegged back by city rivals Dundee in the derby sparked a run of four defeats on the bounce. We could have the impetus with us, coming off the back of that win over Hearts, but it's a tight league with anyone outside the top two capable of beating each other. Our injury crisis eased slightly over the international break and James Vincent and Josh Meekings returned to the starting eleven. Richie Foran was also in the squad but remained on the bench for the visit of Hearts. We do however, still have an extensive list of first team crocks. Dean Brill, Gary Warren, Aaron Doran, Jordan Roberts are out longer term. Andrea Mutombo sits out his second game for the sending off at Dens Park. United have no fresh concerns, but Jackie is keeping it all close to his chest as we have no further information at time of going to press. tm4tj Prediction:- Things are looking more positive for Inverness after new signings Miles Storey and Tobi Sho-Silva gave us a pacey injection that was sadly lacking since the start of the season. Dani Lopez could find himself on the bench for some time having witnessed the immediate impact this pair provided. With Meekings and Vincent returning to bolster the defence and give us more drive box to box then life's not so bad after all. United badly need a win before the long knives come out for Jackie McNamarra and loan signing and former Caley Jags favourite Billy Mckay is the man they have put their trust in. Confidence is low at the moment though, and I will predict that our away form will benefit from the pace of Miles Storey and that will see us take our second win of the season and leave the United board with a decision to make. Away win by two goals. It's been a tough week off the park for the Tannadice club and indeed all concerned with football. The passing of Ralph Milne has left the footballing world all the poorer. Milne was one of the legendary players for United in the early eighties and our thoughts go out to his family, friends and the Dundee United community. He will always be remembered for that magnificent chipped goal in the Dundee derby that ensured United would win the SPL in 1983. He was a very pacey wide player and was a joy to watch in his prime. Milne played 28 times for United, scoring 75 goals and had been inducted into the Tannadice hall of fame. He played for Charlton Athletic, Bristol City and Manchester United after leaving Dundee United. RIP Ralph Milne 1961 - 2015.

Ian Black scored a goal that commentators called a candidate for goal of the season in the 19th minute and it was this goal that won the game for the Caley Jags. ICT have now taken maximum points from their last couple of games and climb up another place in the table to 9th. 01/12/07 Tannadice Stadium, Dundee DUNDEE UTD 0 Team: Szamotulski, Flood (Milligan 79), Kenneth, Dods, Robb (Duff 38), Kerr, Cameron, Gomis, D. Robertson (Russell 80), Wilkie, J. Robertson Subs: Don, Bauben, Pope, McLean INVERNESS CT 1 Black (20) Team: Fraser, Proctor, Munro, McGuire, Hastings (Wilson 71), Cowie, Rankin (Vigurs 90), Black, Duncan, McBain, Niculae (Bayne 84) Subs: McAllister, Kerr, McCaffrey, Malkowski Referee Iain Brines Attendance 5845 With spirits lifted after a hard fought win over St Mirren last week, Inverness Caledonian Thistle travelled to Tannadice to face an on form Dundee United yet to be beaten at home this season. I was quietly confident that we would perform better this week after witnessing the team dig in and grind out the result against St Mirren…it’s not the prettiest football to watch, but it lifted the spirits to see an ICT team once again digging deep and playing for each other. I suspected that even with rumours aplenty in regards to player unrest that if we could keep it together on the park then we had a chance of taking something from the game and the 4/1 odds being offered by the bookies was too good to resist…lol. An early start for me and my travel companions as we decided to avoid the hassle of the A9 and take the scenic route south to Dundee. The weather was looking a little bleak, but the sun could be seen shining in the distance. We really do have some wonderful countryside around here and the views of early snow on the hills made the journey far more worthwhile than a mindless jaunt along the main drag. We arrived in Dundee in good time and a quick call to The Mantis confirmed the Dundee FC Social Club as the meeting point for a pre-match drink. Despite our early arrival, we weren’t the first and we were met by a few familiar faces. No sign of The Mantis though…his sending us here had obviously been a ploy to allow him to sneak of somewhere else!!! After watching the rare sight of a referee giving a late penalty against Celtic we wandered up to Tannadice, grabbed a pie and met up with a few more site regulars…I would name them all, but they just get a big head and seeing their name in the despatches so I won’t bother….lol. We took to our seats (ensuring the Immortal Howden Ender was well surrounded by moderators) and waited for the team to appear. We’d spent so much time gassing downstairs that we’d missed the squad call outs, but it became quickly apparent that the tactics for today were to be one up front. Not all that surprising, even though I had expected to see Brewster making an appearance. The rest of the team seemed to line up to make the formation look like a 4-1-4-1, although as the game progressed it became apparent that the centre of the park remained very fluid, constantly adapting to the circumstances. Even with a number of regulars missing Craig Levein seemed to have deployed some kind of ‘Chaos Theory Engine’ in his team selection and line-up with many players playing out of position, none more so than Lee Wilkie who had been placed (again) in the front line, just as he had been when Dundee Utd had visited us earlier in the season. Inverness CT to kick things off in the middle, and the first forward ball was played nicely in to touch....well it would have been nice if this was a game of rugby. It had confused Dundee Utd though, as they immediately returned the favour and we were back in possession. The first shot of the game came in the 2 minute mark when Niculae hit wide with a 25 yard effort and Rankin was next to have a pop but the ball went straight to the hands of Grzegorz Szamotulski. Dundee Utd’s game plan didn’t take too long to work out as time and again they kept lobbing the ball in to Lee Wilkie. As a defender he can be a handful to deal with, but as a striker he seemed lost and it was obvious that he had no instinct with regards to which direction the goal was. Munro and McGuire were doing a good job of keeping him reined in and allowed him very little room to manoeuvre, which is a problem for a 6ft 4 lump of a man with the turning circle of a cargo ship...add to that his insistence on trying to go through instead of around everyone and he quickly started to clock up the fouls. ICT had a great chance to go a goal up in the 16th minute when Dods fouled Ian Black just outside the box. Despite us having 2 men standing over the ball it was obvious Niculae was going to be the man to strike it. It was equally obvious that laying it off to Black who was standing unmarked to the left of the wall would have been the sensible option, but we never took it and Niculae drove the ball into the wall. This didn’t go down too well with Black and he left Niculae under no illusions as to his frustration. It was 18 minutes in to the game before Dundee Utd recorded their first shot on target, but this did little to trouble Fraser who caught it comfortably. We then went on the immediate counter-attack with a ball played through to Niculae on the edge of the area, he stumbled over the ball as he tried to turn the defender, but it broke kindly to Ian Black who spotted Szamotulski off his line and took full advantage by lobbing him from 25+ yards out. Dundee Utd 0 v 1 Inverness CT after 19 minutes For the first time in a few weeks we were actually winning the midfield battles and this seemed to be building confidence in our back line that were pushing forward and keeping United at a safe distance from goal. Even on the odd occasion when they did break our midfield and get a cross in to the box, a more confident looking Michael Fraser was dealing with everything easily – whether that was punching the ball clear or safely collecting the ball from the air. Add to that the fact that his kicking was much improved from the previous week and his game looks like it is really starting to come together. Neither team was doing much to test the keeper at either end, but ICT were holding on to the ball and passing well. Black, Rankin and Cowie were all taking turns at assisting Niculae with runs from the midfield and if I’m honest, he needed all the help he could get as he just doesn’t have the pace to play effectively as the lone striker. The first substitution of the game came in the 37th minute when Stuart Duff replaced an injured Steven Robb. The only other real action before the break came seconds before the whistle when Kenneth found himself with acres of space in the box, but he somehow managed to send his header wide of his mark to close off the half with ICT holding a one goal advantage. Half Time 0-1 The start of the second half was a little dull in comparison to the first 45 minutes and it wasn’t until 10 minutes in that we saw the first attempt on either of the goals. Duncan fouled Robertson 25 yards out but the resulting free-kick went harmlessly high over the goal and into the crowd. Moments later Kenneth was again left unmarked in the box allowing him a free header, but yet again he was unable to take full advantage as he failed to get it on target. ICT would need to tighten up a bit more on these balls being played in to the area or we were in real danger of conceding a soft equaliser. Lee Wilkie was still picking up the fouls as United had taken to playing the long-ball forward to him time after time in a bid to claw one back. We were beginning to wonder if the referee was aware of the persistent fouling laws when Wilkie eventually picked up a yellow card…ironically though it wasn’t for his constant barging or climbing over the heads of players…it wasn’t even for the way he’d taken to sitting like a little lost boy every time he landed on his butt…he had taken to whinging and found himself going into the book for dissent after mouthing to the ref when getting caught offside. If I had been Levein I would have hooked him at this stage in the game as it was one of those situations where a player looks destined to get himself a second yellow, the decision to leave him on became a little less bizarre when it was pointed out to me that Wilkie was now facing a 2 match suspension for going over the points threshold so risking a second yellow by leaving him on wasn’t such a huge gamble. Kenneth was to get his third chance at a free header in the 66th minute, but despite the hat trick of chances, he still couldn’t find the goal. The play that had led to this chance had, however, left Hastings stretched out on the sidelines having taken a knock to the head. He was making very little movement and at first it appeared that he was out cold…this wouldn’t have been surprising as I had heard the clonk from the stands. He was stretchered off and although I haven’t heard how he is I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a concussion. A quick re-shuffle of the team with McBain dropping back to fill in for Hastings and Wilson came on to take his place on the left wing…his addition marking an instant upturn in our attacking play and a swing away from what might have been considered a period where United seemed to be having a slight advantage, and taking more of the possession. Black and Rankin both had shots at goal, the second was spilled by Szamotulski but rolled wide for the first of what was to be 4 corners taken in quick succession, but we just couldn’t find that second goal to kill the game. A double substitution and a slight team re-shuffle came around the 80 minute mark for Dundee Utd as the pushed another big centre half to the front line to join Wilkie. This was followed soon after by an ICT substitution…Niculae had worked hard and couldn’t be faltered for his effort, but as I said earlier, his pace let him down a bit in the lone striker role and despite being able to turn defenders with ease he just didn’t have enough to be chasing down the through ball and creating any real threat. He did have some nice lay-offs for the likes of Cowie, Rankin and Black, who were pushing out from midfield, and on another day we may have made more of those, but this wasn’t one of those days. For some reason Niculae decided he wanted to shake the refs hand as he was replaced by Graham Bayne who had missed last weeks game due to suspension and he showed a little more of what you would expect for the position he filled. John Rankin had a shot saved from 12 yards when he failed to get any real power in to it, and at the other end it was Wilkie who was allowed space for the free header on this occasion, this time getting it on target, but failing to score as it was gathered by Michael Fraser. This marked the 90 minute point, but we knew we would see a further 3 or 4 minutes, at least, of injury time. We decided to use the last of our substitutions and John Rankin made way for the youngster Iain Vigurs. The lad must have thought that Christmas was about to come early as he collected the ball on the right and caught sight of the goal from 25 yards. He managed to get plenty of pace on his shot, but was unfortunate to see it slide wide to the right. That was to be the last real play in what ended up being 4 minutes of added time…something which seemed to upset the United dugout as the all started jumping around and pointing at their watches and creating a fuss. Full Time:0-1 The ICT team left the field under a well earned round of applause and I was off to the bookies to collect my winnings…if only Niculae had scored it would have been a good bit more…but perhaps I was asking just a little too much for one week!!!