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Semi-Final Joy It was an early start for most Inverness fans on the Saturday morning as they headed to the National Stadium to get behind the Caley Jags. The first train out of Inverness saw some weary eyes on the 05:30 to Queen Street. Wiser ones went down the night before to savour the occasion. Falkirk fans? Well they were subject to a gruelling half hour journey before the scheduled kick-off time of 12:15pm. Alfredo's was a popular choice for pre-match aperitif's before heading in the direction of the National Stadium. Hampden Park was less than a quarter full as these two teams met once again in the Scottish Cup. The winner will go on to the final where either Rangers or Celtic will be the prize for getting there. Inverness were in their first choice home strip and the Bairns were in their dark blue on a brisk but dryish Saturday lunchtime. With a VAR assisted penalty, Billy Mckay opened the scoring early in the first half. Dan Mackay headed in the second from an inviting Jay Henderson Cross. Falkirk had their moments, Callumn Morrison hitting the post after some defensive indecision on the edge of the box. However, we did our own post hitting and Billy Mckay wrapped up the victory in the second half with a well taken finish, his 100th goal for the Caley Jags. That ensured our progress into the final. Nathan Shaw was unfortunate twice off the post and Falkirk were denied a consolation by some dogged defending. All in, comfortable in the end and Hampden calling once more. Key moments: 6th minute: Jay Henderson's cross from the right deflects off the hand of defender Leon McCann. VAR went into action and after a quick check Nick Walsh pointed to the spot. Billy Mckay stepped forward to send a clinical penalty high to the keepers left. 1-0 10th minute: A lofted ball over the head of Devine makes him chase back towards Ridgers. Burrell in hot pursuit forces Devine and Ridgers to hesitate and the keepers clumsy clearance falls to Callumn Morrison. He rolls the ball goalward from outside the angle of the box but it bounces away from goal off the base off the post before Duffy and Deas block and the finger wagging begins in the Inverness defence. 24th minute: Maksym Kucheryavyi heads into Mark Ridgers midrift from the centre of the box. 34th minute: Jay Henderson curls a sumptuous cross into the box and Daniel Mackay heads downwards emphatically into the bottom corner. Spectacular cross and finish. 2-0 57th minute: All over bar the shouting. A long diagonal ball to the far post from Dan Mackay picks out a supercool Billy Mckay who calmly guides the ball behind Kinnear for another superb goal. That's 100 now for Billy Mckay. 63rd minute: Nathan Shaw smacks the post with a deflected shot that has the keeper beaten. Unfortunately it bounces clear. 65th minute: Comedy defending as Inverness try to help Falkirk to a consolation goal. Robbie Deas was short with a pass back as he tried to knee the ball back to his keeper. Gary Oliver picked up the loose ball but his cut back was blocked. It came back to him on the byeline but his second effort was headed clear by Danny Devine who was already lying full length on the deck, his head on the byeline to knock the ball away. 68th minute: Nathan Shaw weaved his way into the box and opened up his body to curl a low shot goalwards. It beat the keeper but bounced off the same post before agonisingly rolling along the line and clear of goal. 77th minute: Last throw of the dice from the Bairns saw Ridgers make a comfortable save from Ola Lawal to keep a clean sheet and the wind was now well and truly out of the Bairns sails. 93rd minute: Nick Walsh closes the game with a few peeps of his whistle. Game over at 3-0, Final v Celtic to come on June 3rd after they beat Rangers 1-0 on the Sunday. Highlights can be seen on BBC Sport Falkirk manager John McGlynn: "You can't give Inverness a goal start. They are the type of team that lap that up. But you can't legislate for such a soft goal as well. I'm not the first to be in this situation [with VAR]. "We had opportunities. I'm proud of the way the players played. But we didn't have the quality Inverness did." Inverness CT striker Billy Mckay: "We're delighted, it couldn't have gone much better. Roll on June. I thought we were ruthless. It's a weird feeling because we could've been out. Now we're in the final. "I knew [the third goal] was my 100th [for the club]. I wanted to stay on for my hat-trick. All round it's a pleasing day." Whist we were at Hampden, some important Championship games were played out. So, it's all to play for in the final league games of the season next Friday night. Friday night: Dundee 0-0 Cove Saturday 3:00pm: Ayr Utd 1-0 Raith Morton 2-1 Queen's Partick 2-0 Arbroath Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Couldn't be tighter at both ends of the table 1. Dundee 35 16 12 7 61 37 60 2. Queens Park 35 17 7 11 60 47 58 3. Partick Thistle 35 16 8 11 63 43 56 4. Ayr United 35 15 10 10 59 42 55 5. Inverness CT 35 15 10 10 51 45 55 6. Morton 35 14 12 9 51 42 54 7. Raith Rovers 35 11 9 15 44 47 42 8. Arbroath 35 6 15 14 29 47 33 9. Cove Rangers 35 7 10 18 37 73 31 10. Hamilton Ac. 35 7 9 19 31 63 30 Friday night 7:45pm Arbroath v Accies Cove Ran v Morton Inverness CT v Ayr United Queen's v Dundee Rovers v Partick Date: 29/04/2023 Venue: Hampden Park Attendance: 12877 Referee: Nick Walsh Falkirk FC: 0 Manager: John McGlynn Lineup: Kinnear; Williamson (Yeats 67), Donaldson, Mckay, McCann, Henderson (Lawal 77), McGinn, Kucheryavyi, C Morrison (Wright 61), Burrell (Oliver 61), Kennedy (Nesbitt 61) Subs (not used): P Morrison; Rowe, Allan, McGuffie Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy (Delaney 79), Devine, Deas, Harper, Henderson (Boyd 84), Welsh, Allardice, Shaw (Hyde 85), D Mackay (Doran 73), B Mckay (Samuels 78) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Ram, MacGregor Scorers: Mckay (7 pen, 57), D Mackay (37) Booked: Deas (45+1) Sent Off: none a

2015 Revisited The last time we played Falkirk at Hampden in front of 37,000 fans, it was a history making event. I don't really need to tell you how that worked out, but for those that were on another planet, we won the Scottish Cup by beating Falkirk 2-1. Since then both clubs have underachieved and hit the skids. Falkirk are now trying to get themselves out of league 1 and we are desperately trying to keep ourselves in the Premiership play-off slot after a horrendous season littered with injuries to the whole squad. A third round struggle past Stirling Albion before we went through to the 5th round by default against Queens Park, but since then have comfortably disposed of Premiership opposition in Livingston and Kilmarnock. Falkirk got here by putting six past Wick Academy before a narrow 2-1 win at Alloa. They then dumped media darlings Darvel 5-1 and in the quarter final put out Ayr United. On paper we will be the bookies favourites. That's not something we are normally comfortable with and I fully expect Falkirk will also fancy their chances in this one, and rightly so. Be warned! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ticket & Bus info from ICTFC Supporters Club Buses Full ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 27 8 5 14 35 42 -7 Away 23 7 6 10 29 33 -4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 50 15 11 24 64 75 -11 Falkirk are one of the few clubs out with the Premiership that have had the better of us over the years in head 2 head encounters. In the early years since we crossed swords in 1999 we always found Falkirk to be a difficult side to beat. Only 15 wins from 50 encounters is not one of our better stats. We have fared better in recent years with the Cup Final in 2015 being the pinnacle. The 0-2 home defeat shown below in the stats was the first meeting after the Cup Final win. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 2 - 3 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 2 (H) Click the link below for our full report from the Scottish Cup Final, brings a tear to a glass eye..... We went in at the break a goal to the good after getting to grips with the game halfway through the first period, Marley Watkins finishing with aplomb after a seven man move. Carl Tremarco was sent packing after 75 minutes after he miscontrolled a ball and then scythed down Blair Alston as he sped goalwards. Schoolboy error from Carl that was punished five minutes later when Peter Grant headed powerfully home from the vacant left back position. However, an unlikely hero came forward and James Vincent applied the finishing touch after Jamie MacDonald spilled a Watkins shot. The rest is history. 2015 Scottish Cup Final May 30th Scottish Cup (Final) 2 - 1 N 37,149 Anyway, back to the future and another tough game is expected against a Falkirk side who will finish second in League 1 and will be looking for promotion through the play-offs. Three former Inverness players in their ranks at the moment. Defenders Coll Donaldson and Brad Mckay along with winger Kai Kennedy who will be a handful. Mckay and Kennedy scored in a 4-1 win over Alloa at the weekend. Kennedy has scored five goals in his last four games. However, League form goes out the window in cup games, especially at Hampden where the vastness of the arena with less than full stands can turn it into a training like atmosphere. The daunting task of beating one of the Old Firm at a packed Hampden does not appeal to many, but it has been done before although the bookies won't be expecting that to happen whoever teachers the final. LAST WEEK Dundee broke our run of six straight wins with a draw at the Caledonian Stadium last Saturday. They opened the scoring through Lyall Cameron before Austin Samuels levelled with fifteen minutes left. A hard earned point in a game where Dundee looked like running away with the points for over an hour. Our late comeback meant that ultimately it was a deserved point but Dundee might disagree with that. Falkirk warmed up by trouncing Alloa Athletic 4-1 at Recreation Park. Brad Mckay, Kai Kennedy and a brace from Liam Henderson did the damage. Kennedy on a good spree just now with some spectacular dead ball strikes this month. Coll Donaldson did his bit. He was booked on half time. The third goal enabled them to rest some legs ahead of this one, unlike us who had to battle hard for the full ninety plus minutes. FanZone The word on the street is that the pre-match watering hole will be Alfredo's. It's known as Alfie's Sports Bar on West Nile Street. Alfie’s is located at 146 West Nile Street, G1 2RQ. This is a few minutes north of Glasgow Queen’s Street and the Bus Station. Apparently it opens around 8:00am. It would be rude not to.... Google Link to Alfies Sports Bar There's also a post match Bar for celebrating or drowning your sorrows. Koelschip Yard 686-688 Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow G41 2QB Listen to the latest Podcast from The Wyness Shuffle Join Moff, Riley, AY and Wyness Shuffle debutants Sandy Sutherland and Calum MacDonald as they begin the countdown to the big one by looking back at our recent excellent run, hearing from a few familiar voices, and speculating on who will be running out at Hampden next Saturday. Let’s Shuffle to HAMPDEN CALLING That should keep you busy for a while on the train down to Glasgow Latest Team News David Carson is suspended for this one and Lewis Nicolson is cup-tied to add to Sutherland and Walsh who will no doubt be watching from the stands. Our missing souls of Roddy MacGregor and Max Ram might be added to the squad as Billy hints at in his media preview. Sean Welsh missed last week against Dundee with a knock but will return this week. Wallace Duffy made a welcome return last week with the impending suspension of Carson for this game. Falkirk manager John McGlynn had this starting XI against Alloa: Kinnear Williamson Donaldson McKay McCann Henderson McGinn Kucheriavyi Morrison Burrell Kennedy Subs: P Morrison; Rowe, Allan, Nesbitt, McGuffie, Yeats, Wright Oliver, Lawal Callumn Morrison is top scorer this season with 13 goals. Kai Kennedy and striker Rumarn Burrell both have 9 goals.

Bore draw Defences were on top at the Caledonian Stadium as Falkirk came North with a clear game plan; do not concede. It worked as Inverness struggled to break them down with former Partick player Abdul Osman outstanding for Falkirk, and combined with our wayward shooting that ensured the battling Bairns went home with a point. Chances were at a premium in an instantly forgettable first half. The tempo improved in the second but despite some near misses around the Falkirk box it was left to Mark Ridgers to ensure we also took a point as he blocked a late effort from substitute Shayne Lavery from six yards. Some odd results today with County, Dundee United and Dunfermline losing we actually moved further away from the Pars in fifth place. A decent visiting crowd were on hand to see if they could lift the Bairns out of the relegation scrap with a total of over 2800 in attendance on a brisk and blustery afternoon in the Highland Capital. As mentioned above, it was an instantly forgettable first forty-five with the most apt description coming from AJS as he slithered and shivered down the stairs at the interval. Bland! Enough said Sandy. The only plus points for me were that Coll Donaldson was immense at the back for us mopping up every ball forward from Falkirk and Abdul Osman did likewise at the other end to ensure it was a total stalemate. In our defence, the Bairns probably had more to gain from keeping it tight and their tenacity and close shackling of our players made for a dull first half. The pace of the game quickened after the break as Inverness drove towards the North Stand and Charlie Trafford shot wide as more urgency came into our play. Harry Burgoyne saved from man of the moment Aaron Doran as he looked for his fifth goal in as many games, but like his team mates, most efforts were not causing the big keeper too many issues. Harry again denying Doran and a succession of three corners came to nothing. Kevin McHattie had one of our best moments when he flashed a volley just wide from the edge of the box when it looked as though it might find the bottom corner, the ball going agonisingly the wrong side of the post. Brad Mckay met a Chalmers corner from the right but it flashed just wide of the post with defenders relieved to see it miss, the ball rolling out for a corner off Edjenguele's shins . White directed a header well wide on the run under pressure from the two centre backs, the ball just not running for the big man today. Doran came closest of all when he appeared on the left side of the box as he collected a disguised pass from Polworth, but his goalbound shot was cleared away from inside the six yard box by Jordan McGhee. Polly then guided the clearance just wide under pressure from the defender. That could easily have been the opener but for a fortunate block by Edjenguele on Polly, the ball going for a corner. A wonderful jinky run into the box by Trafford almost set up a chance for Tom Walsh but he wanted to take an extra touch to be sure and his right footed effort was subsequently blocked. Would have been nice for Polworth to get one on his 200th appearance but he will need to be sharper if he wants to hit the back of the net. Too ponderous around the box for my liking although he was always looking to create something for others, especially in the second half. The customary late flurry brought little reward for Inverness and right at the death Falkirk almost stole it. Substitute Shayne Lavery pounced on the ball plumb in front of Mark Ridgers but the Inverness stopper stood firm as his shot went into his chest to avoid us losing another sore one to the Bairns. It would have been nothing short of robbery had defence minded Falkirk stolen all three points as they did last time they were here. It was miserable enough dropping two points but as it turned out we lost no ground and as for Falkirk, they actually dropped to second bottom after Partick whipped Morton 3-0. Man of the Match for Inverness was Coll Donaldson. Boy are we going to miss you in the Semi-Final. Abdul Osman was the same for Falkirk proving to be a big obstacle and dominated everything in the air at his end. He's a big unit. Here's the footage from Caley Jags TV Inverness CT manager John Robertson said on BBC Sport: "It was disappointing because we had by far the better chances in the second half. The first half was a total non-event. I don't think people realise how bad the wind was. It was really, really strong blowing straight through the park." Date: 30/03/2019 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2817 Referee: Gavin Ross Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Ridgers; B Mckay, Donaldson, McCart, Tremarco, Trafford, Polworth, McHattie, Chalmers (Walsh 65), Doran, White (Austin 77) Subs (not used): C Mackay, Rooney, McCauley, D Mackay, Machado. Scorers: none Booked: Trafford (61), B Mckay (89), Sent Off: none Falkirk FC: 0 Lineup: Burgoyne, McGhee, McKenna, Edjenguele, Osman, Dixon, Paton, McShane, Petravicius (Jarvis 74), Keillor-Dunn (MacLean 62), Rudden (Lavery 86) Subs (not used): Mitchell; Waddington, O'Hara, Robson Scorers: none Booked: Dixon (28) Sent Off: none a

Gathering Pace The push for promotion gathers pace after three wins on the bounce and we will be looking for a fourth on Saturday when perennial spoilers Falkirk come North for a 3:00pm kick off at the Caledonian Stadium. I'm sure the players would appreciate a big backing to help get right behind the team and push them on. If you can't make the game, look out for a live audio feed which should appear on the twitter feed as a periscope link. If the gremlins stay away, this should work, fingers crossed................ ps, Please don't be breaking any seats, it's a costly affair and something the club can do without. If you wouldn't do it at home, don't do it here. Read the joint club statement here Yes, three games on the bounce, who knew! Four if you include the cup win at Tannadice, or to put it another way, six out of seven in all competitions. The only defeat in that run was a 1-0 reverse at Tannadice when we were a bit light due to injury. What does it all mean I hear you say? Well it means that we now sit third fourth in the table going into today's game and five points clear of Dunfermline who are the ones most likely to make the push for promotion uncomfortable for us. Ayr have slithered in recent weeks but are not to be discounted yet. The Pars play Ayr on Friday night prior to our game. (Ayr beat Dunfermline 0-1 to go back into third place) There's the updated table above on the left. Other fixtures at the top end are Alloa -V- Ross County and Dundee United -V- Queen of the South. Final fixture is at the other end of the table where Morton play Partick Thistle, a game where Morton could get dragged into the relegation scrap. Our last game was a 3-2 home win over Alloa. Cruising at 3-0, our midfield dynamics changed when Sean Welsh went off injured and Joe Chalmers and Aaron Doran were exchanged. That let Alloa get a foothold and they plugged back a couple of goals through a Trouten penalty and a fortuitous Flannigan deflected shot that wrong footed Ridgers. Doran, Welsh (pen) and dainty feet Jordan White were our scorers. That's eleven for the season for a rejuvenated Aaron Doran who has scored in his last four outings. Great return from the wide midfielder. Dainty feet now has 14 goals in all competitions this season after a slow start to his ICTFC career. Falkirk's last outing was on the 16th of March when they drew with fellow relegation candidates Partick thistle. Ian McShane scored his third of the season to earn the point just before the interval. Previous to that, they went down narrowly at Dingwall (2-1) and beat Ayr United 2-0 at home. Those results show Falkirk sitting third bottom four points above Alloa and it looks as though they are starting to ease away from the dreaded drop. The Bairns are well used to this game of avoiding relegation and are battle hardened to it and will prove to be a tough nut to crack with Zak Rudden in particular a threat. Zak is fresh back from Cyprus where he scored a hat-trick for Scotland u19's. He has also scored three times against Inverness already this season. Another one making an impact is Shayne Lavery. He has two goals in two games after he scored the winner for Northern Ireland U21’s against Mexico last week. As ever, our games against Falkirk have been tough. We started at Falkirk with a 1-0 win back in August thanks to an early George Oakley strike, but he can't help us now. Falkirk came North in December and went away with all three points in a 3-2 win. Walsh and Oakley scored for us but a Zak Rudden double pulled the Bairns level before a late sickener in the third minute of time added on saw Scott Harrison snatch the points. That was the game that ended our unbeaten league run of 25 matches and got the monkey off our back (too many draws). The third encounter was a 2-2 draw at Falkirk as the Bairns twice came from behind (Rudden, McShane) to earn a point after Rooney and Doran had scored for us. John Robertson will have concerns over the fitness of Sean Welsh who was injured against Alloa Athletic. Sean has been a mainstay in midfield recently and his contribution from the spot is reaping rewards after we had tried a series of penalty takers who sadly fell short of the required suitability for the post. Those concerns were justified as it looks like he has cracked a metatarsal. If so he will be out for the rest of the season. Anthony McDonald is not fit enough to return this weekend but could make the squad for the Ross County game. Robbo summed up Sean's contribution perfectly:- “It’s not been confirmed yet but it’s certainly looking that way, we’re just waiting on the scan coming back. That’ll be a blow as Sean has been terrific for us all season and has been one of the unsung heroes, he’s in the team every week and he’s there for a reason because of the job he does for us. Saying that, it’s time for other players to step up now.” Ray McKinnon has no injury worries and had this squad out in the 1-1 draw with Partick. He said this about their current form: "We’ve lost once in our last nine games, our squad is looking good. We are strong and quick, the mentality is good and we’ve just got to go into every game to try and pick something up. We’re in decent form going into the business end of the season, but we’ll be taking absolutely nothing for granted". Don't forget your Scottish Cup semi-final tickets. Don't forget to buy your tickets for the SemiFinal against Hearts at Hampden. This may appear to be an alien concept, but always remember this, in space, no one can hear you scream. If you are sitting in your living room passing round the werther's originals and watching on TV, the lads won't be able to hear you. They have been brilliant to get this far in the cup and it's a great day out at the National Stadium. Be there or be square! Tickets for our William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final will be available for season ticket holders and shareholders on Monday 25th March from 10:00am. General sale will commence on Wednesday 27th March at 9:00am. Tickets will be available from the Club Shop and online from ictfc.tickethour.co.uk. The singing section for this game will be East Stand section G5. South Stand: £30 Adult, Concession £15 East Stand: £20 Adult, Concession £10 Concessions are available for supporters aged over 65 and supporters aged under 16 If you like a wee flutter, our 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." FansBet are partners with Supporters Direct Scotland and already have many impressive stories of giving back to and empowering fans, ranging from funding away travel, share purchases, backing safe standing projects and many more. You can read some of FansBet’s Giving Back stories on their blog at https://blog.fansbet.com/fansbet-giving-back/partners/fan/ FansBet have ICT @ 5/8 - Draw @ 11/4 and Falkirk @ 4/1. Always remember to adopt safe gambling and responsible policies.

All Square at Falkirk It was a depleted Inverness that kicked off with Coll Donaldson, Tom Walsh and Mark Ridgers out and third choice keeper Cammy Mackay in goal. Undaunted, we took the lead after 12 minutes when Shaun Rooney touched in a Joe Chalmers free kick. On the half hour Zak Rudden equalised from close range. Doran restored our lead just on the interval when he volleyed into the top corner in spectacular fashion. Freak goal from McShane levelled the game again 10 minutes into the second half. Inverness had both new signings Darren McCauley and Anthony McDonald available and on the bench for this game, however, we were dealt a blow with Mark Ridgers unable to play because of a back spasm and Fon Williams allegedly with a groin injury. That thrust young Cammy Mackay into the spotlight with Martin MacKinnon as back up on the bench. Nathan Austin and Jordan White started up front with George Oakley on the bench. Falkirk had new keeper from Wolves Harry Burgoyne between the sticks for the first time and prolific scorer Zak Rudden starting. It was a sodden miserable afternoon as Falkirk kicked off in front of nearly 5000 fans, 240 of them supporting the team from the Highlands, Cammy Mackay tasked with keeping the Bairns out. His last game was a month ago, a 2-0 defeat for Rothes in the Highland League against Brora Rangers whilst out on loan. A bright start for the visitors saw Nathan Austin, Aaron Doran and Jamie McCart all make Harry Burgoyne work in the Falkirk goal. Shaun Rooney did even better when he made him pick the ball out of the net in twelve minutes when he diverted a low Joe Chalmers free kick into the net for the opening goal. Great start for the Caley Jags. Austin had a header saved as we pushed for a second and Doran was close with a shot and Sean Welsh dragged another shot wide halfway though the first period. Burgoyne made a tremendous save to deny Doran from distance, fisting the ball away as the visitors continued to dominate and keeping young Cammy Mackay quiet in goal so far. Spoke too soon as out of the blue Zak Rudden tapped in from close range to level the match after good work from Mark Waddington. We fail to convert after a scramble in the Bairns box and soon after Liam Polworth shot wide after a lay-off from White. A quick break from defence saw White's first effort saved and his follow up deflected for a corner. From the corner, Falkirk do likewise as Rudden is denied at the other end. Inverness have had the greater opportunities in the first half and just on the break we regained the lead in spectacular fashion. A Polworth free kick was cleared as far as Doran at the edge of the box, and after taking a touch the wee man smashed the ball into the top corner on the volley, what a strike. Pick that one out Harry! Half Time 1-2 No changes at the break as Inverness set the ball rolling for the second half and we began on the front foot again, Austin doing his best to undo his old club as he drilled a ball across the box but there were no takers. Falkirk were relying on Mackay being in the firing line and they equalised when a corner from Ian McShane deceived the keeper and ended up in the net. Austin tried to reply moments later but his header was too straight and saved by the keeper and Sean Welsh missed from distance. Doran pulled up on a run forward and he had to make way for Darren McCauley to make his debut and it's almost an instant success as his ball is deflected to White and behind for a corner. Jamie McCart took a head knock as well, injuries we don't need at the moment. Substitute George Oakley had a header saved as we looked to get back in front, and Anthony McDonald replaced Jordan White to make his debut. McCauley had an effort blocked as we looked for the winner and at the other end Paul Paton saw Mackay save his shot. Big shouts for a penalty after a McCauley shot is blocked but nothing doing and Rudden blazed a shot over from 8 yards after being played in. That should have clinched it for the hosts. It all ended a bit towsy with a couple of bookings but with no further scoring it finished all square. Inverness will feel it's two points dropped, after having enough chances to win two games, but the injury to Doran could be more worrying. Speaking on BBC Sport Falkirk manager Ray McKinnon: "That's us unbeaten in January but we need to start winning games. It will happen sooner or later, I'm certain of that. "We still need two players. We need someone to hold the ball up front and an experienced centre half. We played a more attacking style but we just weren't clicking in the final third." Inverness CT manager John Robertson: "It was a strange game. Both equalisers come against the run of play. The Falkirk keeper - he was terrific - kept them in the game. "The most disappointing thing was not getting a penalty kick. Their player runs six yards to close down, hands above shoulders, and it comes off both hands. It's a clear a penalty as you'll get." Here's some footage from Falkirk TV on YouTube Where's Harry.............. Here he is............... Date: 26/01/2019 Venue: Falkirk Stadium Attendance: 4843 Referee: David Munro Falkirk: 2 Lineup: Burgoyne; McGhee, Petravicius (Lavery 75), MacLean (Keillor-Dunn 64), Osman, Robson, McShane, Rudden, Dickson, Waddington (Paton 79), McKenna Subs (not used): Mitchell; Kidd, Brough, McKee, Scorers: Rudden (29) McShane (56) Booked: Keillor Dunn (90+2) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: C Mackay; Rooney, B Mckay, McCart, Tremarco, Doran (McCauley 64), Polworth, Welsh, Chalmers, Austin (Oakley 63), White (McDonald 80) Subs (not used): McKinnon; Harper, McHattie, Trafford. Scorers: Rooney (12), Doran (45) Booked: Tremarco (62), Rooney (90+3) Sent Off: none a

Bairns Bash Inverness travel to second bottom Falkirk on Saturday knowing they will be in for a tough test. The Bairns had come North at the start of December and ended our 25 game unbeaten run by going away with all three points in a five goal tussle. Inverness CT fans will be housed in Section H of the Main Stand for this one at the Bairnabeu. Falkirk Club Shop will be open from 09:00 – Kick Off on Saturday for those wishing to purchase in person. Weather for the Falkirk area is expected to be heavy rain at times with a moderate breeze.?️ Falkirks last two results were a 1-0 win at Ayr United and a 1-1 draw against Partick Thistle at Firhill. Rangers loanee Zak Rudden is the man who earned the points with a second half goal against Ayr and an equaliser at Firhill. Rudden had scored twice when Falkirk won 3-2 at the Caledonian Stadium before Scott Harrison won the game with a 93rd minute goal. Tom Walsh and George Oakley were the Inverness scorers. The first encounter of the season was the opening fixture in the Championship. The Caley Jags took the points then as George Oakley fired home after only ten minutes. Would that be the start of a promotion chasing season? Well, maybe not yet, but we are still in the hunt for a play-off place and I'm sure Falkirk would happily exchange places with us given their faltering campaign. Our last league game was a deserved win over title chasing Ayr United thanks to a strike from Jordan White. Last weekend we comfortably disposed of East Kilbride 4-0 in the Scottish Cup. Goals from White, Aaron Doran, Liam Polworth and an og put us into the last sixteen. Falkirk were idle having already been dumped out of the cup in a surprising 4-2 defeat by neighbours Stenhousemuir. Rudden is certainly one to watch. He has scored eight goals this season, including a brace against Inverness. He has also been capped for Scotland at u16/17/19 level. All this and he he was only born two days before we knocked Celtic out of the Scottish Cup in 2000. John Robertson has moved into the transfer market and snapped up the Coleraine wide midfielder Darren MacCauley. The 27 year old scored 20 goals last season for Coleraine with 10 assists. He has scored 7 league goals this term. Darren was once a trainee at Celtic, but we won't hold that against him. Also signing on loan for the rest of the season is Hearts youngster Anthony McDonald pictured in his Jambo's strip. McDonald is 17 years old and is one of the promising young players at Hearts. He has made a total of 21 appearances for the Jam Tarts and has been capped for Scotland at U16 and U17 level. Good luck at the Caley Jags Darren and Anthony Striker Jordan White has been talking about his medical issues in the press and fair play to the big man he has battled through it to get where he is today. Talking on the BBC Sport website, Kenny Crawford has written this article "One night during pre-season, I woke up and just couldn't move my legs." Have a read and maybe we can all understand what Jordan has gone through. Inverness have been dealt a double injury blow with Coll Donaldson (groin) and Tom Walsh (foot) out for over a month. Both missed the win over Ayr United last weekend. Jamie McCart is a ready made replacement for Donaldson and it looks as though Darren McCauley will be able to fill the gap left by the injured Tom Walsh. Anthony McDonald will be available for selection for tomorrow’s trip to Falkirk. Darren's inclusion will depend on whether his international clearance has been received. Falkirk have been busy in the transfer market as they look to get away from the foot of the table. Goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne has signed on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers for the rest of the season. The 6ft 4″ stopper has made a total of seven first team appearances for the Premier League side. Paul Dixon was also brought in before New Year. Former Partick Thistle captain 31 year old Abdul Osman was the second signing after Dixon. Motherwell pair Ross MacLean and Ian McShane soon followed. In fact there are too many to fit on the preview and not even the Bairns fans know what their team looks like now. Viva la Rayvolution! Here's Nathan Austin speaking ahead of the Falkirk clash Latest News The Friday night Championship game at Somerset Park ended Ayr 1-0 Dundee United. That result has put Ayr back to the top of the table on goal difference thanks to a fourth minute goal from Craig Moore. Dundee United ended the game with ten men when Morgaro Gomis was red carded in the 89th minute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scottish Cup V Ross County In their wisdom, the powers that be have determined that 7:15 on Monday night the 11th of February will be the date for the Highland Scottish Cup derby at Dingwall. It's not a great choice for the fixture and it looks like the SFA have bowed to the TV companies to fit this tie in for their schedules. Fans aren't given much consideration and I fear this may diminish some of the atmosphere in what should be a cracking game. Prices have been set at Adult £15 Concession £10 Under 12 £5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you like a wee flutter, our new 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." FansBet are partners with Supporters Direct Scotland and already have many impressive stories of giving back to and empowering fans, ranging from funding away travel, share purchases, backing safe standing projects and many more. You can read some of FansBet’s Giving Back stories on their blog at https://blog.fansbet.com/fansbet-giving-back/partners/fan/ Always remember to adopt safe gambling and responsible policies.

Bottoms Up Bottom club Falkirk claimed the win right at the death when Scott Harrison knocked the ball home after a free kick. Inverness had opened the scoring early when Tom Walsh slotted in before a Zak Rudden double turned the game on it's head. George Oakley stooped to head home from close range with half an hour to go but Inverness were unable to add to that before being hit with the sucker punch. The hosts squandered a raft of chances in the second half after a poor first forty-five and once more paid the price for a lack of composure in front of goal. That late goal ended the worst unbeaten run anywhere in the world where draws became more important than winning. With that monkey off the back, maybe we can go out and play something more entertaining for the fans and hopefully bag a few wins. If not, then we look to be in big trouble and sliding into obscurity. A bright but chilly afternoon with 2260 spectators saw the hosts get off to the perfect start. We played briskly from defence when Sean Welsh passed forward to Liam Polworth, he spun round and threaded a lovely ball into the path of Tom Walsh who took a touch towards the corner of the six yard box then drilled low across the keeper into the bottom corner. Great start but could we build on it? The answer became apparent as Falkirk got to grips with the game and broke forward at pace at every opportunity as we reverted to holding onto the ball at all costs. Their persistence paid off when they burst down the right, three passes and a Petravicius cross later Zac Rudden was left unmarked to nod into the net with Ridgers merely a spectator, helped to watch by Brad Mckay and Shaun Rooney, when maybe they should have been more involved. Good goal from the Bairns point of view, sloppy from ours. Falkirk survived a massive penalty claim when George Oakley was manhandled to the ground by Scott Harrison as he entered the box on the left edge. Referee Colin Steven deemed that the crime started outside the box and a free kick was awarded which we wafted way over the bar, one of many wayward attempts from crosses, corners to free kicks. Aaron Doran was buzzing in and around the visitors box and he had one effort blocked by the legs of Leo Fassan in the Falkirk goal. Falkirk were still looking more direct on the break and it was no big surprise when they scored a second and no surprise it came as a result of more ball watching from Shaun Rooney. A quick free kick saw a long ball floated over the less than alert defender and Rudden capitalised to gather the ball and head goalwards. It was a fairly tight angle but from about three yards out from the bye line he managed to squeeze the ball through Ridgers and in off the far post. Another good goal for Falkirk, another self inflicted disaster from us. Oakley headed well over the bar from a corner when he should have been hitting the target as we tried to get back on level terms before the break, however most of our moves as usual broke down in the final third. Half Time 1-2 More urgency was shown after the interval and Rooney was deployed further up the park where we were hopeful he could make amends for his earlier slackness. At least there was less chance of us conceding when he was at the other end of the park. He did get a useful low ball into the box after ducking in between two players but Oakley's slid attempt just went a foot over the top of the bar as it dipped over. Close, but no cigar. Oakley appeared to be shoved in the back for a second time but the referee chose to ignore this one completely for what looked like a stonewall penalty. A goal was coming for the hosts but not yet. The now familiar sight of Jordan White getting under a cross, leaning back and heading an inviting cross over the bar from inside the six yard box was too much for some to take, an outburst of biblical proportions from some filled the air. Ridgers had been idle for most of the second half but he had to look sharp to get down low to his left post to tip a curling shot round the post from Paton. We would not be denied though and a deep corner was headed back into the mix by Rooney where it bounced kindly for Oakley to stoop and nod the ball in from close range. That goal prompted an assault on the advertising hoarding as two or three jubilant players were fouled by our sponsor McEwan Fraser, but it was not legal. Game on! We pressed hard for the winner and Joe Chalmers curled an effort just over the junction but it was not to be. Tom Walsh tried a low shot to the near post but Fassan parried then a defender blocked the rebound as White tried to turn it in, but it was not to be. Then, out of nothing, deep into stoppage time, a late free kick wide right for Falkirk saw a dangerous ball swing to the back post where Donaldson was the wrong side of Harrison and he bundled the ball in to the delight of the visiting fans. Misery complete for the home fans who had seen enough. So, the unbeaten run ends. Thank Christ we all sigh, now let's get the season started. It could be a make or break week with a tough cup tie on Tuesday and an even tougher trip to Somerset Park on Friday. Our normally reliable defence let us down today but Donaldson and McCart still played well, despite the odd lapse. Ridgers has had better days and the forwards did what we expected, missed loads of chances, so there you have it, run over and beaten by the bottom club. Let's end on a bright note. Roddy MacGregor was a late sub and looks like a bright prospect. ??? RIG sums it up brilliantly in his summary of our first two goals "Awful defending from Mckay for the first Rudden goal. It's almost as if someone playing as ICT on FIFA suddenly loses their controls connection with the PS4 as he just stops dead and doesn't even bother trying to challenge for the ball. As if that wasn't bad enough Rooney then follows it up by getting distracted by a shiny object in the North Stand and forgets to challenge Rudden for the ball and let him ghost past before finishing well past Ridgers." Zak seems to agree with my assessment............. Post Match on BBC Sport website, the managers had different reactions:- Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager John Robertson: "I'm hugely disappointed. We didn't deserve to lose the game. We created chance after chance after chance and got caught by a sucker punch. "It's cruel on the players. The worst we should have got was a point but we desperately wanted all three." Falkirk manager Ray McKinnon: "I'm really, really happy with the guys. They executed the game plan brilliantly. We got off to a bad start but responded well and right at the end we tried to win the game. "Inverness are a good side that's why they are unbeaten for 25 games. We worked extremely hard and we got the rewards." Here's Robbo on the Official Facebook page Date: 01/12/2018 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2260 Referee: Colin Steven Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Ridgers; Rooney, B Mckay, Donaldson, McCart, Walsh, Polworth, Chalmers, Welsh (Trafford 58), Doran (White 58), Oakley (MacGregor 84) Subs (not used): Hoban; Trafford, White, MacGregor, Nicolson, Brown, Harper. Scorers: Walsh (6), Oakley (61) Booked: Mckay (52), Polworth (90+1) Sent Off: none Falkirk: 3 Lineup: Fasan; Kidd, McGhee, Muirhead, Paton, Petravicius (Haber 77), Sammut (Irving 80), Robson, Harrison, Brough, Rudden (Lewis 90+2) Subs (not used): Mitchell, Dallison, Dumbuya, Russell. Scorers: Rudden (16, 36), Harrison (90+3) Booked: Harrison (21), Muirhead (90+1) Sent Off: none a

Bairns Challenge Bottom club Falkirk head to Inverness on Saturday with their latest manager Ray McKinnon so far unable to motivate the club sufficiently to direct them away from the foot of the table. If we thought our performance in the Scottish Cup was abysmal, and it was, spare a thought for the Bairns suffering fans as they were dumped out of the Scottish Cup by four goals to two. That's bad enough, but it was their lesser fancied League One neighbours Stenhousemuir who inflicted the damage leading to some unsavoury scenes from the stands as angry fans berated their own players. How the mighty have fallen. It's barely three and a half years since these two clubs contested the 2015 Scottish Cup final in front of 37,149 fans with Inverness just coming out on top. Falkirk losing to the Warriors was a poor result for them, but was it any worse than our tepid performance at Ainslie Park in front of 867 hardy souls where we drew with Edinburgh City? I'm not sure there's much between the results. Lack lustre, embarrassing, devoid of creativity, sluggish, lack of penetration were all used on this forum to describe our performance. One sentence really summed it up, "we are the most boring outfit in Scottish Football right now." What's gone wrong? We are finding it increasingly difficult to turn draws into wins. Yes we are unbeaten for half a million games, but the support have seen it all before and long before the draws become reality, the sense of a draw running through the stands is overbearing. Lack of ambition coupled with no budget is restricting what we can do, but it's becoming more obvious that we won't get out of this division with the squad we have just now, they are simply not good enough to sustain a challenge. Our defence is solid enough, but there is little creativity from midfield and our front men are challenging. Challenging the fans enthusiasm to return and watch more of the same. Still, we are unbeaten some say. Oh my, remaining unbeaten has become an obsession and is detrimental to our progress. Last Saturday in the cup was a prime example, an opportunity for the front men to make a few headlines. I know, I know, cup shocks are what makes the competition, we should know we have been involved in some memorable ones over the years. However, those days are long gone and those that witnessed our sorry attempt at Ainslie Park will testify to that. Can you be more upbeat I hear you say. Well, we won't get a better chance to make amends than the visit of a struggling club that has only scored 8 goals in the Championship and conceded 21, not the worst, but 8 more than we have conceded. The Bairns have only two wins this season in the Championship, recently against Dunfermline Athletic and away to Alloa at the end of September. That sees them at the bottom of the table with just 8 points whilst we have 22 in fourth place. We did win the opening game of the season 1-0 at Falkirk thanks to a George Oakley strike, however that was a long time ago now. Ayr United staked their claim to be taken seriously last night with a 5-0 demolition of Dundee United at Tannadice, Lawrence Shankland the main demolition man with four of the five goals. Stunning performance from the Honest men that puts them 5 points clear at the top with today's games to come. Ray McKinnon talking to the Official Falkirk FC website said:- “There’s nothing we can do about last week now other than to learn from it. It’s all about Inverness from as soon as last Saturday’s match was finished and ensuring we prepare properly for the match. “We know where we are, I know where we are. We are going to get inconsistencies, every team has them, we just had a really poor day on Saturday and got punished for it. “I would rather that it didn’t happen, but we now have an opportunity to get back to the form we have shown in the last four games in the league. It’s our bread and butter this season.” Zak Rudden will return and he could have Scott Harrison back for this one, and Mustapha Dumbuya could get on the park. Prince Bauben is also just about ready for action so it could be a very different Bairns from the one that were dumped out of the cup. John Robertson will just have to go with the tried and tested for this one as our wafer thin and fragile squad struggle for fitness. Defensively we can cope, with Jamie McCart doing well since his insertion to the starting XI. Scoring goals is the big issue with lightweight Nathan Austin possibly out. Big opportunity for youth to get a fling, and we might see Daniel Mackay or Roddy MacGregor get some game time. tm4tj prediction:- Draw anyone! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ICTFC v Edinburgh City Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Tuesday 4th December KO 7.45pm Adults: £12 Concessions (Senior and 16-25): £6 Juniors (under 16s): FREE Season ticket holders will, for the first time, be able to use their season card by adding the cup game onto it. Season ticket holders can activate the cup ticket online (up to kick off), or by phoning the ticket office on 01463 222880 or in person up to an hour before kick-off. Please note that even free under 12 seats need to be added to the season card. Get your tickets HERE

Championship begins with visit to Bairns Here we go, matchday one in the Championship and we are off to Falkirk to kick off the new campaign on Saturday. The ball starts rolling at 3:00pm at the Falkirk Stadium. Falkirk have signed a barrowload of players over the summer break. The enigmatic Greek born midfielder Dimitris Froxylias is one to watch out for. The former Dumbarton player was capped by Cyprus towards the end of last season and is a big danger at set pieces. Striker Dylan Mackin comes in after being on loan at Brechin City last season. Deimantas Petravicius a striker from Motherwell has signed on. Experienced Paul Paton has joined up. The one time Dundee United midfielder comes in from Plymouth. Keeper Leo Fasan moves to the Bairns having played for Udinese and Port Vale amongst other clubs. A late signing has been that of Marcus Haber. The Canadian striker joins the Bairns on a season long loan from Dundee. In their last couple of League Cup games, Falkirk narrowly lost out to St Johnstone (1-0) before ending their group games with a 2-1 defeat of East Fife. They came from behind in this one with two second half goals from Dylan Mackin seeing them prevail. However, like us, it was not enough to sustain their interest in the competition. Inverness were dumped out of the Betfred League Cup last weekend and suffered a humiliating 5-0 reverse. Anything more than a three goal defeat and we were out and I'm afraid we were outplayed after losing three goals in as many minutes in the first half. A further two goals sealed our fate and our demise saw Partick Thistle take our place in the draw. A bit of retribution for the Harry Wraggs I suppose. Pastures new for some stalwarts of recent seasons. Most notably, club captain Gary Warren who has returned South and signed for Yeovil Town. Gary has been a great servant and fans favourite in his six years and 218 appearances. He missed out on two cup final appearances through injury and suspension, but he finally got his hands on a trophy last season as we picked up the IrnBru Challenge Cup. Iain Vigurs is another club captain who has left to re-join Ross County. A very talented player but occasionally let down by his temperament, however his midfield qualities will be missed this season. Jake Mulraney has gone to Tynecastle and the popular Connor Bell is now at Cappielow. We have some new faces at the Caledonian Stadium though with defender Jamie McCart coming back to Inverness having previously been here on loan. Shaun Rooney arrives as a marauding right back from Queen of the South. Striker Jordan White comes in from Barrow to compliment our other strikers and Sean Welsh is a midfielder from Falkirk, not to be confused with Tom Walsh a wide player who was at Dumbarton. Angus Beith is here somewhere after joining from Hearts but he is injured at present. Paul Hartley has brought in around fifteen players since the end of last season, the more prominent ones already mentioned above. To accommodate them, Falkirk released thousands of players too. In the departure lounge were Craig Sibbald, Tom Taiwo, Paul Watson, Louis Longridge, Robbie Thomson, and Rory Loy with five loanees returning to their parent clubs. The Bairns last starting XI against East Fife: Fasan, Kidd, Muirhead, Dallison, McGhee, Petravicius, Sammut, Brough, Mackin, Lewis,Turner. John Robertson was disappointed with the performance of his defence at Tynecastle as we conceded four goals from crosses into the box and one from a superb free kick although the play leading up to the free kick left a lot to be desired. Carl Tremarco took a knock at Tynecastle. Sean Welsh could come off the naughty step having served his suspension. Plenty of options for Inverness this early in the season with Robbo still trying to get the most out of the players at his disposal. More detail on the Official Site with their Preview.

Jake makes amends. Inverness kept their faint play-off hopes alive with a late winner from substitute Jake Mulraney. Sweet moment for Jake who had been red-carded in the away fixture at Falkirk earlier in the season which led to Inverness being turned over by the Bairns. This was another must win game for Inverness and after a dour first half they battled hard to get the points in a tough contest with Falkirk. John Robertson went pretty much with the same starting XI that did so well at Palmerston at the weekend. That meant another start for Nathan Austin who would feature against former club Falkirk. The Bairns were without Andrew Nelson and Peter Grant and that saw Tom Taiwo and Paul Watson start with Grant on the bench along with Alex Harris. It had been a pretty miserable day in the Highlands and the evening was no different as the sides took to the park with just over 2000 in attendance. Inverness were on a healthy run and looking to keep the pressure on the teams above them in the race for a play-off place. Falkirk had been seven Championship games unbeaten but lost at the weekend to big rivals Dunfermline. The game kicked off in damp conditions with Inverness playing in the unaccustomed direction of the North Stand for the first forty-five and Iain Vigurs tested his rangefinder with a shot that went wide. Some adjustment needed by the looks of it. Charlie Trafford gave away a free kick in a dangerous position but Mark Ridgers was equal to the shot by Sean Welsh and as the game opened up, Liam Polworth fed Nathan Austin but he volleyed wide. With Inverness keeping the pressure on the Falkirk defence, there were no takers for an excellent Brad Mckay cross to the far post but the defenders got it clear. Polworth fired over a corner and Gary Warren saw his header deflected for another. Mckay's header came back off the bar and Austin saw his effort cleared off the line as the hosts looked for the opener. The game became a bit towsy and bogged down in midfield with a number of petty fouls, neither side able to create the clear opening they were hoping for, but, if anything, the visitors were beginning to get to grips with the pace of the game and Welsh headed wide just after the half hour. Just on the break Polworth was denied by a great block by Watson but in all honesty it was a fairly innocuous opening half with defences rarely tested. Half Time 0-0 The first dangerous moment of the second period saw a Paul Watson header cleared off the line and at the other end just when it looked as though it was opening up for Polworth, he saw his effort blocked en-route to goal. Another Falkirk header from Watson cleared away from goal, this time it's Tremarco doing the mopping up. Ridgers holds an effort from Longridge as Falkirk up the pace. As in the first half, a bit of stalemate and a spate of substitutions by both sides as they tried to break the defensive shackles. Hazard managed to thwart Mulraney and his clearance fell to Mckay, but his effort was cleared by Muirhead. Oakley thought he had opened the scoring but he was ruled offside, however moments later substitute Jake Mulraney scored from inside the box after cutting in and firing low behind Hazard with ten minutes remaining. Sweet revenge for Jake who red misted in the away game. In the final minute, Mark Ridgers made a vital one handed save to deny Jordan McGhee with Peter Grant firing over. Inverness held on to take all three points in a really close encounter, but the all important three points stay in Inverness and the run continues. Full Time 1-0 Another vital win for Inverness which keeps us on track, just, for a shot at the play-offs. With Dumbarton losing a late goal to Morton, we now only need to concentrate on the top end of the Championship. Tonight's win was vital as both Morton and Dundee United picked up full points. We now have a double header coming up against Dumbarton and the possibility of six points that would bring us right back into the mix is making for in interesting finale to the season. All the action.............. Robbo delighted to take all three points Hartley miffed........... Date: 10/04/2018 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2053 Referee: Nick Walsh Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Ridgers; B Mckay, Warren Donaldson, Tremarco, Polworth, Trafford (Mulraney 69), Vigurs, Chalmers, Oakley, Austin (Doran 69). Subs (not used): Esson; Seedorf, Calder, Bell, D Mackay. Scorers: Mulraney (81) Booked: Oakley (50) Sent Off: none Falkirk: 0 Lineup: Hazard; McGhee, Muirhead, Tumilty (O'Hara 89), Watson, Sibbald, Robson (Grant 73), Taiwo (Kidd 74), Welsh, Jakubiak, Longridge Subs (not used): Thomson; McKee, Harris, Blair. Scorers: none Booked: Longridge (60) Sent Off: none a

I don't like Tuesday's It's just a typical Tuesday, another game, another must win scenario and another six-pointer as Paul Hartley brings his Grangemouth revival squad North on the back of seven games unbeaten in the Championship since Livingston won 3-1 at the Bairnabéu Stadium. That was until Dunfermline pipped them at the weekend. Inverness were at Palmerston on Saturday trying to keep our slim chances of a play-off place alive and we came away with an excellent 2-0 win after Nathan Austin opened his account at Inverness. George Oakley added a second and that was George's 10th of the season. Whilst we were playing Queens, the Bairns were hosting Dunfermline but left it too late in their comeback. Kallum Higginbotham and Fraser Aird had the Fifers two up but Aaron Muirhead reduced the deficit with a penalty ten minutes before the end. However the Pars held on for an important win that keeps them in a play off position. These sides have met five times already this season. We started by losing 2-0 in the League Cup group game and followed that with a no scoring draw away from home before winning the IrnBru cup game 1-0. The next Championship game saw us rout Falkirk at home 4-1, but when we went South in the next one we lost 3-1 after Jake saw red. Both sides are capable of winning this one but we are coming together at the right time and it would be a brave man to put their money on a Falkirk win. There's little between the sides in goals for, Inverness just edging it by three (40) but we are ten better off in defence (34). That shows us just three points above Falkirk with one game in hand. John Robertson should have a full squad to choose from and Coll Donaldson came through the game at Palmerston without any further niggles. Good to see Nathan Austin get off the mark with the opener against Queens and fellow striker George Oakley beginning to show his worth with ten goals to his name. Paul Hartley has been building well recently, seven unbeaten until the loss to Dunfermline at the weekend. Here's the starting XI from that defeat to Dunfermline: Hazard, Muirhead, Grant, Watson, McGhee, Sibbald, Robson, Nelson, Welsh, Jakubiak, Longridge. tm4tj prediction:- We are building a bit of momentum at the right time and the win at Palmerston was a massive boost Falkirk had been on a run until the Pars pipped them at the weekend. Usually tight games to call but with Coll Donaldson showing his class at the back, Mark Ridgers high on confidence and George Oakley into double figures then I'm looking for a home win to continue our good run. Good cameraderie amongst the squad at the moment, here's hoping that continues tonight.

Revenge for the Bairns as Jake sees Red. It was a much changed Caley Jags squad that went to Falkirk with our midfield decimated by suspension and injury. Iain Vigurs and Liam Polworth were suspended, Carl Tremarco is still out injured and Aaron Doran would not be risked on the artificial surface given his long term injury problems. Charlie Trafford was touch and go given his head knock and illness since last weekend. In Came Collin Seedorf with Trafford making the starting XI. Jake Mulraney returned to action, for a while anyway, more about him later. John Baird was on the bench along with a couple of youngsters in Daniel MacKay and Jack Brown. Falkirk had Andy Nelson starting and Tom Taiwo had recovered sufficiently to begin the game. Robbie Thomson continued in goals despite the signing of Celtic youngster Conor Hazard Falkirk kicked off in front of 4251 fans, a decent crowd for a miserable afternoon. Inverness were first to threaten in the second minute as Connor Bell put a dangerous ball to the back post, but it was cleared by the defence and a few minutes later Robbie Thomson was forced to make an excellent save to deny Joe Chalmers. With Inverness forcing the pace of the game George Oakley shot just wide after outmuscling the defender and Charlie Trafford headed one into the hands of Thomson. A great start by Inverness who are taking the game to their hosts and creating the openings. Jake Mulraney caused havoc and won a corner from which Oakley flicked the ball goalward but the danger was cleared by Thomson who gathered. It was almost half an hour before Mark Ridgers had to earn his money and he produced a superb save to deny Sibbald after he was played in by Louis Longridge. A looping shot from Mulraney went close ten minutes before the break as Inverness dominance resumed but there is no breakthrough yet for the makeshift midfield who are squaring up well so far. Coll Donaldson made amends after failing to control a ball but he got back to make a solid challenge on Andrew Nelson to deny the striker, the home fans looking for a penalty (be patient..... soon). Brad Mckay had to make a clearance when Nelson tried to backheel his way to goal as Falkirk came back strongly at the end of the first half. Out of the blue came a red! Mulraney saw red mist after a couple of rash challenges and a shove and kick and then had a go at the water bottle on his way to an early bath via the dressing room doors (allegedly). Looks like the FOR SALE sign hanging round his neck is taking it's toll. What a clown . We needed this like we need a hole in the head. Some harsh words needed from Robbo after that aberration. He let himself and his team mates down with that indiscretion. Inverness' 8th red card of the season. Disgraceful. Half Time 0-0 Cheers Jake . Two minutes into the second half and Falkirk take the lead as Aaron Muirhead converts from the spot after Chalmers fouled Longridge in the box. The Bairns smell blood and Nelson forced a corner after a neat turn and shot. It looks a long way back for ten man Inverness, and we pay no attention to our horrendous disciplinary record as Trafford enters the book. It goes from bad to worse and Seedorf gave away another needless penalty and Muirhead smashed his second of the game. Falkirk don't have to do anything, we are doing it for them. It's open day now and Longridge dragged a shot wide as we appear to have imploded. But, our saviour is on when Connor Bell is replaced by John Baird as Gary Warren enters the refs book with twenty minutes left. Please referee, just end the game now! It's virtually been one way traffic since the sending off and the end can not come quick enough for Inverness................. but wait a minute. Young substitute Daniel MacKay linked brilliantly with fellow sub Jack Brown and finishes with aplomb with some five minutes remaining. Great goal and the youngsters showing their seniors how it should be done. However normal service was resumed as Nelson grabs a third for Falkirk before being subbed. RIG summed up the highs and lows in his review of the match. "With the game over we saw a couple of young lads come on for some first team action and they provided probably the only spark of the second half for ICT supporters when Brown burst from midfield and played a ball forward to Mackay who turned his man and curled a shot into the bottom corner of the net. A glimmer of hope that was quickly put out at Warren was burned for pace down the right side of our defence and the ball crossed for Nelson to seal the win from close range." Full Time 3-1 Revenge was sweet for the Bairns after Mulraney saw red. Up until that point it was an even game. Some of these guys need a talking to as this is not acceptable. An eighth red card of the season for Inverness and two more bookings is crippling the clubs bid to get back into contention for a play-off spot. At the moment, it's three steps forward and two steps back. ICT Chris was more pragmatic: "Overall, deserved win for Falkirk and one we need to write off as a bad afternoon and get back to our prior form." On the first forty-five he was optimistic up to a point: "That was a pretty odd game. We started Trafford and played him with Seedorf and Chalmers in midfield and started really well, we made all the running and, as I see a Falkirk fan noted, Oakley dominating the home centre halves. We didn’t create that much though and slowly Falkirk came back into the game, forcing Ridgers into a good save before Mulraney had his meltdown. It was utterly bizarre, he conceded a foul and got booked then immediately went through Longridge before kicking out at someone a few seconds later. He literally got booked twice in two minutes and walked off, it was like he wanted to get sent off. Really odd." Caley100 was more scathing, only Ridgers escaped his wrath: "We started quite well without causing any damage, Lost the plot after the wee man had a fecking brainstorm, but too many players were awful.. really awful. Trafford was terrible, Mackay just cannot pass a ball, Chalmers gave away the first pen, has the pace of a tortoise and is about as dangerous to the opposition as a plastic bath duck, Seedorf also gave away a pen which was on the cards as he spent the day diving into tackles. I' m not going to mention Baird. ( haha, you just did) Warren lost a high ball (again) letting it bounce 3 times before letting the forward Nick the ball to set up their third. Ridgers was pretty safe and had no chance with goals. ***** day weather wise too, good few beers in Edinburgh later helped." OK, so maybe we can put it all down to a bad day at the office, but if we are serious about getting in to the play-off places, then the attitude needs to change. It's almost as if the management don't want the club to go up. Anyway, well done to the young guns for coming on and playing football, take a bow Daniel and Jack. If you just want to forget the rest of the game, here's Jack Daniel's superb set up and finish, I'll have a large one! Robbo was understandably not impressed.......... Falkirk have been busy getting their videos online..... Date: 27/01/18 Venue: The Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk Attendance: 4251 Referee: Euan Anderson Falkirk: 3 Lineup: Thomson, Kidd, McGhee, Muirhead, Grant, Taiwo (Jakubiak 66), Sibbald, Longridge, Tumilty, Robson, Nelson (O’ Hara 89). Subs (not used): Hazard, McKee, Blair, Loy, Watson Scorers: Muirhead (48 pen, 65 pen) Nelson (87) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Ridgers, Chalmers, Warren, Oakley (Mackay 78). Mulraney, Calder, Seedorf, Bell (Baird 69) McKay, Donaldson, Trafford (Brown 82) Subs (not used): Esson, Doran, Harper Scorers: Mackay (84) Booked: Mulraney (43), Trafford (64), Warren (70) Sent Off: Mulraney (45) a

Back to the day job. A cup run is a welcome break from the weekly chore of trying to get back into the Premiership, but it's back to the bread and butter stuff this weekend as we take to the road again with a visit to Falkirk, the land of the Kelpies, the Big Wheel and the Antonine wall, a sort of poor mans Hadrian's wall. It's the fifth meeting between the sides this season already. Falkirk won the first up in the Highlands in a league Cup encounter when we were going through our disarray period. That was followed by a 0-0 draw at Falkirk during the clean sheet era where we looked to be the better side. Our improvement continued as we narrowly won the Challenge cup game 1-0 at the Caledonian Stadium. As confidence began to spread through the ranks, the evolution reached new heights when we skelped the Bairns 4-1 and that is where we are now, the new improved Caley Jags. Let's hope we can keep the trend going. Last weekend both clubs were to put their day jobs aside and play in Scottish Cup ties. However, Falkirk ended up with a day off when their game against Livi at the Pasta Place was postponed, the weather winning that tie. It did go ahead on Tuesday night though and Falkirk progressed into the 5th round courtesy of a deflected goal in injury time from a Reghan Tumilty cross. Inverness did play though, and managed a creditable 2-2 draw at Premier side Dundee. It took a late goal from George Oakley to earn the replay, but it was well deserved. Aaron Doran had opened the scoring in the first half only for Dundee to edge ahead with Sofien Moussa deflecting an A-Jay Smith-Leitch shot beyond Mark Ridgers. Mark O'Hara added a second after a midfield lapse and our defence backing off, and as time ticked away, Oakley pounced to merit the replay, which will be held at the Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday night 30th January. The last time these two met was just over two weeks ago in a re-arranged fixture. The scoreline was somewhat startling considering the hiding Falkirk meted out to Championship contenders Dundee United only three days earlier. The 6-1 thrashing sent ripples throughout the Championship and many feared the worst. However, Inverness dealt out their own punishment as they pumped the Bairns 4-1. We went on a scoring spree and were three up at the break with Oakley, Bell and Mulraney hitting the net. Falkirk tightened up after the break and pulled one back through Longridge, but we extended our lead again when substitute and former Falkirk player John Baird scored the fourth. Who would have thought? Since that game we have beaten Queen of the South and drawn with Dundee in the cup. Falkirk's inconsistent season saw them come away with all three points from Greenock on the Saturday after the loss at Inverness. Craig Sibbald getting the winner in the 20th minute. Paul Hartley spoke to BBC Sport after the game: "Credit to the players and how they performed today. They had to dig deep to get the result. The movement, work-rate and enthusiasm of Louis Longridge and Andrew Nelson to take defenders on and to put people under pressure was pleasing. The lads here are digging deep and want to stay in the team, and they are working well just now." It would appear that Paul Hartley is finally getting to find out his best XI. Full-back Reghan Tumilty's loan from Ross County has been extended and he has taken in Louis Longridge from Hamilton on a permanent deal after his loan spell ended. He has already scored three goals in three games. Sean Welsh has been taken on from Partick Thistle. Swansea City midfielder Ryan Blair and forwards Alex Jakubiak, from Watford, and Andrew Nelson, from Sunderland have all arrived on loan deals. Young Celtic keeper Conor Hazard arrives on loan for the rest of the season. The clearout has begun in earnest with midfielder James Craigen and striker Lee Miller leaving. Defender Luca Gasparotto has made a permanent move to Morton having been on loan to them. Add that to the earlier releases of Conrad Balatoni, Liam Henderson and Nathan Austin, it's clear to see that Hartley is looking to go down a different route to the previous manager. The latest departure is midfielder Mark Kerr. Even later news is that promising defender Tony Gallacher is off to Liverpool for £200K. Blimey, is anybody left? Inverness have Carl Tremarco out for another month or so. Charlie Trafford took a nasty head knock against Dundee and is struggling with sickness, and between petulance and incompetence, we have two players suspended for accumulative bookings. Like Trafford, both are midfielders and Liam Polworth and Iain Vigurs will miss one game. Nathan Austin and Jake Mulraney were rested on the bench, and given both players are recovering from slight injuries then that's no bad thing with some tough games coming up. Aaron Doran may not play given the artificial surface and his long term rehab from knee surgery. So it looks like it's all hands to the pumps for Inverness. With Jake Mulraney walking around with a large FOR SALE sign on his back, it's reassuring to know that Hearts have signed another pacey wide player, Danny Amankwaa. Hopefully Jake will be left here for a bit longer. Falkirk may be without Tom Taiwo who was injured in the cup game at Livingston. A badly swollen ankle causing him to come off. Hartley did say on Taiwo, “Tom isn’t too bad, he is ok. We will see how he is in the morning and assess him to see if he is fit for Saturday’s match. He got a bit of a fright, it looked a nasty one at the time, but it’s not as serious as we thought so he may have a chance to face Inverness". Smokescreen or what? With a multitude of departures and arrivals, it's anyone's guess who Paul Hartley will select. tm4tj prediction:- Both sides have improved from a poor start to the season and if the recent encounter is anything to go by then the smart money will be on Inverness. However, closer scrutiny will show that Falkirk did pass on some good chances in that game and after a sloppy first half by their own admission they improved drastically after the break. Hartley has begun re-shaping his side to his own requirements and after a hard earned win over Livi in midweek they will be out to get some revenge over Robbo's side after the 4-1 defeat in the Highlands. We will be without Carl Tremarco but his replacement Riccardo Calder has offered us some attacking threat on the left. Jake Mulraney and Nathan Austin could come back in as well so we might just have enough flair to edge this game. Anything better than a defeat will be a bonus, a draw will not be the end of the world and it would maintain our ten point advantage over the Bairns. A win will see us handily placed to make an assault on the play-off zone in the coming weeks. I'm going for a narrow away win, but a draw might be where the smart money is. Mon the Caley Jags

Bairns Battered Inverness stunned Falkirk with a superb opening forty-five to end this contest with three first half goals. George Oakley, Connor Bell and a sublime first for Jake Mulraney gave the visitors too much to do and they never recovered from that opening spell. Louis Longridge scored a consolation looking suspiciously offside but John Baird quickly restored our three goal advantage to end the game. John Robertson had Iain Vigurs back after suspension but Nathan Austin missed out through injury. With David Raven now departed, Brad Mckay was shipped out to right back with Gary Warren back in the heart of defence alongside Coll Donaldson. George Oakley started with John Baird on the bench. Paul Hartley came North buoyed by his sides 6-1 thrashing of Championship contenders Dundee United with Louis Longridge in the starting XI. Tom Taiwo missed out through injury. Oakley was yellow carded early for an alleged dive, I'm not as convinced as the referee John Beaton. However, Inverness went ahead after only ten minutes. Iain Vigurs won the ball deep and fed Liam Polworth. He drove forward before sliding a great ball into the path of the electric Jake. Oakley then benefited from Mulraney's pace and direct ball into the box, the striker bundling the ball in from close range. The visitors tried to force their way back into the game, mainly due to some wayward passing from the home defence, but their shooting left a bit to be desired. Gary Warren earned a booking for a cynical type of foul after losing his man in the final third, Joe Chalmers would earn his card for a similar foul later in the game. The free kick drifted wide with Ridgers watching. Warren would be more constructive soon after, popping up in the visitors box and bringing out a tremendous save from Robbie Thomson from ten yards when a shot found him unmarked close to goal. The hosts would not be denied though as we forged a path through the Falkirk players from our own left back position. the ball was transferred swiftly with Polly travelling again before feeding Jake who in turn teed up Bell to notch number two. Fantastic break from defence into attack involving six players. Two minutes later and the Bairns were in disarray. Another ball from the back showed Oakley use his strength to turn his marker on the halfway line. He played on to Jake who skipped forward before curling a beauty behind a stunned Thomson with his left peg from just outside the box. 3-0 at the Interval and even the home fans were stunned. Half Time 3-0 Inverness were obviously wary of a backlash from the Bairns and we were content to relinquish territory and possession and hit on the counter. That worked well for most of the half with Falkirk only having a couple of efforts wide of the mark although Ridgers was called upon to make a smart save when a loose ball was cracked goalward. It was the only moment of real concern until Longridge lifted a ball over him when he was sent clear behind our high line. It looked offside but hey ho. Two minutes later, and the final goal came When substitute Aaron Doran broke down the left flank. He measured a cross onto the head of fellow substitute John Baird who gleefully nodded into the empty corner of the net. Full Time 4-1. What a surprisingly fabulous result for Inverness, their best win of the season against last weeks surprise package, Falkirk. The confidence boosting statistic is that three different strikers scored and electric Jake got his first goal for the club in the Championship. Some great performances. Iain Vigurs ditched his bad boy nonsense and oozed class in the first half. Jake Mulraney was magnificent with his searing pace and scored a super goal before coming off injured in the second period. Riccardo Calder came on and was a revelation at left back after Tremarco went off injured. At one point, one of the Falkirk players had to pay to get back into the ground as Riccardo left him bamboozled and bewildered. Great skills from the wing back. However, my MotM goes to the ever confident Coll Donaldson who must surely be getting right up the Arabs noses with his stylish displays since joining Inverness. That win has us closing in on the play off slots and another win at the weekend over Queen of the South will do us no harm at all. It also keeps Falkirk away from us just now, so all good. FromFalkirk TV Robboe delighted..... Date: 09/01/2018 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2014 Referee: John Beaton Inverness CT: 4 Lineup: to follow Subs (not used): to follow Scorers: Oakley, Bell, Mulraney, Baird. Booked: ???? Sent Off: none Falkirk: 1 Lineup: to follow Subs (not used): to follow Scorers: Longridge Booked: ???? Sent Off: none a

Weather Permitting............. We will try and play Falkirk again at the Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday night with a 7:45pm kick off. There has been heavy frost for a few nights now on top of a pretty wet surface and a pitch inspection has been called for 11:00am on Tuesday morning to see if the game will go ahead. Inverness went down 1-0 at Paisley over the weekend despite creating plenty of opportunities to get something from the game. Both managers agreed it could easily have been a draw but with 20 goal Gavin Reilly in your side, it was St Mirren that took all three points whilst our goal shy strikers, (using the word loosely), squandered everything that came their way. However, Robbo was not too despondent given the effort they put in and the chances created but admits a bit of quality in front of goal would not go amiss. Unfortunately Nathan Austin lasted less than ten minutes before pulling up with what appears to be a slight hamstring injury. George Oakley, John Baird and Connor Bell all missed from decent positions, that's been a familiar pattern this season. Conversely, Falkirk went goal happy and absolutely thrashed Dundee United 6-1. What was so unusual about that scoreline was the fact that the Bairns were the lowest scorers in the league prior to this game. Only twelve goals from eighteen games - that equates to 2/3 of a goal per game. Billy King had the temerity to put United ahead, but goals from Peter Grant and Reghan Tumilty before the break and a double from new signing Louis Longridge after as well as strikes from Tommy Robson and Lewis Kidd ended the humiliation for title contenders United. That really was a bolt from the blue but could be just what the Bairns needed to kick start their season. Despite that crushing win, Falkirk are still seven points adrift of Inverness, have scored less, and conceded more. Since the 0-2 League Cup defeat up here, we have drawn 0-0 at Falkirk and won the IrnBru tie 1-0, which shows that we have improved from a slow start to the campaign. This game has been postponed a couple of times already, here's hoping the weather relents a bit. Inverness missed the control of Iain Vigurs at the weekend through suspension but he will be included in the squad for this one. Nathan Austin pulled up during the Paisley game and will miss out. Coll Donaldson also missed the weekend game after being injured against Brechin City. Falkirk welcomed Louis Longridge into their squad and they got instant payback when he scored twice against the Arabs. Along with Longridge, Tommy Robson, Andrew Nelson, and Reghan Tumilty all started against United and their squad is now unrecognisable since the start of the season when little went right. It would appear that Paul Hartley is slowly starting to turn things around which is bad news for the teams above the Bairns. tm4tj prediction:- despite our loss at the weekend, there was enough on display to suggest we were close to getting something out of the game against the leaders. Since the defeat to Falkirk in the League Cup, it was clear that they were not the force they had been in previous seasons and we have upped our game as well, especially in defence. We will do well to keep our distance from Falkirk and that might be the game plan. I'm going for a scoring draw with a home win as second best bet. If you like goals and seeing Dundee United getting thrashed, here's the seven goals from United's destruction at the weekend.

Bell ends the contest Inverness eased their way into the semi-final of the IrnBru Challenge Cup thanks to a second half goal from striker Connor Bell, his fifth goal of the season. In doing this, we also established a new record for consecutive clean sheets. That's seven in a row now. By my calculations, that's 693 minutes of play without conceding, give or take a minute or two. Fantastic effort guys. Alex Cooper replaced Jake Mulraney who was on u21 international duty. For Falkirk, Kevin O'Hara began his eight match suspension and Nathan Austin, Alex Harris and James Craigen all started. Chances were at a premium in this tight contest but after a dogged first half, Inverness gradually got on top and their presence in the Falkirk half eventually paid off when the ball broke to Bell after a headed clearance cannoned off the back of John Baird into the path of Bell. He steadied himself before firing through Robbie Thomson to score the only goal of the game. Inverness were able to see out the game without too much fuss. Falkirks best moments came in the first half when Coll Donaldson cleared one off the line and Myles Hippolyte fluffed a couple of good opportunities. Carl Tremarco was voted MotM on Alba TV, Connor Bell got the vote from the match sponsors, but there were a few worthy winners. Aaron Doran was a surprise inclusion on the bench and he got on the park for the final twenty minutes. Great to see the wee winger back on the field after his horrendous injury problems over the last two seasons. The draw for the semi-finals will take place on Tuesday. Included in this are Crusaders from Northern Ireland, Dumbarton and the winners of Sunday's tie between Welsh league side New Saints and Queen of the South. Robboquote:- "The players are now playing for the name on the front of the jersey rather than the name on the back". Falkirk Manager Paul Hartley felt his side were a bit unfortunate. Highlights from Falkirk TV The BBC Alba broadcast of the game can be seen on iplayer for the next six days ICT -V- Falkirk Date: 11/11/2017 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1078 Referee: Euan Anderson Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: : Ridgers, Raven, Tremarco, Chalmers, Polworth, Baird (Oakley 79), Vigurs, Bell (Calder 86), Cooper (Doran 71), Mckay, Donaldson. Subs (not used): Cameron Mackay (GK), Warren, Trafford, Daniel Mackay. Scorers: Connor Bell (57) Booked: Bell, Tremarco Sent Off: none Falkirk: 0 Lineup: Thomson, McGhee, Muirhead, McKee (Loy 63), Austin (Dunne 71), Hippolyte, Longridge, Harris, Balatoni, Craigen (Blues 84), Watson. Subs (not used): Mutch (GK), Grant, Gasparotto, Gallacher. Scorers: none Booked: Craigen Sent Off: none a

Fizzy Pop Football It's the Irn Bru quarter final today at the Caledonian Stadium and Falkirk are the visitors in a game that will kick off at 17:15. The chance for some silverware for the lower league clubs starts to gain some credence as the latter stages of the competition looms large. For fans living further afield, this game will be live on BBC Alba at 17:15 on Saturday 11th November. The curse has landed at the Caledonian Stadium. You can see the concern etched over the face of Tommy and Robbo on the image here. John Robertson won the Manager of the Month award for October after his side played four games without conceding, winning three and drawing one (Falkirk). Carl Tremarco was part of that achievement and his return to the side after long term injury and his defensive qualities were also rewarded with the Player of the Month trophy. A well deserved double for the club, congratulations to all concerned. Since beating Peterhead 3-0 in the last round, we find ourselves on a bit of a roll. Inverness are gaining in confidence after a sluggish start to the campaign. Goals from Liam Polworth, Riccardo Calder and young Daniel MacKay flattered us slightly, but the clean sheet was instrumental in our confidence booster. The recent league game between the two sides at the Westfield Stadium saw Inverness unfortunate not to win. We are on a bit of a resurgence with six clean sheets in a row, something that was unimaginable earlier in the season. Falkirk have also struggled to get their season going and sit second bottom in the Championship. It's not the position you expect to find the Bairns, but they too are going through a bit of a transition period. In the last round they disposed of Dunfermline Athletic 2-0, goals from Conrad Balatoni and Myles Hippolyte winning the tie. Like us, they have started to pick up recently, but a 4-2 defeat at Queen of the South was not what new manager Paul Hartley was hoping for. An Inverness XI played a bounce game against a Ross County XI in midweek for a good cause, the proceeds going to the Maggie's Highlands Appeal. It was an opportunity to get some of our injured contingent some game time. Collin Seedorf, Aaron Doran, Zak Elbouzedi all featured with Doran scoring. He likes a strike against the County. The game was won by County 3-2, but the real winner was the charity. George Oakley was our other scorer. Jake Mulraney is on international duty with the Ireland u21 squad. Collin Seedorf, Zak Elbouzedi and Aaron Doran will miss out despite playing the challenge game at Dingwall in midweek. Riccardo Calder will be a ready made replacement for Mulraney. Tom Taiwo and Craig Sibbald are out. Paul Hartley confirmed that both have started to do some light running but are well short of first team action. tm4tj Prediction:- It's a break from the league campaign and a chance for some silverware. I expect Falkirk to go into this one with more energy than they showed in the recent league game against us. We are a different beast though and the confidence gained from our unbeaten run will do us no harm at all. This will be a tight affair but home advantage could swing this in our favour. Inverness to edge this one, but it might take penalties to do it. One of our own fans has been getting some high praise for the fantastic sporting artwork she has been producing amongst other things. The talented Sophie Robb, who lives on the Black Isle overlooking the Caledonian Stadium has been producing remarkable images of great local sporting moments, captured in paintings. Some of her work can be seen here. There is also a great article on the BBC website about Sophie. Sophie's Art Well done Sophie, you are a very creative and artistic person. I hope Inverness Caledonian Thistle give you more opportunities to recreate the moment.