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  1. Caley Jags open up a gap Inverness extended their lead at the top of the Championship as the Pars got a late leveller against Killie. The hosts opened the scoring after twenty minutes through Billy Mckay with the credit for the assist going to Mark Ridgers from his quick goal kick. Inverness stepped up a gear after the interval and Michael Gardyne scored the second early in the second half as he crashed a loose ball in the box high into the net. That was enough to see off Morton who battled hard throughout but fell short. It could have been a different story had the visitors made more of their own opportunities. Five points clear after the first quarter: Who knew? The Goals Inverness were looking to bounce back after their miserable performance against whipping boys Hamilton Accies who were ransacked 6-1 by Partick Thistle last night. The Caley Jags were without David Carson due to a family bereavement and Cammy Harper who took a knock at Elgin last Saturday. That left us a tad short for defenders. Reece McAlear came into midfield with Scott Allardice deputising at right back with hat-trick hero Billy Mckay partnering Shane Sutherland up front. Manny Duku was on the bench. Despite their lowly league status, the visitors were looking sharp in the early stages and Thomas Allan danced down the left wing and sent a cross into the box which hit the outside junction of post and crossbar with Mark Ridgers keeping a close eye on the ball. Reece McAlear drove wide with the aid of a deflection after good set up play down the Inverness left, the ball spinning out wide for a corner. Slack play at the other end saw Morton get the ball into the box and two attempts were blocked by last ditch tackles, Devine doing brilliantly to stop Gavin Reilly's effort from going on target from ten yards. Let off for the hosts. When Kyle Jacobs header went wide from a Morton corner, Ridgers spotted Billy Mckay lurking around the centre circle. His hastily taken goal kicked bounced off a defenders head and Billy anticipated superbly to stride forward before notching his 71st goal for the Caley Jags as he placed the ball into the net with his left peg low across the keeper. Michael Gardyne was instrumental in offering Mckay another shooting opportunity on the half hour but Billy dragged his shot wide of the goal. Shortly before the interval, Jimmy Knowles shot across the face of the goal after good build up play from the Ton across the park. Moments later Ridgers dealt with another effort from Knowles. Just before the whistle, a clash of heads led to an extended tea break as Michael Gardyne came back out after receiving treatment. Thomas Allan was not so fortunate and was replaced by Mark Russell. Half Time: 1-0 Despite his injured head being plastered over, he was alert enough to get onto the loose ball after Roddy MacGregor and Mckay were blocked inside the box, Michael stepping onto the ball to smash home the second goal and his fourth in four games. McAlear saw an effort saved before substitute Manny Duku should have opened his Championship account. He was fed through on the left side of goal by Gardyne, but caught the keepers legs with his angled shot which ran out for a corner. Likewise, Morton should have scored after a long range shot by Reece Lyon was pushed out by Ridgers, but the follow up header from Gary Oliver was knocked wide. Lewis Jamieson shot wide as Inverness kept the visitors options down to a minimum and by the end of the game it was another three points in the bag without over exerting ourselves. Morton did have their moments and should have scored, but thems the breaks. MotM performances from Michael Gardyne and Roddy MacGregor and another good display at the back from Danny Devine. From CTO Robert A deserved win, but on several occasions at 0-0 and 1-0 we did our best to let Morton get into the game by poor passing and some comic book defending. Ridgers’ kicking was not to his usual standards, but the one that counted was great vision and very accurate to set Mckay up for a cool finish into the corner. Gardyne pounced for the second after Mckay could have scored in the same move. We could, and possibly should, have got more against a poor defence, with Jamieson coming closest. CTO Doofers Dad The recent games against the bottom 3 have shown there are no easy games in this division, yet we are 5 points clear at the top. We must be doing something right. This season we seem to be managing to win games that are pretty finely balanced. The difference seems to be that the team are all working really hard for each other and when we have those "heart in the mouth" moments there is a real collective effort to clear the danger. Pressing hard and winning the ball back then gives us more chance of creating opportunities up front. Maintaining the level of intensity and the team spirit will be essential if we are going keep the challenge for promotion going. Doddsy's a Happy Bunny Match Highlights from ICTV Date: 16/10/2021 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1900 Referee: Mike Roncone Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Allardice, Broadfoot, Devine, Deas, Gardyne, Welsh, McAlear (Doran 61), MacGregor, Sutherland (Duku 58), B Mckay (Jamieson 77) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Duffy, McDonald, Walsh Scorers: B Mckay (20), Gardyne (49) Booked: Allardice (36) MacGregor (76), Duku (90) Sent Off: none Morton: 0 Manager: Gus MacPherson Lineup: Hamilton; McEntee, Lithgow, Strapp, Blues, Jacobs, Oksanen, Allan (Russell 45), Oliver, Knowles (Muirhead 62), Reilly (Lyon 69) Subs (not used): King, Ledger, McLean, McGrattan Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none a
  2. No Rice We would have locked horns with one of our olde gaffers sidekicks this weekend as Inverness travel to the Fountain of Youth Stadium (NDP) in South Lanarkshire. Brian Rice was the man who took Accies down, and not before time if you ask me as they have been flirting with relegation for years, but he resigned in August. Former player and assistant manager Stuart Taylor is the man tasked with reshaping the Accies. Good luck with that. This one kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday with Inverness looking to continue their tremendous start to the season and Accies looking to kick start theirs as they sit second bottom with only one win and two draws to their name so far. PPV Streaming £10 Ticket & Match info Elgin City Ticket & Match Info Supporters Bus TV Games Venue Head 2 Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 13 4 4 5 20 17 +3 Away 9 6 1 2 15 10 +5 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 22 10 5 7 35 27 +8 First Competitive Meeting Jan 25th, 1997 Scottish Cup (Rd 3) (H) 1 - 3 Most Recent Competitive Meeting May 6th, 2017 League (H) 2 - 1 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 4 - 3 (A) 0 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 4 - 2 (H) Biggest Victories Feb 22nd, 2003 Scottish Cup (4th Round) (H) 6 - 2 Heaviest Defeats Jan 31st, 2017 League (A) 0 - 3 Highest Attendance Jan 24th, 2015 League (A) 5,089 Highest Home Attendance Aug 28th, 2010 League (H) 3,851 Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Inverness CT 7 6 1 0 9 2 19 2. Kilmarnock 7 5 1 1 8 1 16 3. Arbroath 7 4 2 1 14 4 14 4. Raith Rovers 7 3 2 2 11 9 11 5. Partick Thistle 7 3 0 4 13 13 9 6. Ayr United 7 2 2 3 7 8 8 7. Q.O.S. 7 2 0 5 8 12 6 8. Morton 7 1 2 4 5 10 5 9. Hamilton Ac. 7 1 2 4 6 14 5 10. Dunfermline 7 0 4 3 4 12 4 Other fixtures this weekend, all 3:00pm on Saturday. Killiemarnock v Raith - Chance for Raith to get in the mix. Morton v Arbroath - Can the Smokies keep the run going. Partick Thistle v Ayr Utd - cCan Ayr leapfrog Partick into 5th. Queens v Pars - Joust at the bottom end, time for Pars to get the finger out. Surprisingly, Accies have a better record than us at the Caledonian Stadium overall, but we have been more productive in the away fixture with six wins and a draw out of the nine fixtures. It's four years since our last meeting when we won 2 - 1 at the Caledonian Stadium in what was a difficult season for Inverness culminating in relegation. Brad Mckay and Greg Tansey scored for Inverness whilst Danny Redmond notched a late consolation for the visitors. However, three weeks later we were relegated From the Archives: Rare win for Inverness gives hope: Inverness threw themselves a slender lifeline with a deserved 2-1 win over Hamilton Accies in the relegation scrap at the foot of the table. It was only our second win in twenty-four games and our fourth of the season. This win closes the gap to Accies and Well to four points with only three games left. We should have been out of site by half time and Accies could have had no complaints had we been four or five up at the break. As it was, an early goal from defender Brad Mckay and a penalty by Greg Tansey was all we had to show from numerous attempts. Accies left a bitter sweet taste in the mouth as they notched a goal through Redmond with the last kick of the game as we got ourselves in a fankle. Pity about that but it was a welcome three points that gives us a glimmer of hope and keeps our premiership status alive for another week at least. Inverness dug deep last weekend to overcome a stubborn but mainly toothless Queen of the South 2-1 with goals from Sean Welsh and Michael Gardyne. Lee Connelly scored a stunner for Queens out of nothing. That victory put Inverness back on top of the table after Killie and Arbroath played out a scoreless draw on the Friday night. Raith Rovers and Dunfermline played out a 1-1 draw in the rescheduled Fife derby on Wednesday night to bring the table up to matchday eight for everyone. Raith are up to fourth in the table with the Pars still bottom. Here's the three goals; all superb strikes... Accies only success this campaign was a 1-2 win over Queen of the South on matchday four. Their opening fixture against Raith Rovers offered much promise as they came from four nil down to snatch a dramatic 4-4 draw after scoring four goals in the final twenty-two minutes. Their last game was a 0-0 draw with Dunfermline at EEP, similar to us. Arbroath put four past them without reply three weeks ago. They have failed to score in their last three Championship matches. All this means that at the moment, like Dunfermline, they find themselves at the wrong end of the table. Latest Team News Billy Dodds will have more choice this Saturday as Aaron Doran and Shane Sutherland remained on the bench last week after recovering from injuries picked up at Dunfermline. Stuart Taylor has had a few knocks to contend with over the last couple of weeks. Lewis Spence is out with a knee injury that Taylor hopes is not requiring surgery. Shaun Want, Luke Matheson, Kieran MacDonald and Andy Ryan were all noticeably struggling and could be doubts for this weekend. Accies have secured Hearts defender Mihai Popescu on loan for the entire season. Striker David Moyo could return this weekend. Miko Virtanen is optimistic insisting "Accies are ready to inflict a first defeat on Inverness". He has based this on the number of opportunities Accies have created against Ayr United and Dunfermline and claims of being unlucky. Dodds looking forward to the Accies challenge
  3. Championship Resumes After the international break it's back to the Championship on Saturday as Morton come to the Caledonian Stadium looking to lift themselves up the table and clear of the bottom places. The game kicks-off at 3:00pm with Inverness hoping to put the defeat to Hamilton behind them. Head 2 Head v Morton Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 16 11 3 2 43 15 +28 Away 14 8 2 4 27 17 +10 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 30 19 5 6 70 32 +38 First Competitive Meeting Sep 4th, 1999 League (H) 1 - 1 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Apr 6th, 2021 League (Championship) (A) 4 - 1 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 4 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 3 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 5 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (A) Biggest Victories Aug 30th, 2019 League (H) 5 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Nov 12th, 1999 League (A) 1 - 5 Highest Attendance Oct 31st, 2009 League (H) 3,021 Highest Home Attendance Oct 31st, 2009 League (H) 3,021 Here's the table ahead of tonight's TV game between Hamilton and Partick Thistle where the Jags routed Accies 1-6. Other fixtures tomorrow Ayr United v Queen of the South Dunfermline v Kilmarnock Raith Rovers v Arbroath Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Inverness CT 8 6 1 1 10 4 6 19 2. Kilmarnock 8 5 1 2 9 4 5 16 3. Arbroath 8 4 3 1 16 6 10 15 4. Raith Rovers 8 4 2 2 14 10 4 14 5. Partick Thistle 8 4 0 4 17 13 4 12 6. Queen of the South 8 3 0 5 9 12 -3 9 7. Ayr United 8 2 2 4 7 12 -5 8 8. Hamilton Academical 8 2 2 4 8 15 -7 8 9. Morton 8 1 3 4 7 12 -5 6 10. Dunfermline 8 0 4 4 4 13 -9 4 There's a big swing towards Inverness in these fixtures. Only two defeats at home versus Morton out of sixteen encounters. One of those was as recent as last season though, when we went down to the only goal of the game at the Caledonian Stadium. Aiden Nesbitt was the scorer of the goal and that result put Inverness second bottom of the table in March. Our last game was a rousing 4-2 Challenge Cup win at Borough Briggs where a Billy Mckay hat-trick saw us overcome a two goal deficit to go into the next round where we will play Raith Rovers at the Caledonian Stadium at the end of November. Lewis Jamieson scored the fourth goal to round off the comeback. Arbroath scored a late goal to deny Morton all three points a couple of weeks ago in a Championship encounter. That would have been a decent result against team of the month Arbroath. Gary Oliver and Cameron Blues scored the goals for the Ton. However Michael McKenna's 87th minute penalty earned the Smokies a point. Last time out Morton edged past Montrose in the Challenge Cup on penalties (4-2) after a goalless draw. Latest Team News According to the Official Preview we still have a number of players carrying knocks. Probably David Carson and with Danny Devine and Cammy Harper being subbed early at Elgin last week then they might require resting for a bit longer, but Billy Dodds likes to keep his injury situation close to his chest so we will have to wait until just after 2:00pm tomorrow to find out Here's Roddy
  4. Academicals teach us a lesson Accies did inflict the first reverse for Inverness, as the Caley Jags drowned at the fountain of youth, and they did it with ten men for over an hour after Reegan Mimnaugh was sent off for a second bookable offence. They opened the scoring when Lewis Smith thumped the ball into the net after only five minutes. Andy Ryan added a second as Inverness crumbled and failed to trouble the home keeper. 2-0 at the break and Inverness bossed possession after the interval but never made Fulton work for his money. Harper hit the bar as the pressure mounted and Michael Gardyne scored a late consolation in injury time, but it was too little too late. With Raith beating Killie and Arbroath drawing, no major damage was done with Raith and Partick the big winners this weekend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With only one win this season, Accies were looking to topple leaders Caley Thistle at the Fountain of Youth and get their season started. Inverness were hoping to keep their great start to the season going and stay ahead of Kilmarnock and Arbroath after a battling win over Queen of the South last weekend. Billy Dodds kept his injuries close to his chest with Aaron Doran and David Carson ruled out and Wallace Duffy and Cameron Harper filling the full back berths. Danny Devine was also absent and we were down to only six on the bench with no defensive cover. Stuart Taylor had David Moyo returning on the bench after injury. Accies took an early lead through a thumping 12 yard shot from Lewis Smith with Mark Ridgers unable to react as the ball flashed past him. Lewis smith smashes the ball home They doubled their lead when Andy Ryan drilled a ball from the edge of the box past the outstretched arms of the keeper. Inverness were thrown a lifeline when Mimnaugh was red carded for a second booking with half an hour gone. It was all we had to grasp onto after an utterly abysmal first half where we created nothing. Half Time: 2-0 Billy McKay replaced the inept Manny Duku at the break, in truth, more than Duku was struggling to perform. As the second half progressed, it was apparent that Inverness were clueless and hapless when it came to creating chances, and with only fifteen minutes left this game was slipping away without troubling Fulton in the Accies goal. Cammy Harper smacked the crossbar from twelve yards in our best opportunity as we dominated possession, but Accies had the most important statistic, a two goal lead. Plenty of action in the final third, but little action in the penalty box, what there was ended up being wasted as our shot shy forwards fired blanks. That was until this happened... Michael Gardyne scored a beauty of a curler after the ninety minutes but would it be too little too late as Inverness laid siege to the home goal. Alas, it was too little too late and Accies got the three points and Inverness got what they deserved, zilch. Gardyne was our most likely player with a decent cameo from MacGregor, but after that it was difficult to pick out anyone who shone above mediocrity. From CTO RIG: Deserved win for Accies. We were rotten for too much of that game to deserve anything. Nice finishes for both of their goals but really poor defending from our point of view. After the sending off it was almost all ICT but we created pretty much nothing of note. Half hearted penalty appeals in the second half and a wonderful strike from Gardyne, easily our best player, were all we had to show for our possession. Accies defended well and easily coped with our timid attempts to get back into the game. We had to lose sometime but I am very disappointed at how poor we were today. More match reaction from BBC Sport Inverness manager Billy Dodds: "We gave away really poor goals. We had a few chances, but we didn't do enough, we didn't bombard them. "When you see the results at full-time, it's disappointing. There was an opportunity that's spurned." Hamilton boss Stuart Taylor: "I'm really happy with the performance. It was tough going over an hour down to ten men, but I thought we defended extremely well." "I'm disappointed for them to lose the goal in the last couple of minutes, but I'm also delighted for them." Dodds trying to understand it all Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Inverness CT 8 6 1 1 10 4 6 19 2. Kilmarnock 8 5 1 2 9 4 5 16 3. Arbroath 8 4 3 1 16 6 10 15 4. Raith Rovers 8 4 2 2 14 10 4 14 5. Partick Thistle 8 4 0 4 17 13 4 12 6. Queen of the South 8 3 0 5 9 12 -3 9 7. Ayr United 8 2 2 4 7 12 -5 8 8. Hamilton Academical 8 2 2 4 8 15 -7 8 9. Morton 8 1 3 4 7 12 -5 6 10. Dunfermline 8 0 4 4 4 13 -9 4 Date: 02/10/21 Venue: New Douglas Park, Hamilton Attendance: 1088 Referee: Euan Anderson Hamilton Accies: 2 Manager: Stuart Taylor Lineup: Fulton; Virtanen, Popescu, Macdonald, Ryan (Moyo 76) Smith, Want (Easton 80), Mullin, Mimnaugh, Matheson, Redfern (Hughes 69) Subs (not used): Hilton; Hamilton, Munro, McGowan Scorers: Smith (5), Ryan (26) Booked: Mimnaugh (7, 30), Redfern (20), Want (45+6), Fulton (79), Hughes (82), Sent Off: Mimnaugh (30) Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers, Duffy (McDonald 66), Broadfoot, Deas, Harper, Gardyne, Welsh, Allardice, Walsh (Sutherland 30), MacGregor, Duku (Mckay 45) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Jamieson, McAlear Scorers: Gardyne (90+2) Booked: Duku (21) Welsh (32) Sent Off: none a
  5. No Rice We would have locked horns with one of our olde gaffers sidekicks this weekend as Inverness travel to the Fountain of Youth Stadium (NDP) in South Lanarkshire. Brian Rice was the man who took Accies down, and not before time if you ask me as they have been flirting with relegation for years, but he resigned in August. Former player and assistant manager Stuart Taylor is the man tasked with reshaping the Accies. Good luck with that. This one kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday with Inverness looking to continue their tremendous start to the season and Accies looking to kick start theirs as they sit second bottom with only one win and two draws to their name so far. PPV Streaming £10 Ticket & Match info Elgin City Ticket & Match Info Supporters Bus TV GAMES Venue Head 2 Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 13 4 4 5 20 17 +3 Away 9 6 1 2 15 10 +5 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 22 10 5 7 35 27 +8 First Competitive Meeting Jan 25th, 1997 Scottish Cup (Rd 3) (H) 1 - 3 Most Recent Competitive Meeting May 6th, 2017 League (H) 2 - 1 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 4 - 3 (A) 0 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 4 - 2 (H) Biggest Victories Feb 22nd, 2003 Scottish Cup (4th Round) (H) 6 - 2 Heaviest Defeats Jan 31st, 2017 League (A) 0 - 3 Highest Attendance Jan 24th, 2015 League (A) 5,089 Highest Home Attendance Aug 28th, 2010 League (H) 3,851 Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Inverness CT 7 6 1 0 9 2 19 2. Kilmarnock 7 5 1 1 8 1 16 3. Arbroath 7 4 2 1 14 4 14 4. Raith Rovers 7 3 2 2 11 9 11 5. Partick Thistle 7 3 0 4 13 13 9 6. Ayr United 7 2 2 3 7 8 8 7. Q.O.S. 7 2 0 5 8 12 6 8. Morton 7 1 2 4 5 10 5 9. Hamilton Ac. 7 1 2 4 6 14 5 10. Dunfermline 7 0 4 3 4 12 4 Other fixtures this weekend, all 3:00pm on Saturday. Kilmarnock v Raith - Chance for Raith to get in the mix. Morton v Arbroath - Can the Smokies keep the run going. Partick Thistle v Ayr Utd - Can Ayr leapfrog Partick into 5th. Queens v Pars - Also rans, time for Pars to get the finger out. Surprisingly, Accies have a better record than us at the Caledonian Stadium overall, but we have been more productive in the away fixture with six wins and a draw out of the nine fixtures. It's four years since our last meeting when we won 2 - 1 at the Caledonian Stadium in what was a difficult season for Inverness culminating in relegation. Brad Mckay and Greg Tansey scored for Inverness whilst Danny Redmond notched a late consolation for the visitors. However, three weeks later we were relegated From the Archives: Rare win for Inverness gives hope: Inverness threw themselves a slender lifeline with a deserved 2-1 win over Hamilton Accies in the relegation scrap at the foot of the table. It was only our second win in twenty-four games and our fourth of the season. This win closes the gap to Accies and Well to four points with only three games left. We should have been out of site by half time and Accies could have had no complaints had we been four or five up at the break. As it was, an early goal from defender Brad Mckay and a penalty by Greg Tansey was all we had to show from numerous attempts. Accies left a bitter sweet taste in the mouth as they notched a goal through Redmond with the last kick of the game as we got ourselves in a fankle. Pity about that but it was a welcome three points that gives us a glimmer of hope and keeps our premiership status alive for another week at least. Inverness dug deep last weekend to overcome a stubborn but mainly toothless Queen of the South 2-1 with goals from Sean Welsh and Michael Gardyne. Lee Connelly scored a stunner for Queens out of nothing. That victory put Inverness back on top of the table after Killie and Arbroath played out a scoreless draw on the Friday night. Raith Rovers and Dunfermline played out a 1-1 draw in the rescheduled Fife derby on Wednesday night to bring the table up to matchday eight for everyone. Raith are up to fourth in the table with the Pars still bottom. Here's the three goals; all superb strikes... Accies only success this campaign was a 1-2 win over Queen of the South on matchday four. Their opening fixture against Raith Rovers offered much promise as they came from four nil down to snatch a dramatic 4-4 draw after scoring four goals in the final twenty-two minutes. Their last game was a 0-0 draw with Dunfermline at EEP, similar to us. Arbroath put four past them without reply three weeks ago. They have failed to score in their last three Championship matches. All this means that at the moment, like Dunfermline, they find themselves at the wrong end of the table. Latest Team News Billy Dodds will have more choice this Saturday as Aaron Doran and Shane Sutherland remained on the bench last week after recovering from injuries picked up at Dunfermline. Stuart Taylor has had a few knocks to contend with over the last couple of weeks. Lewis Spence is out with a knee injury that Taylor hopes is not requiring surgery. Shaun Want, Luke Matheson, Kieran MacDonald and Andy Ryan were all noticeably struggling and could be doubts for this weekend. Accies have secured Hearts defender Mihai Popescu on loan for the entire season. Striker David Moyo could return this weekend. Miko Virtanen is optimistic insisting "Accies are ready to inflict a first defeat on Inverness". He has based this on the number of opportunities Accies have created against Ayr United and Dunfermline and claims of being unlucky. Dodds looking forward to the Accies challenge Aaron Doran: 300 not out
  6. Hopefully we get back to winning ways on Saturday but, as always in this league, it will be a tough game. Ticket information: https://ictfc.com/ticket-info-queen-of-the-south-h-25-09-2021 TV info for anyone unable to attend: https://ictfc.com/ictv-info-queen-of-the-south-h
  7. Gardyne volleys us to the top Goals from Sean Welsh and Michael Gardyne were just enough to put Inverness back to the top of the table despite a worldy goal from Lee Connelly for the visitors. Inverness deserved the win but made hard work of it before Gardyne scored a superb volley to win the points and ease the fans nerves. Billy Dodds had Michael Gardyne back from injury but Doran and Sutherland were on the bench after knocks last week. Sean Welsh was in the starting XI as Inverness looked to get back above Kilmarnock after they drew with Arbroath on Friday night. Queen of the South came North on the back of some indifferent form which showed they were better suited to playing away from home. No Dobbie as the prolific striker had left Palmerston after a glittering career. Much travelled former Ross County and Inverness player Alex Cooper was on the bench for the Doonhamers. Mark Ridgers was the first keeper in action as he smothered a weak shot from Lee Connelly with just sixty seconds gone; Connelly would do better later in the game.. Inverness responded with a Scott Allardice drive that fizzed a couple of feet wide in the fifth minute, although the keeper looked to have his post covered. Allardice's next involvement was a booking after a rash tackle out wide as Inverness made heavy weather of making any progress. However, Duku turned his marker and was brought down on the edge of the penalty box arc as David Carson fed the ball to him. Sean Welsh stepped forward and curled a sublime low free kick into the bottom corner from around twenty-five yards, the ball coming off the surface at pace. Tom Walsh almost got on the end of a Gardyne cross after a quick free kick, the ball just out of reach. Minutes later another Gardyne cross found Manny Duku but his header was glanced wide. Duku was causing problems for the defence with his awkward style and direct running, almost finding Walsh after another cut back into the box. Yet another Gardyne cross not connected with Duku's head as the striker passes up on another opportunity. Ten minutes to the break and the hosts are well in control although Queens are not completely out of it so far with only one goal separating the sides as another Gardyne cross evades two forwards in the box. After Gardyne was fouled wide left, a Walsh free kick was headed goalwards but it lacked sufficient power to trouble the keeper as the interval loomed. Half Time: 1-0 The visitors managed to make some progress early in the second half and Mark Ridgers pulled off a superb save and he was not to know it was adjudged offside. Substitute Reece McAlear stung the palms of the keeper as Inverness came back into the game. Broadfoot dollied a header into the keeper and when Johnston broke on the right side for Queens, he got the break of the ball but dragged his shot just wide across the keeper. Billy McKay replaced the hapless Duku around the hour as Inverness looked for the cushion. Clear chances were difficult to come by as the hosts won a couple of corners to no avail, but from the return ball, Walsh's cross bounced back off the corner of the bar. Out of nothing the visitors scored a superb goal through Connelly with a curling shot from the corner of the box high into the net across the keeper. Great strike! Lewis Jamieson replaced Allardice as Dodds decided a second goal was needed. It almost came at the other end as a cleared ball ricocheted off a defender and Ridgers had to look sharp to save. Just when Queens looked the more likely to score, Michael Gardyne volleyed in a beauty after a long through ball from Robbie Deas bounced up nicely for him to chest then volley home with power. Inverness pressed for a third goal and Carson and Gardyne were blocked in the six yard box as the clock ticked towards the ninety. With the hosts in command the referee ended the game to send Inverness back to the top of the table after a deserved win over a gritty Queens. Good performances all over the park with Michael Gardyne the pick of the bunch and honourable mentions for Sean Welsh, Danny Devine and David Carson. From BBC Sport Billy Dodds: "We had to work for it but I thought our attitude was fantastic. My experienced players came up trumps. Sean Welsh with a brilliant free kick and Michael Gardyne with a great finish." Allan Johnston: "The least we should have come away with was a point with the way we played, especially in the second half so we are a little bit frustrated. We have to make sure we learn from that." From CTO Robert: Pretty dominant first half without creating any clear cut chances, but deservedly ahead after a great free kick by Welsh. We failed to kick on after the break and it was no great surprise when the equaliser went in, as they had tested us a few times before it. It was a very good finish. That was the kick up the backside we needed and we got the winner through Gardyne from a long ball by Deas, with Jamieson playing his part by distracting the defence. However, we need to be more clinical and put teams away when we are on top, and stop making it hard for ourselves. Pick for me today was Gardyne, closely followed by Welsh. From CTO RIG: Deserved win. We largely cigared that today save for a period in the second half when Queens got their equaliser and looked like they might steal a point but fortunately we were able to go up a gear and get a deserved winner. Smashing performance from Gardyne. He might be 58<<disclaimer alert>> but he's still as fit as anyone in our squad and still has plenty to offer. Pacey and direct and not afraid to have a crack at goal when some might take an extra touch too many (Duku). Lovely finish for the winner and a deserved MotM. Devine continues to be perhaps our most consistent performer. He almost score a comedy own goal but other than that he was excellent again and stepped out of defence on numerous occasions to intercept balls forward from Queens. Carson was again solid at RB and MacGregor, before his injury, was running the midfield. Walsh was disappointing though and I feel that he's not really hit the height he did in his previous stint with us. Connelly looked useful for Queens who did press and harry us a lot in the first half but seemed to cease after conceding a goal and seemed content to let us knock the ball about looking for an opening. Unfortunately a fair bit of our play broke down in the final third (we definitely lacked a killer pass at times) but I felt we dealt with their few attacking opportunities quite well. Their equaliser was absolutely stunning but fortunately we just upped our game a bit and took a deserved win. All in all, a very pleasing day. Doddsy Here's the goals, three crackers... Date: 25/09/2021 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1184 Referee: Alan Newlands Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Broadfoot, Devine, Deas, Walsh, Welsh, Allardice (Jamieson 76), MacGregor (McAlear 54), Gardyne, Duku (Mckay 63) Subs (not used): Mackay; Harper, Sutherland, Doran Scorers: Welsh (12), Gardyne (81) Booked: Allardice (9) Sent Off: none Queen of the South: 1 Manager: Allan Johnston Lineup: Brynn; Gibson, Mckay, Connelly, Debayo, Liddle (Junior 67), McGrory (Fitzpatrick 73) East, Joseph, Nditi, Johnston (Paton 87), Subs (not used): Cowie; Cooper, Chima, Henderson, Scorers: Connelly (74) Booked: Nditi (85) Sent Off: none a
  8. Queens visit. After dropping our first points of the season last weekend to bottom club Dunfermline, seventh place Queen of the South come calling on Saturday to the Caledonian Stadium, the game kicking off at 3:00pm. We had Mark Ridgers to thank for earning us a point at East End Park as he pulled off two tremendous saves late in the game to deny the Pars their first win of the season. The draw was sufficient to keep Inverness top of the table but Kilmarnock and Arbroath gained some ground at the top end whilst the Pars stay rooted to the foot of the Championship. Queens went down 2-0 at home to Arbroath as their indifferent start to the season continues, beating Raith away one week, losing at home to Arbroath the next. It would appear that their away form suits them better than playing at Palmerston at the moment. Stat Attack First Competitive Meeting Dec 17th, 1994 Scottish Cup (Rd 1) (H) 1 - 2 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Apr 10th, 2021 League (Championship) (A) 1 - 1 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 1 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 3 - 0 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 3 - 3 (A) 0 - 0 (H) Venue - Head 2 Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 19 11 2 6 34 23 +11 Away 18 7 7 4 31 19 +12 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 37 18 9 10 65 42 +23 Biggest Victories Dec 4th, 2020 League (Championship) (A) 3 - 0 Apr 17th, 2004 League (H) 4 - 1 Dec 6th, 2003 League (H) 4 - 1 Aug 1st, 1998 League Cup (Round 1) (A) 4 - 1 Heaviest Defeats Oct 10th, 2009 League (H) 1 - 3 Mar 21st, 1998 League (H) 0 - 2 Aug 13th, 1997 Challenge Cup (Rd 1) (H) 0 - 2 Highest Attendance Oct 18th, 2003 League (A) 3,547 Highest Home Attendance Oct 10th, 2009 League (H) 3,011 Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Inverness CT 6 5 1 0 7 1 6 16 2. Kilmarnock 6 5 0 1 8 1 7 15 3. Arbroath 6 4 1 1 14 4 10 13 4. Partick Thistle 6 3 0 3 11 10 1 9 5. Raith Rovers 5 2 1 2 7 6 1 7 6. Ayr United 6 2 1 3 7 8 -1 7 7. Queen of the South 6 2 0 4 7 10 -3 6 8. Morton 6 1 1 4 5 10 -5 4 9. Hamilton Academical 6 1 1 4 6 14 -8 4 10. Dunfermline 5 0 2 3 3 11 -8 2 As the stats show, Inverness have the upper hand in this fixture but Queens won 0 - 1 in the last one at the Caledonian Stadium in February 2021 when Nortei Nortay scored the only goal of the game as the visitors burst forward around the hour to win in Inverness for the sixth time out of nineteen visits. Other games this weekend Arbroath 0-0 Kilmarnock (Friday 19:45) Will this one sort the men from the boys? Nope. Ayr United v Morton (Saturday 15:00) Mid table supremacy? Dunfermline v Hamilton (Sat 15:00) Relegation battle? Raith Rovers v Partick (Sunday 15:00) - Raith Rovers v Dunfermline ***catch up game Wed 29th Sept 19:05 Streaming from ICTV * Ticket Info Official Preview Match Info AGM 2021 - Statement Hospitality v Morton Lewis Hyde to Rothes Aly Riddle to Forres * Users in England: The English FA was granted ‘blocked hours’ protection pursuant to UEFA Article 48 which prohibits the transmission of matches within its territory during the period of ‘blocked hours’. (refer to Help). Users who are later found to have purchased from within England, will have their purchase refunded and be unable to watch the stream. I see that petty out of date rules by closed shop jobs for boys organisations are still alive and kicking. I fail to see that watching a stream of a Scottish game in England will make much difference to the size of the crowd south of the border. They will be banning kilts next Latest Team News Michael Gardyne has missed the last couple of games but trained hard on Thursday. Aaron Doran and Shane Sutherland were injured at East End Park and Dodds will wait until Friday before finalising his team selection. This could open the door for Cameron Harper and Billy Mckay for a start and maybe Lewis Jamieson will be pushing for some game time. Allan Johnston was disappointed with the result last week and despite plenty of possession and opportunities he felt they failed to make the most of their opportunities. Defensive lapses costing the Doonhamers and not clinical enough in front of goal. Queens are of course Dobbieless, and that has to be a bonus for the opposition. He doesn't score many, but when he does... Billy looking ahead
  9. Surprise Surprise East End Park is the venue on Saturday as surprise Championship leaders Inverness visit the Kingdom of Fife to take on surprise packet Dunfermline Athletic. I say surprise packet, as that is exactly what The Pars have become under the guidance of former Alloa Athletic manager Peter Grant. I fully expected the Pars to be challenging at the opposite end of the table given their financial backing and the assumed quality of their squad. Unfortunately for them they find themselves languishing at the foot of the table and winless after four games with only a draw against Morton to show for their troubles. They do have a Fife derby to come against Raith Rovers, but that won't be easy either. They have shipped three goals against Partick, Arbroath and Ayr United and their fans are now talking boycotts in an attempt to use fan power to force the board to act now before their season is completely ruined. Look out for the mass exodus on the hour. However, beware the scalded cat! In stark contrast, Inverness are on a winning run of five games on the bounce in the Championship, have the manager of the month in Billy Dodds, and sit top of the table having already beaten three of the favourites in Raith, Kilmarnock and Partick Thistle. What could possibly go wrong? PPV Stream @ ParsTV £12 OFFICIAL PREVIEW ROBBO BOOK VIDEO WATCH SUPPORTERS BUS Stat Attack First Competitive Meeting Aug 7th, 1999 League (A) 0 - 4 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Mar 20th, 2021 League (Championship) (A) 1 - 0 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 3 - 0 (A) Biggest Victories Jul 26th, 2016 League Cup (Group C) (A) 5 - 1 Heaviest Defeats <ouch> Aug 12th, 2017 League (A) 1 - 5 Aug 7th, 1999 League (A) 0 - 4 Highest Attendance Apr 10th, 2004 Scottish Cup (Semi-Final) (N) 13,255 Head 2 Head Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 21 9 8 4 27 19 +8 Away 22 9 8 5 28 25 +3 Neutral 2 0 1 1 3 4 -1 Total 45 18 17 10 58 48 +10 Overall stats sway in our favour with the last ten meetings showing that Inverness have been more dominant in recent years. A far cry from the 4-0 thrashing dished out on our first venture into the Championship back in August 1999 when the Pars brushed aside the upstarts from the Highlands who dared to move up through the leagues to challenge the central belt dominance. In our defence we were reduced to ten men and conceded two late goals. Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Inverness CT 5 5 0 0 7 1 6 15 2. Kilmarnock 5 4 0 1 6 1 5 12 3. Arbroath 5 3 1 1 12 4 8 10 4. Partick Thistle 5 3 0 2 11 8 3 9 5. Queen of the South 5 2 0 3 7 8 -1 6 6. Raith Rovers 4 1 1 2 6 6 0 4 7. Ayr United 5 1 1 3 5 8 -3 4 8. Morton 5 1 1 3 5 9 -4 4 9. Hamilton Academical 5 1 1 3 6 12 -6 4 10. Dunfermline 4 0 1 3 3 11 -8 1 Other fixtures this weekend, all 3:00pm Saturday Hamilton v Ayr United Morton v Raith Rovers Partick v Kilmarnock Queens v Arbroath LATEST TEAM NEWS Michael Gardyne missed out last week having picked up a knock in training prior to the Buckie Thistle cup game. Looks like we are mostly free from injury with Billy Mckay and Lewis Jamieson champing at the bit as they remained on the bench last week. Look for a relatively unchanged squad this weekend. If it's not broke, don't fix it! We have also recruited someone to watch videos. Good work if you can get it. Dunfermline will have Owain Fon Williams, Nikolay Todorov and Kai Kennedy in their squad as they look to get off the bottom of the table. Aaron Doran will make his 300th appearance this weekend. Let's see if he can add to his 50 goals he has scored for the Caley Jags View full article
  10. Table Toppers Both sides had won their opening three fixtures with Killie having the better goal difference. Both sides had yet to concede a goal; something was going to give, and it did after five minutes. This game had the potential to be the toughest test so far in the Billy Dodds era and it was a tight affair but Inverness scored the only goal of the game when Michael Gardyne lashed the ball into the net via the keepers palms. That proved to be the winner. Blair Alston nicked one off the outside of the post before the interval and Mark Ridgers kept Killie out with his 4th clean sheet in a row in the Championship after denying Innes Cameron from point blank range to put the Caley Jags at the top of the table on their own. Tommy Wright was without Chris Stokes but had former Inverness midfielder Liam Polworth in his starting XI and his counterpart Billy Dodds fielded former Killie defender Kirk Broadfoot. Roddy MacGregor continued in midfield, with captain Sean Welsh on the bench amongst other strong attacking options. A bright afternoon and a healthy crowd greeted the teams as the game kicked off and it was only five minutes old when Michael Gardyne lashed the ball into the net via the keepers palms from the left side of the box around twelve yards out, Shane Sutherland with the assist. Immortal Howden Ender is back From CTO: When was the last time that we led a league after 4 matches? That was as good a vocal support at Killie as I have certainly witnessed. RIG sums the action up well but I have been busting to do a Smileymometer. Killie really did not look like scoring and we did look dangerous on the break. The only two negatives were that our final pass was abysmal and we could have racked up 4 or 5 otherwise. And I think that we could have employed swapping Gardyne and |Walsh on a regular basis (or was Gardyne played there because of Burke ?)Gawd do we look solid defensively. A structured back four and three or four making a second line in front and everybody pressing. Killie tried to play football at the back but let themselves down with hoof tactics when they ran out of ideas. It was also a good idea to tag team Burke (WWE style) early doors. And what a bunch of whingers the Killie fans are. It was as if they were expecting a non contact sporting event. RIDGERS * * * Did not really have that much to do but you can sense that his confidence is high and the players in front of him know that he will be there as a practical and reliable sweeper. Commanding is the word. CARSON * * * Still not convinced that he is a wing back. Gives 100% and gets stuck in but needs to learn the role. BROADFOOT * * * * Uses his head and experience to good use. The Killie hoof played to his strengths, DEVINE * * * * Pleasantly surprised as I was unsure about his return but he and Broadfoot complimented each other. DEAS * * * Had the task of shackling Burke. That did not come to fruition in the first 10-15 minutes but Gardyne gave him the support he needed thereafter WALSH * * * Played his role but wasted on the right. Killie evidently sussed that he is very left footed. ALLARDICE * * * Did not notice him at the start but he grew into the game and filled in a few gaps later on and added to the defensive structure playing in the hole in front of B & D. MacGREGOR * * * * * Thought that he was SUPERB, especially in the second half when he played further up. Some of his touches were SUBLIME. MOTM by a country mile GARDYNE * * * * Very impressed. Took goal well. Spent most of the match covering the danger of Burke. Ran his socks off and he an McGregor evidently are on the same wavelength. SUTHERLAND * * * * What he lacks in finesse he makes up for in effort and running, May well soon be a choice between him or Duku to partner Mckay. DUKU * * First time that I have watched him so I presume that he had a bad day at the office. I felt that he did not deal with the physicality. To be able to bring Welsh, Doran and Mckay off the bench - well enuff said Date: 28/08/2021 Venue: Rugby Park (BBSP) Attendance: 5004 Referee: Euan Anderson Kilmarnock: 0 Manager: Tommy Wright Lineup: Hemming; Naismith, E Murray, McGowan, Haunstrup, Alston, McGinn, Polworth (Armstrong 79), McKenzie (F Murray 63), Burke, Robinson (Cameron 30) Subs (not used): Walker; Sanders, Waters, Lyon Scorers: none Booked: Alston (75) McGowan (81) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Devine, Broadfoot, Deas, Gardyne, Allardice, MacGregor, Walsh Doran (69), Sutherland (B Mckay 86), Duku (Welsh 61) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Harper, Jamieson, McAlear Scorers: Gardyne (5) Booked: Devine (24), Sutherland (42), Allardice (88) Sent Off: none a
  11. Stalemate It was top versus bottom on the Halbeath Road as Inverness visited Dunfermline Athletic. Unfortunately it was a rather turgid affair that ended goalless and that was down to keeper Mark Ridgers who made two fantastic late saves to deny Nikolay Todorov and Craig Wighton who could have taken the points as the Pars looked to get their season up and running. As it was, it ended all square with Inverness remaining top and Dunfermline staying bottom. Michael Gardyne missed out again as Aaron Doran made his 300th appearance for the Caley Jags. Unfortunately his day was terminated at the interval as The Pars dished out some strong arm tactics, especially in the first half which saw Doran replaced by Harper and Shane Sutherland replaced by Billy Mckay ten minutes before the break. Dunfermline had Fon Williams, Kai Kennedy and Nikolay Todorov on from the start as they went searching for their first win of the season. --------------------- From BBC Sport: Dunfermline Athletic manager Peter Grant: "We've had a tough few weeks with Covid and the results and it's not easy to keep going and keep fighting and they showed the spirit that I know they have." Inverness CT manager Billy Dodds: "It was going to be a battle, I knew they would work hard, I thought we were decent first half and they had the best chance second half. There weren't a lot of great chances in the game, I think a draw was a fair result but we had to battle for it." --------------------- Shane Sutherland saw an effort saved by Fon Williams fifteen minutes in as Inverness made the better start to the game and Mark Ridgers thwarted Nikolay Todorov as the hosts responded. Clear cut chances were at a premium in a dour first half with neither side really catching the eye. The most disappointing aspect of a poor first half was injuries to Sutherland and Doran. Half Time 0-0 After the interval with neither side able to capitalise on some promising build up play the hosts gradually began to assert themselves on the ball and chances were being created. Inverness were looking more vulnerable as the game opened out and offered little clear threat in front of goal, snatching at shots and heading wide without forcing Fon Williams to make a meaningful save. The same could not be said of Mark Ridgers who defied the odds to palm away a fierce diving header from Todorov from point blank range and pounced on the loose ball to deny a certain goal. He then beat away another shot from Craig Wighton as the game entered time added on, these two saves earning him his fifth clean sheet of the Championship. Dunfermline looked a much better side than their recent form had indicated and could easily have taken all three points at the end but for MotM Mark Ridgers who denied them access to his goal. Unfortunately Inverness also looked like they were in a false position at the top of the league as they struggled to impose themselves on the game. Maybe the two first half injuries hindered us somewhat, but in truth, we were not convincing from the start and will feel it's a point gained, and not two points lost. Still top of the league by one point despite Killie closing the gap after beating Partick Thistle and the Smokies still breezing along nicely in third only three points behind the leaders. Queen of the South come North next week with Hamilton Accies to follow. Bring it on. Date: 18/09/2021 Venue: East End Park Attendance: 3158 Referee: David Munro Dunfermline: 0 Manager: Peter Grant Lineup: Williams; Comrie, Watson, Gaspuitis, Edwards, Dow, Dorrans, Pybus (Thomas 68), Kennedy, O'Hara (Wighton 45), Todorov (Cole 81) Subs (not used): Mehmet; Macdonald, Allan, Jones Scorers: none Booked: Pybus (37), Todorov (43), Watson (48), Cole (85) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Broadfoot, Devine, Deas, Doran (Harper 45), MacGregor, Allardice, Walsh, Sutherland (B Mckay 36), Duku (Welsh 70) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Duffy, Jamieson, McAlear Scorers: none Booked: Deas (27) Sent Off: none a
  12. Surprise Surprise East End Park is the venue on Saturday as surprise Championship leaders Inverness visit the Kingdom of Fife to take on surprise packet Dunfermline Athletic. I say surprise packet, as that is exactly what The Pars have become under the guidance of former Alloa Athletic manager Peter Grant. I fully expected the Pars to be challenging at the opposite end of the table given their financial backing and the assumed quality of their squad. Unfortunately for them they find themselves languishing at the foot of the table and winless after four games with only a draw against Morton to show for their troubles. They do have a Fife derby to come against Raith Rovers, but that won't be easy either. They have shipped three goals against Partick, Arbroath and Ayr United and their fans are now talking boycotts in an attempt to use fan power to force the board to act now before their season is completely ruined. Look out for the mass exodus on the hour. However, beware the scalded cat! In stark contrast, Inverness are on a winning run of five games on the bounce in the Championship, have the manager of the month in Billy Dodds, and sit top of the table having already beaten three of the favourites in Raith, Kilmarnock and Partick Thistle. What could possibly go wrong? PPV Stream @ ParsTV £12 OFFICIAL PREVIEW ROBBO BOOK VIDEO WATCH SUPPORTERS BUS Stat Attack First Competitive Meeting Aug 7th, 1999 League (A) 0 - 4 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Mar 20th, 2021 League (Championship) (A) 1 - 0 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 3 - 0 (A) Biggest Victories Jul 26th, 2016 League Cup (Group C) (A) 5 - 1 Heaviest Defeats <ouch> Aug 12th, 2017 League (A) 1 - 5 Aug 7th, 1999 League (A) 0 - 4 Highest Attendance Apr 10th, 2004 Scottish Cup (Semi-Final) (N) 13,255 Head 2 Head Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 21 9 8 4 27 19 +8 Away 22 9 8 5 28 25 +3 Neutral 2 0 1 1 3 4 -1 Total 45 18 17 10 58 48 +10 Overall stats sway in our favour with the last ten meetings showing that Inverness have been more dominant in recent years. A far cry from the 4-0 thrashing dished out on our first venture into the Championship back in August 1999 when the Pars brushed aside the upstarts from the Highlands who dared to move up through the leagues to challenge the central belt dominance. In our defence we were reduced to ten men and conceded two late goals. Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Inverness CT 5 5 0 0 7 1 6 15 2. Kilmarnock 5 4 0 1 6 1 5 12 3. Arbroath 5 3 1 1 12 4 8 10 4. Partick Thistle 5 3 0 2 11 8 3 9 5. Queen of the South 5 2 0 3 7 8 -1 6 6. Raith Rovers 4 1 1 2 6 6 0 4 7. Ayr United 5 1 1 3 5 8 -3 4 8. Morton 5 1 1 3 5 9 -4 4 9. Hamilton Academical 5 1 1 3 6 12 -6 4 10. Dunfermline 4 0 1 3 3 11 -8 1 Other fixtures this weekend, all 3:00pm Saturday Hamilton v Ayr United Morton v Raith Rovers Partick v Kilmarnock Queens v Arbroath LATEST TEAM NEWS Michael Gardyne missed out last week having picked up a knock in training prior to the Buckie Thistle cup game. Looks like we are mostly free from injury with Billy Mckay and Lewis Jamieson champing at the bit as they remained on the bench last week. Look for a relatively unchanged squad this weekend. If it's not broke, don't fix it! We have also recruited someone to watch videos. Good work if you can get it. Dunfermline will have Owain Fon Williams, Nikolay Todorov and Kai Kennedy in their squad as they look to get off the bottom of the table. Aaron Doran will make his 300th appearance this weekend. Let's see if he can add to his 50 goals he has scored for the Caley Jags
  13. The run goes on Partick Thistle came North with high hopes of ending Inverness' great start to the campaign in the knowledge that they have been scoring at the rate of three goals per game apart from Arbroath where they suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Red Lichties. Billy Dodds had food for thought after the cup win over Buckie last week where Billy Mckay and Lewis Jamieson staked their claims for a start after scoring performances over the Highland League side. They started on the bench as he went with the tried and tested so far this season. Ian McCall had old enemy Brian Graham up front with Zac Rudden on the bench and watch out for defender Tunji Akinola who packs a punch with his feet. After a difficult first half, Inverness ran out comfortable winners against Partick Thistle in a second half goal blitz. The visitors dominated the first forty-five and Scott Tiffoney drilled the opener out of nothing as the defence backed off. Manny Duku was denied by a combination of keeper and post but it was Partick that should have scored a second, however Mark Ridgers did well to deny Brian Graham. Harsh talking at the break saw Inverness come out for the second half with the bit between the teeth and Kirk Broadfoot was the unlikely hero as his twenty yard shot evaded the outstretched fingertips of the keeper to level the score. Shane Sutherland did well to drill in the second from an angle after the keeper fluffed his lines allowing Shane to slot in from twenty yards. The third was a peach as Duku stepped over the ball and Aaron Doran fired high into the net for a brilliant goal and game over. That's five wins out of five and the run goes on... Doran with the pick of the goals... Perennial cheat Brian Graham seemed to be involved in an off the ball altercation which left David Carson enraged. He was removed from the park by McCall immediately after. It's about time this thug in a football strip was taken to task. Resident seer Immortal Howden Ender never saw that second half coming... O2B back home. So nice to quaff in the Innes and take my place in the North Stand. What a wonderful day or what a wonderful 45 minutes. As usual I may be brutally direct with my comments BUT we are definitely going in the right direction!! First half was a mare but the eejit McCall decided to defend what they had and did not go for our throat. We were looking all at sea for a while but we were given the chance to get back the control and although the rest of the first half was poor we had gone onto the front foot and never really looked troubled after going a goal down and we morphed into the Kilmarnock system. This was the absolute epitome of a tale of two halves. And it started with a Kirk Broadfoot attack and a drive that went in like a slow motion camera take. But that started a complete control over the proceedings. And so enjoyable to watch and to relax. We went into complete control and it could have been 6 or 7. When was the last time that you heard Ole shouts for 18 consecutive ICT passes. My return home will live forever in the memory. RIDGERS ¥¥¥ Possibly at fault for the goal but assured and rarely troubled. CARSON ¥¥¥ Solid - but sorry - a reliable shoe in but not a wing back. BROADFOOT ¥¥¥¥ Caught out by pace for the goal but untroubled and leading thereafter. Goal brought on the total change in proceedings DEVINE ¥¥¥¥ As good a player as the first time round but minus the lapses in concentration. Building a fine central defensive partnership DEAS ¥¥¥ Another solid performance and keeping Harper at bay. Gives us future options though WALSH ¥¥¥ Has not produced his best and is in danger of benching but again is some player to call on. ALLARDICE ¥¥¥ Jeez does he blow hot and cold but the central midfield warrior that we have lacked. MacGREGOR ¥¥¥ Disappointed after his Killie display but he is a Christie in the making. DORAN ¥¥¥¥ Played out wide in the first half and simply does not have the pace anymore BUT bringing him more central and drifting may have been the tactic to win us the game- and what a sweet strike SUTHERLAND ¥¥¥¥¥ May not be everybody’s cup of vodka but he was the man who shone in BOTH halves. May not be polished but his drive and commitment - and his goal- elevated him above everybody else on the day. DUKU ¥¥¥ Improved in the second half but I am still not convinced. Anyone care to join me in a few “Doddsie” From CTO: RIG Stunning turnaround. Absolutely stunning. Probably the first game this season we have actually gotten out of second gear and we ended up tearing Partick apart. First half was pretty even although Partick had the best chances with the Tiffoney strike and the Graham sitter. Carson seemed well out of position for the opener and Broadfoot and Devine didn't really handle the situation well either but after Ridgers stood up well to deny Graham and we got to half time at 0 - 1 you still felt if we got an early goal then we might go on to get something. And we absolutely did that and then some. The second half performance was just sublime. I can see why Partick felt they could let Broadfoot rumble forward for about 40 yards unchallenged as I don't think anyone in the ground expected him to find the bottom corner with a trundling effort but it's what he did and we again benefitted from another goalkeeping cock up when Sneddon forgot to grab the ball and Sutherland finished well from a narrowing angle. The best was the third with a lovely dummy from Duku and a cracking whipped shot from Doran to complete the turnaround. A utterly fantastic performance! What a shame that less than 2,000 ICT fans were there to see it. Maybe some are concerned with COVID and staying away (and that's fine) but if you know anyone who isn't going along to the stadium on match days then do your best to get them to come along because we have a real shot here at going up. It's probably as strong a squad as we've had in seasons (Billy Mckay on the bench not getting a game FFS!) and when we get going we are playing some excellent stuff. Bring on Dunfermline away! Doddsy Date: 11/09/2021 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2148 Referee: Euan Anderson Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Boadfoot, Devine, Deas, Doran, Allardice, MacGregor (Welsh 79), Walsh (Harper 74), Sutherland, Duku (McAlear 83) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Duffy, Mckay, Jamieson Scorers: Broadfoot (51), Sutherland (68), Doran (71) Booked: Deas (45+2) Sent Off: none Partick Thistle: 1 Manager: Ian McCall Lineup: Sneddon; Foster, Holt, Mayo, Akinola, Tiffoney, Bannigan, Turner (Hastie 69), Docherty, Smith (Rudden 69), Graham (McIver 79), Subs (not used): Stone; MacIver, Gordon, McKenna, Murray Scorers: Tiffoney (17) Booked: Bannigan (55) Docherty (70) Sent Off: none a
  14. Double dose of Jags Another top of the table clash this weekend as promoted Partick Thistle head North on Saturday to take on the Caley Jags. It's a 3:00pm kick off at the Caledonian Stadium and with free scoring Partick going well, expect a big crowd and a tough game. We put four past Buckie Thistle last weekend with a side that had 10 changes from the one that beat Killie 1-0 in our last Championship encounter. Robbie Deas was the only survivor from Rugby Park and there were some excellent performances and firsts for Lewis Jamieson, Cameron Harper and a brace for Billy Mckay. Partick had a tougher task but they advanced after beating Stranraer 2-0 with a fierce Tunji Akinola strike and a late Kevin Holt header seeing off their hosts. OFFICIAL PREVIEW Stat Attack First Competitive Meeting Aug 4th, 1998 League (H) 1 - 0 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Dec 14th, 2019 League (A) 1 - 3 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 1 - 3 (A) 1 - 3 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 0 - 2 (A) 4 - 1 (A) Biggest Victories Apr 30th, 2016 League (A) 4 - 1 Jan 10th, 2009 Scottish Cup (Rd 4) (H) 3 - 0 Apr 27th, 2002 League (H) 3 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Dec 13th, 2014 League (H) 0 - 4 Highest Attendance Feb 23rd, 2002 Scottish Cup (Quarter Final) (A) 8,700 Highest Home Attendance Mar 5th, 2002 Scottish Cup (Quarter Final Replay) (H) 5,037 Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 20 8 5 7 30 29 +1 Away 19 5 5 9 21 28 -7 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 39 13 10 16 51 57 -6 As the stats show, the sides are fairly evenly matched overall although Partick have won the last two encounters, both by 3-1. Good news week with both Cameron Harper and Roddy MacGregor extending their contracts by a further two seasons. Impressive business by the club as they invest in the future of these young stars. Latest Team News Michael Gardyne was injured in training ahead of last week's Trust Cup match with Buckie. With many players rested after our stunning start to the campaign, Billy Dodds will have the managerial headache of sorting out his best XI after a few caught the eye against Buckie. Notably scorers Billy Mckay and Lewis Jamieson and it was good to see Anthony McDonald performing so well after recovering from injury. Plenty of food for thought. Partick had some players on duty at the Scotland u21 game in Turkey where a late goal saw the Turks salvage a draw. Lewis Mayo played from the start and Zac Rudden came off the bench with keeper Harry Stone an unused sub.
  15. The Killie Pie is back Top of the table clash this weekend as second placed Inverness travel to Rugby Park to take on Kilmarnock. The game kicks off at 3:00pm and away fans will be in attendance with the game also being streamed live by Kilmarnock TV for those unable to attend. Both sides have won their opening three fixtures with Killie having the better goal difference. Both sides have yet to concede a goal; somethings going to give... STREAMING £9.99 TICKETS MATCHDAY INFO FROM KILLIE Mark Ridgers contract extension Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Killie 1 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 1 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 2 (A) 3 - 3 (H) 2 - 1 (A) Biggest Victories Nov 5th, 2011 League (A) 6 - 3 Apr 19th, 2008 League (H) 3 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Feb 6th, 2010 Scottish Cup (Rd 5) (A) 0 - 3 Mar 22nd, 2008 League (A) 1 - 4 Highest Attendance Mar 10th, 2007 League (A) 7,630 Highest Home Attendance Feb 17th, 2001 Scottish Cup (Round 4) (H) 5,294 Venue - Head to Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 23 10 9 4 43 32 +11 Away 24 7 6 11 35 44 -9 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 47 17 15 15 78 76 +2 Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Kilmarnock 3 3 0 0 5 0 5 9 2. Inverness CT 3 3 0 0 3 0 3 9 3. Partick Thistle 3 2 0 1 7 5 2 6 4. Arbroath 3 1 1 1 5 4 1 4 5. Morton 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4 6. Queen of the South 3 1 0 2 5 6 -1 3 7. Raith Rovers 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1 8. Hamilton Academical 3 0 1 2 4 7 -3 1 9. Dunfermline 2 0 1 1 2 5 -3 1 10. Ayr United 3 0 1 2 2 5 -3 1 Championship Fixtures this weekend Ayr United -P- Raith Rovers Dunfermline -V- Arbroath FC Kilmarnock -V- Inverness CT Partick Thistle -V- Greenock Morton Queen of the South -V- Hamilton Academical Keepers gloves in safe hands. Mark Ridgers has penned a contract extension that will keep him at the club until May 2024. Mr consistency has been a top performer for Inverness since joining in 2017. His first appearance was in a League Cup group A game against Brechin City and he started with a clean sheet in a 3-0 win. 58 clean sheets later, he will make his 163rd appearance at Rugby Park on Saturday. Safe Hands Mark Billy Mckay is our top scorer of all time against Kilmarnock with nine goals. He does like a goal against Killie. Two goals last season for County in March against them went a long way to help keep County up and send Kilmarnock to the relegation zone. His thanks for helping to keep County up was a message telling him he was no longer required. Their loss is our gain. Latest Team News Captain Sean Welsh returned to action last week as a substitute and along with Billy Mckay got some much needed game time. Wallace Duffy and Anthony McDonald were longer term injuries and missed out last week. Roddy MacGregor kept his place in the team after a couple of great performances with Reece McAlear having to settle for a place on the bench. Kirk Broadfoot will be in line to face his old club. Killie offloaded around fourteen players after relegation, Kyle Lafferty possibly the biggest name to fall. However, many Killie fans believe this season's squad is better than the one that took the club down. Step forward Liam Polworth. He swapped the amber and claret for the blue and white stripes at Rugby Park and is bedding in nicely according to various reports. This will be the most stringent test so far in the Billy Dodds era. Killie have wins over Ayr United, Queen of the South and Hamilton Accies under their belt whilst we have taken out Arbroath, Raith Rovers and Ayr United all by the same score of 1-0. This post has been promoted to an article
  16. The Killie Pie is back Top of the table clash this weekend as second placed Inverness travel to Rugby Park to take on Kilmarnock. The game kicks off at 3:00pm and away fans will be in attendance with the game also being streamed live by Kilmarnock TV for those unable to attend. Both sides have won their opening three fixtures with Killie having the better goal difference. Both sides have yet to concede a goal; somethings going to give... STREAMING £9.99 TICKETS MATCHDAY INFO FROM KILLIE Mark Ridgers contract extension Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Killie 1 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 1 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 2 (A) 3 - 3 (H) 2 - 1 (A) Biggest Victories Nov 5th, 2011 League (A) 6 - 3 Apr 19th, 2008 League (H) 3 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Feb 6th, 2010 Scottish Cup (Rd 5) (A) 0 - 3 Mar 22nd, 2008 League (A) 1 - 4 Highest Attendance Mar 10th, 2007 League (A) 7,630 Highest Home Attendance Feb 17th, 2001 Scottish Cup (Round 4) (H) 5,294 Venue - Head to Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 23 10 9 4 43 32 +11 Away 24 7 6 11 35 44 -9 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 47 17 15 15 78 76 +2 Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Kilmarnock 3 3 0 0 5 0 5 9 2. Inverness CT 3 3 0 0 3 0 3 9 3. Partick Thistle 3 2 0 1 7 5 2 6 4. Arbroath 3 1 1 1 5 4 1 4 5. Morton 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4 6. Queen of the South 3 1 0 2 5 6 -1 3 7. Raith Rovers 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1 8. Hamilton Academical 3 0 1 2 4 7 -3 1 9. Dunfermline 2 0 1 1 2 5 -3 1 10. Ayr United 3 0 1 2 2 5 -3 1 Championship Fixtures this weekend Ayr United -P- Raith Rovers Dunfermline -V- Arbroath FC Kilmarnock -V- Inverness CT Partick Thistle -V- Greenock Morton Queen of the South -V- Hamilton Academical Keepers gloves in safe hands. Mark Ridgers has penned a contract extension that will keep him at the club until May 2024. Mr consistency has been a top performer for Inverness since joining in 2017. His first appearance was in a League Cup group A game against Brechin City and he started with a clean sheet in a 3-0 win. 58 clean sheets later, he will make his 163rd appearance at Rugby Park on Saturday. Safe Hands Mark Billy Mckay is our top scorer of all time against Kilmarnock with nine goals. He does like a goal against Killie. Two goals last season for County in March against them went a long way to help keep County up and send Kilmarnock to the relegation zone. His thanks for helping to keep County up was a message telling him he was no longer required. Their loss is our gain. Latest Team News Captain Sean Welsh returned to action last week as a substitute and along with Billy Mckay got some much needed game time. Wallace Duffy and Anthony McDonald were longer term injuries and missed out last week. Roddy MacGregor kept his place in the team after a couple of great performances with Reece McAlear having to settle for a place on the bench. Kirk Broadfoot will be in line to face his old club. Killie offloaded around fourteen players after relegation, Kyle Lafferty possibly the biggest name to fall. However, many Killie fans believe this season's squad is better than the one that took the club down. Step forward Liam Polworth. He swapped the amber and claret for the blue and white stripes at Rugby Park and is bedding in nicely according to various reports. This will be the most stringent test so far in the Billy Dodds era. Killie have wins over Ayr United, Queen of the South and Hamilton Accies under their belt whilst we have taken out Arbroath, Raith Rovers and Ayr United all by the same score of 1-0.
  17. Almost there with Ayr... It's Matchday 3 and Ayr United are the visitors to an almost back to normality Caledonian Stadium with up to 5,000 fans allowed entry to the ground. Where will we find all these extra fans? The game kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday with masks almost a thing of the past as covid restrictions ease somewhat. Hospitality suite is open for this one, time to put on a show. Inverness are one of three unbeaten sides in the Championship after opening wins over Arbroath and Raith Rovers. The point against Rovers was hard earned and deserved, but it took a wonderful strike from Roddy MacGregor to win the match. We sit third in the table behind promoted Partick Thistle and relegated Kilmarnock. Here's a quick guide on what the guidelines allow as the stadium opens out for the Ayr United game. Welcome back! Roddy's goal is well worth another look Ayr United come North on the back of a decent performance against Dundee United in the League Cup, taking the Tannadice side to extra time and penalties before losing the shoot-out 4-3. Their Championship form shows they have one point from their opening two fixtures. They opened up with a derby defeat to Killie and followed that up with a home draw against Arbroath, coming from two down to earn a point thanks to a strike by Tomi Adeloye and a late goal from Mark McKenzie. So some positives for David Hopkin to take from that despite only showing one point for their efforts to date. Ticket/Match Info ICTV streaming Official Preview Stat Attack Championship Table Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Partick Thistle 2 2 0 0 6 2 4 6 2. Kilmarnock 2 2 0 0 3 0 3 6 3. Inverness CT 2 2 0 0 2 0 2 6 4. Morton 2 1 1 0 3 2 1 4 5. Hamilton Academical 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1 6. Raith Rovers 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1 7. Arbroath 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1 8. Ayr United 2 0 1 1 2 4 -2 1 9. Dunfermline 2 0 1 1 2 5 -3 1 10. Queen of the South 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 0 First Competitive Meeting v Ayr Aug 28th, 1999 League (A) 0 - 1 Most Recent Competitive Meeting v Ayr Apr 30th, 2021 League (Championship) (H) 2 - 2 Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Ayr 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) Biggest Victories Apr 24th, 2010 League (A) 7 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Nov 28th, 2001 League Cup (Quarter Final) (A) 1 - 5 Highest Attendance Aug 15th, 2009 League (H) 3,297 Venue (Head to Head) Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 20 9 10 1 34 20 +14 Away 21 10 4 7 40 26 +14 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 41 19 14 8 74 46 +28 So, a decent record against Ayr United, just one home defeat in twenty games. Stewart Kean scored the only goal at the Caledonian Stadium to give Ayr United a 0 - 1 win. John Robertson made his home debut as Inverness manager and It was Dennis Wyness' 100th game in a row with Barry Robson making his 150th appearance. Some memorable games against Ayr, the 7 - 0 at Somerset Park a particular highlight as the promotion party got into full swing. Some team we had then though. Ahhh, nostalgia, it's not what it used to be. Other fixtures this weekend Raith Rovers V Dunfermline (Friday - abandoned lighting issues) Arbroath v Partick Thistle Hamilton v Kilmarnock Morton v Queen of the South Shane Sutherland is our first monthly winner of the PotY awards. He has put in some workmanlike performances and rounded off July with the vital opening goal of our League campaign against Arbroath. Not just any old goal, but a touch of class with a dinked finish from the edge of the box in an otherwise dour struggle. Manny Duku is second with Tom Walsh in third place. Latest Team News Inverness have had an extra week to shake off the niggles and Billy Mckay, Lewis Jamieson Sean Welsh and Aaron Doran will benefit from that. However, Wallace Duffy is still sidelined and Anthony McDonald will be a doubt. All of our graduates that signed on this season are out on loan, so that could leave us a little thin on the ground with little defensive cover. On the face of it, Ayr look to be weaker than they were last season. Out went the likes of Dario Zanatta, Luke McCowan, Sam Roscoe, Josh Todd and of course Tom Walsh who returned to Inverness. In comes Tomi Adeloye from Barnet and a raft of Morton players, no doubt connected to David Hopkin now being the Ayr manager. They have also acquired a couple of decent loans in defender John Maxwell from Rangers and forward Jonathon Afolabi from Celtic. They still look to be short of where they want to be but put up a determined performance against Dundee United in the League Cup, so write them off at your own peril. These guys are great. Have a listen to The Wyness Shuffle
  18. Almost there with Ayr... It's Matchday 3 and Ayr United are the visitors to an almost back to normality Caledonian Stadium with up to 5,000 fans allowed entry to the ground. Where will we find all these extra fans? The game kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday with masks almost a thing of the past as covid restrictions ease somewhat. Hospitality suite is open for this one, time to put on a show. Inverness are one of three unbeaten sides in the Championship after opening wins over Arbroath and Raith Rovers. The point against Rovers was hard earned and deserved, but it took a wonderful strike from Roddy MacGregor to win the match. We sit third in the table behind promoted Partick Thistle and relegated Kilmarnock. Here's a quick guide on what the guidelines allow as the stadium opens out for the Ayr United game. Welcome back! Roddy's goal is well worth another look Ayr United come North on the back of a decent performance against Dundee United in the League Cup, taking the Tannadice side to extra time and penalties before losing the shoot-out 4-3. Their Championship form shows they have one point from their opening two fixtures. They opened up with a derby defeat to Killie and followed that up with a home draw against Arbroath, coming from two down to earn a point thanks to a strike by Tomi Adeloye and a late goal from Mark McKenzie. So some positives for David Hopkin to take from that despite only showing one point for their efforts to date. Ticket/Match Info ICTV streaming Official Preview Stat Attack Championship Table Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Partick Thistle 2 2 0 0 6 2 4 6 2. Kilmarnock 2 2 0 0 3 0 3 6 3. Inverness CT 2 2 0 0 2 0 2 6 4. Morton 2 1 1 0 3 2 1 4 5. Hamilton Academical 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1 6. Raith Rovers 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1 7. Arbroath 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1 8. Ayr United 2 0 1 1 2 4 -2 1 9. Dunfermline 2 0 1 1 2 5 -3 1 10. Queen of the South 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 0 First Competitive Meeting v Ayr Aug 28th, 1999 League (A) 0 - 1 Most Recent Competitive Meeting v Ayr Apr 30th, 2021 League (Championship) (H) 2 - 2 Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Ayr 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) Biggest Victories Apr 24th, 2010 League (A) 7 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Nov 28th, 2001 League Cup (Quarter Final) (A) 1 - 5 Highest Attendance Aug 15th, 2009 League (H) 3,297 Venue (Head to Head) Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 20 9 10 1 34 20 +14 Away 21 10 4 7 40 26 +14 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 41 19 14 8 74 46 +28 So, a decent record against Ayr United, just one home defeat in twenty games. Stewart Kean scored the only goal at the Caledonian Stadium to give Ayr United a 0 - 1 win. John Robertson made his home debut as Inverness manager and It was Dennis Wyness' 100th game in a row with Barry Robson making his 150th appearance. Some memorable games against Ayr, the 7 - 0 at Somerset Park a particular highlight as the promotion party got into full swing. Some team we had then though. Ahhh, nostalgia, it's not what it used to be. Other fixtures this weekend Raith Rovers V Dunfermline (Friday - abandoned lighting issues) Arbroath v Partick Thistle Hamilton v Kilmarnock Morton v Queen of the South Shane Sutherland is our first monthly winner of the PotY awards. He has put in some workmanlike performances and rounded off July with the vital opening goal of our League campaign against Arbroath. Not just any old goal, but a touch of class with a dinked finish from the edge of the box in an otherwise dour struggle. Manny Duku is second with Tom Walsh in third place. Latest Team News Inverness have had an extra week to shake off the niggles and Billy Mckay, Lewis Jamieson Sean Welsh and Aaron Doran will benefit from that. However, Wallace Duffy is still sidelined and Anthony McDonald will be a doubt. All of our graduates that signed on this season are out on loan, so that could leave us a little thin on the ground with little defensive cover. On the face of it, Ayr look to be weaker than they were last season. Out went the likes of Dario Zanatta, Luke McCowan, Sam Roscoe, Josh Todd and of course Tom Walsh who returned to Inverness. In comes Tomi Adeloye from Barnet and a raft of Morton players, no doubt connected to David Hopkin now being the Ayr manager. They have also acquired a couple of decent loans in defender John Maxwell from Rangers and forward Jonathon Afolabi from Celtic. They still look to be short of where they want to be but put up a determined performance against Dundee United in the League Cup, so write them off at your own peril. These guys are great. Have a listen to The Wyness Shuffle View full article
  19. Walsh nicks it A slightly damp morning opening out into a muggy but calm afternoon in the Highlands made for near perfect conditions for this game. However, the football did not match the weather in a dour first half and it was goalless at the interval. Ayr rattled the top of the stand at the start of the second half as the game came to life. Tom Walsh looked to have opened the scoring when he bundled an inviting cross from Manny Duku behind the keeper after 54 minutes with Sean McGinty in close proximity trying to clear the ball. Joe Chalmers put a shot across the face of the Inverness goal that went narrowly wide. Walsh missed a glorious chance to double the lead moments later but pulled his shot across the face of the goal as well. Robbie Deas also missed an opportunity for a second goal, firing the ball over the bar from a great position inside the box. The game was more open but Inverness held on for their third 1-0 win of the season and top the league jointly with Killie. Chest a minute, it's definitely Tom's Goal! Inverness were one of three unbeaten sides in the Championship after opening wins over Arbroath and Raith Rovers. The point against Rovers was hard earned and deserved, but it took a wonderful strike from Roddy MacGregor to win the match. We sat third in the table behind promoted Partick Thistle and relegated Kilmarnock before this match with visitors Ayr United. Billy Dodds had few injury worries ahead of this match after last weekend off whilst Ayr were on League Cup duty against Dundee United. Ayr's last win at the Caledonian Stadium was in 2003 when Stewart Kean scored the only goal of the game. Roddy MacGregor kept his place after his stunning goal against Raith Rovers with Reece McAlear dropping to the bench alongside Sean Welsh, Billy Mckay and Aaron Doran. No sign of the injured Wallace Duffy or the recovering Anthony McDonald. Ayr came North with a somewhat depleted squad after routine covid testing unearthed some cases. Still some experience in their ranks though with Tomi Adeloye and Joe Chalmers starting and Michael Moffat on the bench. Roddy MacGregor was first to have a go in the third minute but his drive from the edge of the box was dragged just wide into the side netting. Manny Duku should have done better when he was set up as he burst into the box but he duffed his shot into the hands of a grateful keeper from fifteen yards. Shane Sutherland was the next sinner after a short corner, but the ball sat up as he tried to pick his spot and he lifted it high and wide from a good position. From another corner swung into the front post Robbie Deas went down low to head the ball but his connection was poor and the ball drifted wide of the mark. Ayr's first chance came from a defensive error that saw a shot off target from the right, but it lacked any power or direction. Tom Walsh saw a shot blocked by an elbow as the half time whistle approached but Kevin Clancy was not interested and the first period drew to a close with clear opportunities at a premium. Half Time 0-0 Ayr started the second half by rattling the facing on the top of the stand some 40 feet above the crossbar. Better would come ten minutes into the half. Shane Sutherland hooked a ball over his shoulder for Duku to stretch his legs down the left wing. He drilled the ball across goal where Sean McGinty tried to clear the ball from the fast approaching Tom Walsh. He only succeeded in knocking the ball off Walsh's chest and into the net. Joe Chalmers then missed Ayr's best opportunity, but as the angle narrowed, he placed his shot just wide of the far post. Walsh replicated this at the other end driving just wide from eighteen yards as Inverness searched for a cushion. Robbie Deas squandered the best chance of the game scooping the ball over the bar from six yards following a corner. Aaron Doran saw Ayr keeper Albinson fumble a drive from the edge of the box but he gathered at the second attempt as the game ran away from the Honest Men. Roddy MacGregor will be difficult to shift if he continues to show this form and Manny Duku worked hard for his team mates and it was his speed and ability that set up the goal. Poor first half all round but a much more entertaining second half made up for it with a goal to boot. Three wins on the trot, top of the table and a clash with table toppers Kilmarnock coming up next weekend. What's not to like! OFFICIAL MATCH REPORT Date: 21/08/2021 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2032 Referee: Kevin Clancy Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Devine, Broadfoot, Deas, Walsh (Doran 85), Allardice, MacGregor, Gardyne, Sutherland (Welsh 78), Duku (B Mckay 68) Subs (not used): C Mackay, Harper, McAlear, Jamieson Scorers: Walsh (54) Booked: Carson (70) Deas (73) Sent Off: none Ayr United: 0 Manager: David Hopkin Lineup: Albinson; Houston, McGinty, Murdoch (Salkeld 81), Muirhead, Chalmers (O'Connor 75), Hewit (Afolabi 65), Baird, McKenzie, Adeloye, Fjortoft Subs (not used): Mateusz Miller; Ecrepont, Michael Miller, Moffat Scorers: none Booked: Fjortoft (40), Muirhead (75) Sent Off: none a
  20. Better late than never... Here's an appetiser from our site owner Scotty: This article will be a first – in more ways than one. "It’s the first article I have written in quite a while and It’s the first time we will announce two years’ worth of Player of the Year winners in a single article, and as you read through it you will discover more firsts as we go along. First a word about our award history. We first dished this out – to Bobby Mann – in 2000/01 and it has consistently been one of only two external supporters’ awards recognized by the club since then, with the other being the Supporters Club PotY. It was also, until his tragic passing, included in Ian Broadfoot’s comprehensive and official club stats. We take great pride in that and continue to seek to ensure the voting process is handled with fairness and integrity. Without further ado, let’s get going and start talking numbers. Season 2019/2020: The season all started normally enough. COVID & Coronavirus were not yet in the vernacular, social distancing was drinking in a different pub than the opposition fans, and our idea of low crowds was reserved for a wet and windy Tuesday night in the league cup where figures dropped below 1000. The 2019/20 PotY calculation was ‘normal’ from the season start in July, right up to March and then of course with the season being cut short there were no awards for the final three months of the season... OK OK, enough from Scotty, once he starts he won't stop... Before we get too far into this season, we better tell you who has won the CTO Player of the Year trophy. With the previous couple of seasons being disrupted by covid 19, these results were put into cold storage and almost forgotten about. Step forward IBM and ictEWD. These guys have been working tirelessly in the background updating stats, adding current stats/results and new information to this site and keeping the voting polls going. Along with that Eric has produced a wonderful spreadsheet and Iain has collated all the votes over the last two seasons to come up with the Player of the Year for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. It doesn't make it any easier to sort out but the same player has won both titles despite missing a fair chunk of last season through injury, all this despite his hairband! He is our 20th and 21st winner and the first to win it twice. He is very deserving of this award and scored his first goal for the club last season in his 47th appearance, a beauty against Dunfermline after cutting in from the right wing and rifling the ball across the keeper. He won the supporters Player of the Year last season as well. He also picked up the Championship Player of the Month back in March and he has been playing an unfamiliar role at right back since coming back from injury. His hairband is the topic of much discussion. Signing on for another three seasons has ensured him of cult status at the Caledonian Stadium and we look forward to cheering him on for the foreseeable future. 2019-2020 was a close run affair with David Carson (225 votes) edging out another fans favourite Shaun Rooney (206) with Mr consistency Mark Ridgers in third place (196) Carson came from behind with a late run to pip Rooney and Ridgers by winning the polls for February and March. Ridgers had a busy winter topping the votes in November and December with Rooney the main man for some swashbuckling performances in August and January. The top three had pulled well clear of the rest of the field. Scotty clarifies the voting system thus... In the 9 months where there were awards, 3 players each got Player of the Month twice and three more got that accolade once. There were a total of 1842 votes cast over the course of the shortened season, which although down from previous years was still healthy given the circumstances. These were spread amongst a total of 23 players. Over the course of the season the player with the highest number of votes cast for them (regardless of the value of the votes 5/3/1) was David Carson with 225 votes. Second spot for 2019/2020 goes to Shaun Rooney with 206 votes with Mark Ridgers claiming third spot with 196 votes. 2020-2021 turned out to be another success story for David Carson despite missing the start of the season through injury. Such was his impact on return he collected the trophy for an unprecedented second season. It was even tighter in this shortened season with only three votes separating the top two. David Carson - 134 Scott Allardice - 131 Nikolay Todorov - 112 So, belated congratulations to David. Monthly winners starting in October Dan Mackay in April - No doubt for his stunning goal and performance in the Scottish Cup against Ross County. He has won a few accolades since signing for Inverness, but none so prestigious as the CTO Player of the Year. Above he can be seen in the supporters Player of the Year photo <pic from ICTFC> below he is brandishing the Scottish Championship Player of the Month for March. Here's David with the Championship Player of the Month in March 2021 Here's our Bio of your CTO PotY for the last two seasons: David Carson spent his early career with Ashington. In 2014, Carson signed for Blackburn Rovers but he returned to non-league, playing with South Shields, Whitby Town and Morpeth Town from whence he came to ICT from on a free transfer on 15 May 2019. His last season in Evo-Stik East League saw the 23-year-old named league player of the season, as well as making the league team of the year, as Morpeth Town secured a league and Cup double. When Carson signed for Scottish Championship side Inverness Caledonian Thistle, John Robertson tipped him for success. He had made 37 appearances for Inverness but he had yet to score although he likes a yellow card gaining 8 bookings prior the the 20/21 season. David missed the start of season 20/21 through injury. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1-0 win over Dunfermline in his 47th appearance following MotM performances in his previous three games at right back. David has extended his stay by adding three years to his contract announced on 15th April 2021 which keeps him at Inverness until end of season 2024 and was the supporters player of the year choice.
  21. MacGregor Stunner Inverness maintained their winning start to the league campaign, but it took a stunning half volley from substitute Roddy MacGregor to settle the points. It had been a relatively even game with the hosts having slightly the better of it throughout. Jamie MacDonald had pulled off three or four decent saves before Roddy struck from 25 yards, the ball flashing into the net past an outstretched keeper after some neat interplay outside the box involving Sutherland and Duku. Six points from two games, we could not have asked for a better start to the Championship. Sean Welsh was still missing as were Anthony McDonald and Wallace Duffy. Aaron Doran and Billy Mckay were on the bench alongside Roddy MacGregor with Manny Duku starting up front against his former employers. Lewis Vaughan missed out for Raith, but James Keatings would make the bench for Rovers on his first return to the Caledonian Stadium which was loosely populated with fans as covid restrictions begin to ease. The new and improved stream maybe taking it's toll on the attendance with Auldy Boy and Rossco on the commentary, replays and all! Big downpours ahead of kick-off ensured the pitch was well watered with steady rain being the order of the day as Inverness attacked the South Stand end in the first half. An even opening to the game saw both sides struggle to create any clear cut opportunities. Manny Duku looked most likely to unlock the visitors defence. Could have been a red card before the break for Mathews after Duku pounced on a lofted ball forward, as he broke clear he was upended and Mathews got away with just a yellow for his troubles. Duku missed out from a great ball into the front post from Walsh and later in the half he was unfortunate after Michael Gardyne fed him into the left side of the box only for Berra to make a great interception as he shot, the ball spinning behind for a fruitless corner. Meanwhile, Raith were reduced to shooting from distance although we almost let them in when Broadfoot misjudged the bounce on a through ball but we swept it away eventually. Just on the interval Tom Walsh was close to connecting with a dangerous ball into the box from Gardyne on the left side, but a goal kick was the result. No scoring at the break but Inverness always looked the more likely to get amongst the goals. Sutherland saw a shot gathered by MacDonald with ease, but he was more troubled when Duku got on the end of a ball into the box from Sutherland and shot on the turn, MacDonald saving well to his left. The keeper did well to deny the same player direct from a free kick as he covered his top corner well to prevent the opener. Substitute MacGregor did well down the left to set up Gardyne for a pot at goal but he skied it badly. Ridgers saved comfortably after Raith burst along the left byeline and minutes later he was also fortunate not to be sent packing for a similar offence, bringing down Ethon Varian as he started to break clear, similar to Duku in the first half. When Allardice broke forward from the halfway line, it looked hopeful. Sutherland gathered the ball and shipped it to Duku who laid it off for MacGregor to strike a peach from twenty-five yards on the half volley with a bit of side spin on it. What a hit, what a goal! Rovers still pushed for a breakthrough but never really looked like creating the opportunity they needed and Inverness saw out the game relatively comfortably. The managers speaking to BBC Sport Inverness head coach Billy Dodds: "It wasn't pretty. You knew the first goal was going to win it and it took a pretty spectacular one to do it from Roddy. He responded well to being left out." Raith Rovers manger John McGlynn: "We were well organised. We certainly didn't want to lose four goals like we did last week late on. It took a wonder strike for them to score. We are gutted." Inverness were best served by the hard working Manny Duku with Scott Allardice and Ryan McAlear bossing the midfield. Wee Roddy maybe doesn't score many, but when he does they are pretty special. Best for Rovers were all in defence with keeper Jamie MacDonald making three or for crucial saves and he was certainly the busier keeper. Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Partick Thistle 2 2 0 0 6 2 4 6 2. Kilmarnock 2 2 0 0 3 0 3 6 3. Inverness CT 2 2 0 0 2 0 2 6 4. Morton 2 1 1 0 3 2 1 4 5. Hamilton Academical 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1 6. Raith Rovers 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1 7. Arbroath 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1 8. Ayr United 2 0 1 1 2 4 -2 1 9. Dunfermline 2 0 1 1 2 5 -3 1 10. Queen of the South 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 0 Roddy on the half volley: Boom!!! Date: 07/08/2021 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1675 Referee: Alan Muir Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Devine, Broadfoot, Deas, Gardyne, Allardice, McAlear (MacGregor 63), Walsh (Doran 81), Sutherland, Duku (Hyde 88) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Harper, B Mckay, Jamieson, Scorers: MacGregor (80) Booked: Devine (28), Ridgers (78) Sent Off: none Raith Rovers: 0 Manager: John McGlynn Lineup: MacDonald; Benedictus, Berra, Lang, Tumilty, Connolly, Mathews, Tait (Riley-Snow 73), Dick, Zanatta (Keatings 85), Poplatnik (Varian 66) Subs (not used): Thomson; Arnott, Mckay, Fotheringham. Scorers: none Booked: Dick (24), Mathews (53) Sent Off: none a
  22. Matchday Two After an opening day win for the Caley Jags, we entertain Raith Rovers at the Caledonian Stadium with fans in attendance as covid restrictions begin to ease, 2000 allowed entry for this one with more to come on Monday. The game kicks-off at 3:00pm on Saturday as the joint holders of the Challenge Cup face off. Rovers began their title challenge with an incredible 4-4 draw against Hamilton Accies at the weekend with Inverness edging out Arbroath. SEASON TICKET HOLDERS STREAM ACCESS PPV ACCESS MATCHDAY INFO OFFICIAL PREVIEW With Kilmarnock beating Ayr United 2-0 on Sunday, they top the table after Matchday One. Partick were the other winners beating Queens 3-2. Morton drew with Dunfermline 2-2. Ayr United v Arbroath Dunfermline v Partick Thistle Hamilton Accies v Morton Inverness CT v Raith Rovers Queen o.t South v Kilmarnock Pars v Partick and Queens v Killie the pick of the games this weekend with Accies hosting Morton and Ayr hosting Arbroath. Stat Attack First Competitive Meeting v Raith Rovers Sep 25th, 1999 League (H) 0 - 2 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Mar 16th, 2021 League (Championship) (A) 1 - 0 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 3 - 3 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 4 - 3 (H) 4 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) Biggest Victories Jan 12th, 2002 League (H) 5 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Aug 26th, 2000 League (A) 1 - 4 Venue Head to Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 16 12 2 2 35 13 +22 Away 13 7 3 3 26 16 +10 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 29 19 5 5 61 29 +32 As the stats show, we have a great record against Raith Rovers both home and away. Only two defeats at home back in 1999 and 2000. Not surprising really when you consider the quality of the Raith team back then. Here's Iain Broadfoot's match report from 25th September 1999 Caley Thistle lost this game because of a dismal first half performance. They came out fighting in the second half and matched Raith well but produced no goals. Raith took the lead in the ninth minute after a Jay Stein corner from the right - Marvin Andrews rose above Mann to head downwards and into the net. In 24 minutes the second goal came courtesy of an error. Mann was too slow passing back to Fridge and Didier Agathe stepped in and he ran on and volleyed past Fridge from 20 yards. Caley Thistle hit on the occasional breakaway but to little effect. A disappointing afternoon for the home support despite a spirited fight back. Caley Thistle now slip to second bottom of Division 1. ICTFC: Les Fridge; Richard Hastings, Ross Tokely, Mark McCulloch, Bobby Mann, Charlie Christie, Mike Teasdale, Barry Wilson, Barry Robson, Paul Sheerin, Martin Bavidge Raith: Van DeCamp; McEwan, Ellis, Andrews, Browne, Black, Agathe, Tosh, Dargo, Burns, Stein We opened our League campaign with an untidy but welcome victory at Gayfield. Shane Sutherland sealed the points with a tidy finish after bursting forward to chip the keeper from the edge of the box, the one piece of class and composure in a game more suited to welfare football at the Bught park. Raith will be disappointed to only take one point from their opener after throwing away a four goal lead with only twenty-two minutes left. Vaughn (2), Zanatta and Connolly had put Rovers four up against relegated Accies, but they stunned the home support by equalising deep into time added on to snatch a point they really should not have had an earthly of getting. Dario Zanatta with the pick of the goals. Boom! John McGlynn summed it up nicely on BBC Sport: "I've spoken about the rollercoaster of ups and downs during a season - I didn't expect to go through all those emotions in one game. "We could have been even further ahead as we had two one-on-ones at 4-0 up. To lose four goals in 22 minutes is extremely disappointing. It's two points chucked away. There's disbelief over how easily we lost the goals." Latest Team News Sean Welsh missed the opener after picking up an injury in the League Cup group A match against Stirling Albion. David Carson and Billy Mckay returned to action last week and Anthony McDonald played a few minutes against Hearts but was an unused sub last weekend. Aaron Doran has missed the last couple of weeks. Manny Duku will hopefully want to show Rovers fans what they are missing. Here's the two Billy's John McGlynn has assembled a squad capable of challenging for the top spot again. James Keatings is now a Rover and if he stays fit will be an asset. With the likes of Chrisophe Berra, Dario Zanatta, Aidan Connelly and Liam Dick signing on, McGlynn reckons his squad is stronger this season. They also have some loan signings, notably forward Matej Poplatnik from Livingston.
  23. Seaside opener The season gets real on Saturday when the opening fixtures of the Championship kick-off with Inverness travelling to Arbroath to take on the 'Smokies' with fans from both sides being allowed entry, albeit on a restricted basis. The ball starts rolling at 15:00 as season 2021-2022 gets underway for the Caley Jags under the new leadership of Billy Dodds. Good to see the supporters bus getting an airing for this one after a year of inactivity. Supporters Bus Match Info Streaming from Arbroath TV Official Preview Our standard League Cup exit was confirmed before the Hearts game with Stirling Albion clinching second spot in the group. Good luck to them. We went through the motions against Hearts and but for a superb performance by Mark Ridgers we would have conceded a hatful of goals. It ended 1-0 to the hosts after substitute Jamie Walker rifled in a sharp finish to end our League Cup games. One or two positives from the game but the gulf in class was evident as the Jambos prepare for life in the Premiership; for us, another season in the Championship starts at Arbroath, a side we have found difficult to break down of late. Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Arbroath 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (H) 7 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 2 - 2 (A) Venue - Head to head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 19 15 2 2 53 17 +36 Away 17 8 3 6 25 22 +3 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 36 23 5 8 78 39 +39 First Competitive Meeting Aug 12th, 1994 League ((Div 3)) (H) 5 - 2 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Mar 27th, 2021 League (Championship) (H) 1 - 0 Things are looking up for Arbroath with news that over 800 season tickets have been sold. That's great news for the highest placed part time team in Scotland who have come up two tiers under the guidance of the wily olde Dick. Latest Team News Michael Gardyne is suspended for Inverness after his straight red at Tynecastle. Sean Welsh is still injured but it was good to see Anthony McDonald back on the park after recovering from his knee operation. David Carson has missed the last couple of games and Billy Mckay has not surfaced since we signed him from County. Let's hope we get these guys back on the park sooner rather than later. Dick Campbell has former Edinburgh City player Liam Henderson suspended for Arbroath, but captain Tam O'Brien is back after a foot injury saw him miss the last few games. One miss for them this term will be striker Jack Hamilton who has returned to Livingston. Ex Dundee player Nick Low will be an asset at Gayfield this season. Bin man Linn will always be a threat to a static defence. Billy Dodds talking after the defeat to Hearts And here's the Billy and Danny show ahead of the visit to Gayfield This post has been promoted to an article
  24. It's a cinch After a goalless first half Shane Sutherland broke through the middle to drink the ball neatly over Gaston for the opening goal with just over twenty minutes left. A late rally from the hosts should have drawn them level but Inverness hung on grimly to take all three points. In the opening forty-five, Sutherland had an effort cleared off the line and Nouble proved to be an awkward customer as he bulldozed his way around the park spurning the Lichties best chance of the first half. It was a welcome three points but a difficult watch throughout. Billy Mckay and Anthony McDdonald were both on the bench for the opening fixture. David Carson was fit enough to start but Sean Welsh missed out through injury. Bright sunshine and football fans welcomed the teams onto the park for the opening fixture of the cinch championship. Inverness started on the front foot with Tom Walsh prominent down the left flank and Manny Duku a willing chaser. Despite Walsh seeing plenty of the ball, most of his efforts to cut inside and cross the ball ended on the head or feet of an Arbroath defender. The closest call in the opening exchanges came at the other end when the bustling Joel Nouble broke forward on the inside right channel but dragged his effort just wide across the keeper. At the other end Allardice arrived on the edge of the box just in time to meet a lay off between Walsh and Duku but he lashed his shot just over the bar. Minutes later Duku did well to find Sutherland in the box but his shot was blocked inside the six-yard box en route to the net. That would be the best opportunity for either side in a tousy first half. Half Time: 0-0 The second period saw Nicky Low fire a yard wide from a free kick and a super headed 'goal' from Duku was adjudged offside as both teams looked for the opener. Ridgers saved well after McKenna headed goalwards as Arbroath began to open out. However the deadlock was broken when Shane Sutherland pounced on an error on the halfway line as Donnelly intercepted a Duku lay-off and tried to head the ball back to safety. Sutherland anticipated brilliantly, and as he raced forward he dinked the ball over the keeper from 19 yards to put the visitors ahead. A classy finish out of context with the rest of the game. That goal seemed to agitate Arbroath and they started to put the visitors on the back foot thereafter. For all their possession, they were unable to create many clear cut opportunities although the visitors back line led a charmed life at times. Devine and Broadfoot were able to mop up most attacks as Arbroath looked to feed the mountainous Nouble to no avail. By the ninetieth minute they seemed to have blown over and we saw out the four minutes of injury time with Arbroath eventually resigning themselves to defeat. Best for Inverness in a difficult watch were mostly in midfield where Allardice and McAlear shone through the dross with Sutherland applying that classy finish to raise the profile of a somewhat tedious game. Good to see Billy Mckay getting a few minutes on the park. Oh, and the referee; He's the real deal. Date: 31/07/2021 Venue: Gayfield Park, Arbroath Attendance: 1008 Referee: David Dickinson Arbroath: 0 Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Gaston; Stewart (Swankie 83), Little, O'Brien, Colin Hamilton, Linn (Hilson 62), Low, McKenna, Clark (Craven 78), Donnelly, Nouble Subs (not used): Antell; Chris Hamilton, Paterson Scorers: none Booked: Hamilton (33), Swankie (94) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Devine, Broadfoot, Deas, Walsh (Harper 74), MacGregor (Mckay 79), Allardice, McAlear, Sutherland, Duku (Hyde 90) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Duffy, Jamieson, McDonald, Scorers: Sutherland (66) Booked: Broadfoot (52), Mckay (81) Sent Off: none a
  25. Seaside opener The season gets real on Saturday when the opening fixtures of the Championship kick-off with Inverness travelling to Arbroath to take on the 'Smokies' with fans from both sides being allowed entry, albeit on a restricted basis. The ball starts rolling at 15:00 as season 2021-2022 gets underway for the Caley Jags under the new leadership of Billy Dodds. Good to see the supporters bus getting an airing for this one after a year of inactivity. Supporters Bus Match Info Streaming from Arbroath TV Official Preview Our standard League Cup exit was confirmed before the Hearts game with Stirling Albion clinching second spot in the group. Good luck to them. We went through the motions against Hearts and but for a superb performance by Mark Ridgers we would have conceded a hatful of goals. It ended 1-0 to the hosts after substitute Jamie Walker rifled in a sharp finish to end our League Cup games. One or two positives from the game but the gulf in class was evident as the Jambos prepare for life in the Premiership; for us, another season in the Championship starts at Arbroath, a side we have found difficult to break down of late. Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Arbroath 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (H) 7 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 2 - 2 (A) Venue - Head to head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 19 15 2 2 53 17 +36 Away 17 8 3 6 25 22 +3 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 36 23 5 8 78 39 +39 First Competitive Meeting Aug 12th, 1994 League ((Div 3)) (H) 5 - 2 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Mar 27th, 2021 League (Championship) (H) 1 - 0 Things are looking up for Arbroath with news that over 800 season tickets have been sold. That's great news for the highest placed part time team in Scotland who have come up two tiers under the guidance of the wily olde Dick. Latest Team News Michael Gardyne is suspended for Inverness after his straight red at Tynecastle. Sean Welsh is still injured but it was good to see Anthony McDonald back on the park after recovering from his knee operation. David Carson has missed the last couple of games and Billy Mckay has not surfaced since we signed him from County. Let's hope we get these guys back on the park sooner rather than later. Dick Campbell has former Edinburgh City player Liam Henderson suspended for Arbroath, but captain Tam O'Brien is back after a foot injury saw him miss the last few games. One miss for them this term will be striker Jack Hamilton who has returned to Livingston. Ex Dundee player Nick Low will be an asset at Gayfield this season. Bin man Linn will always be a threat to a static defence. Billy Dodds talking after the defeat to Hearts And here's the Billy and Danny show ahead of the visit to Gayfield
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