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Four in a row Two of the Championship form teams clashed at the Caledonian Stadium with both clubs on good runs, Arbroath unbeaten in seven games and Inverness just the one defeat over the last seven. Both clubs needing the win for different reasons, and both clubs capable of taking the points. After a dismal first half goals from Nathan Shaw and a Scott Allardice penalty settled the points in our favour. The downside was a red card for Jay Henderson A beautiful afternoon gave way to an overcast but calm evening ahead of kick-off. One minute into the game and keeper Derek Gaston was called into action to punch away a shot and Sean Welsh shot wide from a free kick just after as the Caley Jags showed their intent in the opening minutes. Lewis Banks brought Mark Ridgers into the game as he saved his low angled shot after seven minutes. João Baldé had an effort saved by Ridgers midway through the half then picked up a booking minutes later. There was a distinct lack of goalmouth action in the first quarter of the game. Strange given what's at stake for both clubs. Just on the interval Tam O'Brien headed wide from a corner and that brought a poor first half to an end. HALF TIME 0-0 Ten minutes after the break they did it again. Nathan Shaw scored after the Caley Jags broke forward from their own box. Three or four passes later and the final ball through from Jay Henderson saw Shaw scoring at the near post to give the hosts the advantage, his eighth of the season. Billy Mckay headed a Shaw cross over on the hour. Sean Welsh fired one over the bar from twenty-five yards and in the 77th minute Henderson won a spot kick after being brought down in the box. Scott Allardice crashed home from twelve yards to double our advantage. Henderson's joy was short-lived as he was sent off for a clumsy challenge on McKenna a couple of minutes later. Ridgers saved from Bobby Linn but Arbroath were unable to penetrate the home defence and it ended 2-0 to the Caley Jags. FULL TIME 2-0 The win puts Inverness within two points of fourth place Ayr United. A rubbish first half followed by a two goal second half to take the points. That will do at this stage of the season, grinding out results for another four games... Cove up next on Saturday, bring it on Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Updated table after tonight's results 1. Dundee 32 16 9 7 57 33 57 2. Queens Park 32 16 6 10 58 45 54 3. Partick Thistle 32 15 6 11 58 40 51 4. Ayr United 32 14 8 10 57 41 50 5. Inverness CT 32 13 9 10 46 42 48 6. Morton 32 12 11 9 45 38 47 7. Raith Rovers 32 11 8 13 43 44 41 8. Arbroath 32 6 14 12 28 43 32 9. Hamilton Ac. 32 7 8 17 28 58 29 10. Cove Rangers 32 6 9 17 35 71 27 Other games tonight Dundee 3-1 Rovers Morton 2-0 Accies Inverness CT 2-0 Arbroath FC Date: 11/04/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2038 Referee: Gavin Duncan Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Deas, Delaney, Harper, Henderson, Welsh, Allardice, Shaw (Boyd 82), Samuels (D Mackay 74), B Mckay (Woods 66) Subs (not used): C Mackay; L Nicolson, Devine, Hyde, Doran Scorers: Shaw (53), Allardice (78 pen) Booked: Shaw (32) Sent Off: Henderson (79) Arbroath : 0 Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Gaston; Banks, Little, O'Brien, Hetherington, Baldé (Tait 45), Gold (Olusanya 65), Stewart (Linn 65), McKenna, Dow (El-Mhanni 65), Hilson (Komolafe 82) Subs (not used): Gill; Jacobs, Allan, Adarkwa Scorers: none Booked: Baldé (21) Sent Off: none a

  Five to go   Down to the last five league games starting with the visit of Arbroath on Tuesday night for a 7:45pm kick-off. That's two of the current form teams clashing, somethings going to give. After successive victories over Partick, Morton and Raith Rovers, we have brought our own fate back into our own hands with a late run. It's still a big ask, but win our remaining games and we will be in the play-offs. Who saw that coming a month ago? Mind you, we still have to play Hamilton, and that gives me the fear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info Scottish Cup Tickets AGM 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 23 16 4 3 57 19 +38 Away 22 10 6 6 30 23 +7 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 45 26 10 9 87 42 +45 We hold the overall advantage over the Smokies but four of the last five games ended all square after ninety minutes. They are now fighting to avoid relegation and will be a tough nut to crack as Dundee found out at the weekend in a scoreless draw at Gayfield. We surprised our own fans with a 4-1 win out of the blue at Arbroath in January. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath 4 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 3 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) From CTO 4 - 1 win January 2023: Smokies Smoked: Both clubs had big wins in the first games of 2023 and it was Inverness that continued in style with a 4-1 win at Gayfield. Billy Mckay, who scored a hat-trick last week, opened the scoring at the back post in the ninth minute but Ben El-Mhanni levelled fifteen minutes later when he slotted into the bottom corner. Jay Henderson put us ahead just before the break as he lifted a shot high into the net from inside the box. Twenty minutes into the second half Dan Mackay shot into the bottom corner to double our advantage. Substitute Lewis Nicolson concluded the scoring in the 86th minute with a header from sub Steven Boyd's cross. Great win on the road for the Caley Jags that moves us into sixth place in the table, eleven points behind table toppers Queens Park. Great start to 2023 for the Caley Jags with two big wins on the bounce. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Three fixtures on Tuesday night 1. Dundee 31 15 9 7 54 32 54 2. Queens Park 32 16 6 10 58 45 54 3. Partick Thistle 32 15 6 11 58 40 51 4. Ayr United 32 14 8 10 57 41 50 5. Inverness CT 31 12 9 10 44 42 45 6. Morton 31 11 11 9 43 38 44 7. Raith Rovers 31 11 8 12 42 41 41 8. Arbroath 31 6 14 11 28 41 32 9. Hamilton Ac. 31 7 8 16 28 56 29 10. Cove Rangers 32 6 9 17 35 71 27 Tuesday 11th April Dundee v Rovers  Inverness CT v Arbroath FC Morton v Accies Last Time Out We won our third game on the bounce with a comfortable 2-0 win over Raith Rovers. Jay Henderson played after being injured at Cappielow the previous week and opened the scoring before Nathan Shaw crashed in a second ten minutes later. With Raith Rovers looking like their season was already over, the Caley Jags did just enough without over exerting themselves and keeping themselves fresh for the coming busy April schedule culminating in the Scottish Cup tie against Falkirk at Hampden on the 29th. W L W W W  Arbroath, unbeaten in their last seven league games, have eased themselves clear of Hamilton and Cove at the bottom of the table after two wins and a draw in the last three. However, it's still tight at the bottom and they will be in no mood to gift three points to us. A win over Queens Park  was followed by another over Ayr United before the goalless draw against Dundee on Saturday. D D W W D  Latest Team News Billy Dodds has no apparent fresh injuries after the weekend and Jay Henderson played and scored which was a bonus. Danny Devine stayed on the bench which will benefit him in the coming weeks. No sign of Roddy MacGregor, Max Ram, Wallace Duffy or the two season long crocks in Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh. There's little time to rest players with this month's heavy schedule so don't look for too many changes.   Arbroath Starting XI v Dundee: Gaston; Banks, Little, O'Brien, Hetherington, Baldé, Gold, Stewart, McKenna, Dow, Hilson Arbroath assistant manager Ian Campbell said on BBC Sport: "I think everyone saw an Arbroath team really fighting for each other, well organised and professional. "The plaudits come to Arbroath today, we were tremendous. I'm so happy we done today what we've been doing since Christmas, we went about our business exceptionally (against Dundee)  

Up to 5th Jay Henderson was deemed fit enough to start but Danny Devine only made the bench. Wallace Duffy and Roddy MacGregor missed out again. That made it the same starting XI that won at Cappielow. Raith had a sparse bench with only three outfield players, but their starting XI still carried plenty of threats, making four changes from the side that lost to Hamilton in midweek. With Partick thrashing Queens Park last night this was a must win for both sides. In the end it was first half goals from Henderson and Shaw that gave Inverness all three points. The ball was in the net early doors but Aaron Doran was flagged offside. First real action saw Aidan Connolly shoot from distance with Mark Ridgers making the save. The hosts went ahead after twelve minutes when Cammy Harper fed Jay Henderson in on the right and he buried his shot from fifteen yards across MacDonald. With twenty minutes gone Nathan Shaw scored a peach into the top corner to double our advantage after persistent work by Billy Mckay. Great left footed strike by Shaw. McBride and Lewis Vaughan had efforts that missed the target as Rovers looked to get back into the game and five minutes before the break Aaron Doran shot from inside the box but MacDonald saved low to his right. HALF TIME 2-0 Chances were at a premium in the second half and Billy Mckay shot over before being substituted for Austin Samuels with twenty minutes left. Mark Ridgers saved well from Vaughan. Inverness did what they had to do to see out the game and a series of substitutions littered the closing stages as Inverness kept a lacklustre Raith Rovers at bay. A lack of bookings maybe gave the game away that they have already downed tools. They now look destined for another season in the Championship while we hang on in the belief that we can still make the play-offs. FULL TIME 2-0 We did enough to justify the three points without over exerting ourselves. Good contributions from Carson, Ridgers, Henderson and Shaw who scored a belter. We are still getting the results required and are still hanging on by a thread to our promotion hopes, albeit a long shot. Rovers wait for a win enters a 24th season. The goals>>> Date: 08/04/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2198 Referee: Craig Napier Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Deas, Delaney, Harper, Henderson (Boyd 77), Welsh, Allardice, Shaw (Hyde 82), Doran (Woods 77), B Mckay (Samuels 69) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Devine, Nicolson, D Mackay Scorers: Henderson (12), Shaw (21) Booked: none Sent Off: none Raith Rovers: 0 Manager: Ian Murray Lineup: MacDonald; Millen (Young 52), Brown, Nolan, Ngwenya, Connolly, Easton (Ross 81), Stanton, McBride, Vaughan, Akio (Goncalves 81) Subs (not used): Thomson; Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none a

  A must win game   Raith Rovers head North this Saturday for a 3:00pm kick-off at the Caledonian Stadium looking for their first win over the Caley Jags since October 28th, 2000. Yes, it really is that long since they beat us over ninety minutes. Once upon a time, Raith were one of the benchmarks for a rising Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Since we started beating them there has been no going back. However, there are no easy points at this stage of the season and this amazing run will come to an end one year, Let's hope it's not this Saturday. If this is not seen as a must win game, then it's certainly in the category of must not lose, and that applies to both teams. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info AGM Hampden Calling ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 20 13 5 2 38 15 +23 Away 17 9 5 3 34 21 +13 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 37 22 10 5 72 36 +36 It's unbelievable to think that Raith's last win over Inverness over 90 minutes was almost 22 years ago. Mind you, Raith had a pretty handy team back then and they had won four of the previous five encounters since we met them in the big boys leagues, with the other one drawn. Since then, we have literally swamped Rovers with 22 wins, 10 draws and zero defeats. Getting back up to date over the last ten, it's 4 wins, 6 draws and zero defeats. Starting to level out a bit, but still no wins for Raith. Here's who played for them last time they won: Peter Hetherston was player manager back then. Van de Kamp; McCulloch, Dennis, Hamilton, Browne, Black, Hetherston, Ellis, Mballa, Clark, Stein Last 10 Competitive Meetings 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) Last Raith win: Oct 28th 2001 - 1 - 2. Injury-hit Caley Thistle lost this game because of a poor first half display. Despite this they nearly took the lead in 13 minutes when a David Bagan shot was blocked by Greig McCulloch and spun over the bar. Raith scored first in 16 minutes when Jim Calder failed to hold a Shaun Dennis cross and Jay Stein hit home the loose ball from six yards. In 21 minutes a poor headed clearance by Stuart McCaffrey was picked up by Andrew Clark and he set up Ivan Mballa and the Frenchman slammed the ball into the net from 12 yards. ICT had a penalty claim turned down in 38 minutes when Charlie Christie was brought down by Paul Browne. After the break the home side improved but Guido Van de Kamp denied them on several occasions. Paul Sheerin pulled one back in 79 minutes when he netted from close range after a good cut back by Roy McBain. Four minutes later Sheerin watched in frustration as Van de Kamp saved his low shot. As time ran out he came close twice more but Raith held on to win. Report by Ian Broadfoot Last Time Out Inverness pulled off a good win at Cappielow last weekend beating Morton 2-1 with super strikes from Scott Allardice and a late one from David Carson, only his second goal for the club. Pretty much a replica of his other goal against Dunfermline Athletic. Another few replicas would not go amiss.    Raith Rovers failed to capitalise on their game in hand by going down at home to Hamilton Accies by 2-1 on Tuesday night. That result keeps them one point behind Inverness in the race to get into the play-offs. Time Accies did us a favour instead of beating us all the time! Encounters this season have been tight affairs. A Scott Allardice penalty and a late Billy Mckay strike were the difference between the sides at Kirkaldy back in September. There followed two draws since then home and away. The 1 - 1 draw at Inverness saw a tremendous header from Robbie Deas cancel out a Sam Stanton strike. That was the game where Deas broke his leg late in the game. Remarkable that he has made such progress since then.  2 - 2 in the last one at Stark's Park with Billy Mckay once again saving the day with another late goal to frustrate Rovers once more. Rovers had led twice through Lewis Vaughan and Aidan Connolly but Jay Henderson then Mckay squared matters. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table ahead of Partick v Queens Park tonight at 7:45 BBC Scotland TV 1. Queens Park 31 16 6 9 58 41 54 2. Dundee 30 15 8 7 54 32 53 3. Ayr United 31 14 7 10 56 40 49 4. Partick Thistle 31 14 6 11 54 40 48 5. Morton 30 11 10 9 42 37 43 6. Inverness CT 30 11 9 10 42 42 42 7. Raith Rovers 30 11 8 11 42 39 41 8. Arbroath 30 6 13 11 28 41 31 9. Hamilton Ac. 30 7 7 16 27 55 28 10. Cove Rangers 31 6 8 17 34 70 26 Friday 7th April Partick Thistle v Queen's Park Saturday 8th April Arbroath v Dundee Ayr Utd v Morton Accies v Cove  Inverness CT v Raith Rovers Latest Team News Danny Devine, Wallace Duffy and Roddy MacGregor all missed out at Cappielow last week leaving us with a sparse bench. Jay Henderson came off injured after ten minutes but will be assessed closer to kick-off to see if he is fit enough. Here's Dodds to spill the beans...   Raith Rovers top scorer is Aidan Connolly with twelve goals followed by Dylan Easton seven goals and Lewis Vaughan with five. Connolly is the big danger here, not just his goals but he is also credited with seven assists, much greater than any of his team mates.          

Vital three points at Morton Danny Devine was missing again along with Roddy MacGregor and Walllace Duffy for this vital clash at Cappielow which could define our season. That left us with a sparse bench. For Morton, Brian Schwake was given the gloves despite his blunder against Arbroath and condemnation from his gaffer. George Oakley started up front against his old club. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It goes from bad to worse. Ten minutes gone and our most productive player recently Jay Henderson limped off with an ankle injury to be replaced by Austin Samuels. George Oakley and Nathan Shaw exchanged efforts once the game resumed and Mark Ridgers did well to parry a shot from Calum Waters as the hosts looked to take charge of proceedings. Cammy Harper had a pop from a tight angle saved and Robbie Muirhead brought Ridgers into action again as he saved low down. Sean Welsh was sending probing balls into the box almost picking out Aaron Doran and then providing an opportunity for Robbie Deas which the keeper held onto. Best chance of the first half fell to Ali Crawford who failed to convert when it looked easier to score. HALF TIME 0-0 Welsh shot over after the restart, however, in the fifty-fourth minute Scott Allardice opened the scoring with a tremendous half-volley, drilling a precision shot low into the bottom corner from outside the box. Aaron Doran appeared to be fouled in the box by Schwake two minutes later, but nothing given by David Dickenson. He's not the real deal methinks. Harper then saw Schwake save his free kick from distance before Oakley's effort was matched by Ridgers at the other end. Ridgers was involved minutes later again, but this time it was giving away a disputed penalty after bringing down Muirhead. Grant Gillespie scored from the spot to level the game with over twenty minutes remaining. Robbie Muirhead shot over as Morton tried to get their noses in front. He had a shot blocked by Zak Delaney after this and with five minutes left he hit the bar with a long range free kick from around 38 yards. Some strike and a let off for the Caley Jags. After that break, David Carson popped up with the winner in the 88th minute to take a valuable three points North. Nathan Shaw did well to win the ball in his own half before sending a long diagonal ball forward that was helped onto Carson by Boyd for the wee man to finish well from inside the box after a great run forward. That win moves us to within a point of fifth placed Morton. FULL TIME 1-2 Top performers were Allardice, Deas, Shaw and Carson with everyone giving their all for the cause. Bit of a cufuffle off the pitch with cards being shown to management teams for some verbal spats. All in, a good day for the Caley Jags Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table after todays games 1. Queens Park 31 16 6 9 58 41 54 2. Dundee 30 15 8 7 54 32 53 3. Ayr United 31 14 7 10 56 40 49 4. Partick Thistle 31 14 6 11 54 40 48 5. Morton 30 11 10 9 42 37 43 6. Inverness CT 30 11 9 10 42 42 42 7. Raith Rovers 29 11 8 10 41 37 41 8. Arbroath 30 6 13 11 28 41 31 9. Cove Rangers 31 6 8 17 34 70 26 10. Hamilton Ac. 29 6 7 16 25 54 25 Date: 01/04/2023 Venue: Cappielow Park Attendance: 1958 Referee: David Dickinson Morton: 1 Manager: Dougie Imrie Lineup: Schwake; O'Connor, Baird, Gillespie (McGrattan 77), Waters, Blues (Miller 45), Grimshaw, R Crawford, Muirhead, Oakley, A Crawford (Quitongo 58) Subs (not used): Green; Pignatiello, Roy, Ambrose, Garrity, King Scorers: Gillespie (69 pen) Booked: Gillespie (52), O'Connor (63), R Crawford (72) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Deas, Delaney, Harper, Henderson (Samuels 11), Welsh, Allardice, Doran (Boyd 74), Shaw, B Mckay (D Mackay 77) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Wood Scorers: Allardice (54), Carson (88) Booked: Carson (76), D Mackay (79), Samuels (90) Sent Off: none a

  The Quest for Points Goes On   With only seven games left to salvage something from an error strewn season, we go searching for that elusive three points from Morton, something we have yet to achieve this season. Two wins and a draw so far against Dougie Imrie's team. The 4-0 loss at Cappielow at the end of October prompted the start of 'Ridgersgate'. How ridiculous does that look now given Mark's stunning performance last Friday in the ten man win over Partick Thistle. Not one of Billy Dodds' better decisions made in the heat of battle as Morton cuffed us and resigned Mark to the naughty step at half time and over the next seven games until Partick put five past Cammy on Xmas Eve. That period saw us win two points from a possible fifteen. It's just as well they don't do that to managers as Doddsy would have been sitting in the stand for months. However, all has hopefully been forgiven and Mark produced the performance of the season on telly to remove any lingering doubts about his ability.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info Semi-Final Tickets On Sale Now ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Morton Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 21 12 5 4 48 20 +28 Away 18 10 3 5 35 23 +12 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 39 22 8 9 83 43 +40 Overall we hold a massive advantage home and away over Morton, but recent games show that the trend is changing as we only have one win in the last five encounters. It took a late strike from Ethan Cairns to salvage a point last time in a 2 - 2 at the Caledonian Stadium. Calvin Miller had put Morton ahead early in the first half before Billy Mckay levelled around the hour. Robbie Muirhead looked to have given Morton all three points ten minutes before the end before substitute Cairns scored his first goal for the Caley Jags to share the spoils. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Morton 2 - 2 (H) 0 - 4 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 6 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A)   Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Arbroath v Ayr United Friday Night 1. Queens Park 30 16 6 8 58 39 54 2. Dundee 29 14 8 7 47 32 50 3. Ayr United 30 14 7 9 56 38 49 4. Partick Thistle 30 13 6 11 49 40 45 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Inverness CT 29 10 9 10 40 41 39 7. Raith Rovers 28 10 8 10 39 37 38 8. Arbroath 29 5 13 11 26 41 28 9. Cove Rangers 30 6 8 16 34 65 26 10. Hamilton Ac. 28 6 7 15 25 47 25 FRIDAY 31ST MARCH 7:45 Arbroath v Ayr United SATURDAY 1ST APRIL 3:00 Cove Rangers v Partick Thistle Dundee v Accies       Morton v Inverness  Raith Rovers v Queen's Park Last Time Out A rousing backs to the wall performance from the Caley Jags earned a 1-0 win over Partick Thistle. After Jay Henderson nicked the ball off of a Partick player, he danced down the wing before delivering a terrific pin point ball into the box for Nathan Shaw to slide in and convert. Sean Welsh was wrongly sent off with forty minutes remaining and Partick besieged the Inverness penalty box. However, Mark Ridgers was in tremendous form to deny the eager Partick attack time after time and 1-0 it was for the hosts. Ridgers had pulled off a worldy save in the first half to deny a stunned Brian Graham and was unbeatable on the day. That ensured Inverness' last five results look like this L D W L W    Morton dropped points at Gayfield after George Oakley scored his sixth goal in eight games for the Cappielow side. However keeper Brian Schwake blundered to allow Sean Ardakwa to tap in. That fumble was not lost on Morton manager Dougie Imrie who told BBC Sport: "I think for large parts of that game we were by far the better team. I'm lost for words. I thought my players were superb to a man. The amount of chances we created - I don't know how we didn't win that. "He's [Schwake] a young goalkeeper in the game trying to make a name for himself. He has to be switched on and his concentration levels have to be high. That's not the first time this season he's cost us points."  (Naughty step for you m'lad) Morton Last Five W D L D D  This season Morton hold the Indian Sign over us. A 0 - 1 at the Caledonian Stadium followed by the 0 - 4 game at Cappielow before the 2 - 2 draw back in Inverness at the beginning of February. Time to sort it out guys. Latest Team News Just when we thought things were getting better we lost Danny Devine to injury in the warm up last Friday. The previous game Roddy MacGregor was injured in his second appearance since returning from months out. Potentially, Sean Welsh could also have missed out but we appealed that, and given the secret society within the refereeing circles then I wasn't holding my breath. However, miracles do happen, the spell has been broken and he is now free to play at Morton. Unless of course he is injured. Zak Delaney filled in for Devine last week and did well after an early booking. We also found out that Ben Woods is a real thing after he came on as a substitute in the second half. Thankfully Robbie Deas has not shown any adverse reaction on his return to action and likewise Scott Allardice.  So, it sounds like MacGregor and Ram plus the long term Walsh and Sutherland will be unavailable. Danny Devine? Your guess is as good as mine. Morton starting XI v Arbroath: Judging by wee Dougies reaction to the Gayfield fumble then Schwake could be on the naughty step for Morton. Jai Quitongo has been out recently but could be near to a return to the squad. 1Schwake   23Grimshaw 5Baird 4O'Connor 6Waters   14Crawford 8Blues   9Muirhead 30Crawford 21Gillespie   22Oakley George Oakley seems to have had a new lease of life since joining Morton. I wonder what, or who was holding him back at Inverness? Six goals in eight games since leaving Inverness. Hmmnnn? On a sad note, Ian Manning the former club physio has passed away. RIP Ian. Condolences to family and friends.    

Backs to the wall win for ten man Caley Jags Lewis Hyde was a late replacement for Inverness with Danny Devine pulling up in the warm up which prompted a reshuffle of the pack with Delaney covering for Devine and Harper dropping back into defence with Hyde going into midfield. Roddy MacGregor and Wallace Duffy missed out for Inverness but Sean Welsh returned to the midfield. Attacking options of Dan Mackay, Aaron Doran and Austin Samuels were on the bench for the Caley Jags. Partick Thistle had sent a strong squad North with the dangerous Scott Tiffoney and Brian Graham the big threats up front. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a flat calm afternoon, the heavens opened an hour before kick-off and patches of surface water greeted the teams as they took to the field under the floodlights. Inverness got the game underway and the first real action came when a long ball forward from Nathan Shaw after six minutes saw Billy Mckay control then offload a shot from the edge of the box which keeper David Mitchell beat away from goal. Good effort, good save. Mckay looked dangerous on a few early occasions and his persistence up front won him a corner after twelve minutes. From the corner the ball fell to Robbie Deas but his volley was gathered under the bar by Mitchell. Mark Ridgers produced a superb save to deny Brian Graham as Partick cut us open through the middle. The big striker was favourite to score as he opened up his body but Ridgers dived full length to his left to get his fingertips to the netbound ball and tip it round the post. Sensational save! There followed a midfield battle until three minutes before the interval when Ridgers blocked a near post effort from Scott Tiffoney and then David Carson made a crucial clearance moments later. Here's the reason it was goalless at the interval>>>> HALF TIME 0-0 No changes at the break with Inverness now playing towards the North Stand. In the fiftieth minute Inverness broke down some Partick possession in midfield. Jay Henderson skipped forward and his low cross into the box was converted by Nathan Shaw sliding in ahead of the defender. Either way it was 1-0 to the hosts. Mckay combined with Welsh in the box but he never connected properly with the ball and Mitchell's save was made easier. Moments later Welsh was sensationally sent off as Tiffoney took off down the left and Welsh tripped him late. Grant Irvine saw it as a red and Welsh was off. Ridgers saved a ten yard scuffed shot from Graham on the line as Partick went for broke against the ten men. Could be a long night now for the fans and the defence with over half an hour to go. Partick were piling the pressure on the hosts and Ridgers denied a Graham shot at the expense of a corner with fifteen minutes remaining. Despite Partick pressing hard, the Inverness defence held out for the three points, putting bodies on the line when it mattered and MotM Mark Ridgers kept his sheets clean. FULL TIME 1-0 Mark Ridgers was MotM with a confident display including one absolutely superb save from Brian Graham in the first half, and when the backs were against the wall he commanded his area taking the pressure off his overworked defenders. Welsh red card looked to be harsh, not heard the last of that yet. Tremendous workrate by everyone who blocked Partick time after time in a desperate second half. Get in Nathan Shaw>>> Match Reaction Inverness manager Billy Dodds tells BBC Scotland: "We knew we had to win tonight or the playoff dreams were probably over. "We say the word proud a lot in the dressing rooms but I am tonight as we had to win it the hard way. "We started well, then they took control as we just started launching it straight away, I'd have liked us to pass it a bit more. "We had to hang on. "I don't have to [see the red card challenge again], it’s cynical, it’s a trip. "I want to move on from it as we’ve had a lot of hard luck, and I know everyone had but we probably have more than most, and I'd rather move on as if I say something I'll get into trouble. "We’ll be appealing it." Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Updated table after tonight's games 1. Queens Park 30 16 6 8 58 39 54 2. Dundee 29 14 8 7 47 32 50 3. Ayr United 30 14 7 9 56 38 49 4. Partick Thistle 30 13 6 11 49 40 45 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Inverness CT 29 10 9 10 40 41 39 7. Raith Rovers 28 10 8 10 39 37 38 8. Arbroath 29 5 13 11 26 41 28 9. Cove Rangers 30 6 8 16 34 65 26 10. Hamilton Ac. 28 6 7 15 25 47 25 Ayr 3-0 Cove Queens 0-1 Arbroath Caley Jags 1-0 Partick Jags Date: 24/03/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2075 Referee: Grant Irvine Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Hyde (Boyd 90+3), Deas, Delaney, Henderson (Doran 85), Welsh, Allardice, Harper, Shaw (Woods 69), B Mckay (D Mackay 70) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Samuels Scorers: Shaw (50) Booked: Delaney (14), Hyde (65), Woods (81), Hyde (84) Sent Off: Welsh (55) Partick Thistle: 0 Manager: Kris Doolan Lineup: Mitchell; McMillan, Holt, Brownlie, Milne (Hodson 60), Tiffoney, Turner (Mullen 79) Bannigan (Fitzpatrick 79), Docherty, Lawless (Dowds 56), Graham. Subs (not used): Sneddon; Smith, Muirhead, Owens, MacKenzie Scorers: Shaw (50) Booked: Milne (25) Sent Off: none a

Yay, It's a home game It's five games since we last played at home in the Championship and that one never went well, a 0-3 loss to Hamilton Accies. In fact our League form has been abysmal over the last 19 games as we have only managed a mere sixteen points from a possible fifty seven. That's a poor return in any language. 28%. These statistics have not gone unnoticed by the long suffering Caley Jags fans who have seen their club plunge deeper into trouble on and off the field. I'm sure Billy Dodds will be grateful for the second chance in the Scottish Cup, but is that simply papering over the cracks? Friday nights visitors at 7:45pm have already pumped us 4-1 and 5-1 this season although we did win the home game 1-0. However, that was not good enough for the Partick board and Ian McCall was relieved of his duties in February as Partick fell off the pace slightly and Kris Doolan has replaced him to good effect. Looks like the jobs for boys pact at Inverness is alive and kicking though and despite protestations from many quarters, Billy Dodds is still hanging on by a thread as we look set for another season in the Championship with a Premiership play-off place looking highly unlikely if not virtually impossible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket info The Wyness Shuffle Live on BBC Scotland ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Partick Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 24 11 6 7 38 33 +5 Away 24 6 6 12 25 39 -14 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 48 17 12 19 63 72 -9 Overall Partick have stormed ahead of us thanks to the heavy defeats this season. Home results show that we are still ahead of Partick, but those massive defeats this season will have dented our confidence somewhat. This season's aggregate is 9-3 for Partick Thistle. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Partick Thistle 1 - 5 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 4 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (A) 3 - 3 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) He scores when he wants: 1 - 0 October 7th 2022: A first half where defences were on top offered little opportunity for either side to create the clear cut chance required until the half hour when Robbie Deas pounced on a loose clearance within the box. His header was bundled away from goal a yard from the line by two defenders with Mitchell floundering. A couple of minutes later and Mitchell was called into action to scramble the ball away low down at his post from a Duffy header. Billy Mckay clipped one over the bar after a tremendous turn and run by Daniel Mackay. Kyle Turner was red carded for what appeared to be a slightly high tackle on Roddy MacGregor and Inverness ended the half knocking on the Partick door. Cammy Harper brought out a super save from Mitchell with 65 minutes gone, diving high to his top left corner. Ten minutes later Billy Mckay opened the scoring with his fifth goal of the season, drilling home from twelve yards after good work by MotM Dan Mackay. Kevin Holt came close to an unlikely equaliser with a low shot across the face of the goal ten minutes from the end, but Partick rarely threatened. Oakley had an effort kept out on the line acrobatically by Holt as Inverness looked to close out the game. However, Inverness saw out the game to go joint top of the table after their fourth win in a row. That'll do nicely. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Dundee beat Ayr United 3-1 on Tuesday night to keep their auto promotion hopes alive 1. Queens Park 29 16 6 7 58 38 54 2. Dundee 29 14 8 7 47 32 50 3. Ayr United 29 13 7 9 53 38 46 4. Partick Thistle 29 13 6 10 49 39 45 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Raith Rovers 28 10 8 10 39 37 38 7. Inverness CT 28 9 9 10 39 41 36 8. Cove Rangers 29 6 8 15 34 62 26 9. Arbroath 28 4 13 11 25 41 25 10. Hamilton Ac. 28 6 7 15 25 47 25 FRIDAY 24TH MARCH 7:45pm Inverness CT v Partick Thistle Ayr United v Cove Rangers Queen's v Arbroath Last Time Out We are all but out of contention after losing 2-1 to Championship leaders Queens Park. Despite taking a half time lead thanks to a good strike by Dan Mackay, we were unable to sustain any consistency in the second half and two unchallenged headers from Grant Savoury and the giant Stephen Eze saw Queens Park take all three points. Sandwiched between the 2-1 win at Ayr (Welsh & Henderson scoring) and defeat to Queens Park there was a rousing 2-1 win on the telly over Kilmarnock with Billy Mckay (pen) and Sean Welsh with the goals. If only we could replicate that level of performance in the League games. Partick have drawn their last two outings without scoring against Dundee and Morton. They did put three past Raith Rovers the same day we won at Ayr. Partick Thistle are top of the Current Form table over the last six games (12 points), we are second bottom with 5 points Latest Team News Roddy MacGregor limped off last week in his second appearance after months out. Sean Welsh missed the game at Ochilview so not sure what's happening there, but he's unfortunately made of rice paper which has been a problem for him whilst here. When fit he makes our midfield tick and can be a match winner as shown recently. A couple of new issues according to Bazza, presumably MacGregor (ankle), maybe Welsh and by the sounds of it, maybe more??? Where's Tom Walsh when you need him??? Here's Bazza Firhill Facts Kris Doolan was in charge of the u18's and had been in interim charge of first team matters for almost three weeks prior to being rubber stamped on 3rd March, overseeing away victories over Ayr United and Dundee as well as a draw at Arbroath. Since then a 3-0 home win over Raith Rovers has been followed by goalless draws with Dundee and Morton, but more importantly he has dragged Partick back into play-off contention whilst we slip further away. Partick Starting XI v Morton: Mitchell; McMillan, McAvoy, Muirhead, Milne, Docherty, Bannigan, Lawless, Turner, Tiffoney, Graham. The obvious and perennial threats to us are striker Brian Graham and chief provider Scott Tiffoney. Lawless, Turner and Dowds will also need well policed.

All but ended Sean Welsh was the mystery injured player this week with Dan Mackay starting. Inverness' play-off hopes all but ended at Ochilview after we surrendered a half time advantage once more at the same venue. Both sides had gone close early on before Daniel Mackay drilled home a tremendous low strike from around twenty-five yards after the ball broke back to him off Billy Mckay on the edge of the box. Twenty minutes after the interval the Spiders pressure saw them level when Grant Savoury headed home unchallenged. They went in front some five minutes later when Stephen Eze headed into the top corner, once more unchallenged. Substitute Roddy MacGregor limped off to be replaced by the even lesser spotted Ben Woods. Both sides created opportunities as the game entered the final phase and Duffy and Samuels went close to an equaliser deep into time added on but it was Queens that took a massive step towards the Premiership as we took a massive step back into the Championship pack. Good luck to them. If it's any consolation, Falkirk, our semi-final opponents lost 1-0 at Queen of the South today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More match reaction to follow>>> From BBC Sport Queen's Park manager Owen Coyle: "We didn't perform to the level we're capable of first half, but second half we certainly stepped it up. "It's a young group and a lot of them haven't been round about where we are, so there was an edginess to them but at half-time I asked them to relax and get back to what we're known for." Inverness CT manager Billy Dodds: "We didn't set about the second half the way we should. If we had just kept it simple and neat and tidy, I think we would've got them. "We were denied a penalty when Billy Mckay felt he got a shove in the back. But we handed Queen's Park the game." Massively disappointing result for the Caley Jags after the euphoria of the Scottish Cup exploits. Queens can rest easy knowing we have been unable to beat them in five attempts this season, a fact that has not gone unnoticed amongst the Caley Jags fanbase. Anyway, our secretary is better than theirs...... Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table not looking good for the Caley Jags 1. Queens Park 29 16 6 7 58 38 54 2. Dundee 28 13 8 7 44 31 47 3. Ayr United 28 13 7 8 52 35 46 4. Partick Thistle 29 13 6 10 49 39 45 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Raith Rovers 28 10 8 10 39 37 38 7. Inverness CT 28 9 9 10 39 41 36 8. Cove Rangers 29 6 8 15 34 62 26 9. Arbroath 28 4 13 11 25 41 25 10. Hamilton Ac. 28 6 7 15 25 47 25 Our remaining Championship fixtures. I'm afraid it will take a miracle to make the play-offs. 24th Mar 19:45 - PARTICK THISTLE (H) 01st April 15:00 - MORTON (A) 08th April 15:00 - RAITH ROVERS (H) 11th April 19:45 - ARBROATH (H) 15th April 15:00 - COVE RANGERS (A) 18th April 19:45 - HAMILTON (A) 22nd April15:00 - DUNDEE (H) 05th May 19:45 - AYR UNITED (H) Date: 18/03/2023 Venue: Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir Attendance: 627 Referee: Alan Muir Queens Park: 2 Manager: Owen Coyle Lineup: Ferrie: Oakley (Jarrett 56), Eze, Fox, Robson, Thomas, Davidson, Savoury, Boateng (Longridge (44)), Henderson (Healy 76), Shields Subs (not used): Heraghty; Bruce, McPake, Williamson, Bannon, Biggar, Scorers: Savoury (64), Eze (69) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy, Devine, Deas, Harper, D Mackay (MacGregor 61, Woods 74), Carson, Allardice (Samuels 71), Henderson, Shaw, B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Delaney, Hyde, Doran, Boyd, Scorers: D Mackay (27) Booked: Devine (8), Shaw (65) Sent Off: none a

Euan Henderson Appreciation Encounter After the heroics of the Scottish Cup win over Kilmarnock and the anticipation of the semi-final draw for Hampden Park it's back down to earth with a bang and a trip to Ochilview Park to take on league leaders Queens Park in the Championship. Queens will be hurting after beating Inverness on the park in the Scottish Cup, but off the park it was Inverness that progressed and subsequently went on to dispose of Livingston and Kilmarnock to reach the semi-finals of the Cup. If only, if only.... Anyway, it's back to league business and this is another tough game on Saturday with kick-off due at 3:00pm. The Spiders might find us better equipped this time round as injured players return and our bench fills up. Could be a bit of a grudge match to add some extra spice to the occasion. Thanks Euan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scottish Cup Semi Final Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info The Wyness Shuffle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Queens Park Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 12 4 5 3 15 14 +1 Away 7 5 0 2 14 10 +4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 19 9 5 5 29 24 +5 Only this season's fixtures are really relevant to this game as prior to this season we had not played a league game against Queens Park since *1997, although we have met them in Cup games in 1998, 2003, 2010. We have failed to beat Queens Park since they gained promotion at the end of last season. *1997 - A win for the visitors but not a convincing one. The first half was a non event with only two half-chances falling to Scott McLean in the 28th & 40th minutes - both good shots from 15 yards deflected over. In 54 minutes Queens Danny Ferry should have scored when he ran through the defence but Jim Calder came out and stopped it with his legs. Against the run of play Queens took the lead in 72 minutes. A cross from the right was headed home by Scott Edgar as Jim Calder lost the ball in the strong sun. Three minutes later it was 1-1 when a Barry Wilson cross broke to Iain Stewart and he scored from 8 yards. Two minutes later Ross Tokely celebrated his 18th birthday with the winning goal. It was an exact repeat of his goal against Albion Rovers three weeks ago and in the same minute of the match - a Barry Wilson corner was partly cleared and Tokely hammered it home from 20 yards. In the dying minutes Jim Calder saved a good low shot from Scott Edgar to preserve the score. The Inverness side are clear Championship favourites on 60 points - 11 clear of Ross County with 9 games left. Report by Ian Broadfoot March 1997 2 - 1 Last 4 Competitive Meetings (including the 0-2 defeat in the cup) 0 - 2 (H) 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) The CTO summary on the first encounter this season was complimentary to The Spiders: Queens make their point: Queens 39 year hiatus from this tier of football ended as they ventured into the Championship, and it all started well when Jake Davidson opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute. In a half of many chances, Billy Mckay levelled the score a minute before the interval. That's how it stood until the final whistle with neither side able to make the breakthrough despite numerous opportunities at both ends thanks to Callum Ferrie and Mark Ridgers and some wayward finishing. Queens Park showing they are not here just to make up the numbers and were good value for their point. Last Time Out Inverness were able to field their strongest squad of the season as they dumped Killie out of the Scottish Cup. Despite losing an early goal Inverness dominated their Premiership opponents and a Billy Mckay penalty before the interval was added to by a Sean Welsh strike from over twenty-five yards. The week prior to that we came from behind against Ayr United at Somerset Park to take a much needed three points up the A9. Akinyemi had put Ayr ahead in thirteen minutes but Sean Welsh levelled soon after. Ayr were reduced to ten men before the interval and Jay Henderson notched the winner late in the game as our pressure paid off. Last five Championship games: D L L D W Queens Park are still heading the table even without Simon Murray. They beat Cove Rangers 1-0 last week but it took an own goal to settle the points with both clubs hitting the woodwork. In their previous game Queens Park squandered a two goal lead at home to share the points with Morton. Tommy Robson and Marcus Oakley had the Spiders coasting towards victory at the interval but two second half poachers goals from George Oakley gave Morton a surprise share of the points. That left Owen Coyle less than impressed: "We were excellent. We were by far the better team. That's as good as we have been in a long long time." Queens last five: L D W D W We have failed to beat Queens Park in four games this season. There's a reason for that and it's that they have been better than us so far. However, with a better squad available for Dodds to choose from then we might just get the points here, but it won't be easy. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Updated table after Arbroath draw with Morton who had a penalty saved by Gaston 1. Queens Park 28 15 6 7 56 37 51 2. Dundee 27 13 7 7 44 31 46 3. Partick Thistle 28 13 5 10 49 39 44 4. Ayr United 27 12 7 8 50 35 43 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Inverness CT 27 9 9 9 38 39 36 7. Raith Rovers 27 9 8 10 33 36 35 8. Cove Rangers 28 6 8 14 33 56 26 9. Arbroath 28 4 13 11 25 41 25 10. Hamilton Ac. 27 6 7 14 25 45 25 FRIDAY 17th MARCH 7:45pm Arbroath 1-1 Morton SATURDAY 18th MARCH 3:00pm Hamilton v Ayr United Partick v Dundee Queen's Park v Inverness CT Raith Rovers v Cove Rangers Latest Team News Billy Dodds had the unusual luxury of a relatively fit squad for the game against Kilmarnock with the added bonus of Roddy MacGregor coming off the bench to make his 100th appearance. Austin Samuels is working his way back to full fitness and came off the bench later in the second half. The rarely seen Ben Woods was back from injury and remained on the bench. Devine, Allardice Welsh and Harper have given us a massive boost since returning and Jay Henderson gives us a wee buzz when he gets on the ball up front. His deliveries are proving to be very effective. Billy Mckay is just six short of Dennis Wyness now after his penalty against Killie in the cup. He scored his first goal for the Caley Jags in a 3-2 loss at home against Dundee United on December 10th 2011. Billy will be looking for his 16th goal of the season this weekend. Owen Coyle will have a legitimate Euan Henderson available. That's their team lines for their game against Cove on 10th of March. Still plenty of fire power after Simon Murray left and Shields, Thomas and McPake have proven to be a handful for us before. Queens are heading towards the Premiership and it's their title to throw away. Only seven games left for them after this one and they have a cushion over Dundee. With that in mind, I'm sure they won't begrudge us the three points

Red Oh Daire Three points would have been a welcome diversion from off-field issues for the Caley Jags. Inverness missed Cammy Harper from last week and Austin Samuels dropped to the bench as Billy Mckay returned from suspension. Frankie Musonda was on the Ayr bench and 15 goal striker Dipo Akinyemi led their attack with Josh Mullin and Ben Dempsey backing him up. At the end of the day it was Inverness that picked up a valuable win. First Half Billy Mckay was keen to get going again after his suspension and he hit one from distance in the opening moments but it went over the bar and he followed that with another that went wide after seven minutes. Ten minutes in and Sam Ashford replaced the injured Josh Mullin and two minutes later Dipo Akinyemi scored his sixteenth of the season to put United ahead. The lead lasted just seven minutes when Sean Welsh scored after a Jay Henderson cross fell to him in the box to level the game. Charlie Albiston was quick off his line to deny the eager Mckay as he honed in on goal and five minutes later he was close to getting on the end of a Shaw cut back after Albiston made a mess of a clearance. Before the half hour Daire O'Connor was sent off for a challenge on Wallace Duffy. Duffy then shot over before Mckay had an effort deflected over the bar and Duffy headed the resultant corner over as well. Just on the break the keeper saved well from a Duffy shot into the top corner, just after Paddy Reading had gone close at the other end. Half Time: 1-1 Ayr began the second half on the front foot with McKenzie and Akinyemi shooting wide before Billy Mckay was blocked in the box at the other end and Scott Allardice fired one over. Ashford shot over on the hour after some good possession from the hosts and Duffy shot wide after finding himself in an advanced position again. More profligacy from the visitors as Henderson missed the top corner after a burst into the box. Welsh was blocked then had another effort deflected behind for a corner with twenty minutes left. The chances eventually paid off when Henderson connected with a Nathan Shaw cross at the back post to fire home. Mckay then shot wide after being played through ten minutes from the end. Inverness saw out the game to put themselves on the outer fringes of a play-off spot. Full Time 1-2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness got a vital three points on the road against 10 man Ayr United to move up a place in the table as Partick beat Raith Rovers 3-0. Wallace Duffy was the pick of the bunch today finding time to get forward and help out in attack, ably assisted by David Carson and Jay Henderson. RIG on CTO: At times we played some nice football. Most of the threat seemed to come down the right especially after Henderson and Shaw rotated and, with the extra man, Duffy and Delaney started pushing further up the pitch to offer support. Ayr tended not to double up on the wide men so it meant that Henderson or Shaw had to beat just one man and they had a chance to get a cross in. Henderson in particular was tormenting the Ayr defence and he had the best chance for us before we scored when he wriggled through a ruck of players at the edge of the box and lashed an effort over the bar. Some solid performances from us to win that one today with Duffy, Carson and Henderson probably the pick of the bunch. Duffy was helped out by Mullin going off injured and also the fact that Ayr played a lot of the game a man down. Carson took a bit of time to adapt to the 10 position but he carried the ball forward well and could have had a goal himself had he been more selfish and taking a shot instead of passing to a team mate. Date: 04/03/2023 Venue: Somerset Park, Ayr Attendance: 1820 Referee: Scott Lambie Ayr United: 1 Manager: Lee Bullen Lineup: Albinson; McAllister (Musonda 72), Kirk, McGinty, Reading (McGuire 84), O'Connor, Mullin, McAlear, Dempsey, Akinyemi, McKenzie (Hewitt 84) Subs (not used): McAdams; Bilham, Ashford, Smith, Bryden, Houston Scorers: Akinyemi (12) Booked: McAllister (35), McGuire (89) Sent Off: O'Connor (29) Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Bily Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy, Devine, Deas, Delaney, Carson, Welsh, Allardice (Doran 63), Henderson, Shaw (Boyd 90), B Mackay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Thompson, Cairns, Hyde, Harper, D Mackay, Samuels Scorers: Welsh (19), Henderson (74) Booked: Deas (49), Welsh (77) Sent Off: none a

On the Road Again After a battling 1-1 draw at Dundee, we are off on our travels again, this time it's even further afield as we visit Somerset Park, an often fruitful venue over the years. On Saturday, it's a 3:00pm kick off as points become difficult to collect at both ends of the table. Inverness are still bottom of the recent form table with only 4 points from a possible 18. Ayr have faltered recently but have 8 points from their last 6 games. Talismanic striker Billy Mckay will return after being red carded at Hamilton a fortnight ago. Billy is still seven goals short of being level with Dennis Wyness as our all time record scorer. Reece McAlear is now at Somerset Park but Logan Chalmers' loan spell has ended and the experienced Michael Moffat is at Glenafton. Unfortunately events off the park are overtaking events on the park. £££ See Club Statement below £££ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus info Club Statement Get Well Soon Cammy Ticket Update v Killie School strikes, We've got your back ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Get well soon Cammy Venue H2H v Ayr United Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 23 10 11 2 38 24 +14 Away 24 11 6 7 45 30 +15 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 47 21 17 9 83 54 +29 Head to Heads v Ayr tend to favour Inverness over the years, but due to our decline in fortunes more recent results are more equal. 3 wins for ICT - 2 wins for Ayr and 5 draws over the last ten encounters. Ayr have become more difficult to beat over the last couple of years. They came up into the Championship in 2018 and we held the upper hand for the first couple of seasons but they are now capable of holding their own and under Lee Bullen are more difficult to prise points from these days. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Ayr United 2 - 2 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (A) From CTO Last October 1 - 0 - Ayr Pressure Not Enough: Ayr started the day three points ahead of Inverness. They would end the day level. Plenty of pressure from the hosts in a dominant first half but the nearest they came to a goal was a Mark Mckenzie header that came off the bar and the same player missed from six yards after being set up by Dipo Akinyemi. Inverness would be relieved to get to the interval on level terms. Cammy Harper glanced in a header just after the break to open the scoring. That's how it ended after a difficult ninety minutes but it's three wins on the bounce on the road. FRIDAY 3RD MARCH 7:45pm Hamilton v Arbroath SATURDAY 4TH MARCH 3:00pm Ayr United v Inverness CT Cove R v Dundee Partick v Rovers Queen's v Morton Last Time Out Inverness, off the back of two miserable defeats against Hamilton, battled for a plucky 1-1 draw at Dundee. Fortunate as it was we showed a bit of fight. Dundee will feel aggrieved that they never took all three points having a goal disallowed for a dubious offside decision and hitting the woodwork twice. To rub salt in the wound, Harper's equaliser took a massive deflection to wrong foot the keeper and put the Dundee fans on the verge of tears. At least Billy Mckay should return after suspension. Ayr United drew a blank last Friday at Stark's Park against Raith Rovers, with ICT's Scottish Cup hero Jamie MacDonald denying Ben Dempsey from the spot to ensure it remained goalless. They have been slipping up in recent weeks D W L L D. Their only win was a routine 5-0 thrashing of Cove Rangers at the end of January. This season's encounters show that we won the first one at Ayr 1 - 0 and drew the reverse fixture in the Highlands 2 - 2 Shaw shank redemption: Nathan Shaw earned Inverness an unlikely point as he scored his second of the game with three minutes left. That levelled the score after Dipo Akinyemi had put leaders Ayr United ahead with his 14th goal of the season less than ten minutes from the end. Shaw had given the hosts an early lead which they held until the 66th minute when Mark McKenzie bundled into the net from close range. This was a better point for Inverness who still had nine players missing although Danny Devine came into the back four before going off after being injured with fifteen minutes remaining. Latest Team News Billy Mckay returns after suspension. At least he should add some much needed potency to the attack. Still waiting for around five players returning from injury. Sutherland, Walsh, Woods, Ram and MacGregor. Samuels is now getting game time as is Allardice, Deas and Harper but all four are still building up to maximum efficiency after returning from longer term injury. Deas played in midweek in a young side at Forres to get some more minutes in his legs. Eck's Ayr Catch-Up RIP Eric: It's at this point over the last couple of years I would insert a section written by fellow CTO member and friend ictewd. Eric, without prompting, would gather any updated information about our opponents and offer it to me for adding to the preview. Without fail, Eric would investigate and I would receive an eMail every Thursday ahead of the fixtures. He was also responsible for helping to get our site stats in order and was willing to do this throughout his illness borne with great dignity. I have known Eric for over fifty years and he was an unassuming guy but very intelligent and self motivated. He was the consummate professional in all he did and I/we will miss him greatly for his diligent professionalism as he carried out his many tasks on CTO. Sadly Eric passed away this week and I for one will miss his eMails and quiet sense of humour and the endless hours of brain crunching stats he input and more importantly, his friendship. I offer sincere condolences to his family and friends at this most difficult of times. RIP Eric Davidson This ones on me Eck Ayr United have scooped up Chris Maguire an experienced attacking inside forward once of Aberdeen and Sheffield Wednesday. Dylan Watret has signed his first pro contract at Ayr and featured against Raith Rovers. Frankie Musonda returned to action in a reserve game against Hibs last week. Josh Mullin is now a permanent signing and former Inverness midfielder Reece McAlear has come in on loan from Tranmere Rovers. That's he of the thunderous goals from outside the box; beware! Loan ended: Logan Chalmers, forward (Dundee United); Bradley Young, forward (Aston Villa). Loan out: David Bangala, defender (Cove Rangers); Finn Ecrepont, defender (Stranraer); Michael Moffat, forward (Glenafton).

Dens Point Inverness were without the suspended Billy Mckay and still had five players on the crocked list. However, David Carson is made of stern stuff and took his place at right back. Zak Delaney returned to the defence with Cammy Harper in midfield and Austin Samuels as striker. Dan Mackay dropped to the bench alongside Robbie Deas. Dundee had Zach Robinson back from Wimbledon on loan, and he is still their top scorer with nine goals, as they looked to bolster their challenge for top spot in the table whilst Inverness were now looking over their shoulders at the three teams below them. Robinson and perennial nuisance Paul McMullan were in the Dundee starting XI and striker Alex Jakubiak was on the bench along with midfielders Ben Williamson and Max Anderson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First Half The hosts got the game underway and first action was an early booking for captain Sean Welsh followed by Legzdins saving a deflected Jay Henderson cross/shot. Cammy Harper had an effort saved and Ryan Sweeney saw Mark Ridgers save his header soon after. Alas, Danny Devine fouled Zach Robinson in the box and Robinson himself took the penalty to score his tenth of he season and put Dundee in front with Devine yellow carded. Harper shot from a tight angle after a break forward on the left but Legzdins was alert to it. Paul McMullan went close to a second after he had won a corner, the ball bouncing just past the post. Robinson was close to connecting with a cross into the area after good work by Cammy Kerr and Lyall Cameron. We managed to get to the break without any further damage and Nathan Shaw sent a drive at Legdzins which he held comfortably as half time arrived. Half Time: 1-0 Fortune favours the brave, and ten minutes after the break Inverness drew level. Carson, Shaw and Henderson combined well down the right, and when Henderson cut infield to feed Harper his low drive from the left corner of the penalty box took a big deflection off Sweeney to end up in the net leaving the keeper wrong footed. They all count! Billy Dodds made a triple substitution thereafter bringing on Robbie Deas, Steven Boyd and Dan Mackay with Devine, Harper and Samuels going off. Ridgers denied Josh Mulligan as he shot from inside the box and then blocked the follow up with twenty minutes to go. Bowyer did his own triple sub: Triple sub for Dundee - Clampin, Hannant & McCowan for Marshall, Mulligan and McMullan. Shaw shot over and with five minutes remaining a McGhee header came off the top of the bar and over. Cameron hit the bar as well with a looped header as Dundee pressed for a winner with Inverness defending desperately. Fortunately we saw out the game for a valuable point on the road. Full Time: 1-1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A battling performance from the Caley Jags earns a point at Dens Park. That keeps Inverness ahead of the relegation battle with Cove and Hamilton losing and Arbroath drawing with Partick. Queens Park stretch their lead at the top after that 4-1 win at Accies. How do they do it? Six bookings for Inverness as we defended our lines. Way to go! The downside for Dodds is the fans have not forgotten how rank rotten we have been lately and chanted his name throughout. Match Reaction to Follow>>> Table after todays games Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Battling draw for the Caley Jags as Queens stretch their lead. 1. Queens Park 26 14 5 7 53 35 47 2. Dundee 25 12 7 6 41 28 43 3. Ayr United 25 11 7 7 46 32 40 4. Morton 25 11 7 7 37 29 40 5. Partick Thistle 25 11 4 10 43 38 37 6. Raith Rovers 26 9 8 9 33 33 35 7. Inverness CT 26 8 9 9 36 38 33 8. Cove Rangers 26 6 8 12 33 53 26 9. Hamilton Ac. 26 6 6 14 25 45 24 10. Arbroath 26 4 11 11 24 40 23 Arbroath 0-0 Partick Thistle Dundee1-1 Inverness CT Hamilton 1-4 Queen's Park Morton 2-1 Cove Rangers Date: 25/02/2023 Venue: Kilmac Stadium, Dens Park Attendance: 4447 Referee: Chris Graham Dundee FC: 1 Manager: Gary Bowyer Lineup: Legzdins; Kerr, Ashcroft, Sweeney, Marshall (Clampin 79), McGhee, McMullan (McCowan 78), Mulligan (Hannant 78), Cameron (Anderson 88), McGuire, Robinson (Thomas 88) Subs (not used): Sharp; Tolaj, Williamson, Jakubiak Scorers: Robinson (13 pen) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Duffy, Devine (Deas 59), Delaney, Henderson (Doran 90), Welsh, Allardice (Hyde 88), Harper (Boyd 59), Shaw, Samuels (D Mackay 59) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Thompson, Cairns Scorers: Harper (56) Booked: Welsh (7), Devine (13), Allardice (54), Boyd (73), Henderson (89) Carson (90+2) Sent Off: none a

Mckayless Jags at Dens After two defeats in a row from the then bottom club Hamilton Accies we now have a run of away championship games starting at Dens Park on Saturday. Its a 3:00pm start at the Kilmac Stadium as we look to get back in amongst the play-off places at the top end of the table. Its a big ask given our last couple of results and we will be without the suspended Billy Mckay who is the only man keeping us above the relegation play-offs. Dundee have faltered recently as well and we did win at Dens Park earlier in the season which was an unexpected bonus. So all is not lost yet, but the mindset at the moment for most fans is do we have the right management team in charge? Not according to those that were at Hamilton. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info Mathew Strachan ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Dundee Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 17 7 8 2 27 16 +11 Away 20 7 8 5 28 25 +3 Neutral 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 Total 39 14 16 9 57 45 +12 We still hold the overall edge over Dundee but draws are the most common results. Dundee sit second in the table on 42 points with a game in hand over leaders Queens Park who are on 44 points. Inverness are lurking in seventh place and well off the pace with 32 points. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 0 - 1 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) Here's the recent form table..... not good reading to be honest. Had we beaten Accies twice we would be top and they would be in our position. Overall Home Away Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A +/- Pts Peer through your fingers if easily offended 1. Hamilton Ac. 6 4 1 1 8 3 2 1 0 4 2 2 0 1 4 1 +5 13 2. Raith Rovers 6 2 4 0 9 7 0 2 0 3 3 2 2 0 6 4 +2 10 3. Partick Thistle 6 3 0 3 8 6 2 0 2 7 4 1 0 1 1 2 +2 9 4. Queens Park 6 2 2 2 11 7 1 1 0 3 1 1 1 2 8 6 +4 8 5. Dundee 6 2 2 2 10 7 2 0 1 8 4 0 2 1 2 3 +3 8 6. Arbroath 6 2 2 2 11 12 0 0 2 2 6 2 2 0 9 6 -1 8 7. Ayr United 6 2 1 3 8 7 1 1 2 3 5 1 0 1 5 2 +1 7 8. Morton 6 2 1 3 8 9 2 0 1 5 4 0 1 2 3 5 -1 7 9. Inverness CT 6 1 3 2 9 10 0 2 1 2 5 1 1 1 7 5 -1 6 10. Cove Rangers 6 1 2 3 4 17 0 2 2 3 14 1 0 1 1 3 -13 5 Friday 24th Feb19:45 Raith Rovers 0-0 Ayr United Saturday 25th Feb Arbroath v Partick Thistle Dundee FC v Inverness CT Hamilton v Queen's Pk Morton v Cove Ran The last meeting at Dens Park saw us take a surprise 3 - 2 win: From CTO - Harper stuns Dundee: The first meeting of the sides this season ended in victory for the visitors. Dundee took an early lead through Sweeney but Cammy Harper levelled almost immediately with a curling shot from outside the box. Austin Samuels day was over five minutes before the interval. Just on the break Billy Mckay scored from the spot to put the visitors ahead after Harper had been fouled. Paul McMullan made it all square ten minutes after the interval although that goal has now been attributed to Joe Grayson. However, man of the match Harper restored the visitors advantage from twenty-five yards with seven minutes left. That ended the scoring and sealed the points before Sweeney was sent off for a second bookable offence as the game slipped away from Dundee. Last time out Inverness flopped at Hamilton, the second reverse against the same side in three days. A 3-0 drubbing at Inverness was followed by a 2-1 defeat at Hamilton, although had we taken our chances at New Douglas Park things might have worked out differently. They didn't and to rub salt in the wound Billy Mckay was sent off. Meh! Dundee lost 1-0 to Morton last Friday as points become hard to get at both ends of the table. That was after a 3-0 beating of Cove Rangers the previous Sunday. Latest Team news Billy Mckay is suspended after being sent off at Hamilton. Mathew Strachan, our promising young defender has been loaned out to Nairn County for the remainder of the season, no doubt the return of Harper, Deas and Delaney drove that option. The Duracell Bunny that is David Carson took a thigh knock against Accies and is a doubt, but he's a tough cookie so we'll see how that turns out. Austin Samuels will probably replace Mckay and he will be glad to get the chance to play again at Dens Park as that was the start of his injury problems back in September 2022. He has had a couple of cameo slots on his return and may not be 100% yet. Still waiting for five to return from injury: Sutherland, Walsh, Macgregor (close to a return), Ram and Ben Woods. Since we last played Dundee: Loan in: Lorent Tolaj, forward (Brighton & Hove Albion); Barry Maguire, midfielder (Motherwell); Luke Hannant, midfielder (Colchester United); Kwame Thomas, forward (Sutton United). Zach Robinson has returned on loan from Wimbledon. (never knew he played tennis) Out: Niall McGinn, forward (Glentoran); Derick Osei, forward. Loan ended: Joe Grayson, defender (Barrow). Loan out: Zack Rudden, forward (St Johnstone); Luke Strachan, defender (Alloa Athletic), Paul McGowan is on Loan at Dunfermline for the rest of the season. Euan Mutale is at Albion Rovers.

Do We Have To After the poor result at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday, many fans are asking this question: Do we have to play them again? Unfortunately the answer is yes, and it's only three days after the rubbish we were subject to at the weekend. Hamilton away on Tuesday night is the venue, 7:45pm is the kick-off time. Dodds said after the game that he could "see the life being drained out of his players". For many supporters the enthusiasm is draining from their very souls making it difficult to back the present regime. Only three home wins this season has left Inverness hovering just above the relegation tussle. If things get any worse we will be involved in that tussle. The optimist in me is saying a good run of results could see us scrape into the play-offs at the top end of the table, however that seems a long shot at the moment. Many fans that venture onto the forums are questioning their sanity. Sitting out in the open air on bitterly cold Saturday afternoons watching error strewn frustratingly poor quality football is not encouraging them to splash their hard earned cash on another season ticket. The big talking point is how can we beat Livingston, who are fourth in the Premiership 3-0, then one week later get turned over by the same score by bottom of the Championship Hamilton Accies at home. Something we are getting used to now as we have only two wins in our last eleven games against Accies. Of course we live in eternal hope but even the most ardent of fans will be looking to this game with trepidation rather than anticipation. The only good news from Saturday is that Austin Samuels made a twenty minute appearance, so that's another one ticked off the list. Sutherland, Walsh, Woods, Ram and MacGregor still to make a return. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/ Supporters Bus Info Killie Cup Tickets ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nothing has changed since the last game three days ago therefore there's little information to impart. Accies have learned how to beat us and carry out their plan of action to a man and stick rigidly to their task. We may be slightly better suited to playing away from home. Unfortunately the results against Accies are still not forthcoming at either venue of late. Team Lines from Saturday: ICTFC: Ridgers, Carson, Duffy, Devine, Harper, Henderson, Welsh (Boyd 79), Allardice, Shaw (Cairns 76), D Mackay (Samuels 69), B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Deas, Thompson, Delaney, Hyde, Doran ACCIES: Fulton; Tumilty (Lawson 73), Owens, D McGowan, O'Reilly (McGinn 87), L Smith (Stephenson 58), Shiels, C Smith, Martin, De Bolle (Winter 73), Tiehi (Zanatta 87) Subs (not used): J Smith; Easton, Newbury, Latona CTO summary from last game : After last weeks cup result at Livingston, many were expecting better things. However the Caley Jags have the knack of ruining the weekend with another horror show against a poor Accies side who seem to be able to beat us whenever they want these days. In truth we were the architect of our own downfall with misplaced passes, defence at sixes and sevens and was that really a penalty. Difficult to pick a MotM from that performance but David Carson was one of the few who made himself available all the time and was willing to get forward. Just when it looked like we might be turning a corner we come up with a performance like that. It defies logic to be honest and even the diehards are wondering why they bother. Here's what Billy said on Saturday Last 3 Competitive Meetings v Accies - The 0-2 was the Challenge Cup game. 0 - 3 (H) 0 - 2 (A) 0 - 1 (H) Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Queens Park 25 13 5 7 49 34 44 2. Dundee 24 12 6 6 40 27 42 3. Ayr United 24 11 6 7 46 32 39 4. Morton 24 10 7 7 35 28 37 5. Partick Thistle 24 11 3 10 43 38 36 6. Raith Rovers 25 9 7 9 33 33 34 7. Inverness CT 24 8 8 8 34 35 32 8. Cove Rangers 25 6 8 11 32 51 26 9. Arbroath 25 4 10 11 24 40 22 10. Hamilton Ac. 24 5 6 13 22 40 21 And here's Billy ahead of tonight's game

Back to Business After a weekend of Cup action it's back to League duty this weekend as the hunt for points at both ends of the table intensifies. Forget the previous twenty-odd games, the season begins in earnest now with most sides having recruited in the January sales and squads should now be optimised for the last third of the season. For Inverness that's not so much about bringing new players in, it's more about getting injured players back on the park and it was great to see Robbie Deas in the squad at Livingston, a sign that we are slowly getting back to full strength with Scott Allardice and Cammy Harper also having taken part over the last three games. This is a home game on Saturday and is scheduled for a 3:00pm start at the Caledonian Stadium. We then visit Hamilton three days later in a re-arranged fixture from before Xmas on 21st Feb at 19:45. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Info Scottish Cup v Killie Raise the Roof ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Accies Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 16 5 4 7 25 20 +5 Away 12 6 2 4 17 15 +2 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 28 11 6 11 42 35 +7 Historically we have a decent record against Accies although in recent games when we should have been the dominant force we have struggled to cope having won only one of the last six encounters, and that was an end of season fixture when Accies were winding down and we were gearing up for the play-offs. It's only two wins in ten if you stretch further back. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Accies 0 - 2 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 4 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) This time last year we played out an entertaining 1 - 1 draw at Hamilton: Accies took an early lead through Josh Mullin after a defensive blunder by Reece McAlear. Great finish from the Accies player though as he arrowed the ball high into the net from twenty yards (Josh Mullin). We levelled when Sam Pearson scored his first goal for the club on the half hour and that's how it stayed at the break, although David Moyo almost got a touch on a low ball fizzed into the box just on the whistle. No further scoring after the break despite plenty of opportunities at both ends and Joe Hardy almost snatched it at the end with the last kick of the ball. Good point, but ten games without a win now Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts After tonights games 1. Queens Park 25 13 5 7 49 34 44 2. Dundee 24 12 6 6 40 27 42 3. Ayr United 23 11 6 6 46 31 39 4. Morton 24 10 7 7 35 28 37 5. Raith Rovers 25 9 7 9 33 33 34 6. Partick Thistle 23 10 3 10 42 38 33 7. Inverness CT 23 8 8 7 34 32 32 8. Cove Rangers 24 6 7 11 31 50 25 9. Arbroath 24 4 9 11 23 39 21 10. Hamilton Ac. 23 4 6 13 19 40 18 FRIDAY 17TH FEBRUARY (19:45) Morton 1-0 Dundee Queens Park 1-1 Raith Rovers SATURDAY 18TH FEBRUARY (15:00) Ayr United v Partick Thistle Cove Rangers v Arbroath Caley Jags v Hamilton Last Time Out It was cup action for both sides last weekend. Accies acquitted themselves well against Hearts after a shaky start but went down 2-0 with the Jambos scoring in each half through Humphrys and Devlin. In their last Championship fixture Accies drew 1-1 with title candidates Dundee. An early goal from Hearts loanee Connor Smith put Accies ahead only for Jordan McGhee to level before the interval and that's how it stayed as Accies gained a valuable point at the foot of the table. Inverness dumped the Livi Lions out of the Cup with two sensational strikes from on form Billy Mckay and a Sean Welsh header to progress to the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup. That has earned us a home tie against Kilmarnock on March 11th. Our last League game saw us come from behind twice to earn a point at home versus Morton. Second half goals from Billy Mckay and Ethan Cairns saw us grab a late point. That was Billy's 92nd goal for the Caley Jags whilst Ethan has a long way to go after notching his first goal with his first touch after coming on as a substitute. Cup Goals Accies have already beaten us twice this season although one of those games was against a weakened Inverness side in the Challenge Cup where the youngsters performed well despite going down 0 - 2. Great Effort by Young Team: Accies took an early advantage of the young squad Inverness had assembled and opened the scoring after only three minutes through an own goal. The young team responded well when Calum Mackay did brilliantly down the left and his cross made it's way to Keith Bray but his diving header was tipped round the post by Jamie Smith. Minutes later Mackay went through on goal but his shot caught the side netting. Tiehi and One replied for Accies with Ridgers gathering Tiehi's effort and One heading wide before a deflected shot from Winter earned a corner for Accies. Aaron Nicolson shot just wide midway through the half. Accies doubled their lead when Reegan Mimnaugh turned in Andy Winter's low cross. Mackay and Nicolson came close again. Just before the interval Mark Ridgers denied Gabe Forsyth from 25 yards. 2-0 at the interval with the young guys performing brilliantly and Jamie Smith the busier keeper, but Accies with the all important goals. H/T 2-0 Just after the hour Ryan One did well down the Accies left and his shot was parried by Ridgers and Caley Thistle get clear. Inverness made a couple of changes with twenty minutes left. Alistair Nixon & Calum MacLeod on, Ryan Barrett & Duncan Proudfoot off. 83rd minute Daniel MacDougall & Lewis Mackie on, Jack Walker & Aaron Nicolson off. 87th minute Danny Gillan on, Mark Ridgers off. Accies ended the game with ten players that had come through their own Academy as the game ran away from the Inverness XI who had acquitted themselves very well. Latest Team News Probably still too early for Robbie Deas, but great to have him back involved with the squad. Allardice, Harper, Shaw and Welsh have all returned and will be heading towards full fitness. Still some doubts over the whereabouts of our man of mystery, Austin Samuels. Not much information coming from the club surrounding his availability or otherwise. Sutherland, Walsh and MacGregor are still to come so we can maybe look forward to a wee surge towards the end of the season. Here's hoping. Hamilton's January business In: Reghan Tumilty, defender (Hartlepool United). Loan in: Connor Smith, midfielder (Heart of Midlothian); Dylan McGowan, defender (Kilmarnock); Tom Sparrow, midfielder (Stoke City). Out: Miko Virtanen, midfielder (Cove Rangers). Loan out: Michael Doyle, defender (Alloa Athletic). Good bit of business by Accies to bring in Reghan Tumilty on loan. Dario Zanatta is also a handy man to have in your locker and Lewis Smith has caused us problems before. Young Ryan One is developing into a great prospect. Accies are always up for a battle and points are usually difficult to prise away from them. The loans in of Connor Smith and Dylan McGowan will bolster the Accies defence who have conceded forty goals. However it's up front they have really under achieved scoring only nineteen league goals this season compared to our thirty-four goal haul. Billy Mckay has twelve league goals to his name. The prize for beating Livingston>>> After last weeks heroics, we face Kilmarnock on Friday 10th March 7:45pm. This tie will be screened live on BBC Scotland. As well as scoring two peaches against Livi, Billy Mckay was in the team of the week for his performance. That's Billy's 8th goal since the turn of the year.

Mid Table Draw Morton were looking for their third win over Inverness this season but were on a run of seven games without a win. Inverness had started the new year in fine form but were looking for three points to create a gap between the two sides in mid table. Sean Welsh was missing for Inverness but Scott Allardice and Cammy Harper started. New signings Calvin Miller and Calum Waters started for Morton, but there was no sign of George Oakley. The curse of the Caley Jags was having an effect. It ended all square with young Inverness substitute Ethan Cairns rescuing a point with his first touch of the ball when it looked like Morton were going to take all three points. On Loan Calvin Miller picked up a loose pass from Delaney in the fifth minute to drive forward and drill the ball into the bottom corner from just outside the box for the opening goal. Great strike and a great start for the visitors. Aaron Doran was at it again when one on one with the keeper, and like last week he got his feet in a tangle and the chance was lost. Calum Waters volleyed just wide of the post after twenty minutes as the visitors dominated the opening quarter of the game. Mark Ridgers saved from Miller as he cut in from the left with Inverness struggling to make any impact on proceedings until the half hour when Billy Mckay shot and then Zak Delaney failed to hit the target after Jay Henderson recycled the ball. Henderson fired a free kick into the keepers arms as the play became more even but it was Morton that led at the interval as their hosts flattered to deceive. Half Time: 0-1 Nathan Shaw replaced Aaron Doran and Lewis Hyde replaced Zak Delaney at the interval as Inverness were looking for a way to turn the game around. Both keepers were called into action in the opening minutes of the half through Cameron Blues and Dan Mackay and Scott Allardice shot over. A brighter start for the hosts and they were soon level just after Henderson had shot over the bar. Billy Mckay knocked in a rebound from the keeper after a long range shot from Allardice fell to him inside the box. Good pressure from the hosts leading up to the goal but Morton were far from finished with O'Connor and Blues having efforts saved by Ridgers. Dan Mackay turned and volleyed over with twenty minutes left. Blues and Miller had more efforts with the keeper denying Miller as the game entered the final ten minutes. In a frantic finale, Robbie Muirhead restored Morton's lead after holding off Duffy to slot through Ridgers but substitute Ethan Cairns knocked in another equaliser three minutes later with his first touch of the ball a minute after coming on. Cairns did well to find the net after Shaw's cross had been headed on by Boyd for him to hook home from a tight angle. Still time for Muirhead and King to go close but it ended all square and a point apiece. And breathe.... Full Time: 2-2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A scramble to get a point in the end but we still gained a point on Partick Thistle. Great to see Ethan Cairns get his first goal for the club, and a vital strike it was. Billy Mckay (93) also edged closer to Dennis Wyness' all time scoring record (102). The countdown is on. From BBC Sport Inverness CT head coach Billy Dodds: "It was a hard watch at times but I don't want to be too negative because my players found a way to find something from the game. "We weren't good enough first half. The goal we gave them in the second half was a gift again and they've got to stop. But we are still hanging in there." Greenock Morton manager Dougie Imrie: "It was tough with the wind but I thought we played really well. The first 15-20 minutes of the second-half we weren't at the races, we were a bit nervous. "But we dug deep and got the second goal. Unfortunately we lose a poor goal at the back post. Three points would have been great but we didn't manage to see the game out." Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Queens Park stretch their lead as all around them falter and Raith go above Inverness. 1. Queens Park 23 13 4 6 46 30 43 2. Ayr United 23 11 6 6 46 31 39 3. Dundee 22 11 6 5 37 26 39 4. Partick Thistle 23 10 3 10 42 38 33 5. Raith Rovers 24 9 6 9 32 32 33 6. Inverness CT 23 8 8 7 34 32 32 7. Morton 22 8 7 7 31 26 31 8. Cove Rangers 23 6 7 10 31 47 25 9. Arbroath 24 4 9 11 23 39 21 10. Hamilton Ac. 23 4 6 13 19 40 18 Date: 04/02/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1852 Referee: Calum Scott Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Duffy, Devine Delaney (Hyde 45), Henderson (Boyd 75), Allardice, Harper, D Mackay (Cairns 84), Doran (Shaw 45), B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Strachan, Thompson Scorers: B Mckay (57), Cairns (85) Booked: Carson (65), Hyde (67) Sent Off: none Morton: 2 Manager: Dougie Imrie Lineup: Schwake; O'Connor, Grimshaw, Baird, Waters, Blues, Gillespie, Quitongo (McGrattan 61), Miller, Crawford (King 77), Muirhead (Roy 87) Subs (not used): Green; Pignatiello, Ambrose, Garrity Scorers: Miller (5), Muirhead (81), Booked: Crawford (45), McGrattan (83), Gillespie (86) Sent Off: none a

  Mid Table Ton of Trouble   It's the struggle for mid table supremacy once more as Morton head North where they will fancy their chances against a team they have already beaten home and away this season. Saturday at 3:00pm is the scheduled start for this one with George Oakley likely to be in the Morton line-up having scored on his debut last week. We are gradually getting players back but it's not an instant fix with Allardice and Harper getting back up to speed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info Scottish Cup Update (to follow) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Venue H2H v Morton Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 20 12 4 4 46 18 +28 Away 18 10 3 5 35 23 +12 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 38 22 7 9 81 41 +40 One to forget: 0 - 4 Morton Madness:  An injury hit Inverness side went to Cappielow with expectations low and they didn't disappoint. Muirhead opened the scoring against the run of play in the fifth minute after Ridgers allowed a shot to go through him. A second soon followed after a soft penalty award when Ambrose went to ground in the box. Gillespie scored from the rebounded penalty. Worse was to follow when David Carson inexplicably headed a corner behind Ridgers under no pressure. Blues added a fourth with twenty minutes left despite Inverness dominating the ball. Defeat by a wekened team against the form team on a run is bearable, what is more difficult to grasp is the substitution of your keeper at half-time and the silence that followed it. More to come over the next week or two methinks.  Last 10 Competitive Meetings 0 - 4 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 6 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) Until fairly recently, we had only ever lost once at home to Morton. How times change, and not for the better. The 4-0 thrashing at Cappielow was one of the low points of this season so far and a sign that all was not right behind closed doors. Add that to the 1-0 loss at the Caledonian Stadium and it's easy to believe that the downward spiral is incoming. Thankfully, we have perked up a bit since 2023 arrived but we are far from the finished article yet. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts   1. Queens Park 22 12 4 6 44 30 40 2. Ayr United 22 11 6 5 46 29 39 3. Dundee 21 11 5 5 36 25 38 4. Partick Thistle 22 10 3 9 42 37 33 5. Inverness CT 22 8 7 7 32 30 31 6. Morton 21 8 6 7 29 24 30 7. Raith Rovers 23 8 6 9 30 31 30 8. Cove Rangers 22 5 7 10 30 47 22 9. Arbroath 23 4 9 10 22 37 21 10. Hamilton Ac. 22 4 5 13 18 39 17   FRIDAY 3RD FEBRUARY Queens Pk v Ayr United SATURDAY 4TH FEBRUARY Accies v Dundee Arbroath v Raith Rvrs Caley Jags v Morton       Partick Thistle v Cove Rangers   Last Time Out Inverness were sort of knocked out of the Scottish Cup by an eager Queens Park on Tuesday night. However they may have been too eager and fielded an ineligible player in the shape of Euan Henderson. If the SFA are consistent, then Inverness will progress to face Livingston in a couple of weeks. That aside, we were poor against Queens who deservedly won the game on the park 2-0 with second half strikes from Thomas and Williamson. Our last League game was a 2-2 draw with a similarly resurgent Raith Rovers. We came from behind twice to earn our point through Jay Henderson and Billy Mckay. Vaughan and Connolly had given Raith the lead twice. We are unbeaten in the league since the turn of the year with two wins and two draws. Morton have slipped below Inverness in the table thanks to two draws and three defeats on the bounce (four if you include the Cup), the last one coming last Saturday at home to Arbroath but they have a game in hand. George Oakley took only four minutes to open his Morton account but the Smokies hit back with second half goals from Hamilton and long range effort from McKenna to deservedly take the points against a disappointing Greenock side. Morton's current winless run goes back seven games to November 26th when they beat Queen of the South 4-1 in the Scottish Cup. Morton have won both League matches against the Caley Jags this season. A 0 - 1 win in the Highlands was followed by an embarrassing 0 - 4 thrashing at Cappielow where the Ridgers Rift started as he was subbed at the interval with Inverness 3-0 down to a rampant Morton. Latest Team News Scott Allardice and Cammy Harper did get some game time over the last couple of weeks but it's fair to say that both are still feeling their way back to match sharpness.      Eric's Morton catch-up. 1st. February 2023 a statement from Greenock Morton FC states that Central defender Alan Lithgow has left the club by mutual consent. Since signing at the start of season 2021/22 the 34-year-old has made a total of 49 appearances for the club. He has since joined East Kilbride. Also having left the club are defender Darren Hynes transferred to Clyde FC and joining Airdrieonians was midfield player Lewis Macgregor. Kyle Jacobs, midfielder (Edinburgh, loan to permanent). Loan ended: Jaze Kabia, midfielder (Livingston). Joining Morton is one time product of the Celtic FC youth programme, midfielder Calvin Miller who had been without a club since leaving Chesterfield FC back in October 2022. On loan from Glentoran is Ally Roy a centre forward. Another centre forward and familiar name in Inverness is George Oakley who transferred on a free during the January transfer window and has already opened his Morton account after 4 minutes in the job.

Record Intact The last time Raith Rovers beat us at Stark's Park, it was jumpers for goalposts, three corners a penalty, Donview and Mantis had cranial hair and Groovejet by Spiller featuring Sophie Ellis Bextor topped the charts. Well, are we still waiting? Yes we are and here's why. Jamie Gullan saw an early header come off the crossbar as the hosts bossed the early pace of the game. Lewis Vaughan opened the scoring on the half hour after a period of home pressure when the ball fell to him outside the box after a succession of corners and he shot low beyond Ridgers. Inverness would need to up their game if they wanted to preserve that record. Jay Henderson levelled the game shortly after the break scoring from a tight angle. Unfortunately for Inverness Aidan Connolly restored their advantage with an hour gone. Scott Allardice returned to action after months out and after a couple of near things for Raith, Billy Mckay popped up to level the game once more seven minutes from the end with a header from a Sean Welsh free kick. That's how it ended and the wait goes on for Raith Rovers fans. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With George Oakley off to Morton, Dodds had more space to fill on the bench and back into the frame came long term injured Scott Allardice and Cammy Harper. New signing Ben Woods was missing and still no sign of Austin Samuels. Raith had loan signings midfielder Scott MacGill from Hearts and forward William Akio from Ross County in their squad. Raith got the game underway and were first to show but Mark Ridgers gathered Lewis Vaughan's effort comfortably in the fourth minute. Jamie Gullan headed off the crossbar a couple of minutes later, possibly tipped onto the bar by Ridgers and the follow up by Dylan Easton was blocked as the hosts made a bright start. Daniel Mackay brought Jamie MacDonald into action as Inverness came out of their defensive shell with fifteen minutes on the clock and Billy Mckay was also denied by the keeper moments later as he tried to clip the ball past MacDonald after being fed through the left channel by Aaron Doran, the keeper shutting him down quickly. Gullan took a knock in a clash with Ridgers and Nolan had some treatment soon after. Raith forced a series of corners and the opener came through Lewis Vaughan who shot home from distance outside the box bounced into the bottom corner, probably wrong footing Ridgers. Not a great half of football with meagre picking for both sides. Half Time: 1-0 It only took Inverness four minutes to do something about it after the interval when Jay Henderson levelled the game scoring from a tight angle beyond the six yard box after a brilliant cut back from Billy Mckay, Henderson rifling the ball across the keeper to round off a tremendous move. However Aidan Connolly put Raith back in front on the hour with a curling shot into the corner of the goal with Ridgers stranded, the ball hitting the side net as it beat the keeper low down. Scott Allardice made a welcome return to action replacing Lewis Hyde soon after with Nathan Shaw replacing Dan Mackay as we looked to rescue something from the game. Billy Mckay showed his defensive qualities clearing the ball off the line to prevent a third for Raith and substitute William Akio was denied by Ridgers as the hosts looked to kill off the game. Mckay preserved the record with a headed goal from Sean Welsh's free kick, timing his run to perfection to flick the ball behind MacDonald. Raith's Brown shot just over in injury time to ensure it ended all square at 2-2. Full Time: 2-2 MotM Billy Mckay not only scored his 92nd goal for Inverness and fifth since the turn of the year but also made a valuable contribution at the back clearing off the line. Jay Henderson scored his second goal in four games since coming in on loan from St Mirren and it was tremendous to have Scott Allardice back on the pitch after a lengthy lay-off through injury. A decent point given Raith's recent resurgence and another game on our road to recovery as well. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table after todays games, January 28th 2023 1. Queens Park 22 12 4 6 44 30 40 2. Ayr United 22 11 6 5 46 29 39 3. Dundee 21 11 5 5 36 25 38 4. Partick Thistle 22 10 3 9 42 37 33 5. Inverness CT 22 8 7 7 32 30 31 6. Morton 21 8 6 7 29 24 30 7. Raith Rovers 23 8 6 9 30 31 30 8. Cove Rangers 22 5 7 10 30 47 22 9. Arbroath 23 4 9 10 22 37 21 10. Hamilton Ac. 22 4 5 13 18 39 17 SATURDAY 28TH JANUARY 2023 Dundee 3-0 Queen's Park Morton 1-2 Arbroath Partick 0-1 Accies Raith Rovers 2-2 Inverness CT Date: 28/01/2023 Venue: Stark's Park, Kirkaldy Attendance: 2025 Referee: Scott Lambie Raith Rovers: 2 Manager: Ian Murray Lineup: MacDonald; Millen, Nolan, Lang, Dick, Brown, Spencer, Connolly, Vaughn (McBride 87), Easton (Stanton 77), Gullan (Akio 71) Subs (not used): Thomson; Ngwenya, McNeil, Mitchell, Masson, Frederikson Scorers: Vaughan (29), Connolly (61) Booked: Brown (58) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Duffy, Devine, Delaney (Harper 81), D Mackay (Shaw 66), Welsh, Hyde (Allardice 66), Henderson (L Nicolson 87), Doran (Boyd 81) B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Strachan, Cairns, Thompson Scorers: Henderson (49), B Mckay (83) Booked: Welsh (37), Duffy (54) Delaney (71) Sent Off: none a

  Maybe this Time   It seems like forever since Raith Rovers beat Inverness in a League Game. In fact the reality is almost longer than the legend. This Saturday Rovers get another chance to see if they can win all three points as we head to Stark's Park in a Championship encounter that is scheduled for a 3:00pm kick-off. We have an incredible near 23 year record to uphold. Can we continue or will depleted squads eventually take their toll? We missed out because of the weather last week in the Scottish Cup but Raith moved into the next round after beating Linlithgow Rose. in midweek. Mid table supremacy or staying clear of the relegation scrap is up for grabs: Bring it on! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info Queens Park Cup rescheduled Scottish Cup Draw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Raith Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 20 13 5 2 38 15 +23 Away 16 9 4 3 32 19 +13 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 36 22 9 5 70 34 +36 In all competitions it's an astonishing record to be honest. Only five defeats in thirty-six games. The last League defeat was on 28th October 2000. Last League defeat at Stark's Park was two months previous in August 2000. It's fair to say that Raith held the upper hand back then, but ooft, since then it's been mostly one way traffic. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Raith Rovers 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (H)   Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts   1. Queens Park 21 12 4 5 44 27 40 2. Ayr United 21 10 6 5 41 29 36 3. Dundee 20 10 5 5 33 25 35 4. Partick Thistle 21 10 3 8 42 36 33 5. Morton 20 8 6 6 28 22 30 6. Inverness CT 21 8 6 7 30 28 30 7. Raith Rovers 22 8 5 9 28 29 29 8. Cove Rangers 21 5 7 9 30 42 22 9. Arbroath 22 3 9 10 20 36 18 10. Hamilton Ac. 21 3 5 13 17 39 14 FRIDAY 27TH JANUARY (19:45) Cove R v Ayr Utd SATURDAY 28TH JANUARY (3:00) *Big game at Dens Park* Dundee v Queen's   Morton v Arbroath Partick v Accies Raith Rovers v Caley Jags   This Month Have we turned a corner or just steadied the ship? Two resounding wins scoring ten goals against Cove and Arbroath got us up and running in 2023. A home 0-0 draw against Queens Park followed but there was plenty to enthuse over in that game from both sides. The cup tie was postponed last week with the pitch still under the grip of winter. Nonetheless, a fairly productive start to the year with the prospect of more players returning from injury, so all is not lost yet. Raith have been busy. A 1-0 win over Accies was followed by a 1-1 draw with Dundee. There was the small matter of a Challenge cup win over Queens Park, albeit with much changed squads. A 2-2 draw at Cove thanks to a 92nd minute equaliser from Cove's Neill and a midweek Scottish Cup win at Linlithgow Rose has set them up nicely for this encounter. Raith are unbeaten in their last six Championship games since losing 2-0 to Ayr United at the beginning of December. Latest Team News We are slowly getting numbers back but have released George Oakley (who has subsequently joined Morton and has a tale to tell on another day) and Aly Riddle who had been involved with ICTFC since he was 12. Here's hoping the release of Oakley will signal the return of Austin Samuels or another couple of attacking options with Shane Sutherland, Tom Walsh and Roddy MacGregor still on the crocks list. Samuels, Allardice, Harper and Sutherland are allegedly getting closer to a welcome return. Defensively we are in a better place with Duffy, Devine and Delaney back in the squad. Scott Allardice and MacGregor would be the icing on the cake for this season with Robbie Deas still to come later. Here's Billy being a reluctant as ever to impart much info   Eck's Raith round-up:  Not much transfer activity at Stark's Park Out went defender Connor O'Riordan back to Crewe Alexandra after loan expired. Left winger Quin Coulson was transferred to Alloa and front man Kyle Connell returned to parent club Kilmarnock. Joining from Heart of Midlothian on a short loan until the end of the season is Central Midfield Player Scott McGill. 20 year old Scott has progressed through the Hearts youth system since the age of fourteen, and had previously worked under Manager Ian Murray while on a loan spell at Ardrieonians.   Scottish Cup tie information>>>    

Spiders draw a blank League Leaders Queens Park came North in fine form to face Inverness who had also started the new year well. Simon Murray had scored four in his last game against Cove; that's 18 for the season, and Billy Mckay had put three past them the week before. Who would come out on top today? All will be revealed at ten to five. A great afternoon for a game of football saw an even first quarter with half chances at both ends. Calum Ferrie denied Billy Mckay with a great save from a close range header as the hosts forced the pace of the game. Aaron Doran lashed a great opportunity to score on the half hour just wide of the target. Ridgers saved at the back post ten minutes before the break as the visitors began to show more intent. As half time approached the game was now more even. H/T 0-0. Ten minutes after the restart Danny Devine blocked Simon Murray and at the other end Ferrie saved well from Billy Mckay, he would save from Mckay again ten minutes later. Plenty of effort and plenty of half chances, but with 18 goals between them over the last two games, alas this one ends goalless. No major damage done with only Accies winning today, but maybe an opportunity missed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness had new signing, midfielder Ben Woods in the squad and Nathan Shaw returned after injury, but both started on the bench. Daniel Mackay was fit enough to start. Queens had made eight or nine changes to their Championship squad for the midweek Challenge Cup defeat by Raith Rovers, but it was business as usual for the Spiders as they looked to consolidate their lofty position in the Championship. Overall a draw was just about right with both clubs believing they could have won it. Henderson squandered an opportunity off a long ball out from Ridgers missing the opportunity to lob the keeper on the first bounce and there was a massive save from Ferrie to deny a Billy Mckay snap header from six yards. Dan Mackay was also denied by Ferrie with a full length diving save. Aaron Doran flashed a half volley wide from the right side of the box whilst Inverness were on top. Queens Park came back into the game before the break with Simon Murray prominent and Josh McPake was a constant threat on the wing. Davidson might have done better with his header at the back post but Ridgers got across his line to block his weak effort. McPake saw an inviting ball across the box cleared just before the interval. In the second half Ridgers thwarted Murray on a break forward as he shot from the right edge of the box. Ferrie saved with his legs to deny Billy Mckay as he burst into the box at the other end and Danny Devine produced a timely block to deny Queens. Ridgers pulled off another couple of good saves before the comedy moment arrived when Lee Kilday stood on the ball five yards out with the goal at his mercy, Kilday ending up on his arse instead of scoring. Mckay shot high into the keepers gloves from a great position on the edge of the box as play swung back and fore and Kilday produced another ground swallowing moment when he scooped the ball over from eight yards with the goal at his mercy after a defensive lapse. Lewis Nicolson had the final half chance when his volley from twenty yards brought out another fine save from Ferrie. Fitting maybe the last close thing was dealt with by a goalkeeper as both on display were in fine form to deny high scoring strikers at both ends. Like Billy Mckay, Simon Murray is in fine scoring form. Mckay covered every blade of grass and Murray was quick to offload when an opportunity came along. Different style of strikers, but both know where the goals are. Ridgers and Ferrie were imperious and Devine, McPake and Boateng the pick of the rest. All to do again next week in the Scottish Cup at the same venue. From Queens Park TV Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts TABLE AFTER TODAYS GAMES (Dundee v Partick postponed) 1. Queens Park 21 12 4 5 44 27 40 2. Ayr United 21 10 6 5 41 29 36 3. Dundee 20 10 5 5 33 25 35 4. Partick Thistle 21 10 3 8 42 36 33 5. Morton 20 8 6 6 28 22 30 6. Inverness CT 21 8 6 7 30 28 30 7. Raith Rovers 22 8 5 9 28 29 29 8. Cove Rangers 21 5 7 9 30 42 22 9. Arbroath 22 3 9 10 20 36 18 10. Hamilton Ac. 21 3 5 13 17 39 14 Date: 14/01/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2038 Referee: Steven McLean Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Duffy, Devine, Delaney, Henderson (L Nicolson 83), Welsh, Hyde (Boyd 71), Doran (Woods 71), D Mackay (Shaw 45), B Mckay (Oakley 80) Subs (not used): C Mackay, Strachan, Thompson, Cairns Scorers: none Booked: Delaney (21), Welsh (56) Sent Off: none Queens Park : 0 Manager: Owen Coyle Lineup: Ferrie; Davidson, Kilday, Fox, Robson, Thomas, Thomson, Savoury, Boateng, McPake (Jarrett 67), Murray Subs (not used): Heraghty; Naismith, Longridge, Biggar, Williamson, Healy, Bannon, Eze Scorers: none Booked: Kilday (50) Sent Off: none a

Spiders are coming High Scoring League Leaders Queens Park come North on Saturday looking to keep ahead of the chasing pack as they face a recently revitalised Caley Thistle in an eagerly awaited cinch Championship encounter. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:00pm. We can look forward to this one with a bit more optimism after two high scoring wins since the turn of the year has breathed some new life into the struggling Caley Jags and their ailing fans. However this is a different beast we face after the relatively easy time we had against Cove and Arbroath. Queens themselves are scoring for fun and will be a massive test for us to see if we have really turned the corner or are we still a long way short of the finished article. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket info Official Preview New Signing Ben Woods ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Queens Park Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 10 4 4 2 15 12 +3 Away 7 5 0 2 14 10 +4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 17 9 4 4 29 22 +7 We've not seen much of Queens park over recent years, but this new improved version are proving to be quite a handful. This is just the third meeting since 2010 when we won 3 - 0 in a League Cup fixture in Inverness. Last 10 Competitive Meetings. First two are from this season, the rest start at 2010 backwards. 1 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) We drew the first fixture 1 - 1 at the Caledonian Stadium this season. Here's the CTO summary from that game in July: Queens make their point: Queens 39 year hiatus from this tier of football ended as they ventured into the Championship, and it all started well when Jake Davidson opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute. In a half of many chances, Bily Mckay levelled the score a minute before the interval. That's how it stood until the final whistle with neither side able to make the breakthrough despite numerous opportunities at both ends thanks to Callum Ferrie and Mark Ridgers and some wayward finishing. Queens Park showing they are not here just to make up the numbers and were good value for their point. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Queens Park 20 12 3 5 44 27 39 2. Ayr United 20 10 5 5 39 27 35 3. Dundee 20 10 5 5 33 25 35 4. Partick Thistle 21 10 3 8 42 36 33 5. Morton 19 8 6 5 28 21 30 6. Inverness CT 20 8 5 7 30 28 29 7. Raith Rovers 21 8 4 9 26 27 28 8. Cove Rangers 20 5 6 9 28 40 21 9. Arbroath 21 3 8 10 18 34 17 10. Hamilton Ac. 20 2 5 13 16 39 11 SATURDAY 14TH JANUARY (all 3:00pm) Ayr United v Arbroath Cove Rangers v Raith Rovers Dundee v Partick Accies v Morton Inverness CT v Queens Park Last Time Out Our last two games since the turn of the year saw us bang in an unprecedented of late ten goals. Six against Cove was followed by four at Arbroath. Billy Mckay scored a hat-trick against Cove and one at Arbroath to put him on 90 goals. Few would bet against him reaching Dennis Wyness' all time record of 102. Queens Park also stuffed six past Cove and beat Partick Thistle 2-0 in 2023. They also played Raith Rovers in the Challenge Cup but went down 1-0 to a late goal from Rovers. I wouldn't read too much into that result, they have bigger fish to fry. Queens are the highest scoring team in the League but they are defensively similar to Inverness. Latest Team News Nathan Shaw will return to the squad after injury and Daniel Mackay should be fit enough after taking a knock at Arbroath. Max Ram will require another couple of weeks after being injured at Cove. New signing, midfielder Ben Woods, is available for selection tomorrow. Here's birthday boy Zak Delaney Inverness Caledonian Thistle are delighted to announce the signing of English midfielder Ben Woods on a deal until the end of the season. Woods, 20 years-old, spent part of his youth career at Manchester United’s Academy signing for them at age 9 and playing there until he was 16 years-old which included having been called up for England at age 15, before moving to fellow Premiership Academy Burnley at 16 years-old. Ben left the Clarets 4 years later in 2022. Welcome aboard Ben

Smokies Smoked Both clubs had big wins in the first games of 2023 and it was Inverness that continued in style with a 4-1 win at Gayfield. Billy Mckay, who scored a hat-trick last week, opened the scoring at the back post in the ninth minute but Ben El-Mhanni levelled fifteen minutes later when he slotted into the bottom corner. Jay Henderson put us ahead just before the break as he lifted a shot high into the net from inside the box. Twenty minutes into the second half Dan Mackay shot into the bottom corner to double our advantage. Substitute Lewis Nicolson concluded the scoring in the 86th minute with a header from sub Steven Boyd's cross. Great win on the road for the Caley Jags that moves us into sixth place in the table, eleven points behind table toppers Queens Park who we face next week. Great start to 2023 for the Caley Jags with two big wins on the bounce. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wallace Duffy returned to the starting XI after suspension and Zak Delaney showed no adverse reaction to continue at left back. Jay Henderson played his second game for the club. No other returnees and Max Ram looks to have been added to the still extensive injury list. Arbroath had four new signings in the squad with Ben El-Mhannie, Balde and Adarkwa all starting. Arbroath got the game underway but it was the visitors that took an early lead. Good work by Lewis Hyde down the right and his low cross saw Dan Mackay take a swipe at the ball. He sclaffed it somewhat but one again it was poacher extraordinaire Billy Mckay who reacted best to get to the ball at the back post to knock it in from less than a yard. Great start for the visitors. Sean Ardarkwa cut in from the left but his curling shot from the edge of the box dipped just over the bar. However the hosts were level when the tidy Yasin Ben El-Mhannie met a low João Baldé cross into the box to slot home from around twelve yards, his first goal for Arbroath after two great assists last week against Dundee. Inverness almost regained the lead immediately but for Thomas O'Brien with a goal line clearance from Billy Mckay. Five minutes before the interval the bustling Ardarkwa shot just wide across the face of Ridgers' goal with the keeper scrambling across his line to cover his far post. Just on the break Jay Henderson opened his Caley Jags account after a corner fell to him around the penalty spot. It appears that his knee made contact with the ball and it lifted into the top of the net above the floundering defenders. Maybe Inverness could consider themselves slightly fortunate to go in ahead at the interval, but thems the breaks. HALF TIME: 1-2 After half time it was encouraging to see Inverness looking to build on their first half advantage. Sean Welsh fired a free kick at Gaston, the keeper gathering the curling ball at the second attempt. Gaston did brilliantly to deny Billy Mckay from six yards after Aaron Doran flashed a low ball into the box from the right side. From the resultant corner, Gaston again did brilliantly to deny Mckay as tried to divert Sean Welsh's header into the net, the keeper clawing the header away from danger. Inverness looked likely to run away with the game early in the second half. Dan Mackay gave us the cushion to do just that as he slotted home a through ball from Welsh after we broke play up in the right midfield area. Unfortunately Mackay was replaced by Lewis Nicolson with fifteen minutes remaining after taking a sore one, hopefully just bruising as hinted at by Billy Dodds after the game. Ben El-Mhannie drilled a shot just the wrong side of the post as Arbroath tried to respond, but it was a bit of too little too late and Aaron Doran did well down the left before drilling a dangerous low cross into the box that was heading for a tap-in before a defender sliced it over his own bar. The last goal was the icing on the cake when substitute Lewis Nicolson nudged a header back across the six yard box and into an unguarded net. Mckay and then Steven Boyd combined to set up the chance which Lewis executed exquisitely, his second goal for the club enjoyed muchly by the 143 away fans at Gayfield. FULL TIME: 1-4 Downside of this win was another injury for Dan Mackay. Great to see Jay Henderson and Lewis Nicolson getting amongst the goals and another for Billy Mckay as he chases Dennis Wyness' scoring record of 102 goals. Billy is now on 91. Arbroath is never an easy place to get a win, never mind a big one, we'll take that. Date: 07/01/2023 Venue: Gayfield, Arbroath Attendance: 1803 Referee: Gavin Duncan Arbroath: 1 Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Gaston; Oakley (Linn 67), Bitsindou (Hilson 67), O'Brien, Hamilton, Ben El-Mhanni (Dow 77), Mckenna, Gold (Little 45), Balde, Stewart, Adarkwa Subs (not used): Gill; Hoti, Allan Scorers: El-Mhanni (26) Booked: Gold (35), Hamilton (55) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 4 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Duffy, Devine, Delaney (Strachan 88), D Mackay (A Nicolson 75), Welsh, Hyde, Doran (Boyd 84), Henderson (Thompson 88), B Mckay (Oakley 88) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Cairns Scorers: B Mckay (9) Henderson (45), D Mackay (65), L Nicolson (86) Booked: Devine (16), Duffy (33), Henderson (61), Sent Off: none a

Happy New Year Inverness began 2023 with a crushing win against Cove. Two first half strikes from Billy Mckay and one from Danny Devine countered the opening goal from Jack Sanders. Two quickfire own goals within five minutes of the restart put the hosts 5-1 ahead. Mckay notched his hat-trick from close range as we ran away with the game. Big win to start the year, just what we needed. Jay Henderson started in his first game for the Caley Jags after signing on loan for the rest of the season. Zak Delaney returned after injury but he was the only returnee with a sparse bench, Oakley and Boyd were the only senior outfield players on it with returning loan youngsters. Gilmour and Logan missed out for Cove who had Iain Vigurs on the bench. After a minutes silence for the legend that was Pele, the game got underway on a crisp afternoon in the Highlands. Billy Mckay struck the post in the first minute from twenty yards. Megginson flicked a header just over five minutes later and Longstaff shot over after fifteen minutes as Cove got to grips with the pace of the game. Doran has a shot blocked by McKenzie and Billy Mckay put the rebound just wide. Hyde then saw McKenzie block with his legs as Mckay put him through on goal. Jack Sanders headed in the opener after twenty two minutes. Doran went close soon after, his deflected shot sliding past for a fruitless corner. Just after the half hour Billy Mckay drew Inverness level with a diving header from six yards after a Sean Welsh cross. Danny Devine put Inverness ahead five minutes before the break with a half volley into the bottom corner, Sean Welsh again the provider. A minute before the half time whistle, it was 3-1 when Billy Mckay netted from the spot after hand ball by Jack Sanders. Just after the interval a Dan Mackay shot/cross ended up in the net via Kyle McClelland. It's raining own goals now and Scott Ross was next to put through his own net. Mark Ridgers denied Fraser Fyvie and Luis Longstaff with excellent saves and Dan Mackay went close on the hour. Billy got his hat-trick and Dan Mackay went close to number seven. The three returning youngsters came on for the final ten minutes and more followed as we saw out the game. Who saw that coming??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not many saw that result coming, probably not even Billy Dodds but it's a badly needed flying start to 2023. Six goals and a hat-trick for the evergreen Billy Mckay. As much as we have criticised the team on here, surely nobody can have any complaints after that result, our biggest of the season. Good to see Mark Ridgers back between the sticks and Zak Delaney back after injury. Billy Mckay, poacher extraordinaire back to his best. That's his fourth Hat-Trick for the Caley Jags. What's not to like! Happy Days are here again... Hat-Trick Hero... it's my ball All the Goals Date: 02/01/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2052 Referee: Craig Napier Inverness CT: 6 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Ram (Strachan 85), Devine, Delaney, Doran (Nicolson 81), Welsh, Hyde, D Mackay (Boyd 73), Henderson (Thompson 81), B Mckay (Cairns 81) Subs (not used): C Mackay; L Nicolson, Oakley Scorers: Mckay (32, 44 pen, 64), Devine (40), McClelland (50 og) Ross (52 og) Booked: none Sent Off: none Cove Rangers: 1 Manager: Jim McInally Lineup: McKenzie; Ross, Sanders, Reynolds (McClelland 45), Scully, Longstaff, Yule, McIntosh, Fyvie, McDonagh (Masson 34), Megginson Subs (not used): Gourlay; Towler, Vigurs, Leitch, Dunne Scorers: Sanders (22) Booked: Ross (33), Sanders (44), Scully (69) Sent Off: none a

Arbroath Test   Inverness and Arbroath started 2023 with a bang, something's got to give as the New Year big hitters collide at Gayfield on Saturday. Both sides had been struggling to build anything before Xmas but found their goal scoring boots in the New Year games. Inverness put six past Cove Rangers and Arbroath had a stunning 4-2 win at League leaders Dundee. Plenty of changes at Arbroath for Inverness to contend with, however Dick and Dom are still going strong at the helm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bus Info Arbroath Audio available ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Arbroath Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 23 16 4 3 57 19 +38 Away 21 9 6 6 26 22 +4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 44 25 10 9 83 41 +42 Inverness shading the away fixtures but the games have generally been tight affairs in recent years apart from a rogue 3 - 0 win for the Caley Jags in March 2022. No scoring draw anyone? Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath - Honours even over last seven meetings 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 3 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) Last away win at Arbroath was a 1 - 0 win back in July 2021 when Shane Sutherland was the difference between the sides in a tight game on a difficult day for football. CTO summary: 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. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts   1. Queens Park 19 11 3 5 38 27 36 2. Dundee 19 10 4 5 32 24 34 3. Ayr United 19 9 5 5 38 27 32 4. Morton 18 8 6 4 27 19 30 5. Partick Thistle 20 9 3 8 40 35 30 6. Raith Rovers 20 8 3 9 25 26 27 7. Inverness CT 19 7 5 7 26 27 26 8. Cove Rangers 19 5 6 8 28 34 21 9. Arbroath 20 3 8 9 17 30 17 10. Hamilton Ac. 19 2 5 12 16 38 11   FRIDAY 6TH JANUARY (7:45pm) Raith Rovers v Dundee Fc SATURDAY 7TH JANUARY (3:00pm)   Arbroath v Inverness Ayr United v Hamilton     Cove R v Queen's     Partick v Morton Meetings this season It's the third meeting this season and both previous games had ended all square. No goals back in August in the first fixture and a 1 - 1 draw back at the Caledonian Stadium in November thanks to goals from Nathan Shaw and Kieran Shanks. Mark Ridgers had been benched after the Morton gubbing as we entered our slump. Both sides have only one win in their last six games, but what wins they were. Six of the best including a Billy Mckay hat-trick, his fourth for the Caley Jags, with Devine and a couple of og's. Arbroath stung Dundee with four away from home for the Smokies at Dens Park. McKenna, Hamilton, O'Brien and Hilson put ten man Dundee to the sword and toppled them off their lofty perch. Latest Team News Great to see Mark Ridgers back between the sticks against Cove. Hopefully that's the end of the Ridgers Rift. Zak Delaney returned from injury and Sean Welsh played again but no sign of more recent casualties like Nathan Shaw, Cammy Harper. Roddy MacGrgor or Austin Samuels. Jay Henderson fitted in well on his debut and looks to be an asset and we have also taken young loan players back on board. Ryan Barrett has left the building after his loan deal ended. Wallace Duffy should be available for selection after his suspension last week.       Arbroath  OUT x4: Lot of changes at Arbroath as they try to save their season. Kareem Isiaka has left Arbroath after his loan deal expired and Kieran Shanks has gone on loan to Peterhead with Ryan Dow moving in the opposite direction. Daniel Fosu has left and Mason Hancock has returned to Aberdeen with a knee injury that has ended his season.  IN x4: Yasin Ben El-Mhanni made his debut against Dundee and ran the show in that stunning away win and has plenty of quality. Former West Ham and QPR striker Sean Adarkwa is another new to the Smokies as is Joao Balde coming in from Hibernian.  As noted above, the experienced Ryan Dow comes in from Peterhead on an 18 month deal. Midfielder Keaghan Jacobs is in rehab after a knee operation.