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  1. 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).
  2. 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
  3. 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.
  4. 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
  5. 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.
  6. 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
  7.   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.
  8. 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
  9.   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>>>    
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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.          
  15. Is Dodds the Man 4 the Job Cove first foot the Caledonian Stadium on 2nd January with many fans questioning whether Billy Dodds should still be in charge as we head into 2023 in a massive slump and slide towards the bottom end of the table. Yes there has been an incredible amount of injuries to contend with, but the majority of the support are questioning his ability to turn things around. It can't be an easy task trying to run a team on a shoestring but it's the nature of the beast, and has been for some time. Money does not affect the style of play though and that is a major concern with many citing the current team as one of the worst since we joined the leagues back in 1994. Has he lost the dressing room? The feud with Ridgers? He was removed at half time against Morton. What now for Cammy Mackay who shipped five at Partick? For Dodds' sake, I hope we can get a few players back as soon as possible, otherwise his position will become untenable, a word that is usually followed by news of a new manager. And what of Robbo? Is that a burden the club can do without? Come to think of it, maybe a complete clear out is the only answer. Have a good New Year when it comes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket info Jay Henderson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Only six competitive meetings v Cove 1 - 0 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 3 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (H) Recent form table over last six games, horrendous stuff and shipping goals like nobody's business. Overall Home Away Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Dundee 6 5 1 0 11 4 2 0 0 3 0 3 1 0 8 4 +7 16 2. Queens Park 6 4 1 1 17 8 2 1 0 8 3 2 0 1 9 5 +9 13 3. Morton 6 3 3 0 12 6 2 0 0 6 1 1 3 0 6 5 +6 12 4. Partick Thistle 6 3 1 2 15 9 3 0 1 13 6 0 1 1 2 3 +6 10 5. Cove Rangers 6 2 3 1 11 8 2 1 1 6 3 0 2 0 5 5 +3 9 6. Ayr United 6 2 2 2 10 10 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 7 7 0 8 7. Raith Rovers 6 1 2 3 8 13 1 2 1 8 9 0 0 2 0 4 -5 5 8. Arbroath 6 0 4 2 5 11 0 2 1 3 6 0 2 1 2 5 -6 4 9. Inverness CT 6 0 2 4 5 15 0 2 1 3 4 0 0 3 2 11 -10 2 10. Hamilton Ac. 6 0 1 5 7 17 0 1 1 6 7 0 0 4 1 10 -10 1 We opened our home League games with a 4 - 1 win over newly promoted Cove Rangers back in the middle of August. Austin Powers: Man of Mystery Goals: Austin Samuels scored twice as Inverness registered their first win of the Championship this season. Aaron Doran and substitute Nathan Shaw opened their accounts with Robbie Leitch tapping in for Cove just after the interval. An ultimately comfortable win for the hosts that bumps them up the table into second spot behind Dundee. Sadly we have been found out since then and are now just two points above Cove in 7th place on 23 points. We also surprisingly beat them 1 - 0 at Balmoral Park against the run of play as we started to struggle with injuries but still picked up points somehow. Cove kept at Bay: Our first visit to Balmoral Park on League business ended with a hard fought win, our fifth on the bounce. Inverness opened the scoring after twenty minutes through Steven Boyd, his first of the season. However Roddy MacGregor was helped off the pitch after being injured in the build up to that goal. Allardice stayed in the dressing room at the interval to be replaced by Lewis Hyde. Ridgers did well to deny Cove after the break and right at the end Cove were reduced to ten men as McIntosh was sent off. Still joint top as Partick also win with Dundee and Morton leading the chasing pack. That win at Balmoral left us joint top with Partick on 20 points. Dundee were three points further back but they now top the table on 34 points. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Current table at the end of 2022 1. Dundee 18 10 4 4 30 20 34 2. Queens Park 18 10 3 5 36 27 33 3. Ayr United 19 9 5 5 38 27 32 4. Morton 18 8 6 4 27 19 30 5. Partick Thistle 19 9 3 7 40 33 30 6. Raith Rovers 19 7 3 9 24 26 24 7. Inverness CT 18 6 5 7 20 26 23 8. Cove Rangers 18 5 6 7 27 28 21 9. Arbroath 19 2 8 9 13 28 14 10. Hamilton Ac. 18 2 5 11 16 37 11 MONDAY 2ND JANUARY - All 3:00pm Dundee v Arbroath Hamilton v Raith Rovers Morton v Ayr United Queen's v Partick Thistle Caley Jags v Cove Rangers Latest Team News Your guess is as good as mine??? Its two steps forward and three steps back on the injury front. One man who will be there: 'We have signed St Mirren winger Jay Henderson on loan until the end of the season'. Something positive I suppose. We have also recalled a raft of youngsters who were out on loan. Here's Billy Dodds to tell us all about it. For Cove: Midfielder Charlie Gilmour is out for a couple of months and Shay Logan has been missing recently through injury.
  16. Firhill for Chills It's not a TV spectacular for us on Friday night as we venture down to the big smoke after the freeze to take on Partick Thistle at Firhill. All Championship games this week are to be played on Friday evening at 7:45pm with our game at Firhill your preferred Xmas viewing if you stream it from Partick TV, or maybe not given our TV horror earlier in the season when Partick romped home 4-1. We had last weekend off after New Douglas park was deemed unplayable whilst Partick beat Ayr 3-2 to re-ignite their failing season. Partick are fifth on 27 points and we slipped to seventh on 23 points with Raith jumping above us after drawing with Arbroath. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info Partick TV Carnihan & Nicolson Half season tickets on sale now MD CCST Orth MFSEM FRCS ICTFC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Head 2 Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 24 11 6 7 38 33 +5 Away 23 6 6 11 24 34 -10 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 47 17 12 18 62 67 -5 Home advantage historically denotes the winner in these fixtures and we tend to find Firhill a difficult place to pick up wins with only six in twenty-three attempts. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Partick Thistle 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) 1 - 3 (H) Here's our overview from our last visit to Firhill Firhill Flops: 1 - 4 A Brian Graham double gave Partick a first half lead. For the first the defenders got the wrong side of him, the second a gift from the Inverness defence with a loose pass across the box. It was a lacklustre performance from the visitors in the first forty-five with Billy Mckay having the best effort after an Aaron Dorran lay off, but David Mitchell was equal to the shot to deny the striker from twelve yards. We almost gifted a third early in the second half with a short header back, but Ridgers stood tall to deny Graham his hat-trick. A third did come from the spot after Carson was alleged to have brought down his man. Kevin Holt kept his cool to slot home. Anton Dowds bulleted a header home with five minutes left to add to our miserable night. George Oakley powerfully headed a consolation in time added on, but that won't detract from the rubbish on show tonight. Embarrassing night for the Caley Jags, and on national TV too! Current form over the last six games Partick beat League leaders Ayr 3-2 last Saturday Overall Home Away Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Dundee 6 4 2 0 9 4 2 1 0 3 0 2 1 0 6 4 +5 14 2. Queens Park 6 4 1 1 17 7 2 1 0 8 3 2 0 1 9 4 +10 13 3. Morton 6 3 3 0 10 4 2 0 0 6 1 1 3 0 4 3 +6 12 4. Ayr United 6 3 2 1 12 8 1 1 0 3 1 2 1 1 9 7 +4 11 5. Cove Rangers 6 1 4 1 11 10 1 1 1 4 3 0 3 0 7 7 +1 7 6. Partick Thistle 6 2 1 3 10 11 2 0 1 8 5 0 1 2 2 6 -1 7 7. Raith Rovers 6 2 1 3 9 11 2 1 1 9 7 0 0 2 0 4 -2 7 8. Arbroath 6 0 4 2 4 9 0 2 1 2 4 0 2 1 2 5 -5 4 9. Inverness CT 6 0 3 3 5 11 0 3 1 4 5 0 0 2 1 6 -6 3 10. Hamilton Ac. 6 0 1 5 7 16 0 1 1 6 7 0 0 4 1 9 -9 1 All games FRIDAY 23RD DECEMBER 7:45pm Arbroath v Queen's Ayr Utd v Dundee Cove R v Accies Rovers v Morton Partick Th v Inverness CT We did beat Partick last time out at the Caledonian Stadium on 7th October He scores when he wants: 1 - 0 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. That win put us joint top. A couple of weeks later it all went tits up and we now have no wins in our last 7 League games. Latest Team News We have had an extra week to get more bodies back, but given the seriousness of most of our injuries the extra time off is like a drop in the ocean. The Ridgers rift saw Mark playing with the youngsters at Accies a couple of weeks ago. Our last meaningful game was on the 3rd of December when we went down at home to Dundee 0 - 1. Bily Mckay and Sean Welsh missed that one but I would imagine they might be available for this one. If not, why not! This isn't the team lines for the Dundee game, it's just the players that were unavailable: Ridgers, Deas, Delaney, Welsh, Allardice, MacGregor, Walsh, Sutherland, Mckay, Samuels. There may be others, the list is inexhaustible. Off the Park: Panos Thomas: MD, CCST Orth, MFSEM, FRCS as a Director of ICTFC. It's not an anagram, it's our new director. Eck's Partick peek: Reveals nothing new happening at Firhill. They did beat Ayr last week with goals from Milne, Graham and Lawless in an entertaining five goal encounter. Harry Milne beginning to attract a bit of attention. Of course Brian Graham likes a goal against the Caley Jags. As normal, Partick will have a full bench to pick from with the likes of Dowds, Holt and Mullen starting on the bench last week. Off the Park: BBC Sport 14th December: Former Glasgow Rocks owner Duncan Smillie has been confirmed as strife-torn Partick Thistle's new chairman. Chair Jacqui Low and six directors resigned last week after recent fan protests followed the Partick Thistle FC Trust becoming majority shareholder. Smillie was the only director not to resign and has become interim chair until the end of the season. Not just us that are in some turmoil then!
  17. Xmas Grinch's Inverness went to Glasgow for their pre-Xmas fare looking for three points for their Xmas stocking. In the end we were stuffed like Turkeys and got our chestnuts roasted. We looked like Turkeys in the first half as Partick knocked in two simple goals through Brian Graham and Kyle Turner. Meanwhile Inverness were at sixes and sevens as they tried to stem the flow without success whilst failing to make an attacking contribution to the game. After the interval McKinnon and Muirhead added early goals like the Grinch to completely ruin Xmas for the Highland folk. Doran nicked a consolation but Mullen added a fifth immediately. To add insult to injury, Duffy was red carded, probably too embarrassed to wait until the end. A few more should have walked with him. Embarrassing stuff from Inverness. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Billy Dodds was still without a squad of injured players as we went to Firhill on the Friday before Xmas hoping for a wee present from the West End. Sean Welsh, Zak Delaney and Billy Mckay returned after injury but Danny Devine, Cammy Harper and Nathan Shaw were now missing and only five on the bench including Mark Ridgers who is still on the naughty boy step. Sounds like plenty of work for our new director, alphabet man, to contend with. For Partick, Scott Tiffoney has been out for a couple of months and has been missed as Partick floundered. Still, a strong squad with a full bench for the Maryhill Magyars. Inverness were in their red'nblack away strip for this one as Partick kicked off in a mostly yellow kit. There appeared to be a false dawn following good pressing by the visitors in the opening exchanges but it was Partick that forced the first corner where Brian Graham snatched at his opportunity and hit it wide into the side net at the back post. That was just a warning. Who else but Brian Graham tapped in the opener after an Aiden Fitzpatrick cross picked him out inside the six yard box. All too easy for the big striker. Almost a second from a similar break down the left five minutes later but the defence scrambled it clear. It had been all Partick since the opening five minutes as Inverness failed miserably to build anything whatsoever, totally devoid of any attacking intent. As if by magic, Dan Mackay managed to get a cross into the middle where Billy Mckay spun but his shot from the edge of the box was weak and easily gathered by Sneddon. Dan Mackay was looking our man most likely to succeed with the limited time he was having on the ball, but his moments were fleeting to say the least. The replica second goal came from Kyle Turner after a tremendous diagonal ball from Lawless found Harry Milne whose low cross was turned into the net by Turner five minutes before the interval. HALF TIME: 2-0 Aaron Doran came on at the interval replacing the ineffective Steven Boyd. Mind you, they were all ineffective, or maybe just defective. Max Ram continued where he left off in the first half, in fact he went one better picking out absolutely nobody for a throw in to Partick out of nothing. Men against boys as Partick scored a third after Graham unselfishly knocked down a ball for Cole McKinnon to drill home from fifteen yards. FFS, a fourth followed minutes later after a corner was met early by Muirhead at the near post and planted firmly behind the keeper to surely loosen the shoogly peg holding Dodds' coat. We have been an absolute shambles for seventy minutes here and it will get worse. We got a consolation goal from Aaron Doran but that just angered Partick who went up the park and scored a fifth goal through Danny Mullen moments later. Wallace Duffy saw red when he tugged back a player bursting forward. Just what we needed on top of all our injuries. To be honest it could have been more as we failed to participate in the game. A late goalline clearance denied Partick number six as the game petered out. As it was, that was our heaviest defeat by Partick Thistle who didn't need to be anything other than competent. FULL TIME: 5-1 Match Reaction from Alsy: ICTFC playing like a team assembled from random characters found in the car park 20 minutes before kick off. What’s going on here? From CTO: 5-1 is embarrassing, and now down to 10 men. Something is beyond wrong. It can’t all be blamed on injury and bad luck, surely it is managements job to manage and motivate ???? That’s what’s lacking Here's a cutting assessment from the Immortal Howden Ender Any match report simply has to focus on the 109 supporters who had to suffer this total embarrassment. Even if 10-20% left before the final whistle which in itself is a rarity and basically sums the whole night up. I did stay until the final whistle just to ensure that I had witnessed the worst ICT performance ever. I usually include comments on the tactics and the formation but I couldn’t suss out who was playing where and what their roles were. The main one to confuse me was Carson as he appeared to be just roaming around the midfield area and rarely where the play was taking place. Welsh meanwhile was the man looking for the ball to be played to him but usually lobbed the ball forward to Billy McKay surrounded by four defenders!! It may be cruel but Ridgers is the biggest miss of the lot. MacKay looks to have lost all his confidence and that evidently affects the defence in front of him. And add to that the system of holding a line is unknown as is pressing the ball. Who scouted Barrett who makes Djebi-Zadi look like Carlos Alberto. Duffy was unfortunate to get a red but probably looked at it as a blessing. Billy McKay tried but he simply looks fed up as does Dan. He intermittently held his hamstring and he must have been hoping that it will keep him out for a few weeks. And why were our players slipping so often and why was Oakley kept on the bench and why were there more of a smattering of the kids who apparently did us proud at Hamilton. At least Doran showed glimpses of his old self. I am going to stop as I could go on and on. It is absolutely obvious that Dodds has lost the dressing room and the support. Sure there are injuries but selection and tactics are non existent. We will survive but is that enough? It may cost to get rid of Dodds and his supporters but a deal has to be done sooner than later as the support will surely dwindle. To me seeing fellow supporters and the social aspect is what will keep me going at the moment. At this time of year Dodds is Ebenezer Scrooge and we need a Jacob Marley to haunt him as soon as possible, OR, we will all be stuffed. Merry Christmas to you all - well apart from?? From CTO: I think it's not unreasonable to say that was probably the weakest starting XI the club has ever put on the field (recent Hamilton game aside) and I'm including 3rd division days here. A number of these guys are simply not professional footballers, and these are Dodds' signings. 9-1 on aggregate from our two visits to Firhill this season is quite the statistic yet Gardiner and Co. will do nothing. The club is in terminal decline and we need radical change NOW! Cringe... Date: 23/12/2022 Venue: Firhill, Partick Attendance: 2243 Referee: Peter Stuart Partick Thistle: 5 Manager: Ian McCall Lineup: Sneddon; McMillan (Holt 62), Brownlie, Muirhead, Milne (MacKenzie 68), Turner, Bannigan, McKinnon, Lawless (Mullen 68), Graham (Weston 80), Fitzpatrick (Lyon 79) Subs (not used): Mitchell; Smith, Stanway, Dowds Scorers: Graham (16), Turner (39), McKinnon (53), Muirhead (57), Mullen (74) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; Barrett, Duffy, Ram, Delaney, Boyd (Doran 45), Welsh, Carson, Hyde (Strachan 80), D Mackay, B Mckay Subs (not used): Ridgers; Bray, Oakley Scorers: Doran (73) Booked: none Sent Off: Duffy (77) a
  18. Firhill for Chills It's not a TV spectacular for us on Friday night as we venture down to the big smoke after the freeze to take on Partick Thistle at Firhill. All Championship games this week are to be played on Friday evening at 7:45pm with our game at Firhill your preferred Xmas viewing if you stream it from Partick TV, or maybe not given our TV horror earlier in the season when Partick romped home 4-1. We had last weekend off after New Douglas park was deemed unplayable whilst Partick beat Ayr 3-2 to re-ignite their failing season. Partick are fifth on 27 points and we slipped to seventh on 23 points with Raith jumping above us after drawing with Arbroath. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info Partick TV Carnihan & Nicolson Half season tickets on sale now MD CCST Orth MFSEM FRCS ICTFC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Head 2 Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 24 11 6 7 38 33 +5 Away 23 6 6 11 24 34 -10 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 47 17 12 18 62 67 -5 Home advantage historically denotes the winner in these fixtures and we tend to find Firhill a difficult place to pick up wins with only six in twenty-three attempts. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Partick Thistle 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) 1 - 3 (H) Here's our overview from our last visit to Firhill Firhill Flops: 1 - 4 A Brian Graham double gave Partick a first half lead. For the first the defenders got the wrong side of him, the second a gift from the Inverness defence with a loose pass across the box. It was a lacklustre performance from the visitors in the first forty-five with Billy Mckay having the best effort after an Aaron Dorran lay off, but David Mitchell was equal to the shot to deny the striker from twelve yards. We almost gifted a third early in the second half with a short header back, but Ridgers stood tall to deny Graham his hat-trick. A third did come from the spot after Carson was alleged to have brought down his man. Kevin Holt kept his cool to slot home. Anton Dowds bulleted a header home with five minutes left to add to our miserable night. George Oakley powerfully headed a consolation in time added on, but that won't detract from the rubbish on show tonight. Embarrassing night for the Caley Jags, and on national TV too! Current form over the last six games Partick beat League leaders Ayr 3-2 last Saturday Overall Home Away Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Dundee 6 4 2 0 9 4 2 1 0 3 0 2 1 0 6 4 +5 14 2. Queens Park 6 4 1 1 17 7 2 1 0 8 3 2 0 1 9 4 +10 13 3. Morton 6 3 3 0 10 4 2 0 0 6 1 1 3 0 4 3 +6 12 4. Ayr United 6 3 2 1 12 8 1 1 0 3 1 2 1 1 9 7 +4 11 5. Cove Rangers 6 1 4 1 11 10 1 1 1 4 3 0 3 0 7 7 +1 7 6. Partick Thistle 6 2 1 3 10 11 2 0 1 8 5 0 1 2 2 6 -1 7 7. Raith Rovers 6 2 1 3 9 11 2 1 1 9 7 0 0 2 0 4 -2 7 8. Arbroath 6 0 4 2 4 9 0 2 1 2 4 0 2 1 2 5 -5 4 9. Inverness CT 6 0 3 3 5 11 0 3 1 4 5 0 0 2 1 6 -6 3 10. Hamilton Ac. 6 0 1 5 7 16 0 1 1 6 7 0 0 4 1 9 -9 1 All games FRIDAY 23RD DECEMBER 7:45pm Arbroath v Queen's Ayr Utd v Dundee Cove R v Accies Rovers v Morton Partick Th v Inverness CT We did beat Partick last time out at the Caledonian Stadium on 7th October He scores when he wants: 1 - 0 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. That win put us joint top. A couple of weeks later it all went tits up and we now have no wins in our last 7 League games. Latest Team News We have had an extra week to get more bodies back, but given the seriousness of most of our injuries the extra time off is like a drop in the ocean. The Ridgers rift saw Mark playing with the youngsters at Accies a couple of weeks ago. Our last meaningful game was on the 3rd of December when we went down at home to Dundee 0 - 1. Bily Mckay and Sean Welsh missed that one but I would imagine they might be available for this one. If not, why not! This isn't the team lines for the Dundee game, it's just the players that were unavailable: Ridgers, Deas, Delaney, Welsh, Allardice, MacGregor, Walsh, Sutherland, Mckay, Samuels. There may be others, the list is inexhaustible. Off the Park: Panos Thomas: MD, CCST Orth, MFSEM, FRCS as a Director of ICTFC. It's not an anagram, it's our new director. Eck's Partick peek: Reveals nothing new happening at Firhill. They did beat Ayr last week with goals from Milne, Graham and Lawless in an entertaining five goal encounter. Harry Milne beginning to attract a bit of attention. Of course Brian Graham likes a goal against the Caley Jags. As normal, Partick will have a full bench to pick from with the likes of Dowds, Holt and Mullen starting on the bench last week. Off the Park: BBC Sport 14th December: Former Glasgow Rocks owner Duncan Smillie has been confirmed as strife-torn Partick Thistle's new chairman. Chair Jacqui Low and six directors resigned last week after recent fan protests followed the Partick Thistle FC Trust becoming majority shareholder. Smillie was the only director not to resign and has become interim chair until the end of the season. Not just us that are in some turmoil then!
  19. Big Boys Turn Pitch Inspection GAME OFF After the Challenging Cup last week where the young Inverness team gave Accies a good game, it's the turn of the big boys this weekend, weather permitting, to see if they can end our poor run and take some much needed points back North before we slip too far off the pace. This game is scheduled for Saturday 17th December at 3:00pm at New Douglas Park or if you prefer the sponsors name of 'The Fountain of Youth'. It was certainly very apt last week as our u18 players performed very well and Accies played their part ending the game with ten of their Academy players on the park. So well done all round, the future is bright, the future is Youth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/ticket/supporters bus info Half Season Tickets on Sale ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue 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 Accies are starting to get the hang of beating us with results over the last six encounters well in their favour apart from the 4-0 pumping we dished out as we prepared for the play-offs last season as Accies wound down. This is just the second Championship fixture against Accies this season with them winning the first game at the Caledonian Stadium back in October. CTO Report: 0 - 1. Winter comes early: Inverness failed to stretch their unbeaten run to six League games and in the process failed to top the league on their own whilst Accies lifted themselves off the bottom with this win. With a raft of injuries, it was always going to be a difficult task to maintain our recent run of wins. Andrew Winter opened the scoring from close range in a dour first half. No further scoring left the home fans disappointed with events on the park where injuries were the only winner. The youngsters were there last week in the Challenge cup and acquitted themselves very well in a 2-0 defeat. Last 6 Competitive Meetings v Accies 0 - 2 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 4 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) Only Accies have been worse than us over the last six games. Recent results table Overall Home Away Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Ayr United 6 4 2 0 14 7 2 1 0 7 3 2 1 0 7 4 +7 14 2. Dundee 6 4 2 0 9 4 2 1 0 3 0 2 1 0 6 4 +5 14 3. Queens Park 6 4 1 1 17 7 2 1 0 8 3 2 0 1 9 4 +10 13 4. Morton 6 3 3 0 10 4 2 0 0 6 1 1 3 0 4 3 +6 12 5. Cove Rangers 6 1 4 1 11 10 1 1 1 4 3 0 3 0 7 7 +1 7 6. Raith Rovers 6 2 1 3 9 11 2 0 1 8 6 0 1 2 1 5 -2 7 7. Arbroath 6 1 3 2 4 8 1 2 1 3 4 0 1 1 1 4 -4 6 8. Partick Thistle 6 1 1 4 9 13 1 0 1 5 3 0 1 3 4 10 -4 4 9. Inverness CT 6 0 3 3 5 11 0 3 1 4 5 0 0 2 1 6 -6 3 10. Hamilton Ac. 6 0 1 5 7 16 0 1 1 6 7 0 0 4 1 9 -9 1 SATURDAY 17th DECEMBER 3:00pm Dundee v Cove Rangers Hamilton v Inverness CT Morton v Queen's Pk Partick v Ayr Utd Rovers v Arbroath Latest Team News Billy Dodds still has plenty of issues to deal with. Danny Devine, Dan Mackay and Sean Welsh all returned recently but Welsh's return was fleeting as he missed the next coupe of games. Our brittle captain has been sorely missed but Billy hints at a possible return for maybe a couple of absentees. Eck's Accies update: Manager (at the moment) John Rankin has some injury worries in the midfield area with Lewis Spence and Marley Redfern both out with knee injuries.
  20. Dundee Challenge Dundee are the visitors this week as we get back to League duty after the third round of the Scottish Cup was played out last weekend. Dundee are one of the form teams in the Championship at the moment as they pick up a bit of form after a sticky patch. The game should be kicking off at 3:00pm on Saturday. Both teams advanced into the fourth round of the Scottish Cup last weekend. Inverness edging past Stirling Albion by the odd goal in five and Dundee dumping Airdrie with four goals in extra-time for a 6-2 win. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/tickets info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 16 7 8 1 27 15 +12 Away 20 7 8 5 28 25 +3 Neutral 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 Total 38 14 16 8 57 44 +13 We have only lost once at home to Dundee in sixteen games. The overall results also favour Inverness with fourteen wins from thirty-eight encounters with Dundee winning just eight times. The single home defeat came in a Scottish Cup 4th round replay in January 2008. None other than Scott Allan that scored the only goal of the game. Over and Out: This seasons Scottish Cup run was short lived when an efficient Dundee came North and stifled our creative players after the break to score an early second half goal through Scott Allan to win this replay. The second period was just two minutes old when Dundee surged forward after an Inverness attack broke down. A-Jay Leitch-Smith did the spadework and Scott Allan supported him and placed the ball beyond Mark Ridgers low into the corner of the net. Poor play from Inverness in attack and the defence backed off as Dundee went forward giving Allan the opportunity to pick his spot. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Dundee 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) 2 - 2 (A) We came away from Dens Park with an unexpected but much needed three points back in September. 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. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Ayr United 16 8 5 3 34 22 29 2. Morton 16 8 4 4 24 16 28 3. Dundee 16 8 4 4 27 20 28 4. Queens Park 16 8 3 5 28 26 27 5. Partick Thistle 16 7 2 7 31 29 23 6. Inverness CT 16 6 5 5 19 20 23 7. Raith Rovers 16 7 1 8 21 21 22 8. Cove Rangers 16 4 5 7 24 27 17 9. Arbroath 16 2 6 8 10 22 12 10. Hamilton Ac. 16 2 5 9 16 31 11 Saturday 3rd December 3:00pm Arbroath v Morton Ayr United v Raith Rovers Cove v Partick Inverness v Dundee FC Queen's v Hamilton Current League Form Dundee are one of the form teams with four wins in November which includes their Scottish Cup win over Airdrie. October brought them two wins three draws and a Championship defeat to Cove Rangers at Balmoor. Highlight of that league run was a 3-2 win over Partick Thistle at Firhill with the Cove result putting a damper on the Dundee hopes. Over the same period we have failed to win a league game in November, drawing two and losing to Queens Park. October was a mixed bag where we started off with three narrow wins before being found out at home to Accies. We followed that with a draw at home to Raith Rovers before being pumped 4-0 at Cappielow. Highlight were the three wins in early October over Ayr, Partick and Cove. The lowlight speaks for itself as Morton thrashed us. We are by far one of the worst performing teams in front of goal with only 19 goals from 16 games. Only Arbroath and Hamilton have scored less. Dundee are eight goals better off but with a similar defensive record. Nathan Shaw has been one of the more prominent players recently and scored both goals to earn a point in the 2-2 draw against Ayr United Latest Team News The cup game allowed us to rest the legs of Sean Welsh who will hopefully be available for this one. Danny Devine got more minutes in his legs after coming back two weeks ago. Dan Mackay got half an hour against Stirling Albion but might be off the pace. Full Back Ryan Barrett made his debut late on in the cup game and he himself has come through a knee injury before leaving Newcastle. Unless anyone else has been seen by Jesus, then that might be our lot for now as far as recoveries are concerned. News about Austin Samuels has been sparse, let's hope he is nearing a return. We will still have seven or eight first picks unavailable with news that top scorer Billy Mckay might be joining them with a calf injury. Deas, Delaney, Allardice, McGregor, Walsh, Sutherland and Samuels. Add Mark Ridgers to that ensemble as the rift goes on although Cammy Mackay has done well under the circumstances. Eric has unearthed this new name at Dens Park. Since our last meeting with Dundee they have signed Derick Osei, a centre forward who was without a club since leaving AFC Wimbledon in the summer. French born Osei spent 10 years in the youth system at Toulouse. He has made 7 appearances in Championship and Cup games with 3 goals to his credit. Sounds like he might be a handful at Championship level. Zach Robinson is the clubs leading scorer this season with eight goals from eighteen games with nippy winger Paul McMullen on four alongside Zak Rudden. Alex Jakubiak is on four but his strike rate is the most impressive having only played eight games. Hello Hello Hello, what's all this here then Mr McGowan
  21. 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ayr came out of the blocks quickly and had a couple of early half chances through Daire O'Connor and Dipo Akinyemi, Cammy Mackay saving the first well and Dipo heading over from the resulting corner. However, it was Inverness that got off to the perfect start when Nathan Shaw put them ahead in the sixth minute firing home from the heart of the box into the bottom corner after stepping round the keeper. It started with a long ball forward from Danny Devine which possibly got a flick on before Shaw controlled and beat the keeper brilliantly. David Carson shot over and Sam Ashford brought Cammy Mackay into action once more saving his effort from distance. After half an hour Akinyemi saw Mackay save his header as Ayr looked to get back on level terms. Before the break Nick McAllister also had a header saved by Mackay who was looking assured in the hosts goal. Just before the interval a game changer for Ayr as Logan Chalmers was met with the obligatory boos as he replaced the injured O'Connor. HALF TIME: 1-0 The introduction of Chalmers was the boost Ayr had been looking for as he relished the chance to have a go at his former team mates. He continued from where he left us with his shoot on site policy and his intentions were there for all to see as Mackay stopped his first shot five minutes after the interval. Akinyemi dragged a shot wide but at the other end Aaron Doran went closer when his shot from around twenty-five yards hit the top of the crossbar with the keeper beaten and went behind. Chalmers again went close when he tried to find the top corner and just when Inverness looked to be getting up to speed in the second half Ayr United equalised when Mark McKenzie knocked in from close range after good work by Chalmers. Danny Devine seemed to take a knock and was replaced by Lewis Hyde with fifteen minutes remaining which disrupted our defence again. Steven Boyd and Akinyemi exchanged misses, but Akinyemi would get another chance immediately which he buried into the back of the net. Good strike from the powerful front man to give United the lead with around ten minutes left. George Oakley came on for one final push as we looked to salvage a point and was instrumental in the assist for Nathan Shaw to shoot early across the keeper into the corner with three minutes plus remaining. Still time for Chalmers to be denied once more by Cammy Mackay and that was the last effort in a decent game where we deserved our point. FULL TIME: 2-2 Well done to Nathan Shaw who had said ahead of the game he was looking forward to it. He has been one of the more positive players in recent weeks. Cammy Mackay did well and denied Ayr a winner at the end and Danny Devine was a welcome returnee after weeks out until he was replaced towards the end after taking cramp. Given our circumstances many would have bitten your hand off for a point before the game started. Ayr's goals were possibly avoidable, but in Akinyemi they have the top scorer in the league and he doesn't need a second invitation. There's him, complete with croakey voice... From BBC Sport Inverness Caledonian Thistle head coach Billy Dodds: "It was a collective but there were some good individual performances. "I was delighted with the spirit and the quality. We had to ride our luck at times in the second-half. I thought we deserved more out of the game but we'll take a point." Ayr United manager Lee Bullen: "I think there were spells where both teams felt they weren't going to get anything out of it. "When you go 2-1 up with six, seven, eight minutes to go you hope to see it out. But it didn't happen that way. To be honest with you, it would have been harsh on Inverness." Date: 19/11/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2066 Referee: Grant Irvine Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; Duffy, Ram, Devine (Hyde 76), Harper, Shaw, Carson, Welsh, Doran, Boyd (Oakley 84), Mckay Subs (not used): Ridgers; Strachan, Nicolson, Calum Mackay Scorers: Shaw (6, 87) Booked: none Sent Off: none Ayr United: 2 Manager: Lee Bullen Lineup: Albinson; McAllister, Kirk (Ecrepont 90+3), McGinty, Reading, Dempsey, Murdoch, Ashford (McKenzie 61), Mullin (Young 61), Akinyemi, O'Connor (Chalmers 44)) Subs (not used): McAdams; Bilham, Bangala, Bryden, Smith Scorers: McKenzie (66), Akinyemi (82) Booked: McAllister (78) Sent Off: none a
  22. More punishment... Drat, there's no International Break for us as we just have to get on with the humiliation. A once proud club where energy and passion were part of the furniture has been reduced to playing second fiddle to Queens Park, Arbroath, Morton and Hamilton in recent weeks. What's next? Raith Rovers might beat us one day. That's maybe stretching the imagination a bit too far, but that's the direction we are heading. Injuries injuries blah de blah. Lack of quality and tactical nous might be closer to the truth. Anyway, it's getting to be a chore now almost making Xmas shopping seem more palatable. Almost I said. League leaders Ayr United visit the Caledonian Stadium looking to take advantage of our demise. It shouldn't be too difficult, everyone else has done so. However, we cling to eternal hope and unfounded optimism that one day something will change. That seems a long way off at the moment given our predicament. Saturday at 3:00pm is the scheduled kick off time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MATCH/TICKET/SPORTS BAR INFO STIRLING ALBION CUP GAME ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Ayr United Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 22 10 10 2 36 22 +14 Away 24 11 6 7 45 30 +15 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 46 21 16 9 81 52 +29 Head 2 Head shows we have a big advantage, especially at home. However these stats are from better times and we lost out 1-2 last February. Prior to that January 2003 was our last home defeat to Ayr United. Plenty of draws in there and the odd seven goal thrashing with a Dennis Wyness hat-trick thrown in for good measure, but that's nostalgia for you. 2000 Dec 2nd League (Wyness hat-trick) 7 - 3 H 1,513 A day on which it rained goals and the score could have gone either way. Two attacking teams provided a great spectacle despite the windy conditions. Play raged from end to end then in 42 minutes Wyness made it 3-2. David Bagan set Martin Bavidge off down the right and his cross was touched home by the sliding foot of Wyness. Wyness scored number 6 with a close range overhead kick in 79 minutes after Davide Xausa had hit the ball across goal and the Ayr defence failed to clear. With 4 minutes left a Sheerin pass split the defence and found Wyness in space. The striker completed his hat trick when he rounded Nelson and stroked the ball into the empty net. It could have been eight just before the end when a Barry Robson shot came off Nelson but he managed to catch Xausa's follow up effort. The home supporters cheered their team off the pitch as the Ayr fans called for the head of manager Gordon Dalziel; an unfair reaction when they had played so well for so long. A match to remember for a long time. Report by Ian Broadfoot Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Ayr United 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) 2 - 0 (H) Last Time Out We were overrun by Queens Park last week after taking a half time advantage through Billy Mckay. Queens upped the pace after the break and tore us a new one. Goals by Charlie Fox and a wily olde fox in Simon Murray settled the issue but it was flattering for us. 6-1 might have been nearer the mark. To be honest, it was an awful view at Ochilvew for the few. Ayr united beat Hamilton 2-3 in their last outing. Accies were looking impressive and should have taken something from the game but Ayr dug deep to find a late winner through Dempsey's spot kick. Tough on Accies who had twice levelled the game. Akinyemi had scored in each half to give Ayr the lead twice. In the middle of our wee purple patch of scraping wins earlier in the season we did somehow get the better of Ayr at Somerset Park with the only goal of the game coming from Cammy Harper's head. 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. Ahhhh, distant memories, and that's just this season. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Ayr United 15 8 4 3 32 20 28 2. Morton 15 7 4 4 22 15 25 3. Dundee 15 7 4 4 26 20 25 4. Queens Park 15 7 3 5 23 24 24 5. Raith Rovers 15 7 1 7 19 16 22 6. Inverness CT 15 6 4 5 17 18 22 7. Partick Thistle 15 6 2 7 28 29 20 8. Cove Rangers 15 4 5 6 23 25 17 9. Arbroath 15 2 6 7 10 19 12 10. Hamilton Ac. 15 2 5 8 16 30 11 SATURDAY 19TH NOVEMBER (all 3:00pm) Cove R v Morton Dundee v Accies Rovers v Queens Partick Th v Arbroath Inverness CT v Ayr United 15 games in and Ayr United top the table with eight wins and are one of the form teams right now along with Morton and Dundee, so no surprise to see them occupy the top three places. Ayr's last defeat was at Dens Park six games back. Inverness are winless in their last five games since beating Cove at Balmoral a month ago and very few fans can see anything other than a resounding win for Ayr unless a miracle happens on the treatment table. Ayr are top scorers in the league and should be adding to that this weekend. +++++++++++++++++ Latest Team News With Billy Dodds lying low and dodging the bullets, there was only a Q&A session after the Queens Park game. "When I get my full team back, or most of my team back, I think we’ll be a force to be reckoned with." I think when we get the full quota back, hopefully we’ll get a few back soon, even if we get three quarters of the quota back then I think we’ll be a team to be reckoned with." Erm, you've already said that Billy. Let's see what he comes out with ahead of this one as the long knives come out. Still a long queue at the treatment room as far as we know with Zak Delaney being injured near the end of last weeks game at Ochilview another doubt... With Billy still dodging the bullets, here's Bazza... So, if you can't be arsed listening to it, we could have ten, yes TEN, T E N (10) outfield players unavailable. Plus an out of favour keeper. Not good to be honest. We have asked for permission to recall some loanees to fill the bench... Eric's Ayr Doo As expected, with Ayr United already having the largest squad size in the Championship, there have been no new additions since the last meeting at Somerset Park at the beginning of October. Lee Bullen has forged his team into a solid unit with goals at the sharp end. Dipo Akinyemi is responsible for most of them with 13 goals to his name from 19 games. We know enough about Logan Chalmers to know what he can do and Dario Zanatta can be a threat to any defence in this league.
  23. Dumped in Ochilview We ended up with the short straw, a 5:30pm kick-off at Ochilview Park to face Queens Park. Ayr United, Dundee and Morton had already won prior to kick off and we needed the three points to stay in touch, so did Queens Park. The visitors opened the scoring after twenty minutes when Billy Mckay scored into the bottom corner. Charlie Fox headed the Spiders level five minutes after the interval from a corner. Patrick Jarrett hit the post and Aaron Doran volleyed just over from a Nathan Shaw cross as Inverness ventured forward. Queens took the lead through Simon Murray at the back post with around twenty minutes left. and that was the end of the scoring, but not the pressure on the weary Inverness defence. Queens Park thoroughly deserved the points in another poor performance from the Caley Jags. The stats have apparently revealed that we had less than 20% of the possession. That's incredible given we were playing Queens Park, not Real Madrid. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Billy Dodds was only able to call on a similar squad to the one which threw points away against Arbroath last week with no new players returning from injury. Queens Park had a full bench, something we can only dream about just now and a pair of Boateng's. Simon Murray was denied an early chance when one on one with Cammy Mackay, the keeper doing just enough to divert the ball for a corner. Sean Wesh headed wide before Billy Mckay put Inverness ahead when Welsh's ball into the box was driven home by Mckay. Talk about a false dawn.... There then followed a procession towards the visitors end of the pitch with Murray and Davidson working the keeper. However, for all their possession, Inverness were coping, just. Ferries saved from Mckay ten minutes before the break and we managed to get to the interval with our lead intact. HALF TIME: 0-1 A headed 'goal' by Kilday was chalked off for an infringement but the warning was not heeded. Mackay saved well from Simon Murray five minutes after the break. More pressure applied to our defence and from a corner Charlie Fox rose high to head in with little defensive objection. It was only a matter of time before the Spiders would make their superiority count. Patrick Jarrett turned in the box and hit the post as we survived a bit longer. Grant Savoury crossed to the far post and that wily poacher Simon Murray turned the ball into the net to give Queens Park a deserved lead with around twenty minutes left. Aaron Doran went close with a couple of efforts but it was mainly backs to the wall stuff and Savoury should have added another but he dragged his shot wide. Jack Thomson hit the post as the game drew to a close with Queens well on top and Inverness looking somewhat battered and bedraggled. FULL TIME: 2-1 We can count ourselves fortunate to get off so lightly. On another day we could easily have shipped six. Somethings wrong that's not right with many fans wondering if it's time for change. We are certainly in a depression and few can see a way out of it with very few prepared to roll up their sleeves. Meh! Highlights from Queens Park Match reaction from Billy Dodds: It's a Q&A session...WTF Scathing Match reaction from CTO, lots of unhappy bunnies: Enough is enough! We were absolutely garbage yet again and this situation simply cannot be allowed to continue. I get the fact that we have a depleted squad but the manner of the performances are completely uncceptable and we are categorically never getting out of this league with Dodds in charge. I would love our esteemed CEO and Manager to illuminate us as to why we chose not to bring in loanees at the end of September when we were already facing a lengthy injury list. The fact that we're also naming 16 and 17 year olds on the bench when we have a number of slightly more experienced players out on loan is a similar mystery to me. Time to go! Dodds out..... Kellacher out...... Robertson out..... Wilson out! Time for fresh ideas or I say all fans should boycott the club don't go yo any more games stop spending money. Gonna be part time next year at best anyway Just thinking, with Queens having been unable to fulfil the fixture at it’s scheduled time, maybe the team should have turned up at 3pm and played Syngenta instead - might have got a point! Absolute garbage! Total lack of cohesion. Unable to string passes together. Unable to keep possession. Unable to score more than one goal per match, and usually less. No tactics. No fight. And frankly, I don't buy this "huge injury list" thing - that's been the excuse for the last 3 seasons now. Anybody playing for ICT must have achieved a certain standard before getting in the door. The players on the pitch all have the required individual skills - they just don't seem to be working in the same direction. I've been reluctant to criticise so far, but tonight's shambles just tipped me over the edge. We never looked like winning, even when we were one-up. When I pay to see a game I expect some kind of entertainment for my money. This season I just feel I'm being ripped off! Date: 12/11/2022 Venue: Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir Attendance: 593 Referee: Scott Lambie Queens Park: 2 Manager: Owen Coyle Lineup: Ferrie; Davidson, Kilday, Fox, Robson, Thomson, M Boateng, Jarrett, McPake (Savoury 70), Thomas, Murray (Williamson 83) Subs (not used): Heraghty; Naismith, Longridge, Kenny, Bruce, Connolly, D Boateng, Scorers: Fox (50), Murray (73) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; Carson, Duffy, Ram, Delaney (Hyde 81), Shaw, Welsh, Harper, Doran (Nicolson 81), Oakley (Boyd 65), B Mckay Subs (not used): Ridgers; Strachan, Cal Mackay Scorers: B Mckay (18) Booked: none Sent Off: none a
  24. The Queen's no at home Its the reverse fixture against Queens Park this weekend. Great I hear you say, a wee trip to Hampden at last. Not so unfortunately. We will have to make do with Ochilview Park. Yes, that's right, Ochilview Park, the home of League Two Stenhousemuir FC. Not only demotion, but we have been kicked into touch and play second fiddle to Syngenta v Edinburgh United in the East of Scotland League Two, which kicks off at 1:00pm on the same day on the same pitch. Syngenta??? Who the hell are Syngenta FC you ask. I know I know, it's a lot to take in, but here's the Official Statement on how that decision was made. Unless you want to turn up early for a double header, then our game with Queens Park will kick off at 5:30pm barring any issues with the artificial turf. The supporters bus leaves Inverness at 12:00 and priced at £20 it's a bargain. If you can't make the game, it's allegedly being live streamed by Queens Park from Ochilview Park. LIVE STREAM £15 MATCH TICKETS/INFO SUPPORTERS BUS £20 07462218717 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Queens Park Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 10 4 4 2 15 12 +3 Away 6 5 0 1 13 8 +5 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 16 9 4 3 28 20 +8 First Competitive Meeting & Heaviest Defeat - Report below Aug 20th, 1994 League ((Div 3)) (H) 0 - 4 Caledonian Thistle 0-4 Queens Park: Caley Thistle's mid week efforts against Dundee had taken their toll and they went a goal down in 14 minutes - a McAllister header to McRitchie was short and Garry Orr took advantage with a goal from 15 yards. Four minutes later Maxwell made it two when he bundled in Edgar's corner. In 53 minutes McKenzie had rare chances for the home side but he hit the 'keeper twice. The match was over a few minutes later when a Garry Orr pass set up Graham who beat McRitchie with an angled drive. Two minutes later Maxwell headed a fourth. Match report written by Ian Broadfoot Starting XI Mark McRitchie Dave Brennan Mark McAllister Mike Andrew Mike Noble John Scott Danny MacDonald Graeme Bennett Alan Hercher Paul McKenzie Wilson Robertson Biggest Victories Jul 31st, 2010 League Cup (Rd 1) (H) 3 - 0 Nov 11th, 1995 League (A) 3 - 0 Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Ayr United 14 7 4 3 29 18 25 2. Morton 14 6 4 4 20 14 22 3. Raith Rovers 14 7 1 6 19 14 22 4. Dundee 14 6 4 4 24 20 22 5. Inverness CT 14 6 4 4 16 16 22 6. Queens Park 14 6 3 5 21 23 21 7. Partick Thistle 14 6 2 6 27 27 20 8. Cove Rangers 14 4 4 6 22 24 16 9. Arbroath 14 2 5 7 9 18 11 10. Hamilton Ac. 14 2 5 7 14 27 11 FRIDAY 11TH NOVEMBER Hamilton v Ayr United SATURDAY 12TH NOVEMBER Arbroath FC v Cove Rangers Dundee v Rovers Morton v Partick Queen's Park FC v Inverness (5:30) Last Time Out Inverness dropped more points at home, this time to bottom club Arbroath after taking a second half lead through MotM Nathan Shaw. A defensive lapse allowed Keiron Shanks a free hit on goal to equalise and that's how it ended. Enough chances squandered to win a couple of games and ended up hanging on somewhat. The Spiders last outing was a 2-0 defeat to Cove Rangers at Balmoral. Not a happy place for Queens of late. A mixed bag for the Spiders of late, Being thumped 5-0 by Ayr United but thrashing Partick Thistle 4-0 at Firhill. It's a funny old game. The first fixture between the clubs this season ended in a 1-1 draw: 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. Latest Team News Billy Dodds will be without the usual suspects. Long term casualties and shorter term recurring injured players adds up to around nine players unavailable. Add on Mark Ridgers who will no doubt be on the bench due to an internal dispute then it's difficult to see us pick anything up from Ochilview other than more injuries. Eric's Queen's catch up Queens Park manager Owen Coyle has sent a few players out on loan prior to bringing in some loan signings. Since our last encounter, out on loan are Max Gillies defender, Liam Brown from the midfield and front-line player Gregor Nicol. New faces in the defence are Stephen Eze, centre back, a former Nigerian International player with 13 caps for his country, has signed a 2-year contract on a free from Croatian side NK Solin FC. 16-year-old Cameron Bruce at left back has been elevated from the U18 set up to the first team. From Crystal Palace FC Youth to under 21 squads right back David Boateng has signed up on loan at Queens until the end of the season. Fellow Ghanaian and Palace youth of same surname but no relation is Malachi Boateng who can play at centre back but prefers a defensive midfield role has also joined on loan. Centre forward Irishman Johnny Kenny once a Sligo Rovers youth and U19 International is on loan from Celtic FC. Johnny has made 5 appearances for ROI at U19 level and is credited with 4 goals from those games. Queens have plenty journeymen who can cause us problems with ginger striker Simon Murray always likely to pop up around the box. Josh McPake will also be keen to impress along with a couple of Boateng's recently taken on. Coming up soon...
  25. Defensive Lapse Inverness dropped to fifth in the table after a defensive lapse cost them all three points. Bottom club Arbroath had their task made easier with Dodds dropping Mark Ridgers to the bench. In a first half of few chances McKenna hit the post with a curling effort for the visitors with the keeper stranded. Doran curled a similar effort just over with Gaston stranded as Inverness grew into the game before the interval. Despite some home pressure, the final pass was always a touch too many and it was goalless at the break. Nathan Shaw opened the scoring after he met a flick on at the back post. Having worked hard to get ahead we gifted Arbroath a leveller after a wayward defensive header left Kieran Shanks through on goal to drill past a helpless Mackay. Gaston pulled off some tremendous saves from Harper, Duffy and Mckay and Arbroath finished with a wee flourish, but we held on for a point. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Billy Dodds was still without a raft of injured players and he added Mark Ridgers to the list by dropping him to the bench after the Morton mayhem. What a slap in the face for Ridgers, and a bigger slap in the bollocks for the paying public. Scapegoat springs to mind. Arbroath were without Tam O'Brien, Scott Binsindou and Scott Stewart. Kieran Shanks started up front with Dale Hilson on the bench. Inverness set the ball rolling shooting towards the North Stand on a sodden pitch, which became evident as the number of players losing their footing increased as the game went on. It was a slow opening to the game before Cammy Harper had a low shot turned behind for a corner, the keeper taking no chances as the ball neared his right hand post. Billy Mckay was next to have a pop but it was too easy to stop his shot from the edge of the box. A neat bit of interplay from the visitors allowed Michael McKenna to bend a shot from eighteen yards onto Cammy Mackay's right hand post, but with the keeper beaten the ball cannoned off the outside of the post to safety. Aaron Doran had a similar effort at the other end as he shaped to curl his shot goalwards with the keeper in no mans land. Unfortunately it drifted just over the bar, but that was our best moment so far with twenty-five minutes gone. Mckay then shot wide and had a header comfortably saved by Gaston in the visitors goal. Inverness were ending the half on top with George Oakley close to connecting with a Harper delivery. HALF TIME: 0-0 We opened the second half on the front foot and Mckay found the keeper with another header from a Nathan Shaw cross. Shaw was warming to the task and was one of our main threats going forward. Seven minutes after the break it was Shaw that opened the scoring when he came in late at the back post to knock home a head flick from Mckay after a great cross in from the left side. Good reward for the young wide player. We almost grabbed a second as Oakley bustled down the right and stabbed the ball across the face of the goal from a tight angle. It was kept alive by Mckay on the left who found Harper but his shot from just inside the box was well saved by Gaston. Out of nothing Arbroath equalised. We looked to have broken down a foray forward on the left for Arbroath. However, it appears to have been Carson who headed the ball into the path of Kieron Shanks who needed no prompting as he stepped onto the ball and slotted it behind the exposed Cammy Mackay. Poor goal to lose and it came when we were well on top. With twenty minutes remaining, Wallace Duffy was unlucky not to score as Gaston spread himself well to block his drive with his feet before picking himself up to spectacularly deny Billy Mckay in the top corner, tipping the ball behind. There followed a spate of substitutions from the visitors which seemed to tighten things up for them and regain some control in the middle of the park. Daniel Fosu had a header picked out of the air by Cammy Mackay as Arbroath looked for a winner in the final ten minutes. Dylan Tait saw his shot saved under the bar as we regressed with the Smokies adding to their corner count with every ball into the box making it an uncomfortable ending to the game. FULL TIME: 1-1 A game we should have won slipped out of our grasp. Missed chances, good goalkeeping, wrong decisions, passing the buck, after you Claude, one glaring error and it all adds up to points dropped and down to fifth in the table, albeit only three points away from leaders Ayr United. Disappointing result after starting the second half brightly. Shaw did well to tuck the ball in at the back post but the equaliser was avoidable as we failed to clear the ball away from the edge of the box. Shaw worked hard and took his goal well. Billy Mckay was tireless once more against towering defenders. We probably should have won after going ahead but Gaston saved the Smokies on a few occasions. Cammy Mackay was rarely tested and could do little about the goal. Date: 05/11/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1847 Referee: Calum Scott Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; Carson, Duffy, Ram, Delaney, Shaw, Welsh, Harper (Hyde 87), Doran, Oakley (Boyd 79), B Mckay Subs (not used): Ridgers; Strachan, C Mackay, Nicolson Scorers: Shaw (52) Booked: Ram (41), Harper (85) Sent Off: none Arbroath: 1 Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Gaston; Oakley, Little, Hamilton, Tait, Allan (Fosu 76), Gold (Hancock 78), Jacobs, Linn, McKenna, Shanks (Hilson 69) Subs (not used): Gill; Isiaka, Corfe Scorers: Shanks (60) Booked: none Sent Off: none a
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