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  1. 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
  2. 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.
  3. Banana Skin Avoided A potential banana skin encounter was made all the more plausible given the 2015 Scottish Cup winners permanent injury crisis. Stirling Albion are on a roll at the top end of League Two whilst we are struggling to get players on the park recently. With that in mind we made a late swoop into the transfer market to snap up right back Ryan Barrett on a short term loan until January. He was thrust into the squad for this Scottish Cup game having been training with the squad this week. Dale Carrick scored a first half brace with Wallace Duffy and Max Ram replying for Inverness who only woke up after the opening goal. After the break Aaron Doran restored the hosts lead and we held on to go into the draw for the fourth round. Not pretty, but we got there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New loan signing Ryan Barrett was on the bench alongside Dan Mackay who was reappearing after injury. Sean Welsh was given more recovery time. Dale Carrick would spearhead the Binos attack and hot prospect Kai Fotheringham would be one to watch. One change from last week as Harrison Clark comes in to replace Ross Davidson. Robert Thomson returns to the bench after serving his suspension. Cammy Clark remains suspended. After the heavy rain and wind earlier in the week it was a pleasantly calm and mild afternoon for a kick-about. Thirteen goal striker Dale Carrick was prominent early on as he shot wide, but it was a low key start to the game. Kai Fotheringham sliced wide after twenty-five minutes with the hosts not really threatening. A couple of corners for the visitors brought about the opening goal when Carrick bulleted a header high into the net after Fotheringham had chipped a ball into the box. No surprise really given our negative start to the match as we have offered very little so far. Was there a shock on the cards? Maybe not, the lead lasted little more than five minutes as Wallace Duffy levelled the tie from a Nathan Shaw cross with an excellent headed goal of his own, his downward header bouncing high into the net. Fotheringham and Aaron Doran exchanged efforts with Currie called into action to deny Doran before Max Ram put us ahead five minutes before the interval as he shot into the bottom corner from close range assisted by Billy Mckay. We can't hold on to the lead either and Dale Carrick scored his second of the game in stoppage time before the whistle as he slotted the ball past Cammy Mackay from close range after a defensive blunder by the recovering Devine. HALF TIME 2-2 A couple of early second half corners came to nothing for the hosts. Ten minutes after the break the tricky Fotheringham went close again with an effort from outside the box. The Bino's were fancying this one with Inverness not looking particularly threatening. George Oakley replaced Steven Boyd on the hour and Dan Mackay replaced Billy Mckay soon after. His first contribution was a header that went wide, which was more positive than Oakley who conceded a foul inside a minute of entering the park. Inverness retook the lead when Aaron Doran scored from close range with twenty minutes left, Shaw again with the assist as he cut along the byeline before picking out Doran. Mackay saved from Fotheringham, tipping the ball over as Stirling looked to stay in the tie and Harrison Clark had an effort blocked as we struggled to contain the Binos who were forcing their hosts onto the back foot as they gave away more corners. It was going to be a long last ten minutes for the home fans. Ryan Barrett made his debut with ten minutes to go with Max Ram giving way and still we looked fragile as Stirling tried to force an equaliser with Mackay denying Davidson's deflected shot and Carrick. Obligatory booking for David Carson as we clung on to what we had. And we just got over the line... MotM for Inverness was Nathan Shaw once more with Cammy Mackay also ensuring we went into the hat for the 4th round draw. Date: 26/11/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 738 Referee: Dan McFarlane Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; Duffy, Ram (Barrett 81), Devine, Harper, Shaw, Carson, Hyde, Doran, Boyd (Oakley 60), B Mckay (D Mackay 64) Subs (not used): Ridgers; Strachan, Cal Mackay, Nicolson Scorers: Duffy (32), Ram (40), Doran (69) Booked: Ram (71), Carson (87), Harper (90+2) Sent Off: none Stirling Albion: 2 Manager: Darren Young Lineup: Currie; McGeachie, McLean, McGregor, H Clark (Cooper 82), Dunsmore, Leitch (Moore 72), Banner (Davidson 22), Denholm (Thomson 72), Carrick, Fotheringham Subs (not used): Law; Burns Scorers: Carrick (27, 45+1) Booked: Davidson (88) Sent Off: none a
  4. Entry Level Three Is this by perchance a wee window of opportunity to rest some battle scarred and weary legs as we start our participation in this season's Scottish Cup in the third round. Forget Qatar, forget the World Cup, forget about winning the Scottish Cup. It's more important for us to buy some time in the injury shop and make sure we have enough able bodies ready for action when we resume our Championship challenge at home to Dundee next week. Even that will be too soon for most, but at this stage of our season, it's a more important game than the Stirling Albion one, no disrespect to them. Anyway, we need to get the right balance and try to remain competitive whilst resting some important players. We already know a bit about the Bino's as they performed well against us in last season's League Cup game, winning the penalty shoot-out after a 2-2 draw. Kick-Off is on Saturday at 3:00pm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ANY GOOD AT WASHING SHIRTS? TICKET/MATCH INFO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ H2H v Stirling Albion Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 4 2 2 0 9 5 +4 Away 6 3 2 1 13 5 +8 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 10 5 4 1 22 10 +12 We have not played the Bino's regularly since the early days when we shared a couple of seasons with them in the lower leagues where we enjoyed regular success mostly. More recently we played them in a League Cup group stages encounter where the Bino's prevailed on penalties. Bino's Bonus: 2-2 Stirling win 3-2 on penalties (July 17th 2021) Kevin Rutkiewicz took his Stirling Albion side North for the second group 'A' match for both teams who were looking to continue their winning starts to the League Cup. Something was going to give and it did with the Bino's taking the bonus point after a 2-2 draw. Stirling took an early lead with a superb free kick by Dylan Mackin from twenty-yards. Kieran Moore stunned the hosts on the counter with a second before Roddy Macgregor pulled one back before the Interval. Shane Sutherland levelled the tie early in the second half. Jack Leitch hit the post for the impressive Bino's as they continued to cause problems. Chances went abegging at both ends but the game went to penalties to decide the bonus point, and when Currie brilliantly saved Sutherland's penalty it was the Bino's that prevailed 3-2, and no one could grudge them that. In 2007 we had our biggest win when we went to Forthbank at the same stage of the Scottish Cup and hit them for six. Jan 6th Scottish Cup (Rd 3) 6 - 1 A 1,521 Caley Thistle cantered into the 4th round of the Tennents Scottish Cup with what turned out to be an easy win against Stirling Albion. Charlie Christie went with 3 strikers from the start and this paid off as the Caley Jags managed 6 goals from 5 different scorers. Official Club Historian Ian Broadfoot supplies the match report With Stirling riding high in the Second Division, and having home advantage, Caley Thistle had to be at their professional best going into this match. In the event a fine performance led to a comfortable victory. This was only the Sixth meeting of the clubs and only the second in any cup - Stirling won a League Challenge Cup match 3-1 in August 1996 but never managed a league victory when both were in the Second Division in 1998/99. The Binos were without Dene Shields who has gone back to Gretna from loan and also the injured Ian Cashmore. Richard Hastings missed out for ICT due to injury but Ian Black returned from suspension to take a place on the bench. Craig Dargo came back from injury to take his place in an attacking formation with three at the back and all three main strikers in the starting eleven. With only eight minutes gone it was 1-0 to ICT when John Rankin stepped in as the Stirling defence tried to clear a high header from Graham Bayne - Rankin sent a low ball across goal from the left and Dargo bundled in from a yard out. Five minutes later a Roy McBain cross from the left was knocked-down by Bayne and Dennis Wyness sent a superb left-foot volley from 20 yards past Myles Hogarth to make it 2-0. Two minutes after that Stirling temporarily came back into it when David O'Brien scored from 12 yards via the post. Roy McBain made it 3-1 in 22 minutes when his first shot came back off Wyness and he hammered the rebound home from the edge of the box. John Fraser hit the bar for Stirling in 32 minutes but four minutes before the break Craig Dargo scored a tremendous goal to make it 4-1. He played a one-two with Wyness and chipped over Hogarth from 25 yards. Two minutes into the second half Barry Wilson scored with a low shot from 25 yards which went in off the post to make it 5-1. Stirling were by now well and truly out and in 54 minutes it was nearly 6-1 when Bayne hit the post with a low drive. The final goal came in 69 minutes from Alan Morgan just two minutes after he came on for Barry Wilson. He took a pass from Rankin, went past three defenders then scored from an acute angle through Hogarth's legs. A good afternoon's work for ICT and a place in Sunday's fourth round draw. [4th round draw paired ICT at home to either Dundee Utd or St Mirren] Match report written by Ian Broadfoot Stirling Albion are looking good for promotion in League Two sitting in second place, three points behind Dumbarton. They have won nine out of fifteen games with three defeats and three draws. Highlight of their season so far was a 6-0 thrashing of table toppers Dumbarton at the beginning of October. They are the highest scoring team in the division with 33 goals and have conceded only 16. Dale Carrick, the former Hearts, Killie and Livingston player, is the runaway top scorer with 13 goals from 19 games, scoring at a rate of 3/4 a goal per 90 minutes of football. Robert Thomson has 5 goals to his name with Kai Fotheringham on 4. Eck's one to watch>>> On loan from Dundee United FC is 19 year old left winger Kai Fotheringham, considered to be a prospect at United and also has an Under 16 cap to his credit. Previous loan spells were hampered by ankle problems for which he underwent surgery. At Forthbank he seems to have found his feet and has scored 4 goals and is credited with 7 assists in Division 2 this season HOME AWAY POS. P W D L GF GA W D L GF GA GD PTS 1 Dumbarton 15 5 2 0 14 4 5 1 2 13 11 12 33 2 Stirling Albion 15 5 2 1 21 8 4 1 2 12 8 17 30 3 Elgin City 15 3 1 3 11 11 3 3 2 18 16 2 22 4 East Fife 15 2 0 5 7 12 4 3 1 18 12 1 21 Our injury hit season has been well documented and used as part of the reason for our inconsistent form. Unfortunately it has been a major factor but it has also allowed some youngsters the opportunity to get familiar with the matchday experience. That will come in handy this weekend as no doubt some will be called upon to fill some spaces in and around the squad as we get the opportunity to give some of our returning players an extra week to rest up. That said we need to try and remain competitive in the hope that a more lucrative tie will come along. In the bigger picture, it's no big deal should we fail to progress, but more important to have key players ready for the Championship challenge ahead. However, try telling the fans that who will be wanting the best of both. Danny Devine and Sean Welsh played through the pain barrier last week despite being less than 100% and it might be prudent not to risk them this week although they were both insistent on taking to the field last week which has perplexed some. Should David Carson be selected to play that will be his 100th appearance for the Caley Jags since joining from Morpeth Town in 2019. Here's a sobering thought. We have yet to win a competitive game on the 26th of November>>> 22 vs. Stirling Albion (H) Scottish Cup (Third Round) ????? 16 vs. Dundee (A) League 1 - 2 11 vs. Hearts (A) League 1 - 2 05 vs. Dundee Utd (H) League 1 - 1 94 vs. Alloa (H) League ((Div 3)) 2 - 2 Here's all your third round fixtures >>>
  5. 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
  6. 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.
  7. 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
  8. Bottoms Up After the Morton madness, it's bottom club Arbroath's turn to benefit from our problems. As if injuries were not bad enough, we appear to have a conflict at the club known as Ridgers Rift and the possibility that could add another name to the missing list. It is however mildly reassuring to note that the Smokies have injury problems of their own plus the manager player conflict known in this case as the Nick Low Law. This game is on Saturday afternoon with a scheduled kick-off time of 3:00pm at the Caledonian Stadium where we will find out if the power of management trumps fan power. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MATCH/TICKET INFO NEW DIRECTOR STATEMENT QUEENS PARK LATER KICK OFF Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 22 16 3 3 56 18 +38 Away 21 9 6 6 26 22 +4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 43 25 9 9 82 40 +42 Only three defeats at home from twenty two matches, although the tide seems to be levelling out over recent fixtures. The legendary Alan Hercher will be resting uneasy at our recent run given how he led the way with a twenty minute hat-trick in August 1994. CTO report by Ian Broadfoot: 5-2. Caledonian Thistle's Scottish League debut resulted in a tremendous performance and a fine victory. Alan Hercher was the hat-trick hero as Caley Thistle got their League campaign off to a flying start. Three first half goals by Hercher set the scene for a dramatic opening League 3 encounter. In the opening minutes Caley Thistle 'keeper Mark McRitchie had to look sharp to save a 15 yard drive from John Reilly. In 13 minutes Mark McAllister won a corner and Alan Hercher headed in Graeme Bennett's kick to score Caley Thistle's first ever Scottish League goal. It was not long before he also scored the second and third! Before that Arbroath came close on two occasions -the first when a John Brock header went inches past the post and the second when a 25 yard free kick almost found the net. John Scott and Mike Andrew had chances for the home side before Alan Hercher again wrote his name into the record books. In 31 minutes he shot home his second goal through a ruck of players then headed home another corner in 33 minutes. Half Time: 3-0 In the second half Arbroath came back into it and scored through Brock and Reilly - Caley Thistle bounced back and scored twice more. In 71 minutes Paul McKenzie latched onto a long McRitchie clearance and lobbed over the keeper then Wilson Robertson completed the scoring six minutes later with a high ball from 22 yards. Full Time: 5-2 This rounded off an exciting match and an historic occasion for both the club and Inverness. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 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) 3 - 1 (H) Honours are even over the last six meetings with four draws and a win apiece. The last three fixtures failed to produce a goal over ninety minutes. Given our problems, it's a fair bet that goals will be hard to come by again this weekend. Gone are the days of 7-0 thrashings over the Smokies with Dick Campbell proving to be an astute leader in the face of adversity. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Ayr United 13 7 3 3 28 17 24 2. Morton 13 6 3 4 19 13 21 3. Queens Park 13 6 3 4 21 21 21 4. Inverness CT 13 6 3 4 15 15 21 5. Partick Thistle 13 6 2 5 25 24 20 6. Dundee 13 5 4 4 21 18 19 7. Raith Rovers 13 6 1 6 16 13 19 8. Cove Rangers 13 3 4 6 20 24 13 9. Hamilton Ac. 13 2 5 6 13 24 11 10. Arbroath 13 2 4 7 8 17 10 FRIDAY 4TH NOVEMBER (7:45) Cove Rangers v Queen's Park SATURDAY 5TH NOVEMBER (3:00) Ayr Utd v Morton Inverness v Arbroath Partick v Dundee Rovers v Accies Last Time Out Our problems were there for all to see on telly last Friday as our makeshift XI shot themselves in the foot by gifting Morton a three goal start at Cappielow. To compound that the Ridgers Rift came into play as Billy hooked Mark at the interval in a sort of public hanging that appears to have been brewing over the last few weeks. Certainly there looks to be a difference of opinions on display at the very least. Mark has been our saviour on numerous occasions, but a couple of errors early on saw Morton go two ahead before David Carson headed into his own net before half time. It was a bizarre game as we dominated possession but looked fragile at the back with numerous big players missing. Up front we were as believable as Boris Johnston and Liz Truss rolled into one. The fourth goal just reinforced this. However, how necessary was the Ridgers Rift? Arbroath find themselves at the foot of the table after a poor start to the season with only two wins in their opening thirteen games. Last week they went down 2-0 to Ayr United who now top the table. They played with last years player of the championship Michael McKenna chasing shadows as a lone striker with Bobby Linn supporting when he could. The Nick Low Law saw him not on the team sheet. The previous week they beat Accies 1-0. It's been a crazy league so far with any team capable of taking the points off anyone else. They have perked up recently with draws against Queens Park and Dundee, but this was always going to be a difficult season for them after the high of the last one. Unfortunately, we like to bend over backwards to accommodate struggling teams and in fact are one ourselves just now. Latest Team News Despite our embarrassing performance last Friday, it was good to have Sean Welsh and Wallace Duffy back on the park. Max Ram is also getting up to speed and maybe Austin Samuels will be next to come off the list athough he is still a doubt for this game. Choice of goalkeeper will come down to the Ridgers Rift which is not ideal for Dodds, Ridgers, Cammy Mackay, the team, the sponsors or the supporters. Let's see what Billy makes of it now. Eric's Smokies surprises Arbroath have their own injury list to contend with. Missing recently have been defender Tam o'Brien, wide player Scott Stewart and striker Dale Hilson who was kept on the bench last week. Scott Bitsindou on loan from Livingston looked to have done his hamstring as he pulled up after an hour against Ayr United and will likely miss this game. Bin man Linn is the one constant for Arbroath, still performing well even at 76 years of age. Scot Allan will make them tick over in midfield and will need close attention. At Gayfield Park in the back line its out with the old and in with the new with defender Jason Thomson at 35 years leaving for Kelty Hearts, and Marcel Oakley coming in on loan from Birmingham U21 aged 19 years. In the middle of the park James Craigen has left for FC Edinburgh and Nicky Low out on loan to Kelty Hearts. Incomers are Scott Bitsindou defensive midfielder on loan from Livingston who went through Belgian club Anderlecht's Youth system. Central midfield player Dylan Tait is on loan from Hibernian. Scott Allan who had a successful loan spell at the Caledonian Stadium is now an ex-Hibernian player who has signed on at Arbroath on a contract until May 2024. Centre forward Luke Donnelly has vacated Gayfield to further his career at Alloa FC. Kareem Isiaka whose agent describes him as an "attacking" centre forward (is there any other kind?), it transpires he was once with Charlton Athletic FC U21 has signed a short-term contract until January. At 21 years old since being at Charlton his career has been sporadic, last at Vikingur in Iceland.
  9. Majestic Deas Earns the Point Injury ravaged Caley Jags were without at least nine players and down to the bare bones. Once the mist cleared we could see that Rovers had pulled a fast one before a ball was kicked and stunned everyone by appearing in pink. WTF. Sam Stanton opened the scoring after Raith hit the post from distance. Ridgers made a superb save from a flick towards his top corner soon after. Robbie Deas scored a tremendous header into the top corner off a pacey cross from Zak Delaney, and that's how it was at the interval. Ridgers pulled off a worldy save at the start of the second half from Ngwenya. Man of the Match Robbie Deas was helped off the pitch near the end suffering from a leg injury, but Inverness held on for their point. Given the circumstances, a decent point, and it was enough to put us top of the table for now with Partick being hammered 4-0 by Queens Park. Happy days if it were not for the news that Deas has broken his leg. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a case of who's who as Raith emerged from the tunnel bedecked in pink. Took a minute or two to work out what was going on as we also played towards the North Stand in the first half. Raith were well aware that we were seriously depleted and took the game to their hosts, forcing a couple of corners early on which were defended positively. Aidan Connolly shot wide and then Sam Stanton got a header on goal when it popped up in front of him but couldn't get any purchase on the ball and Mark Ridgers was able to grab the ball comfortably at head height. However a minute later, the 13th, was unlucky for the hosts as Raith deservedly took the lead at this stage of the game. A shot which appeared to take a slight deflection cannoned back off the post and just when it looked as though we might have got away with it, the ball was knocked back in from a tight angle and bundled behind Ridgers for a scrappy opener, Stanton claiming the goal. All a bit untidy and possibly preventable. Kyle Connell and Dylan Easton had shots saved by Ridgers as Raith continued to dominate against the makeshift Inverness XI but we were gradually beginning to get to grips with the pace of the game and Nathan Shaw did well to forage further forward but his shot was too high. Ten minutes before the break Ridgers puled off a tremendous save to deny Easton and two minutes later we were level. Zak Delaney who had been starting to drive forward on the left did just that. He delivered a crip swinging cross into the area and Robbie Deas met it fifteen yards out to divert the ball with his head into the top corner despite a despairing dive from Jamie Macdonald. What a cross, What a dive, what a goal. Stanton almost replied immediately but again Ridgers was up to the effort and tipped the ball out for a corner followed by more activity around the Inverness box just before the break. HALF TIME: 1-1 After the interval Shaw got a shot away after winning the ball midway on the left before driving forward but it never troubled Macdonald. The same could not be said at the other end as Ridgers pulled off a brilliant save to deny Ngwenya who had burst into the box on the left side, the keeper managing to somehow keep the ball out of the net at the expense of a corner. There followed a distinct lull in the proceedings with both sides appearing to have settled for a point. Defences were on top for the next forty minutes right up until Deas went down injured after a clash for the ball in midfield. It's not like Robbie to stay down and it was clear something was amiss. After five minutes he tried to walk unaided off the park but he could not put weight on his leg and crumpled to the turf a couple of times. We would find out the next day why. He has broken his leg. Mathew Strachan replaced Robbie for the remainder plus five minutes of time added on and he did well. Getting an early defensive touch, breaking forward and looking assured as he swung a dangerous ball in from the left side. Alas there were no takers. Right at the end he denied Raith a winner as he diverted Stanton's close range volley wide of the goal when it looked like Sam had got the winner. FULL TIME: 1-1 Disappointing to have to add Robbie Deas to the extensive injury list, but what a performance from the centre back today. Absolutely immense. Mark Ridgers made three or four crucial saves and in general there were good performances throughout. Mathew Strachan came on in the 88th minute. In the remaining time, he swung a tantalising cross into the box and prevented a goal at the death with a timely block to deflect a goalbound shot wide for a corner.Top of the league just now is an unexpected bonus. Raith had plenty of half chances, but with Deas imperious, we did just enough for our share of the spoils. Good to see Sean Welsh get off the bench for a few minutes as well. Let's hope he stays clear of injury. Date: 22/10/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2225 Referee: Mathew MacDermid Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Ram, Deas (Strachan 88), Delaney, Boyd (Doran 67), Hyde (Welsh 75), Harper, Shaw, Oakley, B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Calum Mackay, Bray Scorers: Deas (38) Booked: Carson (78) Sent Off: none Raith Rovers: 1 Manager: Ian Murray Lineup: Macdonald; Dick, Millen, Spencer, O'Riordan, Easton, Stanton, Brown, Connell (Coulson 90+1), Connolly (Mathews 77), Crocodile Subs (not used): Thomson; McBride, Mahady, Masson Scorers: Stanton (13) Booked: none Sent Off: none a
  10. Injuries R us. After the disappointing result in midweek, we face Raith Rovers at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday in a game that kicks-off at 3:00pm. We have held the Indian sign over Raith Rovers for practically all of the last 22 years, however, they will never have a better chance to get the monkey off the back as we could well be without ten players due to injury. Mixed fortunes for both clubs over the last couple of weeks but an early opportunity to get points back on the board, and for Inverness keep in touch at the top whilst Raith strive to bridge the gap to those above them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MATCH/TICKET INFO OFFICIAL PREVIEW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 19 13 4 2 37 14 +23 Away 16 9 4 3 32 19 +13 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 35 22 8 5 69 33 +36 It's twenty years since Raith beat us 1 - 2 at the Caledonian Stadium. Here's Ian Broadfoot's report, and apparently injuries played a big part back then as well. Injury-hit Caley Thistle lost this game because of a poor first half display. Despite this they nearly took the lead in 13 minutes when a David Bagan shot was blocked by Greig McCulloch and spun over the bar. Raith scored first in 16 minutes when Jim Calder failed to hold a Shaun Dennis cross and Jay Stein hit home the loose ball from six yards. In 21 minutes a poor headed clearance by Stuart McCaffrey was picked up by Andrew Clark and he set up Ivan Mballa and the Frenchman slammed the ball into the net from 12 yards. ICT had a penalty claim turned down in 38 minutes when Charlie Christie was brought down by Paul Browne. After the break the home side improved but Guido Van de Kamp denied them on several occasions. Paul Sheerin pulled one back in 79 minutes when he netted from close range after a good cut back by Roy McBain. Four minutes later Sheerin watched in frustration as Van de Kamp saved his low shot. As time ran out he came close twice more but Raith held on to win. Ahhhhhhhh, nostalgia, it aint what it used to be. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 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) 3 - 3 (A) We missed the chance to top the table on Tuesday night but Accies did themselves a huge favour by getting temselves off the bottom rung combined with Arbroath going down to Raith Rovers. It's all getting very congested with only five points separating teams from seventh (Raith) to Partick at the top. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Partick Thistle 10 6 2 2 23 13 20 2. Inverness CT 11 6 2 3 14 10 20 3. Ayr United 10 5 2 3 20 13 17 4. Dundee 11 5 2 4 19 16 17 5. Morton 11 5 2 4 15 13 17 6. Queens Park 11 5 2 4 15 19 17 7. Raith Rovers 11 5 0 6 12 12 15 8. Cove Rangers 11 3 2 6 14 18 11 9. Hamilton Ac. 11 2 4 5 9 19 10 10. Arbroath 11 1 4 6 7 15 7 Full Fixture List on Saturday, all 3:00pm Kick-Offs Arbroath v Accies Ayr Utd v Cove Dundee v Morton Inverness v Raith Rovers Partick v Queens Last Time Out Inverness' injuries eventually caught up with them against Hamilton. Maybe we had been pushing our luck over the previous five games where we managed to take all the points. Last Saturday we struggled to impose ourseves at Cove but still came away with three points thanks to Steven Boyd's first goal for the club. However, Accies seem to have our number and turned the tables on us when Winter scored the only goal of the game despite a late flurry from the hosts. Too little too late was the order of the day. Raith also had mixed fortunes. A 1-0 defeat at Morton was followed by a hard earned win at Arbroath. Sam Stanton struck five minutes before the break at Gayfield to tuck Raith in behind Queens Park in the table, only five points off the top. Latest Team News Well, what can we say. Six or seven missing before the Accies game, we found ourselves another man down before a ball was kicked in earnest when the semi-fit Wallace Duffy had to pull out to be replaced by Max Ram who in turn came off injured before the end. Daniel Mackay also came off injured in the second half. Sean Welsh had made the bench but was obviously not fit enough to kick a ball. So, I make it: Shane Sutherland, Tom Walsh, Roddy MacGregor, Danny Devine, Austin Samuels, Scott Allardice, Wallace Duffy, Daniel Mackay, Max Ram, Sean Welsh. That adds up to ten players likely to be out or not fully fit. It might have been quicker to name those that are available. Head Coach Billy Dodds said: “There’s a couple of improvements but I don’t know if they are going to be ready for the game or if it’s coming too quick. I wish the game wasn’t as quick as it was but after the game midweek it is onto Saturday now.” Eck's Raith catch-up It is always sad to hear that a youngster has had to give up his career and such is the case with Kyle Bow. A goalkeeper who was previously a Raith apprentice who signed a full-time contract in August 2021, he has had to retire from football aged 18 due to a persistent knee injury. Latest addition to the Squad is Danish centre forward John Frederiksen who arrived at the start of October having been without a club, previously with Austrian second tier side SKU Amstetten for a season. Apparently he is about nine feet tall. Yikes! Still on the long-term injury list for the Rovers, both with Cruciate Ligament problems are centre back Tom Lang and centre forward Lewis Vaughan. This weekend>>>
  11. 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 Caley Jags were without seven players athough Sean Welsh was on the bench. Oakley replaced Billy Mckay who was also on the bench after the bruising encounter at Cove along with three youth players. It went from bad to worse before kick-off as Duffy was injured in the warm up and was replaced by Max Ram. Hamilton were unchanged from their defeat to Partick Thistle at the weekend. The first attempt of note came from Aaron Doran in the tenth minute but he fired it wide. Lawson won a corner for Accies after Andrew Winter went forward with menace a couple of minutes later. That warning was not heeded and Winter opened the scoring from close range in the 22nd minute, his fifth goal of the season after a great assist from Andy Ryan. That had been coming from the start with Hamilton looking the better side against an injury ravaged Caley Jags. Zak Delaney drove into the box on the left but his shot was saved by Fulton as Inverness tried to get back on level terms. In a half of few chances, Robbie Deas headed over ten minutes before the break and Winter shot wide at the other end. Another run forward, this time by Boyd, won a corner which Max Ram headed for goal with Fulton making the save. However, Accies survived the mini fightback and they went in one ahead at the interval. HALF TIME 0-1 Dario Zanatta shot wide after the break as Inverness struggled to break down Accies and Oakley shot wide following a corner. Billy Mckay entered the field, replacing Aaron Doran after the hour, but it was Accies that threatened again with Mark Ridgers denying Scott Martin. Soon after Dan Mackay pulled up injured to be replaced by Nathan Shaw. Ridgers conceded a corner after Winter forced his way into the box to keep us within touching distance and Doyle headed over. A late surge from the hosts saw a Harper shot blocked and Lawson cleared twice before Boyd shot over the bar. FULL TIME 0-1 A disappointing result which had more to do with missing players and time wasting than Hamiltons skill and dexterity. Dan Mackay, Wallace Duffy and Max Ram might well be added to the casualty list as well which is a massive worry. Table after tonights dismal showing Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Partick Thistle 10 6 2 2 23 13 20 2. Inverness CT 11 6 2 3 14 10 20 3. Ayr United 10 5 2 3 20 13 17 4. Dundee 11 5 2 4 19 16 17 5. Morton 11 5 2 4 15 13 17 6. Queens Park 11 5 2 4 15 19 17 7. Raith Rovers 10 4 0 6 11 12 12 8. Cove Rangers 11 3 2 6 14 18 11 9. Hamilton Ac. 11 2 4 5 9 19 10 10. Arbroath 10 1 4 5 7 14 7 Date: 18/10/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2052 Referee: Alan Newlands Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Ram (Strachan 90), Deas, Delaney, D Mackay (Shaw 67), Hyde, Harper, Boyd, Doran (B Mckay 63), Oakley Subs (not used): C Mackay; Calum Mackay, Bray, Welsh, Scorers: none Booked: D Mackay (60) Sent Off: none Hamilton: 1 Manager: John Rankin Lineup: Fulton; Doyle, O'Reilly, Easton, Shiels, Ngandu (One 78), Lawson, Martin, Zanatta (Tiehi 63), Winter, Ryan Subs (not used): J Smith; L Smith, Virtanen, Mimnaugh, Brown, Owens, Newbury Scorers: Winter (22), Lawson (89), Martin (92) Booked: none Sent Off: none a
  12. Topish v Bottomish   Hamilton Accies are the visitors to the Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday night at 7:45pm. This game was called off in the aftermath of the passing of Queen Elizabeth on 8th September. We had just come off the back of a dismal three game loss before beating Raith Rovers at Starks Park. That has now turned into a five game winning run of Championship games which has put us top equal on points with Partick Thistle, one of the teams we beat during that run.  MATCH/TICKET INFO   Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 15 5 4 6 25 19 +6 Away 11 6 2 3 17 13 +4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 26 11 6 9 42 32 +10 It seems that the away side have the edge in fixtures between these sides over the years, but there;s not a lot in it. Recent games show that Accies have the edge although we pumped them 4-0 in the last meeting last season as we warmed up for the play-offs and Accies wound down their season. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 4 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H)   Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts   1. Partick Thistle 10 6 2 2 23 13 20 2. Inverness CT 10 6 2 2 14 9 20 3. Ayr United 10 5 2 3 20 13 17 4. Dundee 11 5 2 4 19 16 17 5. Morton 11 5 2 4 15 13 17 6. Queens Park 11 5 2 4 15 19 17 7. Raith Rovers 10 4 0 6 11 12 12 8. Cove Rangers 11 3 2 6 14 18 11 9. Arbroath 10 1 4 5 7 14 7 10. Hamilton Ac. 10 1 4 5 8 19 7 Midweek Fixtures (19:45) TUESDAY 18TH OCTOBER Inverness CT v Hamilton     WEDNESDAY 19TH OCTOBER  Arbroath v Rovers Last Time Out After some inept performances, Inverness came away from Stark's Park with all three points. A Scott Allardice penalty and a goal in time added on from Billy Mckay secured the win against a punchless Raith Rovers. Many were doubting if we had the bottle for the battle. Well, we won this fight, but the war will continue and some optimism and confidence will return after this game played without seven injured players. Credit where it's due for this mini turnaround. Here's where we are now. We have since beaten Dundee, Ayr, Partick and Cove for five wins out of five, four of them coming away from home. Hamilton over that same period have only picked up one point, a draw at Cove. Of the four defeats, the abyss was a 5-0 thrashing by Morton. However their last game was a narrow 1-2 defeat by League leaders Partick Thistle. The stats will show that Accies created plenty of opportunities against Partick. Queens Park and Dundee were the other winners over Accies. The second Dundee goal came in the 95th minute, so a tough run for John Rankin's side which puts them in bottom place, level on points with the Smokies. Latest Team News Sutherland, Walsh, Samuels, Welsh and Devine were all missing at Cove. Allardice and MacGregor may well be added to that list now after the bruising affair at Balmoral. We only had six subs last time, story of our season so far.   Eck's Accies catch-up, unchanged since postponed game With ex ICT player John Rankin taking over from outgoing manager Stuart Taylor in the summer break he has taken in some new faces at Hamilton. Rankin spent a season as assistant manager at New Douglas Park and prior managerial experience at Hearts U17 & U18 teams. Out are. Joe Hilton goalkeeper saw his loan from Blackburn U21 ended after 16 Championship starts last season. Backs Mihai Popescu end of loan, Adam McGowan currently on loan to Tranent JFC and Kieran Macdonald away on a free to FC Edinburgh. Of the midfield players departed are Ronan Hughes off to East Kilbride and Josh Mullin recalled to Livingston after loan expired. David Moyo, centre forward has been transferred to Barrow AFC. Winger Kai Kennedy the perpetual loan player from Rangers FC is now out on loan at Falkirk FC so will not appear against us in the Championship this season. Rankins new recruits. Michael Doyle a right back arrives from Queens Park FC, no fee involved. Three players added to the midfield are Lucas De Bolle on loan from Newcastle FC youth to U 21 level. Another Newcastle youngster is Reagan Thomson in on a free transfer and Jonny Ngandu has signed from the Coventry U21 squad. On the left-wing Dario Zanatta previously of the Hearts youth system signed via Raith Rovers FC. On loan from Fulham FC is centre forward Jean-Pierre Tiehi. Promoted from Hamilton U18s is Ryan One as an attacking centre forward. Accies had four missing last week: De Bolle, Redfern, Spence, Thomson   View full article  
  13. He scores when he wants 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No surprise really, but Ian McCall is bumping his gums big time about a penalty shout in the first half for Partick, blaming the ref for two big calls. That and the sending off. Should've gone to specsavers! Danny Devine was missing (on crutches) as were Sutherland, Walsh, Welsh and Samuels. Duffy was immense as a replacement for Devine. Billy Mckay covered the whole park and Dan of the Match was in spritely form, skinning as and when required. What the managers said on BBC Sport: Inverness CT manager Billy Dodds: "I was really happy with the first half, but we got sloppy in the second half I thought, despite them being down to 10 men. I asked for patience and we'd get our chance and they showed it. What a finish from Billy Mckay too. "They still went at it with 10 men, but I thought we deserved our victory. I'd have liked more goals, but tactically that's what I wanted and I got it." Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall: "There were two pivotal moments. The penalty kick's the clearest you'll ever see. Docherty has his toe over the ball then he's taken out. "I can understand the sending off, yes, but it's a 50-50. It's very, very soft. Second half, I was delighted with how we defended, but the referee, I don't think I've seen him before, looked way out of his depth for this level of football." Reaction on CTO: Mantis: A really significant win, with Samuels still to come back. No failures last night, a real team effort against the media darlings. Nice to see Allardice coming back to form and Cammy continues to grow in confidence, as does Delaney. Ridgers could have watched the game on the telly for all he had to do. Even as the clock ticked past the 70 minutes I felt the goal would come. Dan still pulling off the tricks he's done several times this season and panicking dumplings like McMillan into rash fouls. I was yelling at him to skin Akinola and skin him he did. It was like the old days of us telling Stewartie to lob Hutchison. Roddy is a real gem and I rated him higher than Dan before he left for Hibs. Just needs to follow Dan's example and bulk up a bit. Duffy was decent considering his lack of experience and who he was marking. Deas may well depart in the next window but what a rock, although running around like an angry Rambo makes him (apparently) the most booked player in the league. But finally a word for the legend that is Billy. His 33 year old legs covered every blade of grass on the pitch and given one sniff he took it as you knew he would. Maybe he'll catch Denzil yet. MoogThurso: Duffy has not been first pick for a centre back spot from our management team and has filled in at right back, maybe to his detriment resulting in much derision. Today he put Brian Graham in a cell, winning all of his aerial duels in the first half, having many successful challenges and also covering Tiffoney very well 3 times Carson was out of position or Tiffoney slipped inside. Today he talked all game correcting the position of everyone around him and leading the back line. Robert: Partick created a few early chances but we then kept them very quiet until after we were ahead, and Ridgers didn’t really have any saves of note to make. Our attitude was spot on and I thought everyone played their part. We kept Tiffoney quiet and they sacrificed him at half time: well done to Carson, with help from Boyd, for that. We kept Graham under control: well done to Deas and Duffy for that. Delaney, other than one or two slack passes late on impressed again, and was always looking for the ball. Our midfield was competitive, with Harper having one great effort on goal and Allardice is getting back to how he performed before his injury. Some of the touches from Mackay and MacGregor were excellent, whilst the work rate of the front four was immense. Special mention to Mckay who ran his socks off and took his goal very well. Ridgers did what he needed to without any fuss. Date: 07/10/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2354 Referee: Scott Lambie Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Duffy, Deas, Delaney, D Mackay (Hyde 83), Allardice (Ram 89), MacGregor (Doran 63), Harper, Boyd (Shaw 63), B Mckay (Oakley 84) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Scorers: B Mckay (75) Booked: Shaw (80) Sent Off: none Partick Thistle: 0 Manager: Ian McCall Lineup: Mitchell; McMillan (Akinola 73), Holt, Turner, Milne, Tiffoney (McKinnon 45), Bannigan (Fitzpatrick 83), Lawless (Smith 82), Docherty, Muirhead, Graham (Dowds 83) Subs (not used): Brownlie, Hodson, Weston, McCready Scorers: none Booked: McMillan (19), Lawless (41), Muirhead (90+2) Sent Off: Turner (40) a
  14. GAME OFF RIP Ma'am All games called off as a mark of respect for Queen Elizabeth II    Hamilton Accies are the visitors this weekend after we picked up a welcome three points last week at Raith Rovers. It's a 3:00pm kick-off at the Caledonian Stadium where three points are a must before we head to Dens Park next week in what will no doubt be a testing game. MATCH/TICKET INFO Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 15 5 4 6 25 19 +6 Away 11 6 2 3 17 13 +4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 26 11 6 9 42 32 +10 It seems that the away side have the edge in fixtures between these sides over the years, but there;s not a lot in it. Recent games show that Accies have the edge although we pumped them 4-0 in the last meeting last season as we warmed up for the play-offs and Accies wound down their season. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 4 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H)   Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts   1. Ayr United 6 4 2 0 12 7 14 2. Partick Thistle 6 4 1 1 14 8 13 3. Dundee 6 3 1 2 11 8 10 4. Queens Park 6 3 1 2 10 11 10 5. Inverness CT 6 2 2 2 8 7 8 6. Morton 6 2 2 2 5 5 8 7. Hamilton Ac. 6 1 4 1 7 8 7 8. Raith Rovers 6 2 0 4 5 8 6 9. Cove Rangers 6 1 1 4 7 11 4 10. Arbroath 6 0 2 4 3 9 2 FRIDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER Cove 19:45 Dundee SATURDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER Arbroath v Rovers    Ayr Utd v Partick Inverness CT v Hamilton        Queen's v Morton  Last Time Out Leighton McIntosh's late equaliser earned Cove a point at home to Accies. Jean Pierre Tiehi had put Hamilton in front in the first half but Jamie Masson equalised with a long-range strike. Daniel O'Reilly restored Accies' lead but supersub McIntosh came off the bench for the second week running to level matters. Accies footprint so far:  Draw 1-1 v MORTON ~ Draw 1-1 v PARTICK ~ Draw 2-2 v AYR Utd. ~ Lost 0-2 V RAITH ~  Won 1-0 v ARBROATH ~ Draw 2-2 v COVE. After some inept performances, Inverness came away from Stark's Park with all three points. A Scott Allardice penalty and a goal in time added on from Billy Mckay secured the win against a punchless Raith Rovers. Many were doubting if we had the bottle for the battle. Well, we won this fight, but the war will continue and some optimism and confidence will return after this game played without seven injured players. Credit where it's due for this mini turnaround. Latest Team News Sutherland, Walsh, Samuels, MacGregor, Ram, Welsh and Doran were all missing at Kirkaldy.   Eck's Accies catch-up With ex ICT player John Rankin taking over from outgoing manager Stuart Taylor in the summer break he has taken in some new faces at Hamilton. Rankin spent a season as assistant manager at New Douglas Park and prior managerial experience at Hearts U17 & U18 teams. Out are. Joe Hilton goalkeeper saw his loan from Blackburn U21 ended after 16 Championship starts last season. Backs Mihai Popescu end of loan, Adam McGowan currently on loan to Tranent JFC and Kieran Macdonald away on a free to FC Edinburgh. Of the midfield players departed are Ronan Hughes off to East Kilbride and Josh Mullin recalled to Livingston after loan expired. David Moyo, centre forward has been transferred to Barrow AFC. Winger Kai Kennedy the perpetual loan player from Rangers FC is now out on loan at Falkirk FC so will not appear against us in the Championship this season. Rankins new recruits. Michael Doyle a right back arrives from Queens Park FC, no fee involved. Three players added to the midfield are Lucas De Bolle on loan from Newcastle FC youth to U 21 level. Another Newcastle youngster is Reagan Thomson in on a free transfer and Jonny Ngandu has signed from the Coventry U21 squad. On the left-wing Dario Zanatta previously of the Hearts youth system signed via Raith Rovers FC. On loan from Fulham FC is centre forward Jean-Pierre Tiehi. Promoted from Hamilton U18s is Ryan One as an attacking centre forward.  
  15. Battle of the Jags After three away day wins on the trot in the Championship, it's the battle of the Jags this Friday night at the Caledonian Stadium, or as it's now known as, The Vaccination Derby. Kick-off is at 7:45 and this game will be shown live on the BBC Scotland channel. Partick are steaming ahead at the top of the table after a crushing 5-1 defeat of Morton last weekend and we have managed to get back on track after losing 4-1 to Partick on the 19th of August, the start of a three game losing sequence. Since then Partick have gone to the top of the table and we have won our last three, all away from home and will be looking to close the gap at the top. Should make for good viewing and will give us an idea how we are coping with our extensive injury problems. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MATCH/TICKET INFO Venue H2H v Partick Thistle Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 23 10 6 7 37 33 +4 Away 23 6 6 11 24 34 -10 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 46 16 12 18 61 67 -6 Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Partick Thistle 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) 2 - 1 (A) Home advantage is normally a good indicator in these fixtures although our biggest defeat was a 0 - 4 encounter back in 2014: CTO report: OUCH! Inverness fans took a sore one as they watched their team being dismantled by an energetic Partick Thistle in the battle of the Jags. It was a day to forget for the Caley Jags side as their unbeaten home run was ended in spectacular style by a team that have sussed us out big time. While we tapped the ball around the back quarter in tentative style, Partick's cut and thrust won the day and they deservedly crushed us 4-0. Much of this was down to our own error ridden display, but take nothing away from Partick, they took full advantage of the situation and trounced us with their high intensity pressing game. Partick just seem to have our number this season and I can't say I am looking forward to the Cup game in February. We need to try and find a way to combat the apparent high intensity, pressing game that they employ against us otherwise we will be getting thrashed again in a couple of months. Two first half goals from Ryan Stevenson were added to after the break by Gary Fraser and Conrad Balatoni. Inverness had a couple of strikes ruled out for interference by Billy McKay from a Raven shot and a couple of interlopers who took to the field to relieve the boredom. (naughty boys, don't do this at home children). Biggest Victories Apr 30th, 2016 League (A) 4 - 1 Jan 10th, 2009 Scottish Cup (Rd 4) (H) 3 - 0 Apr 27th, 2002 League (H) 3 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Dec 13th, 2014 League (H) 0 - 4 There was a couple of eye brow raising results this midweek in the Championship Cove R 3-1 Dundee Queens 1-2 Morton Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Partick Thistle 8 5 2 1 21 11 17 2. Queens Park 9 5 1 3 14 13 16 3. Ayr United 8 4 2 2 14 11 14 4. Inverness CT 8 4 2 2 12 9 14 5. Dundee 9 4 1 4 16 14 13 6. Cove Rangers 9 3 2 4 14 14 11 7. Morton 9 3 2 4 9 13 11 8. Raith Rovers 8 3 0 5 8 11 9 9. Hamilton Ac. 8 1 4 3 7 12 7 10. Arbroath 8 1 2 5 5 12 5 FRIDAY 7TH OCTOBER Inverness CT v Partick Thistle SATURDAY 8TH OCTOBER Arbroath v Dundee Ayr Utd v Queen's Morton v Accies Raith v Cove LAST TIME OUT Partick romped to the top of the table on their own with an emphatic 5-1 thrashing of Morton at Firhill and they even had the luxury of a missed penalty on the hour from Kevin Holt. Morton took an early lead through Robbie Muirhead in the 17th minute and this must have annoyed the Jags. They responded with strikes from Brian Graham and Holt before the break. Aaron Muirhed Scott Tiffoney and Anton Dowds completed the rout after the interval to boost Partick's goal difference to a massive +10 this early in the season. Last time we met we were disappointing and were brushed aside by a confident Partick side 4-1 at Firhill. Meh! Inverness are on a triple roll with the last game being a carbon copy of the previous two on the road at Starks Park and Dens Park. Instrumental in those victories has been re-incarnated left sided midfielder Cammy Harper who is revelling in his new roll with Zak Delaney covering the left back berth at the moment. Two sublime left peg strikes at Dens Park and and a deft glanced header at Somerset Park last weekend are becoming the trademark of Cammy as he relishes his elevated status. LATEST TEAM NEWS Still out will be Shane Sutherland, Tom Walsh, Sean Welsh and probably Austin Samuels although Welsh and Samuels should be back sooner rather that later................ hopefully. Eric's quickie on Partick Thistle: As alluded to by tm4tj (aka the Boss) I did rather present an epic tome of "War and Peace" proportions to the reader(s) last week regarding squad changes at Ayr United. This week it's only a one liner. There are no apparent changes to the Partick Thistle squad since the last fixture away to Partick on the 26th of August...... Hooray! However, Partick are the form team just now with a good blend of experience and quality. Brian Graham has always troubled us with his sheer hammer thrower bulk. Scott Tiffony is a bag of tricks and Anton Dowds will score coming off the bench. Steven Lawless and Stuart Bannigan amongst others provide experience in abundance. They are certainly heading in the right direction at the moment and will be a stern test for the Caley Jags.
  16. Brechin pay the Penalty Prior to today, Brechin had only won twice at Inverness in ten encounters. This was a close one that went to penalties to decide who went into the hat for the fourth round draw. Inverness got off to the perfect start through George Oakley in the fifth minute to open the scoring. However, Kevin McHattie levelled the score with a great strike into the top corner after half an hour. Ten minutes before the break Oakley caught the side netting after being fed through by Duffy. A couple of minutes later Nathan Shaw put the hosts back in front. Half Time 2-1. Oakley scored from the spot just after the break, but it was far from job done. Two late strikes from Grady McGrath and Euan Spark took the game to penalties where Inverness just got over the line 4-3. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first meeting between the sides since 2018 had a low key approach to it. Inverness had Max Ram back in for a start after an early season injury in the League Cup against Kelty Hearts saw him miss the next two months. Billy & Bazza made a number of changes to the side that beat Dundee a week earlier. Cammy Mackay came in for Mark Ridgers with Nathan Shaw, Lewis Hyde and Dan's younger brother Calum all starting. Keith Bray and Mathew Strachan were part of a strong bench for the hosts (Ridgers; Carson, Deas, Allardice, D Mackay, B Mckay, Boyd, Strachan, Bray). Andy Kirk's Brechin had former Inverness players Kevin McHattie and Anthony McDonald in their squad and will be in confident mood after scoring ten goals in their last two games, both away from home. Good to see both these players back performing well on the park after careers disrupted by serious injuries. Aaron Arnott makes his debut for City after coming in on loan from Raith Rovers and Michael McArthur comes back into the starting XI after missing out last week. McHattie started with McDonald on the bench. An early tap in from George Oakley after a great save by keeper Wilson from a Max Ram header set Inverness up nicely but former Inverness defender Kevin McHattie levelled the scores after half an hour with a great curling strike into the top corner from twenty yards. Ten minutes before the break Nathan Shaw put Inverness ahead after Oakley pressurised defender Nathan Cooney into making a costly error before passing to Shaw to score his second goal for the club and that's how it stood at the interval. HALF TIME: 2-1 Oakley converted from the spot 3 minutes after the interval when Duffy was fouled in the box by Cooney. Shaw did well on a couple of occasions after the break but it was Brechin that pulled a goal back through Grady McGrath when he slotted in after Scott set him up with twenty minutes remaining. With ten minutes left they were level after Euan Spark knocked home following a corner. Inverness searched for a winner but time ran out and it went to penalties. Cammy Mackay made a crucial brilliant save from Ryan McInnes in the shoot out then Robbie Deas blasted home his spot kick, and that was the difference. FULL TIME 3-3 Penalties: Brechin City: Bain, McGrath, Loudon, Inglis, McInnes - 3 Inverness CT: B Mckay, Oakley, Boyd, Allardice, Deas - 4 The opening goal was Oakley's 20th goal for the Caley Jags. Incidentally, his first goal was also against Brechin City in a 3-0 league cup win in July 2017 in the 57th minute. Credit to Brechin for making a come back when heads could have dropped just after the interval when Oakley scored his second goal. By all accounts a miserable performance by a side without a number of first picks starting. The only consolation is that we are in the next round, but performances like that won't see us go far in this competition. School report: Must try harder It's no pretty, but we're in the next round From CTO: Awful performance. At 3-1 I thought like most that it was game over despite our midfield setup being so poor. But to concede 2 goals and almost another was criminal, I can't even think apart from Oakley any player that deserved a pass mark! Lethargic, Clueless wrong tactics and player choice made it difficult viewing for the fans.... Well that was painful. 3-1 up and we throw that away. The whole attitude was wrong today. They thought they just had to turn up. No drive,energy,tempo or hunger to win. Passing woeful. This was a great chance for the fringe players to show what they could do and they blew it... Here's Bazza Date: 24/09/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 832 Referee: Barry Cook Inverness CT: 3 (4 pens) Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; Duffy, Devine (Allardice 45), Ram (D Mackay 62), Delaney, Shaw, Hyde, Harper (Deas 45), Doran (B Mckay 83) Callum Mackay (Boyd 62), Oakley Subs (not used): Ridgers; Carson, Strachan, Bray Scorers: Oakley (6, 47pen), Shaw (38) Booked: none Sent Off: none Brechin City: 3 (3 pens) Manager: Andy Kirk Lineup: Wilson; McHattie, Cooney, Northcott, Spark (90+1), Scott (Inglis 90+2), McArthur (Loudon 25), MacLeod, Cruickshank, Arnott (Bain 67), McGrath Subs (not used): Easton; Thomson, McDonald, Naglik Scorers: McHattie (28), McGrath (72), Spark (78) Booked: none Sent Off: none a
  17. If you like a challenge We host Brechin City this Saturday in the Challenge Cup, or SPFL Trust Trophy if you prefer, but remember to set your alarm clock early as it's a 2:00pm kick-off. This is Brechin's third game in this competition having ousted Hibernian colts and Stirling Albion in previous rounds. Both games went to penalties with City prevailing. Inverness are thrice winners of the Challenge Cup if you include the joint affair with Raith Rovers. MATCH/TICKET INFO Over the years we hold a massive advantage over the Hedgers and they now find themselves plying their trade in the Highland League after dropping out of League Two in May 2021 after losing out in the play-off to Kelty Hearts. However, wins breed confidence and they have started this season with a flourish, winning all seven of their Highland League games scoring 17 goals, conceding only twice. Our last fixture against Brechin was a Championship game back in 2018 when Inverness ran out 4 - 0 winners over a side heading for relegation having picked up only four points during the 2017/2018 season with four draws. George Oakley was one of our scorers in that game. Out of the SPFL: On 23 May 2021, Brechin lost 3–1 on aggregate to Lowland League side Kelty Hearts in the relegation playoffs, dropping down to the Highland League, the club's first spell out of the national leagues in 67 years. In June 2021, after the departure of player/manager Michael Paton, the club appointed Andy Kirk to the role of club manager. In the club's first season in the Highland League, they secured a respectable third-place finish. (Wikipedia) Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 10 7 1 2 25 5 +20 Away 8 5 2 1 17 9 +8 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 18 12 3 3 42 14 +28 Last Time Out We had a tremendous result at Dens Park against the background of some powderpuff performances over the previous few weeks. An encouraging 2-0 win at Starks Park in the game before ignited a wee spark of optimism and a hard fought 3-2 win at Dundee followed, despite going behind early doors. Cammy Harper was the hero with two sublime strikes from distance to add to Billy Mckay's penalty just before the break. Chances at both ends in an open game where we eventually got on top and deservingly took all three points. Our goals at Dundee. BOOM! Brechin's tremendous start to the season continued with high fives all round. Their last two fixtures saw them trounce Strathspey Thistle 0-5 in the Highland League followed by a 1-5 defeat of Jeanfield Swifts in the Scottish Cup at the Riverside Stadium. Note that former Inverness player Anthony McDonald was instrumental in this game and scored City's third goal. And full back Kevin McHattie is also back playing after his injury problems. Here's Brechin putting five past Swifts in a second half blitz... Lenny Wilson: Kevin McHattie, Nathan Cooney, Marc Scott, Grady McGrath, Michael Cruickshank, Fraser MacLeod, Anthony McDonald, Ewan Loudon, Jordan Northcott, Euan Spark Latest Team News Usual suspects out for Inverness but maybe an opportunity to give some fringe players some game time and rest some weary legs for the bigger picture. Cammy Mackay may be in line for the keepers gloves. Max Ram is possibly the only recovering player that may get a run out with younger fringe players also getting involved. Eric's Brechin catch-up " Manager Andy Kirk has made a number of additions over the summer mostly from the junior ranks or lower league sides, he has however secured a loan deal for a promising youngster Aaron Arnott from Raith Rovers. Arnott only transferred on 7th September and has yet to make an appearance for the Glebe Park side" One or two recognisable names around Glebe Park. Euan Spark formerly with Dundee United and Dunfermline, Anthony McDonald and Kevin McHattie both ex ICT. They also have had Rogue defender *Iain Davidson* of Raith Rovers red card fame. *update* Fortunately for the ref and our players, Davidson may have left Brechin recently. Anyway, they have a good blend of youth experience and confidence which may well be enough to see them back in league 2 at the end of the season. They will have to do it without star midfielder Seth Patrick. The Zimbabwean has returned home for personal reasons after some great performances for City. (maybe he fell out with Davidson) It's only the main stand that will be open for this game and tickets are available now online from ictfc.tickethour.co.uk, the Club Shop (Monday-Friday)10am-4pm and you can buy them over the phone on 01463 222880 Ticket Prices:- Adults: £10. Concessions (Over 65s & Students): £8 Under 12s: Free*Disabled Carers: Free
  18. More rubbish than the streets of Edinburgh The fans turned up looking for a reaction after the feeble attempt at Firhill last Friday. They would leave disappointed after 95 minutes with lots of questions unanswered as they slumped to a second defeat in a row to a bang average Morton side who had previously only ever won three games at the Caledonian Stadium in nineteen encounters. Goalless at the break, Grant Gillespie slotted home a penalty with five minutes remaining after Duffy handled in the box. Woeful stuff from Billy Dodds and his hapless team. Simply another inept performance from the Caley Jags who are now six points behind early leaders Ayr United. It could have been worse but for Mark Ridgers who saved well from Jaze Kabia's twenty yard volley and another great save from a Jai Quitongo effort. Steven Boyd had the first serious attempt in the tenth minute but it was comfortable for the Morton keeper and Austin Samuels shot high and wide as Inverness looked for an opening. However his game ended after 24 minutes through injury with Nathan Shaw replacing him. Roddy MacGregor had a close range effort saved and it was looking promising without being too critical, but in truth we were still too pedestrian with clear chances at a premium in the little goalmouth action there was on display, Morton looking more intent on not conceding than scoring one for themselves. Kabia produced the first bit of decent play followed a second later by the next, a great save in the top corner by Ridgers to deny Morton the lead five minutes before the break. Half Time: 0-0 An untidy opening to the second half came to a close when Ridgers did brilliantly again to deny Quitongo on the hour, tipping his 12 yard volley onto the bar and over for a corner, as we huffed and puffed without doing anything. Nothing noteworthy happened until Duffy handled, Gillespie scored and the fans were left frustrated once more as they could see all this coming a mile away. The decision was maybe a tad harsh as the ball was being knocked out of the box some 18 yards from goal and hit a flailing arm, but penalty was given. Hold on, the referee was Nick Walsh, maybe that explains it. A MacGregor header over and a Dan Mackay shot were all we could muster as the game petered out and another defeat it was. Full Time: 0-1 Well well well, where do we go from here. The two year olde question of where is our right back has not been addressed. Where has our desire gone is also a mystery. Where is our ability to take throw ins, (wait, we never ever had that), where is our ability to attack at pace. Gone are the days of swashbuckling moves late in the game to salvage something, we are now down to punting hopeful balls forward waiting for something to happen instead of making it happen. Below is a selection from the unhappy bunnies on the forum here on CaleyThistleOnline Match Reaction from CTO Well, that was horrendous. I really believe now that Dodds has no idea how to set up and inspire a team. There was no energy, no pace, no desire, no leadership, no tactics, unless you count the hopeful hoofball that the team likes to play. We keep hearing that their all happy campers but that is not what it appears like. You get the impression that something is upsetting the applecart. Battered by Partick mugged by Morton....and not a glove laid on either.... Was like watching a training exercise... no urgency, no creativity, no pace, no tactics, no inspiration, no imagination, no skill, and no heart! Looking at that team today, there's nothing there. There's nothing that says to me that this team can challenge for the title. And the winner is: Two blokes stranded on a desert island, with no way of contacting the outside world. "Caley Thistle got beaten again!" "How do you know?" "Back home, it's ten to five on a Saturday." Date: 27/08/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1924 Referee: Nick Walsh Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Duffy, Deas, Harper, Samuels (Shaw 24) Allardice, MacGregor, Boyd, Oakley (D Mackay 67), B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Delaney, Devine, C Mackay Scorers: none Booked: Allardice (38), B Mckay (50), Boyd (73) Sent Off: none Morton: 1 Manager: Dougie Imrie Lineup: Schwake; King (Strapp 67), O'Connor, Baird, Pignatiello (Hynes 81), Muirhead, Blues, Gillespie, Crawford, Kabia (McGrattan 80), Quitongo Subs (not used): Green, Lyon, Lithgow. Scorers: Gillespie (pen 85) Booked: Crawford (86), Gillespie (90+2) Quitongo (90+5) Sent Off: none a
  19. Ton of trouble   After last weeks sobering experience at the hands of Partick Thistle, Dougie Imrie's Morton head North looking to pose more problems for Inverness. It's a 3:00pm kick-off on Saturday with both clubs sitting on five points after four games, three behind early pace setters Ayr United. Our squad were somewhat depleted last weekend and there's no sign of much improvement on the injury front. We are a bit thin on defensive cover, especially down the right, but that's nothing new. We have only had a couple of years to sort that one out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TICKET INFO   Venue - H2H v Morton Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 19 12 4 3 46 17 +29 Away 17 10 3 4 35 19 +16 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 36 22 7 7 81 36 +45 Head 2 Head results show that we have lost only three times at home to Morton in nineteen games, although the most recent was a 1-0 defeat at the Caledonian Stadium last season. That was a hard one to get your head round considering we had thumped them 6-1 in the previous league game at Cappielow before Xmas, our biggest ever win over Morton. It also coincided with a massive dip in fortunes when we never won a game for an eternity, possibly costing us automatic promotion. Overall the stats are heavily in our favour with a plus 45 goal difference. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Morton. (click on scores to view more) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 6 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 3 - 2 (H) Biggest Victories Dec 11th, 2021 League (Championship) (A) 6 - 1 Aug 30th, 2019 League (H) 5 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Nov 12th, 1999 League (A) 1 - 5 FRIDAY 26TH AUGUST Ayr United19:45Dundee SATURDAY 27TH AUGUST Hamilton v Arbroath Inverness v Morton     Partick v Rovers Queen's v Cove     The season so far Morton started their campaign at New Douglas Park with a 1-1 draw against Hamilton. That was followed by a 1-0 home win over Cove Rangers thanks to a Jai Quitongo strike then a defeat by Raith Rovers, going down 2-1 at Starks Park. Last week was a massive game for them with a no scoring draw against title favourites Dundee at Cappielow, Robbie Muirhead hitting the post with a late flick on target. After mediocre early draws culminating in a 4-1 beating of Cove, we got a rude awakening last Friday night when an error strewn defensive display saw us hammered 4-1 on the telly at Firhill. George Oakley got the definitive consolation goal, probably more than we deserved. We will need better if we want to get into the top four in what will be a tight division.  Dodds no happy after Partick Pumping... Latest Team News Sutherland and Walsh are long term absentees. Sean Welsh and Max Ram are recovering. Carson and Duffy are nursing injuries and Danny Devine missed out at Partick as he struggles for fitness. Prove me wrong Billy, but my money is team lines similar to Partick away!     Eric's Morton Movers (and there's plenty) Manager Dougie Imrie reshaped his squad after the summer break. Out go both keepers, Jack Hamilton in a move to Livingston and Joshua Bysouth currently without a club. Backs released: Jamie Brandon end of loan deal. Oisin McEntee end of loan from Newcastle FC Brian McLean moves to Clyde, and Mark Russell on a free move to Galway United. Imrie appears to have kept faith in the majority of his midfield. Kyle Jacobs sent out on loan to Edinburgh FC, Iain Wilson off to QOS and on loan Tom Allan returns to parent club Newcastle Up front only Robbie Muirhead remains from last seasons strike force. The following players have left: Gavin Reilly end of loan from Livingston. Gary Oliver joined Falkirk, Gozie Ugwu released no club and Alexander Easdale centre forward has retired at the tender age of 22 to take up a position in the family business. New faces at Cappielow. Between the sticks the manager has handed the No. 1 jersey to the American born Brian Schwake who at 21 years of age arrive on a season loan from Livingston. Back up keeper is a another young player in 19 year old Lawton Green, a New Zealander previously with Motherwell B. Centre backs Darragh O'Connor from Motherwell and Jack Baird last couple of seasons at Ayr United. Carlo Pignatiello a right back comes in from Livingston FC Robbie Crawford, midfielder from Partick Thistle, also in the middle of the park we have Grant Gillespie from Queens Park FC and he has been handed captaincy of the team. Up front on loan from Livingston is Jaze Kabia a right winger and in on a free from Queens Park is centre forward Jai Quitongo who is incidentally son of Jose Quitongo who had a long career with numerous clubs in Scotland.
  20. 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Megginson got the game underway and in the sixth minute Aaron Doran fed Austin Samuels in to score the opener. Thereafter Inverness mostly dominated the first half before losing their way until Samuels restored the two goal advantage. From CTO Robert: I was nervous when I saw the line up with seven players missing (Duffy, Carson, Devine, Ram, Welsh, Walsh and Sutherland) and only three defenders in the team, all left sided. We came out fast and Samuels’ well finished early goal set us up for as good a 45 as I’ve seen in a long time. I thought Mackay’s shot was goal bound but Doran made sure for the second. We could have had more, with the Cove ‘keeper Gourlay making several good saves. Our most nervous moment came when Delaney (I think) tried to head the ball wide but instead forced Ridgers to make a great save to avoid an own goal. Cove started the second half with Vigurs on, and scored in their first attack. Ridgers could only parry a shot towards Robbie Leitch who scored. We were then unable to keep the ball and were looking poor for the next 20 minutes or so, with Cove looking the more likely to score, but we gradually grew back in to the game. Mckay set Samuels up for the third, which steadied things and Shaw got the fourth after Samuels came close to a hat trick but the goalie palmed his effort towards Shaw. 4-1 maybe flattered us a bit, but it was in the main a good team performance, with four Academy products starting. Ridgers had a couple of saves, with one down at the post as well as stopping the potential own goal. He was also talking the defence through the game well. Hyde is not a natural full back and it showed at times, but he acquitted himself well. Delaney and Samuels both assisted him. I thought Delaney did well, playing on the wrong side of the defensive pairing for a left sided player, whilst Deas steadied everything and got forward a few times, coming close with an overhead kick. Harper has improved from last season, both defensively and with his delivery. Allardice was great in midfield, supported well by MacGregor. Dan Mackay had a couple of decent runs, whilst I thought Doran had a very good game. Billy Mckay was very busy and kept the ball well to bring others into the game. The pick, though, was Samuels, who took his goals well and could have had a third. He had the beating of the defence and made a lot of good runs into space, which seemed to be a deliberate ploy today with players looking for him. What a contrast from his performance against Queens Park. Three subs were used late on with Boyd coming close from a free kick and Shaw being in the right place to get the fourth. All in all, a satisfying afternoon, particularly after the wobble early in the second half. Well done to all, and I hope Douglas Ross “enjoyed” the stick he got Thanks Robert, great summary of today's game Good win for the Caley Jags that moves them on to five points, one point behind Dundee who sit top on six points. It was also a good day for Austin Samuels to bag a double, his sixth in total, with Nathan Shaw getting his first goal for the club. Aaron Doran's goal was his 51st goal in 337 appearances. Date: 13/08/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2106 Referee: Greg Aitken Inverness CT: 4 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Hyde, Deas, Harper, Delaney, Samuels, Allardice, MacGregor, Doran (Shaw 83), D Mackay (Boyd 79), B Mckay (Oakley 88) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Nicolson Scorers: Samuels (6, 74), Doran (31), Shaw (90+3) Booked: Samuels (45), Deas (89) Sent Off: none Cove Rangers: 1 Manager: Jim McIntyre Lineup: Gourlay; Logan, Ross, Reynolds, Neill (Vigurs 45), Scully, Leitch (McIntosh 80), Fyvie (McDonagh 80), Masson (Longstaff 69), Dunne, Megginson Subs (not used): McKenzie: Thomas Scorers: Leitch (46) Booked: Scully (60) Fyvie (68) Ross (82) Logan (87) Sent Off: none a
  21. Hello Again We meet again a mere three weeks after our last visit from newly promoted Cove Rangers. This time it's a Championship encounter at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday the 13th. Sounds a bit creepy if you ask me. The last meeting was a game in group G of the league Cup and was a close affair. It ended all square, and nothing less will be expected this time round. MATCHDAY INFO/TICKETS/STADIUM BAR/PARKING First Competitive Meeting Jul 14th, 2018 League Cup (H) 2 - 0 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Jul 23rd, 2022 League Cup (Group Stage Group G) (H) 1 - 1 All four Competitive Meetings 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 3 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (H) Last meeting with Cove ended 1-1: A bright afternoon saw George Oakley Zak Delaney and Nathan Shaw start for the hosts with Mark Ridgers back between the sticks. Roddy MacGregor opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute when he headed a Nathan Shaw cross into the top corner of the net. Mitch Megginson was left unattended to level the game when he scooped the ball behind Ridgers after twenty minutes. Just after the half hour Daniel Mackay turned and shot from the edge of the box, but the keeper saved low to deny Dan. George Oakley was put through by Robbie Deas but Kyle Gourlay pulled off a good save just before the break. HALF TIME: 1-1 After a slow start to the second half, Megginson headed over following a corner and at the other end Cammy Harper put a free kick just over and then Deas diverted a Leighton McIntosh effort wide of the target. Billy Mckay went close to a winner but it went to penalties after ninety minutes and the Caley Jags prevailed 5-3 on penalties with Ridgers saving a weak spot kick from Fraser Fyvie. Fixtures (fri) Dundee 4-2 Arbroath (fri) Ayr United v Hamilton Inverness CT v Cove Rangers Queen's Park v Partick Thistle Rovers v Morton Opening League fixtures: Matchday 1 saw Inverness struggle to make much headway against newly promoted Queens Park. Jake Davidson gave the Spiders an early lead which they held until almost half time until Billy Mckay levelled. That's how it ended. Cove began life in the Championship with an excellent 2-0 win over Raith Rovers. Mitch Megginson scored both in a game dominated by Cove. Matchday 2 and a goalless draw at Arbroath leaves Inverness on two points from two games. Cove went down to a spectacular strike by Jai Quintongo at Cappielow on the same day. LATEST TEAM NEWS Long term absentees are Shane Sutherland, Tom Walsh and Sean Welsh. Max Ram is also out. Robbie Deas returns after a two game ban, Eric reports one in and one out at Cove since our meeting in the league cup: In is Luis Longstaff a right wing player previously Youth to under 21 with Liverpool FC and on Loan last season at Queens Park, also featured in the England U16 &U17 squads. Out is one time ICT forward Rory McAllister who has signed a 2 year deal at Montrose FC. View full article
  22. Hello Again We meet again a mere three weeks after our last visit from newly promoted Cove Rangers. This time it's a Championship encounter at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday the 13th. Sounds a bit creepy if you ask me. The last meeting was a game in group G of the league Cup and was a close affair. It ended all square, and nothing less will be expected this time round. MATCHDAY INFO/TICKETS/STADIUM BAR/PARKING First Competitive Meeting Jul 14th, 2018 League Cup (H) 2 - 0 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Jul 23rd, 2022 League Cup (Group Stage Group G) (H) 1 - 1 All four Competitive Meetings 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 3 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (H) Last meeting with Cove ended 1-1: A bright afternoon saw George Oakley Zak Delaney and Nathan Shaw start for the hosts with Mark Ridgers back between the sticks. Roddy MacGregor opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute when he headed a Nathan Shaw cross into the top corner of the net. Mitch Megginson was left unattended to level the game when he scooped the ball behind Ridgers after twenty minutes. Just after the half hour Daniel Mackay turned and shot from the edge of the box, but the keeper saved low to deny Dan. George Oakley was put through by Robbie Deas but Kyle Gourlay pulled off a good save just before the break. HALF TIME: 1-1 After a slow start to the second half, Megginson headed over following a corner and at the other end Cammy Harper put a free kick just over and then Deas diverted a Leighton McIntosh effort wide of the target. Billy Mckay went close to a winner but it went to penalties after ninety minutes and the Caley Jags prevailed 5-3 on penalties with Ridgers saving a weak spot kick from Fraser Fyvie. Fixtures (fri) Dundee v Arbroath (fri) Ayr United v Hamilton Inverness CT v Cove Rangers Queen's Park v Partick Thistle Rovers v Morton Opening League fixtures: Matchday 1 saw Inverness struggle to make much headway against newly promoted Queens Park. Jake Davidson gave the Spiders an early lead which they held until almost half time until Billy Mckay levelled. That's how it ended. Cove began life in the Championship with an excellent 2-0 win over Raith Rovers. Mitch Megginson scored both in a game dominated by Cove. Matchday 2 and a goalless draw at Arbroath leaves Inverness on two points from two games. Cove went down to a spectacular strike by Jai Quintongo at Cappielow on the same day. LATEST TEAM NEWS Long term absentees are Shane Sutherland, Tom Walsh and Sean Welsh. Max Ram is also out. Robbie Deas returns after a two game ban but Wallace Duffy to be assessed before kick-off. Eric reports one in and one out at Cove since our meeting in the league cup: In is Luis Longstaff a right wing player previously Youth to under 21 with Liverpool FC and on Loan last season at Queens Park, also featured in the England U16 &U17 squads. Out is one time ICT forward Rory McAllister who has signed a 2 year deal at Montrose FC. Blair Yule is out with an ankle injury. Robbie Leitch should have recovered from a hamstring injury and Luis Longstaff will be added to the squad for Saturday
  23. Queens make their point. Queens 39 year hiatus from this tier of football ended as they ventured into the Championship, and it all started well when Jake Davidson opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute. In a half of many chances, Billy Mckay levelled the score a minute before the interval. That's how it stood until the final whistle with neither side able to make the breakthrough despite numerous opportunities at both ends with thanks to Calum Ferrie and Mark Ridgers and some wayward finishing. Queens Park showed they are not here just to make up the numbers and were good value for their point. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the hosts, Robbie Deas was suspended for two games and George Oakley and Nathan Shaw dropped to the bench with Billy Mckay, Austin Samuels and Steven Boyd starting. Dom Thomas and Simon Murray started up front for the Spiders. The visitors were first to test a keeper when Mark Ridgers was called into action in the first minute to deny Simon Murray. The hosts responded well with the eager Steven Boyd having three attempts, one blocked and two off target and in the eighth minute Calum Ferrie denied Roddy MacGregor. Queens opened their Championship account in the thirteenth minute when Jake Davidson ran through unchallenged from the halfway line and his early snapshot was not dealt with by Ridgers, the ball slipped under his hands and body and rolled into the net. Five minutes later and Simon Murray shot narrowly over the bar as Queens grew in confidence with Daniel Mackay doing likewise at the other end. After a few blocked efforts at both ends of the park, Dan Mackay saw Ferrie save his shot from distance in the bottom corner and Boyd went close with another effort that was near the top corner. Josh McPake was denied by Ridgers when one on one with the keeper as Queens responded yet again in a see-saw game. A minute before the break Billy Mckay squared matters when he got on the end of a loose clearance of a Boyd cross to drill home from just inside the box with a low shot into the bottom corner. Charlie Fox almost restored Queens advantage just on the interval but he headed narrowly wide. The early goal from Davidson had rocked Inverness and we still had plenty work to do after the break. HALF TIME 1-1 The second half saw Inverness more in control and numerous chances came and went. Ferrie made a tremendous save to deny Billy Mckay, diving to his right to palm the strikers shot away. Queens Park were not so prominent after the interval but were still dangerous on the break, McPake once more forcing Ridgers to block with just the keeper to beat after he dribbled into the box, Ridgers did well to deny him. A scramble in our box saw another effort blocked as we lived dangerously, Grant Savoury pouncing on the loose ball after a corner. Ferrie clawed a corner away from under his crossbar and smothered a low shot from Doran. The same player would sting his palms later in the game with a ferocious thirty yard effort. Biggest sinner though was George Oakley who miscued from a great position twelve yards out and his shot stayed in play on the right side. In golfing terms; a shank. Naismith took one for the team when he pulled MacGregor back as he burst over the halfway line picking up the only booking of the contest, and that ensured the score stayed level. FULL TIME 1-1 Another disappointing result after the poor game against Cove Rangers. Queens Park looked the sharper side in the first half but Inverness were busier after the break. Mark Ridgers in his 200th game for the club will be disappointed with his contribution for the opening goal. Again substitutions disrupted the flow of the game and Queens were quick on the counter. Both keepers had work to do in the second half and they ensured it would be point apiece. David Carson reached a milestone as well, 100 not out for David. Highlights from Queens Park TV Owen Coyle Date: 30/07/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1993 Referee: Grant Irvine Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Bily Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Duffy, Delaney (Devine 72), Harper, Samuels (Shaw 63), Allardice, MacGregor, D Mackay (Doran 74), Boyd (Oakley 62), B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Nicolson, Hyde Scorers: B Mckay (44) Booked: none Sent Off: none Queens Park: 1 Manager: Owen Coyle Lineup: Ferrie; Davidson (Bannon 73), Kilday (Naismith 78), Fox, Robson, Brown, Thomson (Jarrett 45), McPake (Longridge86), Savoury, Thomas, Murray (Williamson 78) Subs (not used): Heraghty, Moore, Bruce, Nicol Scorers: Davidson (13) Booked: Naismith (90+2) Sent Off: none a
  24. Hello Cove! We welcome new Championship club Cove Rangers to the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday afternoon for our final group G League Cup group stages encounter. It's a 3:00pm kick-off for this game and we should see some familiar faces in the Cove ranks. Former Inverness players Iain Vigurs, Rory McAllister and Ross Draper are still on the books at Balmoral Stadium. Ex Aberdeen players Shay Logan, Mark Reynolds and Fraser Fyvie are also well established opponents and Mitch Megginson is a danger to any team. Last Time Out Cove surprisingly lost out 3-2 at home to Kelty Hearts. McAllister and Vigurs featured in that game with Fraser Fyvie and Robbie Leitch scoring for them. Shay Logan also started but it was Kelty that took the points, and they even had the luxury of Nathan Austin missing a first half penalty. Leitch's late goal made the score closer, but Cove were well beaten. Other group G results: Cove 1-2 Livi, Albion Rovers 1-2 Cove. Inverness eventually cruised to a 4-0 win over Albion Rovers. An early goal for Billy Mckay and a stunning free kick from Cammy Harper gave us the cushion needed at the interval. Another quickie a minute after the restart from Wallace Duffy impersonating a striker and a steal from Harper with his head ended the scoring to put Inverness in a strong place to qualify from Group G. Three wins for the Caley Jags so far over Kelty, Livi and Albion Rovers. The last time we played Albion Rovers thirteen years ago we also ran out 4-0 winners. Even better, we went on to beat Dundee to the Championship title and got promotion to the Premier League for the second time. Sounds good, let's have another bash at that. Cove Catch-up by Eric A corresponding fixture last season saw Paul Hartley in charge, however after guiding Cove to promotions through the leagues to the Championship he has been lured south of the Border to manage Hartlepool United. Hartley and his assistant left this summer after a fee was negotiated. Incoming manager is Jim McIntyre whose coaching career has included Dunfermline, Bristol City (first team coach), Queen of the South then Ross County September 2014 to September 2017 when he was sacked alongside assistant Billy Dodds. Most recently managing Dundee season 2018/19 but was relieved of duties after only 4 wins in 31 games. Former Inverness players Iain Vigurs, Rory McAllister and Ross Draper are still on the books at Balmoral Stadium. Former Don's Shay Logan Mark Reynolds and Fraser Fyvie are also well established opponents and Mitch Megginson is a danger to any team. Incoming players so far are Evan Towler a 17 year old left back on loan from Aberdeen FC B, and Gerry McDonagh a centre forward once of Nottingham Forest Youth to U23 set up but after being with a number of English clubs has arrived at Cove on a free transfer. Latest Team News Sutherland and Walsh are long term casualties Here's Dodds... View full article
  25. Group G Sorted Inverness played the first of five scheduled meetings with Cove Rangers today in the last of the group G qualifiers for the knock out stages of the League Cup. Inverness won the penalty shoot-out 5-3 after Fraser Fyvie saw his weak effort saved by Mark Ridgers. Inverness will now face an away tie at Motherwell in the knock-out stages. Roddy MacGregor opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute when he headed a Nathan Shaw cross into the top corner of the net. Mitch Megginson was left unattended to level the game after twenty minutes and it stayed that way at the break. A relatively uneventful second half saw the game go to penalties to decide the bonus point but as it stood, Inverness topped the group G to enter the knock out stages. ÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷ Our reward for qualifying is an away tie at Motherwell in midweek. Not the most romantic of games, however given their poor performance against Sligo Rovers, then anything is possible. This season is taking the same shape as thirteen years ago. A bright afternoon saw George Oakley Zak Delaney and Nathan Shaw start for the hosts with Mark Ridgers back between the sticks. Roddy MacGregor opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute when he headed a Nathan Shaw cross into the top corner of the net. Mitch Megginson was left unattended to level the game when he scooped the ball behind Ridgers after twenty minutes. Just after the half hour Daniel Mackay turned and shot from the edge of the box, but the keeper saved low to deny Dan. George Oakley was put through by Robbie Deas but Kyle Gourlay pulled off a good save just before the break. HALF TIME: 1-1 After a slow start to the second half, Megginson headed over following a corner and at the other end Cammy Harper put a free kick just over and then Deas diverted a Leighton McIntosh effort wide of the target. Billy Mckay went close to a winner but it went to penalties after ninety minutes and the Caley Jags prevailed 5-3 on penalties with Ridgers saving a weak spot kick from Fraser Fyvie From Robert on CTO Our goal was excellent. Good play by Oakley to put Shaw free and a great cross for MacGregor to score with a rare header. Cove’s equaliser came when we were temporarily down to ten as Duffy took a heavy knock and we seemed disorganised at the back as a result and it was too easy for the Cove player to hit the target. Cove had the best of the early part of the second half but we finished more strongly. I felt we just about shaded it but a draw was probably fair enough. It was good to at least win on penalties. Unfortunately that was not enough and we will be unseeded in the draw. I was disappointed with Cove’s approach. They approached the match in a cynical manner, trying to buy free kicks with play acting. They also tried to run the clock down when even. We have enough teams like that in the Championship already and I had expected more from them. I think our medical staff had to give treatment to players at least four times, generally due to the aggression of Cove. Some of their big names were worst, such as Logan and Fyvie, so justice was done when Fyvie‘s penalty was saved by Ridgers. Shortly after Samuels was harshly booked, a Cove player blatantly dived to try to get him sent off. The ref gave a foul but at least did not produce a red card. Of the new signings, I thought Oakley’s holding up play and distribution was good. Shaw was lively and could develop into an important player for us. Delaney is a calm defender despite playing on the wrong side for a left sided defender. Boyd had a couple of efforts when he came on. At times it felt like a pre-season game again, so hopefully when the league starts next week we get off to a winning start. Date: 23/07/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1020 Referee: Alan Newlands Inverness CT: 1 (Pens 5 Boyd, Samuels, Harper, B Mckay, Allardice) Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Duffy (Doran 73), Deas, Delaney, Harper, Shaw (Boyd 79), Allardice, MacGregor, D Mackay (Samuels 67) Oakley (B Mckay 67) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Nicolson, Hyde, Cairns Scorers: MacGregor (13) Booked: Oakley (66) Sent Off: none Cove Rangers: 1 (Pens 3 Megginson, Leitch, FyvieLogan) Manager: Jim McIntyre Lineup: Gourlay; Logan, Ross, Reynolds, Towler, Scully, Vigurs, Leitch, McIntosh (McDonagh 78), Megginson, Fyvie, Subs (not used): McKenzie; Neill, Thomas, McAllister, Scorers: Megginson (19) Booked: Megginson (6), Fyvie (55), Ross (60), Towler (90+3) Sent Off: none a
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