Search the Community

On the brink Inverness are on the brink of relegation after a shambolic, hapless and gutless performance against a mediocre St Johnstone, who themselves were without two of their stalwart players after an altercation last week. As it turned out, it mattered not a jot as we slumped to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat after Larnell Cole was sent off for dissent. We crumbled thereafter. Goals from Steve Maclean, and a late Liam Craig penalty were rubber stamped by a Graham Cummins strike to complete a miserable afternoon for the Caley Jags and their supporters who chose to vent their frustration towards the bench and the unseen board who had backed the untried Richie Foran, who is probably the scapegoat in this whole sorry saga. The only saving grace after today's tripe was that only County and Accies benefited by a single point. The rest, like us, losing. We only had around 2500 home fans at this game, what incentive is that for the players to bust a gut, then again, what encouragement are the fans getting after a display like that, it's a catch 22 situation. Richie Foran speaking to BBC said "The main person who is not good enough is me. I am obviously not doing my job right and big apologies to the supporters. I believe we let them down today. "It is not good enough. I pick the team, I pick the shape, I will take 90% of the blame for that but the players need to stand up as well." Just today I hear you all shout........ In a game that was crucial to our Premiership survival barely 2500 Home fans bothered to turn up to witness another grim performance, and another nail in the Caley Jags coffin. Considering what was at stake for Inverness, we showed little urgency in the opening exchanges. We lined up with three at the back and Tremarco and McNaughton slightly ahead although it was basically a back five as St Johnstone pressed us high up the park. Mulraney made the bench but remained on it for the whole game. We started with no width and little expectation, sadly that's how at panned out. Neither side were able to carve out a clear opportunity although we had three snippets that we passed on, Billy Mckay, Alex Fisher and Carl Tremarco unable to make the keeper work as they knocked the ball wide or sclaffed their attempts. Greg Tansey showed plenty commitment and a long range effort was dealt with by Alan Mannus in the visitors goal. St Johnstone offered little to trouble Fon Williams, but when they did, he gifted them an opportunity, one they accepted gleefully as MacLean tapped in almost on the line. The keeper had dived low to cut out a cross, all he succeeded in doing was knocking the ball into the path of two Saints players who contrived to knock the ball behind him from close range. Five minutes before the break and the chilling stench of relegation was overpowering. Half Time 0-1 Undeterred we plodded on in the second period and caused the visiting defence plenty of problems, however, for all our domination until Larnell Cole was red carded in the 80th minute, we failed to make Alan Mannus work, electing to miss the target or see shots blocked by a hard working St Johnstone defence. Even the talismanic Billy Mckay failed to get shots away and found defenders protecting Mannus able to block his efforts. When we did make a breakthrough, Cole could only shoot straight at Mannus who gathered easily. We were pressing at this point without a cutting edge but the game dynamics changed drastically after 80 minutes when Cole was sent off. He appeared to have skipped past a couple of players before being brought down clumsily. However, the incompetent referee, and I use that term loosely, Stephen Finnie saw otherwise and when Cole confronted him all he got for his troubles was a yellow card. The angry Cole never gave up though and Finnie swiftly followed the first yellow with a second followed by a change of colour to red. That started the capitulation and two minutes before the end Tremarco gave away a penalty as St Johnstone broke forward. Cue mass exodus. Game and season over as Liam Craig sent Fon Williams the wrong way again. The icing went on the Perth cake in injury time when Graham Cummins wrapped up the points with Inverness, by now, in total disarray. Full Time 0-3 This was another must win game that brought us zero points and abject failure and misery. The Cole sending off was farcical, but there can be no excuse for Garry Warren getting red carded in the tunnel after the game. He obviously had something to say to the official and saw the same colour as Cole. Well done Gary, you are now out at a critical time when we are trying to avoid relegation. Not a great advert for the captain of our team and certainly not leading by example. In truth, our performance was that of a team in absolute chaos, nobody taking responsibility, nobody able to create the spark needed to ignite the fuse, nobody with the balls to try something different and the harsh reality is that we deserve to be where we are based on too many similar performances over the season. Richie's appointment not looking like the best idea right now and the players look resigned to going down. Shame on the lot of you. We needed other games to go for us and they mostly did. Only County and Accies moved further away from us and only by one point, so the position remains crystal clear at the bottom of the table. I'm afraid the only way out of this is to start winning games, anything other than a win next week at Motherwell and it's Championship for us, unless you believe in miracles. tm4tj MotM:- It doesn't matter anymore. We were well served by the departing Tansey, McCart and McNaughton who must be needing to build on his stamina after his lengthy lay off. Billy continues to work away but you can see his frustration after another fruitless day at the office. Too many passengers in a side that look as if they are already doomed. Apologies if this sounds like a broken record, but I'm afraid the record is well and truly broken. Footage from SPFL website of our humiliation Date: 08/04/17 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2961 Referee: Stephen Finnie Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Tremarco, McNaughton (King 57), Warren, Draper (Polworth 57), McCart (Boden 82), W.Mckay, Tansey, Fisher, Laing, Cole Subs (not used): Esson, Mulraney, Brad McKay, Anier Scorers: none Booked: Cole (81) Sent Off: Cole (82), Warren (in tunnel after game) St Johnstone: 3 Lineup: Mannus, Scobbie, Alston (Thomson 82), MacLean (Millar 79), Shaughnessy, Smith, Coulson (Wotherspoon 70), Paton, Easton, Craig, Cummins Subs (not used): Clark, Anderson, Hurst, Hunter Scorers: MacLean (40), Craig (pen.88), Cummins (91) Booked: Alston (65) Sent Off: none a

Inverness make Dons work hard for the points Aberdeen took the lead after 22 minutes when the ball was bundled home from close range following a corner. It was eventually accredited to Gary Warren (og). The Dons looked eager to please but we had a couple of first half chances, a Mckay shot and a Tansey header. Polworth had an effort tipped away for a corner after the break as Aberdeen continued to search for a second. Miles Storey incredibly missed a sitter late on. Only he knows how. It didn't matter at the end though as we failed to score and find ourselves in more trouble than you could shake a stick at. RIG was at this one and here is his report.......... Went into that game fearing an absolute bumming but came away slightly disappointed we didn't nick something from it. Not saying we deserved a draw but Aberdeen were very flat for most of the match and we grew into it and had some decent chances to get a goal. That said overall Aberdeen definitely seemed to be playing within themselves after their destruction of Dundee on Friday. Very defensive line up to start with from Foran. Warren, Laing and McNaughton all starting at CB with Tremarco and Raven on the left and right. Tansey, Draper and Polworth in the middle and Mckay and Anier up front. The lack of width in the side was evident throughout the opening period of the game. Any time the likes of Tansey got the ball in the midfield we looked to the wide areas for support and Raven / Tremarco were often too far up the pitch or too far back to offer us the chance to stretch the Aberdeen rearguard. When Aberdeen attacked they went down the flanks doubling up on our full backs which often meant that one of the midfield three were having to come across to help defend which opened up space in the middle of the pitch for Shinnie, McLean etc to drive into. Aberdeen goal was pretty untidy from an ICT point of view. Defence struggled to clear a corner and the ball seemed to ricochet in off Warren under pressure from Considine and Taylor. Best chance of the first half for ICT was created by Polworth who surged through the middle and played a nice ball to Mckay inside the box but Lewis was able to save. It was a rare moment of football from ICT in the first half with our main tactic normally consisting of leathering the ball in the vague direction of Mckay or Anier which was easily defended by Taylor and O'Connor. Half Time 1-0 Second half Aberdeen clearly eased off and we started to grow into the game a bit more as time went on coupled with a change in shape. A couple of long range strikes, including a decent effort from Polworth, and some scrambles in the Aberdeen box gave some hope that we might nick a point but our play in the final third lacked a real cutting edge. During a rare period of play where we actually got the ball down and passed it around we had some success getting in behind the Aberdeen defence particularly down their left and once Fisher came on the long ball started to become a bit more effective with Taylor and O'Connor suddenly finding themselves under pressure in the air. However the best chance of the second half fell Aberdeen's way in the shape of the inexplicable miss from Storey. Absolutely no idea how he managed to miss it and then he contrived to take the ball away from goal as he tried to get it under control. Full Time 1-0 ICT players were on the floor at the end. There was certainly no lack of effort from the guys last night but we just don't have the quality to break down teams like Aberdeen and probably most teams in the league just now. Even just having someone like Christie could open up a few goal scoring chances for us which could make all the difference. I thought Polworth did well in his more natural central midfield position. He was burst by the end of the game though. McNaughton was also excellent at the back for us and I felt Laing had a good game. Draper was poor. Distribution well off and again he was used to try and win some of the long balls with varying degrees of success. Tansey was off the boil too. His short passing was mostly good although he often gave the ball away needlessly. Some of his long passes were off the mark too and he showed a real reluctance to try and attack when in possession even when faced with yards of open space. Aberdeen, as I said, were playing in first or second gear. They were competent all over the pitch without any real standout performances I felt. Everyone just did their job well. Nothing flashy. A pretty routine win for them. Whole crowd was very muted. It felt like a post split match with nothing to play for therefore there was zero atmosphere save for one really angry Aberdeen fan in the DD who spent about 20 minutes of the first half calling a bunch of 16 year old ICT fans paedos which was slightly strange. Date: 04/04/17 Venue: Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen Attendance: 11507 Referee: Andrew Dallas Aberdeen: 1 Lineup: Lewis, Logan, Shinnie, Considine, Taylor, McLean, Rooney (Storey 79), McGinn (Christie 80), Hayes, O'Connor, Jack Subs (not used): Alexander, Pawlett, Wright, Ross, Anderson Scorers: Taylor (22) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Tremarco, McNaughton (Fisher 86), Warren, Polworth, Draper (Cole 61), W.McKay, Tansey, Laing, Anier (Ebbe 67) Subs (not used): Esson, McCart, King, B.McKay Scorers: none Booked: W.Mckay (40), Tremarco (66) Sent Off: none

Another missed opportunity. Inverness passed up another opportunity to steer away from the foot of the table as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Kilmarnock in the Highlands. It was an entertaining enough game and nobody can have any complaints about the scoreline. Brad Mckay gave away a penalty with a rash challenge inside the box to give Bobby Madden no option but to point to the spot. Kris Boyd converted to open the scoring, but six minutes later Billy Mckay swivelled in the box to hit a low shot in off the post the square matters. With no further scoring thanks to both keepers in excellent form, the game ended level, a better point for Killie than it was for the home side. With Iain Vigurs and Carl Tremarco missing, Richie Foran had to re-jig his outfit and went with five defenders and King & Cole as the playmakers. Aberdeen bound Greg Tansey was given a key role to provide the ammunition for the strikers. Killie had Kris Boyd on from the off with the tricky Jordan Jones the wide provider. It was a fairly cagey opening to the game with neither side settling early. Larnell Cole was prominent early on and he drew a good save from Freddie Woodman as he shot from the edge of the box. One contest that was as one sided as David Haye's last bout was Jordan Jones v Brad Mckay. It was a contest that would see the bedraggled Brad kept in the dressing room after the break. Jones enjoyed the freedom of the wing as he tore Brad Mckay a new one time after time. It was his pace and trickery that led to a clumsy lunge by the bold Brad that Mr Madden had the simple task of awarding a penalty. A stonewaller and Kris Boyd fired the penalty low to the keepers right which makes you wonder why Owain dived low to his left. It may have been Mckay that was the baddie, but the real villain of the piece was Billy King who lost the ball just outside our box. Jones forced Fon Williams into action a couple of minutes later as he waltzed across our defence and shot goalwards. We took that one on the chin and pushed for an equaliser and that came six minutes later. The busy Cole fed David Raven on the left and his cross into the box was partly cleared. Billy pounced on the loose ball, brought it under control swiftly, swivelled and rifled his shot across the keeper and in off the post. Ten minutes later and Gerg Tansey hit a long range effort to the keepers left, but it was at a comfortable height and he pushed the ball away from danger at the expense of a corner. Boyd might have done better as he volleyed a cross from the right, but he miscued and the chance went harmlessly wide. Conor Sammon fared slightly better with a header but Fon Williams saved minutes before the break. Half Time 1-1 With Brad Mckay staying in after the break Kevin McNaughton replaced him to good effect, his first real test since his season long injury problem. He certainly steadied the ship and also found time to overlap on the left. Tansey and Billy Mckay both shot wide as we looked to get ahead and Cole made Woodman earn his crust as the keeper dived low to his left to push away his netbound shot. Gary Warren did well as he out sprinted the bulky Boyd and terminated his run on the edge of the box with a well timed tackle, the ageing Killie striker looking like he might benefit from a long ball over the top. Jake Mulraney came on after the hour and spent the rest of the afternoon being fouled. His wing wizardry seeing him beat players with consumate ease but still the final ball eluded him and his strike partners. Some nifty neat footwork by Tansey saw him feed McNaughton who crossed low into the heart of the box. Billy Mckay hit it first time with his left foot from twelve yards but Woodman produced a remarkable reflex save to deny Billy who must have thought he was about to score. Jones and Sean Longstaff brought out the best of Fon Williams, but he pulled of an equally good save as he dived low to his right and got a solid hand on a flashing shot from Callum Roberts as Killie finished the game strongly. Woodman was in the right place to gather a stabbed effort in a six yard box melee and that was our lot. Full Time 1-1 So, a draw it was and no surprise it was a scoring one at that. Plenty of effort from Inverness today but the story of the season was evident again. Not making the most of the chances that came our way and when we ran out of ideas the visitors ended stronger and we were left clinging on somewhat without looking like getting our noses in front. Richie Foran is not the fans favourite just now as we went with five defenders and an isolated Billy Mckay. Brad Mckay was rightly hooked at half time as he was a liability every time Jones confronted him. Kev McNaughton was excellent when he came on though and oozed class, his reading of the game reminiscent of a young Bobby Mann. Mulraney did one piece of magic to earn a corner when he was hemmed in but was the victim of some rough treatment from the Killie defence. Great goal from Billy Mckay to get us the point and a superb display from Fon Williams. I'm giving my vote to Larnell Cole, but there were great contribuions from a handful of players, namely Fon Williams, Raven, Tansey and Billy Mckay. A couple of names not on that list are the pair responsible for the Killie penalty, Brad Mckay and the anonymous Billy King who must have been wearing Vigurs' boots. These draws are hurting us now as we run out of games and many fans are now fearing the worst with Foran looking like he might be incapable of turning this around. Difficult times ahead as Hamilton sent us to the bottom of the league once more with a very late win against St Johnstone. One win in our last eighteen games does not fill me with confidence going into the vital bottom six games. Difficult game coming up at Pittodrie on Tuesday night and the sheep are on fire after burning Dundee on Friday night. That's the most difficult fixture we have left, let's get it out of the way with as little damage as possible then look for some positives in our remaining fixtures. Footage from SPFL website Date: 01/04/17 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2780 Referee: Bobby Madden Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams; B.Mckay (McNaughton, 46), Warren, McCart, Raven, Laing, Draper, Tansey, Cole (Polworth 86), King (Mulraney 61), W.Mckay Subs (not used): Esson, Ebbe, Boden, Anier Scorers: W.Mckay (25) Booked: B.Mckay (34) Sent Off: none Kilmarnock: 1 Lineup: Woodman; Wilson, S Boyd, Ayer, Taylor, Dicker, McKenzie (Kiltie 51), Longstaff, Jones (Roberts 78), K Boyd, Sammon Subs (not used): MacDonald, Osborne, Frizzell, Hawkshaw, Innes Scorers: K.Boyd (pen.19) Booked: Dicker (76) Sent Off: none a

Derby Draw Disappoints Inverness The Highland derby ended in a disappointing draw as County came from behind to snatch a point with a late Alex Schalk strike. Greg Tansey's deflected strike just after the break gave Inverness an unexpected lead given the poor first forty-five, but they failed to capitalise on some early second half pressure, Billy Mckay hitting the crossbar as he tried to turn a cross home. County were menacing on the counter and Craig Curran missed a sitter when he headed wide when he should have hit the target. Overall, a draw was just about right although either side could have sneaked all three points. Inverness were dealt a blow before kick-off with the news that pacey winger Jake Mulraney was not fit. The converse for Ross County, with big stopper Andrew Davies given the go ahead to play. Richie Foran seemed to go for a formation that was designed not to concede rather than go for glory. Iain Vigurs started with Ross Draper and Carl Tremarco back after suspension. County had Aaron McCarey between the sticks. The game kicked off on a heavy pitch after Friday's constant rain and it was a cagey opening. Vigurs was looking more involved than he has been of late and he curled a ball that skiffed the top of the bar with the keeper beaten. Good effort with his right foot from twenty yards but he was injured soon after and replaced before the break by Liam Polworth. County were looking the more likely as our lack of width allowed them access to the wide areas and they flashed a couple of dangerous low crosses into the box that just eluded the strikers when a touch would have given them the lead. We were devoid of attacking intent in the first half and getting to the break all square was a bonus. Half Time 0-0 However, we exploded out of the blocks after the interval and Greg Tansey smacked a shot low towards the keepers left after indecision in the visitors ranks. The ball took a wicked deflection off County defender Andrew Davies and wrong footed Aaron McCarey in goal to find the opposite corner. We took the game by the scruff of the neck and minutes later Tansey brought out a good save from McCarey from a free kick wide on the Inverness left, the keeper tipping the ball over the bar. Ross Draper drifted a header back towards goal but it went narrowly over the bar from a deep cross as we tried to extend our lead. Carl Tremarco might feel he should have done better as well when presented with an opportunity to score. Costly misses as it turned out. County broke forward and Curran missed a golden opportunity to level matters. A deep cross found him at the back post all on his own but he contrived to miss the target from just six yards. It was Inverness that were still turning the screw though and Tansey hit a thunderous shot from twenty-five yards that McCarey did well to parry. A foot either side and he would have had no chance of touching it. From the resultant clearance, Inverness burst forward again Henri Anier setting up Billy Mckay but under pressure his close range strike cannoned off the bar, the rebound just evading Carl Tremarco's head before being cleared by a grateful County defence. Fon Williams was eventually called into serious action in the 81'st minute as he tipped over a Milan Lalkovic shot from distance. The warning was not heeded and when we failed to deal properly with a County attack, from the resultant throw in Alex Schalk latched onto the ball in the box, turned and fired high behind Fon Williams to make this feel like a defeat. Still time for substitute Dean Ebbe to try his luck from the edge of the box but his shot leaked to the left of goal and that was about it, game over and a better point for County than it was for Inverness. Full Time 1-1 So, the Highlands belong to Ross County for this season, but there will be one more derby to come and neither club are clear of the threat of relegation yet. It could be a season defining game for either club, What did we learn from that game? County are no better than us, but our poor start to the campaign and two derby losses see us in this predicament and not them. Richie Foran didn't cover himself in glory with his team selection and strategy. No width, no pace, no clean sheet and not killing the game off when we were on top all cost us dear. Why did he not bring on the substitutes earlier? We were crying out for fresh legs to further stretch the overworked visitors defence ten minutes before they equalised. Everyone could see that, County shuffled theirs effectively; we paid the price. Not a great crowd for the most crucial Highland derby ever, but those that were there gave the side plenty of encouragement. Overall, a draw was the most deserving of results. It's not the result we had hoped for but it's not a disaster. We climbed above Accies on goal difference and gained a point on Motherwell. Next game is at home to Kilmarnock and we really need to start turning draws into victories. PerfICT posted his Inverness player ratings on CTO. Can't argue with these really and like most, picked out Greg Tansey as MotM. Fon Williams: 6. Apart from a tip over the bar in the second half, I can't remember him having a save to make. Raven: 8. Had Gardyne in his pocket for most of the game. Excellent. Warren: 6. Not so exposed for pace in the 5 at the back formation, but was skinned by Gardyne a couple of times. McCart: 7. Really starting to show his potential. One absolute crunching tackle in the first half was a joy watch. Laing: 7. Solid all game. Tremarco: 8. Another excellent game from our player of the season. Unlucky not to score in 2nd half. Tansey: 9. Without doubt his best game of the season. Deserved his goal. Draper: 8. Always plays well against County and didn't disappoint. Vigurs: 7. Easily his best performance of the season. Excellent right foot shot that clipped the bar early on and good distribution. Anier: 6. Better from him, but first touch let him down quite often. Mckay: 7. Worked his socks off with fairly poor service. Really unlucky with the shot off the bar that would have killed the game. Polworth: 6. Certainly not his best game, but picked out Tansey for the goal. Also wound Gardyne up, which always deserves credit! Foran: 5. Clearly does not like playing with width up front. Did he miss a trick by not playing Cole and King, or was the formation right to nullify County's attack? Personally, I prefer the 4-2-3-1 formation, with pace out wide, but the players almost made the 3 centre halves formation work. His half time talk certainly did the trick. Referee: 6. Did well to keep his cards in his pocket for most of the game. A couple of penalty appeals for County...think he got those right too. . Full Match Available On Demand Now at http://buff.ly/2nmreVu (Site Registration Required) for only £5. Footage from SPFL website Date: 18/03/17 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 4123 Referee: Crawford Allan Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams; Raven, Warren, Laing, McCart, Tremarco, Draper, Tansey, Vigurs (Polworth, 42), Anier (Ebbe, 89), Billy Mckay Subs (not used): Hoban, Brad Mckay, King, Cole, Boden Scorers: Tansey (48) Booked: Tremarco (88) Sent Off: none Ross County: 1 Lineup: McCarey; Gardyne (Lalkovic, 80), Fraser, Davies, van der Weg, Naismith, Boyce, Chow, Routis (O'Brien, 78), Schalk, Curran (Dow, 85) Subs (not used): Foden, Gobern, Tumilty, Dykes. Booked: Naismith Scorers: Schalk (86) Booked: Naismith (52) Sent Off: none a

Gary has the final say. Inverness snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat at Firhill thanks to a last second Gary Warren header. It could prove to be a crucial point for Foran's men as late goals in other games around the country kept us in touch at the foot of the table. Kris Doolan looked to have given a dominant Partick all three points but Warren answered his critics in the best possible fashion. Immortal Howden Ender ventured North to the bistro's and wine bars of Maryhill and has this report for us. Read on. Gary Warren's last-minute, last touch, injury time (offside ) header saved our bacon in Maryhill. Great sliding celebration and 194 Invernessians went ballistic once again. We don't usually have any luck at Firhill but we got dollops of it yesterday. We didn't deserve a point but WTF Kris Doolan's 10th goal of the season looked to have earned Plastic Whistle their fourth straight Premiership win. They actually looked like a good footballing team but more like a Spanish outfit than from the hipster West End of Glesga. But good old Gary Warren nodded home at the far post for the Highlanders, who had a first-half strike from Henri Anier disallowed with Billy Mckay standing offside. We had the first effort of the match when Greg Tansey fired a 25-yard shot wide and he followed that up with 3 or 4 others which all went off target, other than a tame back-pass free kick. But at least he had a go !!. But that was their our only real threat as the Maryhill Magyars totally dominated possession and we either hoofed or gave them the ball back. "Musthavea Walrus look-alike, sound alike" was proving to be a handful and got the home fans MOM. Warren was the man to mark him but he was played wide right of a three man defence !! Early injuries to Abdul Osman and Lawless should have helped us to but feckin didn't. Lawless hadn't even be replaced and they were down to 10 men when Anier produced his only "effort" of the day and we thought that we had stolen an equaliser. But the flag went up for offside against wee Billy. Need to see the highlights BUT if he didn't touch it that would have been mightily harsh. It would have been great to have gone in 1-0 up but 0-0 was undeserved but happy to take it. But in the 56th minute the DOOLAN inevitably put the Whistle ahead and many of us braced ourselves fer a Hamilton away repeat. Thankfully our shaky defence all of a sudden began to look resolute or did the Whistle sit back on their Laurel or Hardy's. And even the shaky Fon Williams looked safer and produced what I can only describe as a "World Cup save" and it probably also saved our season. AND THEN two minutes into the two minute allotted stoppage time Gary Warren rose at the back post (looking suspiciously offside ) to head in the equaliser from Billy King's cross. 194 Invernessians applauded the sliding celebration an "oh, oh Gary Warren filled the Maryhill air and many Plastic Whistle supporters were either on their way oot or had feckin left already. FON WILLIAMS Still looked shaky and I shudder when anything goes at him but his second half performance literally saved our bacon. WARREN Played on the right of a three man defence for ALL of the game. Give me a break but our saviour once again. LAING Did OK in the central position. He, like many others, didn't seem to understand our system but he stood his ground and can only get better. McCART Bet he never witnessed anything like this at Parkdread !! But as with Laing he stood his ground. BRAD MACKAY Played in yet another position - like a right sided wing back. And he got plenty of space and plenty of the ball. He did OK but he simply didn't know how to play in that position. RAVEN Played in the left sided wing back position but he popped up all over the place. What a gut-busting performance. Eat, Sleep, Raven, Repeat - MOM by a feckin country mile. TANSEY Now that was more like the Tansey of old. Like Raven he was clearly motoring at 100%. Only player who looked comfortable on the ball, passed successfully, looked to shoot and very close to MOM. POLWORTH I thought that he put in a lot of effort and was clearly the runner fer Tansey and Vigurs. He did not deserve to be substituted and appears to have become the whipping boy. VIGURS Best footballer in the team - Most skillful player in the squad - One of my faves - BUT if I could have got on to the pitch and past the stewards I would have slapped him. He feckin gave up. DISGRACEFUL and should have been hooked instead of Polworth. But he still managed to get another yellow card !! ANIER Sorry but why did he even start ? He looks like the mercenary that he is. Except he is sticking his head in the feckin sand rather than fighting. BILLY Mckay If there ever was a player to feel sorry for - enuff said !! Took King on in the 62nd minute and played him where ? Answers on a postcard please. Took Cole and Boden on in the 81st minute for the ineffectual Vigurs and Anier. Probably saved us the point and we pressed Whistle. But Cole in central midfield !! Richie Foran said : "It's a huge point today. (No **** Sherlock). I thought it was a very close game (what !!), but we've played against, for me, a top-four side today (what!!) . They are an excellent team, strong aggressive, can pass the ball and have goal scorers (what!!), so it's a big point. I always believed we'd score (what!!) and we've scored a lot of late goals this season. If you put balls in the box you've got a chance (what!! - when!!). It was a great leap [by Gary Warren] and a great finish. It was a good ball hung up by Billy King. "I'm delighted for the players and we're going in now to two home games. Results have gone our way, so it sets it up for a cracking game of football next week against Ross County." OK lets sum up in a nice, positive manner. We got out of the Jail End yesterday. Any of us would have taken a point. Can see the reason for playing 3-5-2 but why not with King and Cole wide ? Or why didn't we change it earlier ? We were terrible for most of the 92 minutes and 33 seconds. With Draper and Tremarco back and getting back to a well worked system then we can get 6 out of 6 points at the Dump. But I don't feel comfortable singing "WE ARE STAYING UP " YET Match footage from SPFL website. will be available soon. Date: 11/03/17 Venue: Firhill Stadium, Glasgow Attendance: 3082 Referee: Willie Collum Partick Th: 1 Lineup: Cerny, Dumbuya, Booth, Lindsay, Osman (Amoo 33), Doolan, Erskine (Elliott 89), Lawless (Azeez 43), Barton, Keown, Edwards Subs (not used): Ridgers, Nisbet, McCarthy, Lamont Scorers: Doolan (56) Booked: Amoo (83) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon-Williams, Raven, Warren, Polworth (King 62), Vigurs (Cole 81), McCart, W.McKay, Tansey, Laing, B.McKay, Anier (Boden 81) Subs (not used): Hoban, McNaughton, Ebbe, Fisher Scorers: Warren (92) Booked: Vigurs (21), McCart (45) Sent Off: none a

Fon Williams in Blunderland Cock up keeper Owain Fon Williams was badly at fault as Celtic cruised home 4-0. The keeper who looked to have recovered from a shaky spell earlier in the season gifted Celtic their second goal and was suspect as they scored a third direct from a free kick after failing to cover his near post. I'm afraid he made a difficult job impossible as Celtic took full advantage from his gaffs to run out 4-0 winners. Scott Sinclair scored an excellent opener after riding a couple of challenges on the stroke of half time. Moussa Dembele poked in the second moments after the break after OFW blundered. Stuart Armstrong scored from that free kick and Dembele finished with aplomb as Celtic clinically hit on the counter. The result was never in doubt, but the manner in which we gifted goals was difficult to take and it undid the good work of the last couple of games. Another big away support filled the South Stand as Celtic kicked off playing towards the bridge end where a noisy and spirited young team took up residence and backed the home side who would be facing a difficult task. The first half was void of any real chances, neither keeper being forced into anything too difficult and maybe that was a good thing as events would unfold. Billy Mckay tried his luck with a low effort that Craig Gordon gathered easily after Billy King linked with Mckay and fed him on the edge of the box. It was a resilient display by Inverness, but just when we thought it was safe to go for the half-time cuppa, Scott Sinclair scored a superb goal. He appeared to be fouled by Draper as he made his way across the edge of our box but he stayed on his feet and rode another challenge before curling a shot beyond the outstretched Fon Williams to bring the first half to a dramatic close, The pressure had been mounting but up to that point we were well in the game without causing too much problems for the visitors. Half Time 0-1 We kicked off the second period and within twelve seconds shot ourselves in the foot. From the kick off the ball went backwards, and when Gary Warren decided to put it all the way back to his keeper there seemed little danger. However Fon Williams miskicked the ball, only succeeding in slicing the ball into the path of Moussa Dembele five yards in front of him. He chipped the ball up in the air and prodded it into the empty net with our blundering keeper lying on the deck looking on. It looked as though that goal sucked the energy and determination right out of the home players and from there on in it was one way traffic. Celtic don't usually need gifts, but when they are presented to them on a plate, it would have been rude not to accept it. Moments later the keeper made amends when he stopped a close range effort on his line but, alas, the damage had been done. Dembele and his strike partner Sinclair were causing problems with their sheer pace, skill levels and movement and from one burst by Dembele he left defenders in his wake before setting up Sinclair who blasted just over. His next thrust saw Celtic win a free kick just wide of the angle of our penalty box. Cross anticipated by all apart from Stuart Armstrong who hit the ball well and it ended up in Fon Williams' net at his near post. More shambolic keeping from the Welsh international who did not cover himself in glory. Cheap goal to lose and Celtic well on top. Liam Polworth woke from his slumber and fired a loose ball on target with a volley but Gordon was equal to it and tipped it over for a corner. That was the nearest we came to scoring whilst Celtic carved out another half dozen chances. The final goal came when Billy King ran out of ideas at the Celtic end, loss possession and when Tierney cracked a long ball forward, Dembele left everyone in his wake before dinking the ball over Fon Williams and into the empty net. Quality goal from a quality player. Full Time 0-4 Celtic were good value for their win with Dembele and Sinclair outstanding. Tierney is one of the hottest prospects around and the whole team oozes class from back to front and right through the bench as well. It's difficult for any team to match them at the moment, but we did just that in a keenly contested first half. However the wheels fell off with the errors and the desire to compete visibly ebbed from the players. No disgrace losing to the best Celtic team for years, but disappointing that we contributed to our own downfall after a promising first forty-five. With that game out of the way, Foran needs to lift the squad for the last eleven games with the Aberdeen one looking like the toughest fixture left. Mind you, in our position at the bottom, they are all tough. Richie Foran was as scathing of his side as any of the fans. Caley boss Richie Foran: "It's extremely disappointing. We lacked courage on the ball, we lacked belief on the ball. I'm not even sure Celtic got out of second gear. We never got going. "I find it hard to think of a player that did well. The whole 11 lacked courage. Off the ball we were OK; on the ball we didn't want to pass forward and take responsibility. "On the counter we had the ability but we didn't have the belief to go with it. It doesn't matter how good Celtic were. We had opportunities to play and get forward but we didn't fancy it. "The second goal was comical. It's embarrassing. But we were poor all over the park. At least three of the goals we conceded were avoidable." tm4tj MotM. Not one Inverness player deserved to be nominated apart from Ross Draper who tried his best. The sponsors MotM went to Polworth. Having a laugh maybe, but the real MotM goes to the young team who tried to drum up support as they waved their flags, sang, jumped around and got right behind the team for the full 93 minutes. Well done lads, it's a pity the team don't have your energy and enthusiasm at the moment. Look away now if you are easily upset............. Date: 01/03/17 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 5948 Referee: Andrew Dallas Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Laing, Warren, B.McKay, Polworth, Draper, Tansey, King, W.Mckay (Anier 81), Cole (Vigurs 64) Subs (not used): Hoban, McNaughton, Ebbe, Boden, Fisher Scorers: none Booked: Laing (65) Sent Off: none Celtic: 4 Lineup: Gordon, Lustig, Sviatchenko, Boyata, Tierney, Bitton, Brown (Henderson 78), Armstrong, Mackay-Steven (McGregor 69), Sinclair, Dembele Subs (not used): de Vries, Toure, Izaguirre, Gamboa, Griffiths. Scorers: Sinclair (43), Dembele (46, 73), Armstrong (66) Booked: none Sent Off: none a

Stunning victory Inverness Caledonian Thistle ended their fourteen league game winless streak with a glorious win over Rangers thanks to a spectacular goal from Billy Mckay. In a pulsating game Greg Tansey had smacked home the opener in the first period. Martin Waghorn showed how to take a penalty as Rangers leveled from the spot but Iain Vigurs could not replicate that later in the game, Wes Fodderingham saving comfortably, but he was left sprawling helplessly when Billy scored his stunning acrobatic winner in the last minute of normal time. The hairs on the back of my neck are still standing. This win lifted Inverness off the bottom of the league for now with Hamilton playing Celtic on Saturday. What a climax to the 1000th game in our history! Richie Foran made a bold statement showing faith in the players that worked so hard to get a point at Tynecastle last weekend. Gary Warren, Brad Mckay and Iain Vigurs all started on the bench with youngster Jamie McCart and Louis Laing keeping their place in defence. Liam Polworth started with Larnell Cole and Jake Mulraney providing the service for the striker. The visitors had no surprises in their line-up and were looking to get back to winning ways having only one win in their previous six games and a big crowd were backing them to sort it in the Highlands. It looked like it was going to be a long night for Foran's side as Rangers flew out of the blocks and put Inverness on the back foot for the first ten minutes with slick incisive passing and swift play as they cut the hosts open three or four times during that period. However we are more resilient of late and repelled these attacks with Owain Fon Williams saving twice in quick succession as Kenny Miller bore down on goal after a quick throw in caught us napping, also saving the rebound as Emerson Hyndman shot low and hard. He kept out a Barry McKay effort as well as we were pinned in our own half during a torrid opening period. Three corners in as many minutes bore no fruit for the visitors before we eventually ventured forth. Fifteen minutes in and it looked even bleaker for Inverness as Carl Tremarco had to be replaced by Brad Mckay and Foran had to re-shuffle his under pressure back line. Jake Mulraney had our first attempt but the keeper dealt with his effort as we got to grips with the game and half an hour in Greg Tansey shot narrowly wide. He would do better just before the break. Barry McKay should have done better with a close range header but he got under the ball and it sailed over the bar. A let off for Inverness and we retaliated with Liam Polworth going close, as did Martyn Waghorn at the other end. One minute before the interval, Inverness took the lead in spectacular style. Greg Tansey latched onto a loose ball some thirty yards out after a Polworth shot was blocked. He crashed a low swerving shot to the keepers right and despite a headlong dive from Foderingham the ball fizzed into the bottom corner for a tremendous goal. Still time for Miller to try his luck but at the break it was advantage Inverness. Half Time 1-0 The end to end play continued after the break with Inverness looking comfortable as Rangers struggled to make the breakthrough. Barry McKay saw an effort tipped over by a confident Fon Williams as the pressure mounted on the hard working home defence and Joe Toral went very close with a shot across goal that just rolled past the far post. You could sense a goal was coming and it did. Louis Laing was adjudged to have been late with a tackle on Lee Wallace on the far side of the box as he crossed the ball and Waghorn made penalty taking look easy, Fon Williams going right, the ball flashing to his left on it's way into the net. Jake Mulraney had the Rangers defenders on toast all night but he had to leave the field after stretching for a wayward pass. Needless moment that ended his day and the home fans feared the worst as Billy King replaced him. Tansey almost put Inverness ahead once more after good play down the left by Larnell Cole set up the chance for a shot. His strike looked destined for the top corner but Foderingham pulled off a fantastic one handed save to keep the scores level. Great stop from the keeper. Rangers broke at the other end and Inverness had Fon Williams to thank after he denied Waghorn when he had raced clear into the left side of the box but the keeper stood tall and blocked his shot and the ball stuck as well. Bonus! The pace of the game was unrelenting and a really slick move by Rangers inside the Inverness area ended with a shot blocked inside the six yard box. Frenetic stuff and Billy Mckay forced Foderingham into action again as he shot from an angle inside the visitors box, the keeper up to the task this time getting two strong hands on the ball to push it away from goal after Billy had twisted and turned to create the space for a shot. Billy Mckay was causing all sorts of problems for the Rangers defence with his darting runs and magnificent ball retention and it was another such run that saw him bundled over inside the box. Penalty to Inverness but who would take this one as our success rate from the spot has been poor recently. Substitute Iain Vigurs had the balls to step up but his rather tame shot was comfortably saved low to his left by the keeper. Meh! However, the darting Mckay would not be denied and he scored a stunner to win all three points as the clock ticked down. There seemed little danger when a Larnell Cole cross was knocked high in the air by a defender. However, we are talking about the tenacious Billy Mckay here. Despite being surrounded by three big Bears, he held off the defenders before sending a controlled overhead kick into the corner of the net from ten yards. Wow, a stunning goal fit to win any game and the reaction from manager Richie Foran was a joy to behold, double fist pumps along the touchline as he, the fans and Caley Thistle players rejoiced in style. Still time for Jason Holt to fire a cross into the body of Iain Vigurs with the away fans rising as one to claim for a penalty but that would have been harsh as Vigurs blocked the ball at the expense of a corner, and that was it, game over and a fabulous welcome win for Inverness. Full Time 2-1 Oh boy, what a pulsating game that was and a fitting tribute for the 1000th competitive match for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. You could see what that victory meant to the under pressure manager Richie Foran as his players put in a shift and a half to earn the right to wear the shirt. Fantastic effort from all and let's not forget the part Rangers played in this enthralling encounter. They also displayed some slick football, but with both keepers in excellent form it was Inverness that wrote another slice of history in this landmark game. tm4tj MotM. So many excellent performers out there. Owain Fon Williams has rediscovered how to keep the ball out of the net. A strong display by an overworked defence and a huge effort by the midfield with Tansey outstanding. Jake Mulraney was menacing once we ventured up the park and Larnell Cole did likewise on the other side and seemed to get a second or third wind late in the game to make some lung bursting runs. Great effort. My MotM goes to a wee striker, and not just for his sublime acrobatic goal. Billy (small 'k') Mckay was tremendous and involved in everything when we broke upfield. He is definitely more energetic than the Duracell Bunny and he ran himself to a standstill, as did most of our players tonight. Special mention to Richie Foran. He has been on the receiving end of some tough criticism, but he was absolutely ecstatic tonight and showed some managerial credentials by leaving his experienced players on the bench and went with youth and energy. It paid off big time. Theresa May, Queen Elizabeth, Winston Churchill, Angela Merkel........................your boys took a helluva beating tonight! Check out Richie releasing his pent up frustration after Billy scores his stunner. Here is the rest of the action from the SPFL website Inverness CT 2-1 Rangers And, last but not least, Immortal Howden Ender has put down his legendary smileymometer ratings giving Tansey top marks from his viewing point on his sofa.. SEVCO SMILEYMOMETER FON WILLIAMS : Not wholly assured and I would guess at 80% fit. I still get nervous about / for him. But that performance can only be "confidence medicine". RAVEN : Eat, Sleep, Raven, Repeat - He plays on the right, he plays on the left. Lets just say that he pulled back the years last night. TREMARCO : Hope that the injury is short term - Big, big player for us this season. BRAD McKAY : Literally thrown in at the deep end. Sound if not spectacular LAING : : Lack of match time and fitness showed at times last night but held firm as the Sevco tide threatened. Needless challenge for the penalty and a needless yellow card (although he can afford them !!) McCART : Joint MOM for me. At Tynie he looked "green" and needed the support and guidance of Laing. Last night it was the opposite. Memories of a young Warren. Perhaps it was the Parkhead factor !! DRAPER : Now that was a captains' performance. Hope that the substitution was pre-planned and not due to an injury. Ran his socks off and won almost everything in the air and on the ground, especially from dead ball situations. TANSEY : MOM too. Much maligned by many this season, especially me, but that is two fine performances in a row. Busy, looking for the ball and picking out passes. He benefits from the cover from Draper and Polworth, the width of two wingers and the running of Mckay - but he has always been a "footballer". May be tad cruel but he may also be influenced by the new look Foran and the fact that Aberdire are more interested in Christie. Now really playing for his starting place like all the others. Could not believe that he didn't grab the penalty. And yet another yellow - for "clumsiness" - Paul Scholes timed a tackle better. POLWORTH : ; Another benefitting from being played where he enjoys and where he is most effective. Must have ran miles more than anyone else in the last two games but also a ball player when needed. Another beginning to really play for the shirt and his manager. Needs to learn how to win penalties though !! VIGURS : : WHY was he allowed to take the penalty ? Was it pre-planned ? Did wee Billy and Tansey bottle it ? MULRANEY : : IF he had been more direct and confident from the off he would have totally murdered Wallace. A lad who appears to have confidence issues but that should be a confident booster. Play wide and attack, attack, attack son. Fell out of the game because we were on the back foot but kept tracking back. Shades of a young Barry Robson. COLE : : Just did not get in to the game and overshadowed by Mulraney who was getting all the midfield service. Another who could be more direct. Mckay : : Much improvement in his running off the ball and hold-up play. A born poacher and goalscorer. He scores when he wants FORAN : : Brave, brave selection but overdue and (sorry) but not rocket science. Has taken him 2/3rd of a season to have a "realisation" epiphany - whilst previous being somebody who rhymes with epiphany. That was the "old" Richie Foran on the sidelines. Keep being nasty, keep being aggressive - You are the feckin boss and not one of the feckin boys. Some of his post-match comments : I thought our moment was gone with missing the penalty," admitted Foran ; The boys showed big, big character against a really good side. They [Rangers] have been written off, they're getting criticised from every angle. They're a good side with good players and that's a huge result for us. "I always thought we were a threat in the final third. I knew we'd get a chance again. "I wasn't sure if we'd get a chance after the penalty but that's why you've got Billy Mckay in your team. He can score out of nothing. If you want to have a successful season, you need a striker like that." And as for the future : "We can go on a run," said Foran. "Maybe it's going to be perfect timing for that run, coming to the end of the season ; "Go and win games, go on your run, go eight, nine unbeaten, we can get in that top six." - Shut the feck up Richie. We win one game, against a team in turmoil, and we are Top Six Again - give me a break. It is easy to lift yourself against the top teams and on the gogglebox - the proof rests in going to Firhill and get three points, the trick is to win the Highland Derby and to take another three at home against a struggling but unpredictable Kilmarnock. Cellic up next is a hiding to nothing and to finish : Date: 24/02/17 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 6415 Referee: Steven McLean Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Tremarco (B.Mckay 15), Polworth, Draper (Vigurs 80), McCart, W.Mckay, Mulraney (King 69), Tansey, Laing, Cole Subs (not used): Hoban, Warren, Ebbe, Anier Scorers: Tansey (45), Mckay (89) Booked: Laing (56), Tansey (66) Sent Off: none Rangers: 1 Lineup: Foderingham, Tavernier, Kiernan, Wallace, Wilson, Toral (Garner 92), Miller, McKay, Halliday (Holt 80), Hyndman, Waghorn Subs (not used): Alnwick, Windass, Dodoo, Forrester, Hodson Scorers: Waghorn (pen.67) Booked: Toral (14), Wilson (86) Sent Off: none a

Still life left in Foran's squad. Inverness managed a battling 1-1 draw with Hearts at Tynecastle to show the supporters that their season is not over yet. Carl Tremarco scored with a powerful header to give the Highlanders a first half lead but Arnaud Djoum leveled matters just after the hour. Neither side could make the breakthrough after that as Inverness defended in depth to ensure they took a welcome point back North. Richie Foran's depleted squad fought well considering he had to start without the suspended Gary Warren, Brad Mckay and villain of the piece Iain Vigurs. With Josh Meekings injured that meant a start for new signing Louis Laing and young Celtic loanee Jamie McCart. Immortal Howden Ender was watching from afar and has this TV report for us........ Ní raibh mé ann. Tá mé numpty. Bhreathnaigh mé ar an buaicphointí ar BBC Alba. Toirtíní Jam versus Inbhir Nis. It will be interesting to see how a report from watching on the big screen compares with views from the Gorgie Road Terraces. Only difference to me was that I did not frequent Diggars before the game but at least with a 23.00 start I was probably just as drunk as I would have been at 15.00. For once the comments of the two managers probably very accurately summed up the whole game for me. Many people have criticised Ian Cathro and suggested that he has little idea of the game. But he commented - "[Inverness] worked very, very hard. They stayed strong, they stayed compact and they gave us some difficulties in breaking them down. "However, I think we have dominated the game and we have created enough chances to win one-and-a-half games. Ultimately we suffered the frustrations of having perhaps not been clinical enough when those opportunities arise and defending the set play properly in the first-half. "It's not great (the pitch). Of course it adds another level of difficulty but it is a situation we need to manage with and deal with collectively." Now who would have thought that we would have been described as a hard working outfit - compact - hard to break down But we were, we feckin were. Richie Foran added - That was the old Inverness today I thought. Going forward we have been fine this season, going back we have been lazy. We haven't had enough fight - the fight was there today, that's for sure. "The boys are flat out on their feet and I think it's a deserved point. They've hit the post, we've hit the post. We looked dangerous on the counter-attack, they looked dangerous on the counter. "It wasn't a pitch to play football on. There were a lot of long balls. The most pleasing part was our going back up the park, our spirit, our work-rate. That was the old Inverness." That was more like the old Inverness today but we still have a lot of work to be done. The team today was selected out of need not design. Lets hope we learned some valuable lessons and lets hope that reality sets in. Yes The boys are flat out on their feet and that should be the comment every week but it sadly hasn't. The pitch was horrendous and more suited to an Edinburgh Sunday Football setting but it is the same for both teams - although it probably went more in our favour. Yes - one of the most pleasing aspects was our going back up the park, our spirit, our work-rate. Again that was more like the old Inverness." Only misquote may be the "that's for sure" as I am sure that it would have been "to be sure". Poor OFW has had a lot of stick recently. I still suspect that our Da Vinci has been painting with a dodgy easel. Did the close up clip of his visage after the penalty not paint a fine picture. He looked more composed yesterday and more lithe. He made a couple of other good saves. That can only have gone some way to mend his fractured confidence. Who would have ever thought that our central defence pairing would be Laing and McCart. They looked strong enough. Laing was evidently not match fit but to me his experience and apparent pace steadied the inexperienced McCart who is definitely a "green" prospect. I can see Laing keeping his place against the team who may still be managed by Warburton. I can see him being paired with Gary Warren. That is an experienced pairing, both know the central defending role and Laing's pace may suit Warren.I feel that Gary has been playing too deep in recent games, almost in the old "sweeper" role. He can now relinquish that to Laing who appears more Meekings-esque. I was not at all surprised by the steady performance of Tremarco but Raven stood out as well. There just appeared to be a more compact and high line feel. Tremarco was left unmarked for the goal. That was probably because of his size but Cathro had not done his homework as we know how effective Carl can be in that position. Will Raven keep his place against the team who may still be managed by Warburton? Personally I would take back in Brad McKay but that is not a reflection on the Scouse legends performance at Tynie. The only blot on the defensive copybook was bookings for both full-backs. Bookings that we simply can not afford. What a joy to see Draper and Tansey playing in more favoured roles. I have always alluded that they can not play together in midfield but they appeared to both have been given roles that suited them. Draper as the destroyer with release to go forward and Tansey as the creator. I thought that Tansey had his best game of the season. He was one who ran his socks off, wanting the ball and that has not always been the case. I am afraid that Vigurs will be the sacrifice against the team who may still be managed by Warburton. He may be the "footballer" in our squad but we need workers and, on song, Draper and Tansey are as good as any pairing in Scotland. Polworth surprised me. To me he was given the "chaser" role, almost "in the hole" but in a very defensive manner. He was effective enough but to me wasted. He did however also allow Draper to move forward. We have several players who could do that better. I would put Anier in that role the team who may still be managed by Warburton. He does not look like an out and out forward to me. He is a runner, he is a chaser but he is also more adept at linking with Mckay and could be a real threat in the hole. Playing Cole and Mulraney wide was another acceptable strategy. But did they play wide enough? Did they penetrate deeply enough? I suppose that given our position and the occasion that this was sacrificed to flood the midfield. Mulraney looks more of a finished version than Cole. I am puzzled as to why Doran has not got a run in the team. I would be playing Mulraney and Cole against the team who may still be managed by Warburton. And then we come to wee Billy. Has he learned from his Englandshire experience or not. He always was a clever "mover" but that skill has clearly been enhanced. There was no other option than to play him up front there by himself. That should be different when we are playing at El Dumpo. The only away fixture left that we may have to consider that is at Aberdire. I am really looking forward to seeing him the team who may still be managed by Warburton. As for the actual game it was probably thankful that we scored first. Tansey delivered his "usual" dead ball service and Tremarco surprised the Jam Tarts with a great header at the far post. Bjorn Again then came close when he clipped the bar but it was always going over. It must have been hard to "bear" for him !! Struan then produced a fine save from OFW and the bustling, clumsy Goncalvez missed a bit of a sitter. If he eats more Pie suppers he could end up like Akinfenwa. In the second half they took on Walker, probably looking for more width and a better service. The Akinfenwa lookalike missed another chance but then they threw the Kitchen sink at us and Perry found Djoum who equalised. That will probably just about be his finest moment other than winning the African Cup of Nations. And we really could have stole three points if Draper had put more meat on a header. And then you sensed that our bad luck had sank in once again and was destined to break our hearts. But OFW broke Hearts hearts. It was not a badly struck penalty but OFW chose correctly and pulled off a fine save. That must have boosted everybody. Was a draw a fair result? I thought that it was. The pitch was a leveller, the Jam Tart final product had a soggy bottom, they had a lot more shots on and off target, they missed a penalty but for once we rode our luck and IMHO deservedly so. Lets end with the picture of the day and a fitting tribute to the Man of The Match SPFL website Hearts v Inverness CT Date: 18/02/17 Venue: Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 16372 Referee: Bobby Madden Hearts: 1 Lineup: Struna, Hughes, Avlonitis, Sowah, Djoum, Kitchen (Martin, 77), Tziolis, Choulay (Currie, 62), Johnsen (Walker, 49), Goncalves Subs (not used): Noring, Nicholson, Nowak, Smith Scorers: Djoum (64) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams; Raven, McCart, Laing, Tremarco, Draper, Mulraney (Doran, 62), Tansey, Polworth, Cole, Mckay (Anier, 80) Subs (not used): Hoban, Ebbe, Fisher, Boden, Gilchrist Scorers: Tremarco (24) Booked: Tremarco (15), Mulraney (36), Raven (38) Sent Off: none a

Bottlers battle back Richie Foran branded his team bottlers after the crushing defeat at Hamilton in midweek but they fought back from the brink to get a deserved draw against Dundee. The Dee were cruising at the break two goals to the good when Inverness showed some of the bottle that manager Richie Foran was looking for despite passing up on a second penalty opportunity. Marcus Haber and Darren O'Dea had given Dundee a scarcely deserved lead at the interval but Billy Mckay notched his first goal on his return from the spot. Unfortunately he failed with a second penalty effort but was involved in the equaliser when Bain blocked his attempt only for Greg Tansey to follow up and knock the ball home. A lively encounter with both sides having plenty chances but at the end of play it was a point each. Under fire manager Richie Foran made a few changes after his side slumped badly at Hamilton. Dropping to the bench were Welsh international Owain Fon Williams who has been culpable over the last couple of months, defender Brad Mckay and midfielders Liam Polworth and Larnell Cole. Ryan Esson made his first start of the season and David Raven was the right back. New recruit Jamie McCart from Celtic started alongside Gary Warren at the heart of the defence and Billy King returned to the wide midfield. Billy Mckay made a welcome return to Inverness two years after his departure and he was partnered up front by Henri Anier. Dundee came North with a trio of former Inverness players but they all stayed on the bench with Henrik Ojamaa making his debut for the Dee. Kevin Holt and Darren O'Dea returned after suspension to bolster Paul Hartley's squad. The Inverness side were smarting after being branded bottlers in midweek and there was a freshness about them as they started briskly. Carl Tremarco was unlucky in the sixth minute as he turned a cross onto the junction of post and bar with his head after a cross from the left. Dundee were not idle though and Marcus Haber was making a nuisance of himself with his power as he headed wide and Paul McGowan, Mark O'hara and Tom Hately all shot wide in quick succession as the Dark Blues came more into the game before Henri Anier tested Scott Bain in goal. Esson did likewise from McGowan at the other end. It was a lively affair and Greg Tansey drew a save from Bain as Inverness looked to get on the scoresheet, but in the 37th minute the visitors took the lead when Haber headed home a cross from Cameron Kerr. A bit harsh on Inverness, but worse was to follow. Two minutes before the break our defensive frailties were exposed again when O'Dea headed in number two. That hurt given our bright opening to the game. Just before the break Gary Warren headed just wide as our winless run looked set to continue. Half Time 0-2 Harsh words must have been spoken at the break and Iain Vigurs hit a post with a free kick five minutes in and Bain made another save from Vigurs moments later. Julen Etxabeguren was adjudged to have fouled Billy Mckay after a corner and it was Mckay himself who took the kick. Never the greatest penalty taker, Billy had the balls to take this one and he managed to put the ball down the middle with Bain stretching out a leg in vain, the ball just missing his studs on it's way into the net. Lifeline! McGowan should have restored the two goal advantage but shot wide from a tremendous position inside the box and Ojamaa almost nicked one from close range but David Raven popped up on the line to scoop clear. Dundee were hitting well on the break and looked dangerous when sweeping forward. Inverness were still having the bulk of the play and Etxabeguren tried his best to help out again, conceding another penalty. This brought about a fit of rage from McGowan who could not believe his stupidity. Undaunted, Billy felt he could cope with a second one and stepped up again. Strange, considering he was not the sharpest of penalty takers first time round and this time Bain came out on top saving his weak effort. Ross Draper saw a shot and follow up header saved as we turned the screw and showed plenty of determination to overcome adversity. Our persistence paid off when a Billy Mckay shot was saved well by Bain, but the ball fell to Tansey on the edge of the box and he buried the ball with precision and power. Game on! The final ten minutes were played out without further scoring, both sides fairly content with holding on to what they had, and that's not a criticism, it was for the best after what had gone on before. Full Time 2-2 Richie looked for a reaction and he got one. We still conceded goals, but instead of crumbling, we came out fighting and a draw was no more than we deserved, so full marks to the guys for not capitulating like they did at Hamilton and at least giving it a go. MotM is a toss up between a pair of Billy's. Mckay and King did well and look as though they could build a good understanding. As opposed to some weeks, it was encouraging to see more than one player stand out and there were interesting cameo's all over the park. We are still vulnerable at the back, but that is also understandable with the enforced changes and new players slotting in. Jamie McCart will only get better with games. An altogether much more positive outlook than there was after the Hamilton abyss. Only downside was that we failed to gain ground on the others at the bottom, although the signs are there that we are not relegated yet. Date: 04/02/17 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2606 Referee: Nick Walsh Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Esson, Raven, Tremarco, Warren, Draper, Vigurs (Polworth 86), McCart, Billy McKay, Tansey, King (Mulraney 85), Anier Subs (not used): Fon Williams, Ebbe, Boden, Brad Mckay, Cole Scorers: Billy Mckay (pen.53), Tansey (79) Booked: Billy Mckay (58), Tremarco (75) Sent Off: none Dundee: 2 Lineup: Bain, Holt, O'Hara, O'Dea, Hateley (Klok 84), Extabeguren, McGowan, Haber, Ojaama (El Bahktaoui 86), Kerr, Gomis Subs (not used): Mitchell, Vincent, WIlliams, Ross, Wighton. Scorers: Haber (37), O'Dea (43) Booked: O'Dea (48), Extabeguren (52), McGowan (63) Sent Off: none a

Return of the Mac fails to inspire embarrassing Caley Jags. Prodigal son Billy Mckay returned to Inverness as Richie Foran pulled off a signing coup to set the fans buzzing prior to this fixture and he went straight into the starting XI. Aaron Doran, Josh Meekings and Billy King all missed out for the visitors as Massimo Donati and captain Michael Devlin returned after suspension for the hosts. However, it took Accies only ten minutes to open the scoring when Alex D'Acol scored from a corner with the Inverness defence looking sheepishly at each other. Greg Tansey spurned an opportunity to level the score from the spot but Gary Woods saved. Grant Gillespie scored two minutes into the second half with Fon Williams not looking too clever. Rakish Bingham lashed in a third after more shoddy Inverness play. Shoes have come off for less serious predicaments. It's time for some tough talking at the Caledonian Stadium. Old Caley Girl witnessed this one and it's suffice to say that she was less than impressed with the display from the Caley Jags, despite the introduction of new signing Billy Mckay. Here's her report from the SuperSeal Stadium................ The Caleyaway faithful turned up at New Douglas Park with renewed hope following the morale boosting return of the prodigal son Billy McKay. However, this optimism was to prove short lived and misplaced with a Tuesday night horror show from ICT. Its 8 years since the infamous shoes off protest and to be quite honest if there had been another display of shoes this week it would not have been undeserved. It was clear from the off that Hamilton were well aware how important this game was and it didn’t take us long to see which team was up for the fight and which wasn’t. Ali Crawford had the first chance of the game but shot over the bar and Billy Mckay had a good chance a few minutes later but shot wide. However, just a few minutes later Hamilton were ahead with D’Acol heading home from close range from a Crawford corner. With 26 minutes played ICT were thrown a potential lifeline with Darian MacKinnon fouling Billy Mckay in the box and a penalty was awarded. There was a collective sigh of relief when our usually reliable penalty taker Greg Tansey stepped up, but this proved short lived. He fired the ball towards the right hand corner but Woods went the right way and saved. At that point the writing was on the wall that it wasn’t going to be a good night for us. To be fair to Tansey, Woods did very well in saving his shot but that wasn’t much comfort to the travelling fans. At this point the heads went down and we resorted to punt after punt that rarely got anywhere near Anier or Mckay. Tansey and Vigurs collected first half yellows and Crawford went off injured in 32 mins. Half Time 1 – 0 If we thought things were going to improve second half we were sadly mistaken. Two minutes after the restart Hamilton were 2 ahead, Grant Gillespie firing the ball into the right hand corner of the net. In 58 minutes Draper was replaced by Cole and a few moments later Hamilton were three ahead, Bingham shooting from outside the box into the top right hand top of the net. Ebbe replaced Anier in 75 minutes but this was a shambolic display from ICT. I can’t remember anything of note in any way positive in the second half from an ICT perspective at all. Full Time 3 – 0 With the midfield missing in action and unable to get the ball effectively to the strikers and the defence having a collectively poor night then this had only one outcome. In fact I’d suggest it was the worst display I personally have seen from an ICT team in years. The players looked disorganised and tactics seemed non-existent, headless chickens at times. Another worry, apart from now being adrift at the bottom of the league, is that Hamilton look more than capable of being up for a scrap but we seem to be falling more apart as the games are played. Richie Foran sounded emotional in his post-match interview and was scathing of the players but at last seems to have admitted to himself that we are in a relegation battle. With a four year deal a change of manager is not an option so we just have to hope that somehow Foran and his players can pull off a miracle and get us out of this mess. On this performance the jury is out that they can. OCG MotM – Ok, not sure anyone deserved this award at all but if I have to pick a player I’d have to go with Billy Mckay, who must wonder what he has done coming back to this shambles of a set up. My MotM tho is going to the guys and girls of Caleyaway, all 139 of those present on Tuesday night, who deserve much much better than they spent good money to watch. Here's the SPFL video from the SuperSeal Stadium. Parental guidance is advised as it's another horror show from the Caley Jaggies. Date: 31/01/17 Venue: New Douglas Park, Hamilton Attendance: 1745 Referee: Euan Anderson Hamilton Acc: 3 Lineup: Woods, Devlin, Gillespie, Imrie, D'Acol (Brophy 78), Redmond, Crawford (Adams 32), Bingham (Boyd 72), Mackinnon, Donati, McMann Subs (not used): Matthews, Seaborne, Watson, Cunningham Scorers: D'Acol (10), Gillespie (47), Bingham (61) Booked: Devlin (26), Redmond (31), Mackinnon (54) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Warren, Brad Mckay, Tremarco, Draper (Cole 58), Tansey, Polworth, Vigurs, Anier (Ebbe 74), Billy Mckay Subs (not used): Esson, McCart, Mulraney, Fisher, Boden Scorers: none Booked: Vigurs (29), Tansey (38) Sent Off: none a

Clean Sheet, but no wins in eleven. Inverness and Partick served up a bit of a borefest with a no score draw at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium at the weekend. If anything, Partick just shaded it and the only positive for Inverness was our second clean sheet of the Premiership Season. Partick had the better of the clear chances but Owain Fon Williams upped his game after recent lapses with a tremendous display to deny the Firhill Jags. In his post match interview, manager Richie Foran mentioned some players were struggling with fitness and that showed as we struggled to create enough clear opportunities. The only other positive worth mentioning was that we pulled level on points with Hamilton at the bottom of the table and Tuesday nights encounter with the Accies is being labelled a six-pointer this early in the season. Full Report to follow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlHJSYsrPdk Date: 28/01/17 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2823 Referee: Stephen Finnie Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, McKay, Warren, Tremarco, Draper (Doran 80), Tansey, Polworth, Cole (Mulraney 60), Doumbouya (Vigurs 37), Anier Subs (not used): Esson, Ebbe, Boden, Gilchrist Scorers: none Booked: Warren (65), Anier (72) Sent Off: none Partick Th: 0 Lineup: Cerny, Booth, Welsh, Lindsay, Erskine, Lawless, Barton, Elliott, Azeez (Doolan 66), Keown, Edwards Subs (not used): Ridgers, Dumbuya, Amoo, McDaid, Nisbet, McCarthy Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none a

Not a Happy New Year Just when you think things can't get much worse, we fail to win at Dingwall for the first time in six games and extend our winless run to ten games, the worst in our history. It's not looking good for Richie Foran as another defeat anchors us at the bottom of the pile and makes us favourites for the drop at this stage of the season. Liam Boyce scored a double and Martin Woods added a third with Carl Tremarco and sub Alex Fisher scoring for Inverness in an all too familiar tale of too little too late. Inverness benched Liam Polworth and started with Aaron Doran, the only change from the defeats against Motherwell and Rangers. County, as expected had Kenny van der Weg back after suspension and gave Ryan Dow a start ahead of Paul Quinn and Craig Curran. A healthy away support gave Inverness all the backing they needed from the start, but it's a pity the team failed to return the favour. It took County only two minutes to breech the suspect visitors fragile defence. Liam Boyce, who scored a hat-trick in the first meeting knocked home from close range, the ball adjudged to have crossed the line by Bobby Madden. Not the start the away fans were hoping for and we were left chasing the game inside 120 seconds. County were buoyed by this explosive start and Alex Schalk hit the side netting soon after. Inverness could only muster a shot from Larnell Cole that cleared the Jail End on it's way out of the stadium. To their credit, Inverness gradually worked their way into the game and began to control most of the play without any real cutting edge, the final ball eluding them as has been the case all season. Schalk went close with a header as County broke the monopoly, but it was Inverness that deservedly pulled themselves level when Carl Tremarco headed home his sixth goal of the season after Warren had made a nuisance of himself in the County box just before the half hour. No more than we deserved at this stage of the game but County re-asserted themselves soon after, Fon Williams being equal to a Martin Woods effort. They took the lead again on thirty-five minutes and it was that man Boyce once more. Fon Williams did well to turn away another strike from Woods, but as Inverness could not clear the ball, Boyce struck the ball well enough and it ended up in the back of the net, Fon Williams looking sheepish again as the ball missed his hands on the way into the net. Boyce was once more a handful for the visiting defence and could have had another hat-trick inside the first half but he missed the target this time and at the other end Cole went closer than his previous attempt but Fox was alert enough to deny him. Half Time 2-1 Iain Vigurs was spotted on the park early in the second half when a minor dust-up was intervened by the ref who lectured the players for offending. King and Fisher were introduced to try and lift Inverness but it was County that stretched their lead when Woods added a third after Schalk fed him through. Billy King was lurking with intent though and it was from one of his shots that Alex Fisher benefited from to score our second goal. A slick forward move saw King turn and strike from twenty yards, Fox blocked but Fisher reacted first to dink the ball behind the keeper. With ten minutes remaining, Inverness piled forward but an equaliser eluded them, Aaron Doran coming closest with a low drive that Fox pushed away. Full Time 3-2 I'm sure the County fans would have enjoyed their Hogmanay celebrations better than the Inverness contingent. Never would they have been expecting to be gifted goals so easily. Owain Fon Williams was suspect again, deceived once more. The annoying thing was that the second goal came after two superb saves, then the innocuous shot/cross from Boyce went straight through him. Shocker from the artist. I doubt he will be painting that scene any time soon. Once again ( how often have we said that), we were cut open too easy, offered too little in attack, squandered what little opportunities came our way, gifted needless goals, were error strewn across the back and lacked the ability and tactical nous to alter the outcome. There's no doubt that County overall deserved to win this encounter, with a little help from ourselves.We did have better spells, but these were unsustainable due to our own frailties. A lot of tough talking to be done during the winter break. I'm sure we won't all like the result, but if it changes our fortunes, so be it. If not then it's Championship for us and a bleak future, that's the reality of the situation we find ourselves in. Ten games without a win does not make for good reading, it's not all down to misfortune. tm4tj MotM:- Tommy Tremarco continues to give. Another goal, his sixth of the season and willingness to get forward when required makes him my MotM. To be honest it was not a difficult choice as others around him disappointed. Owain Fon Williams may still be struggling with spasms, something must be affecting the way he has performed recently is beyond sloppy. Iain Vigurs was again poor, but he was not alone. Billy King showed signs of improvement when he came on, as did Alex Fisher. Other than that, the rest need to take a long hard look at themselves. The young team tried their best to lift spirits on the field but were let down badly. Some investment is needed if we are to get out of this, but the stats tell us otherwise. Anyway, Happy New Year. Enjoy the break. Highlights from SPFL Website Date: 31/12/16 Venue: Global Energy Stadium, Dingwall Attendance: 5111 Referee: Bobby Madden Ross County: 3 Lineup: Fox, Fraser, Davies, McEveley, van der Weg, Woods (Franks 71), Chow, Routis, Dow (Dingwall 91), Boyce, Schalk (Curran 62) Subs (not used): McCarey, Quinn, McLaughlin, Tumilty Scorers: Boyce (2, 28), Woods (61) Booked: McEveley (76) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Fon Williams, McKay, Warren, Meekings, Tremarco, Draper, Tansey, Cole (King 56), Vigurs (Boden 73), Doran, Doumbouya (Fisher 56) Subs (not used): Esson, Polworth, Mulraney, Sutherland Scorers: Tremarco (28), Fisher (81) Booked: Warren (46), McKay (92) Sent Off: none a

Absolutely Brutal Inverness slumped to another defeat, this time at the hands of relegation rivals Motherwell. That's nine games without a win and this result leaves us as firm favourites for the drop. If this was a boxing match, the referee would probably have taken both boxers aside and reminded them they would have to show some intent or risk losing their purse. However, Clay delivered a sucker punch with a bit of a freak blow as Fon Williams did not cover himself in glory, the wind aided strike catching him unawares. Another body blow from Scott McDonald ended the contest. Despite a late flurry of activity, probably borne out of embarrassment we only had a scrambled effort from want away midfielder Greg Tansey to show for it. We had plenty of possession in the second forty-five, but similar to most games this season we were unable to capitalise on it. Ross Draper had what looked like a decent claim for a penalty turned down and Aaron Doran struck the crossbar, but as is the norm these days, nothing went for us and in the end the three points left Inverness destined for North Lanarkshire. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Old Caley Girl will have a full report for us when she thaws out and her anger subsides....................... and here it is. Not sure where to start here to be honest. However, the hard luck excuses this season are wearing a bit thin. The Caley Thistle line up was unchanged from the last game at Ibrox. As mentioned in the match preview McHugh returned to the Motherwell line up following a lengthy spell out with concussion. A decent crowd, for a cold post-Christmas midweek match were in good spirits led by a noisy young team in the north stand. However, this optimistic mood was to be misplaced. Motherwell had the first chance of the game with a free kick from Hammell taking a deflection forcing Owain Fon Williams to make a save. However, this led to Caley Thistle having chances of our own with Polworth and Cole coming close. It was end to end chances with Tansey forcing a great save from Samson from a 25 yd free kick. There was bit of drama when Cole had a hefty challenge on Lucas earning a yellow card. Arguably he was perhaps lucky it wasn’t a different colour. This flashpoint kicked off Scott McDonald into a rage and it seemed like everyone on both sides piled in. Tansey tested Samson again on the stroke of halftime but without result. Half Time 0-0 ICT started the 2nd half with a great chance with Doumbouya crossing the ball right across the goalmouth but Cole could not connect. However, in 50 minutes the game changed completely with a Clay shot from the edge of the box catching the wind and finding itself right in the top corner of the net. Not much Owain Fon Williams could do about it as just a freak shot. This did however, change the game with ICT panicking and reverting to the “hoof and hope” tactic. We did have chances to pull the game back with Vigurs and Doran forcing good saves and a possible call for a penalty when Draper was pushed over in front of goal. Draper also had another claim turned down a few moments later but it would have been soft. We continued to press for the equaliser but to no avail and indeed there was the worry that we would be caught on the counter which indeed proved to be the case when Moult stormed down the right passing to McDonald who shot past a static OFW who seemed unwilling to move off his line. Motherwell 2-0 up and the home fans left in droves. Tansey did bundle the ball over the line in the dying minutes but too little too late for the home team. Full Time 1-2 Worrying times. Motherwell looked a poor side but we just couldn’t get our act together. Bottom of the table with just one win in 13. Only 2 home wins this season with only one clean sheet. Apparently we also have the lowest points total at this stage, in any division, in our history as a club. The stats also show that most clubs bottom at the turn of the year go on to be relegated. Richie Foran also a bit fortunate in the lack of criticism coming his way, at the moment, in my opinion. County up next and it really really is a must win but I’m personally not full of confidence. We do have the personnel to sort this and it really is time for some leadership on the field from the experienced players and a bit of backbone to show what they really are capable of. Bad luck maybe but let’s make our own luck. An ugly 1-0 on Saturday will do fine. OCG MotM – To be fair to the match sponsor there really wasn’t a lot of choice. However, the choice of Iain Vigurs drew audible gasps then boos in the north stand. Personally I wish he would roll up his sleeves and stop being a passenger for most of the game. I’m going with Tremarco for the simple reason that I can’t remember him doing much wrong. Date: 28/12/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3097 Referee: Barry Cook Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon-Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings, Polworth (Mulraney 70), Draper, Vigurs, Tansey, McKay, Doumbouya (Fisher 58), Cole (Doran 55) Subs (not used): Esson, Boden, King, Sutherland Scorers: Tansey (90) Booked: Cole (35), McKay (39), Fisher (77), Vigurs (88) Sent Off: none Motherwell: 2 Lineup: Samson, Tait, Hammell (McMillan 62), Heneghan, McManus, McHugh, Cadden (Ainsworth 25), Lucas, Clay, McDonald, Moult Subs (not used): Brill, Bowman, Ferguson, Campbell, Mackin Scorers: Clay (50), McDonald (87) Booked: Moult (58) Sent Off: none a

Inverness were dealt a blow when an own goal from Brad Mckay was enough to give Rangers all three points despite the hosts being played off the park by a lively Inverness. Martyn Waghorn cut along the byeline and prodded the ball into the box, unfortunately it cannoned off Mckay for the only goal of the game. The goal came seconds after Lonsana Doumbouya spurned a great chance to score at the other end, Foderingham stopping the ball on the line as the big striker looked to be impeded before poking the ball goalwards. Larnell Cole almost benefited from slack play across the Rangers back line but Foderingham saved well again. Greg Tansey saw another effort saved by the keeper and Carl Tremarco almost got on the end of a deep cross that was just missed by Doumbouya as the visitors dominated in everything but the scoreline.. The best chance before the break fell to Liam Polworth after another cock-up in the home defence, alas he side footed the ball just the wrong side of the post. It was more of the same after the break but Rangers did break forward occasionally only for players to squander the chances. Owain Fon Williams was a virtual spectator as Inverness searched for the goal their slick play deserved, but he was eventually called into action to deny Jason Holt an undeserved second for the hosts. The last major action saw Foderingham deny sub Alex Fisher who spun and fired a superb volley towards the top of the goal, unfortunately the keeper was alert enough to tip it over for a corner. Full Time 1-0 So, bottom of the table as expected, but that was as good a performance as we have had all season and deserving of so much more. I'm not sure the goal will stick with Waghorn as it was going across the face of the goal before striking Mckay, but we will have to wait and see on that one. As I said, great performance, but wrong result. Motherwell next, a win would be nice. Alternative Maryhill was slightly more restrained in his summary. Really frustrating to come away without anything there. We looked stronger at the back than we have in ages - Meekings was superb and Mckay again showed that he has been an excellent signing - and we pressed the ball really well further up the park; Tansey and Doumbouya deserve particular praise in this regard. Cole also had probably his best game for us to date - nominally starting on the left of a three behind Doumbouya, he actually played a bit of a free role and looked far more willing take players on than he has in previous games. The drawback of the line-up and tactics we adopted was that we were very short of pace up front, and, especially with Doumbouya dropping back to support so much, we lacked anyone overlapping or taking the ball on. The chances we created - and there were more than there have have been for a while - were mostly created through sheer hard graft, forcing Rangers back by degrees. The fact that we weren't able to take any of them points to a fundamental weakness in the current squad that will probably see us struggling all season, even if we can turn in performances as impressive as this on a consistent basis. Then again, six points against Motherwell and County and we could be back in the top six for the start of 2017. Funny league this year. Merry Christmas btw, CTO folks. Richie Foran was quoted on BBC Sport as saying "I think the fact Rangers struggled is all down to us. I thought we controlled the game and absolutely dominated the first half. We cut them open on numerous occasions and were solid at the back. I can't ask for much more than that We were just lacking that wee bit of magic. Unfortunately we were up against a goalkeeper in unbelievable form. It's soul-destroying how we don't come away with more than a point today." Date: 24/12/16 Venue: Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow Attendance: 48,528 Referee: Don Robertson Rangers: 1 Lineup: Foderingham; Hodson, Kiernan, Hill, Wallace; Tavernier (Windass 58), Halliday, Holt; Waghorn (Forrester 70), Garner, McKay (Miller 58) Subs (not used): Gilks, Wilson, Dodoo, O’Halloran Scorers: Waghorn (13) Booked: Tavernier (42) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, McKay, Warren, Meekings, Tremarco, Tansey, Polworth, Draper, Cole (Boden 83), Vigurs (Doran 72), Doumbouya (Fisher 78) Subs (not used): Esson, Mulraney, King, Sutherland Scorers: none Booked: Cole (36), Vigurs (45), Meekings (84) Sent Off: none a

Injuries ruin our chances. Inverness came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock in a game marred by more injuries to our already creaking squad. Souleymane Coulibaly scored a superb individual goal, his eleventh of the season, but captain Gary Warren cancelled that out as he headed home with six minutes remaining. That result keeps us second bottom with Ross County the only bottom team to pick up three points, and that was enough for them to replace Killie in the top six. Gary Warren returned to the starting XI with injury ravaged Owain Fon Williams and Lewis Horner taking their places in defence. In an attempt to bolster the midfield, Brad Mckay played in front of the back four, and Foran started with Lonsana Doumbouya the lone target man. Larnell Cole kept his place after his fine performance last week. Wide players Jake Mulraney, Aaron Doran and Billy King all started on the bench alongside Liam Polworth who has returned sooner than anticipated from injury. Killie had injury worries of their own and youngster Ian Wilson was given a start at the back with Scott Boyd missing out. It was a pretty dour first half with the home side occasionally threatening. In one such attack Josh Meekings made a tremendous clearance off the line after Nathan Tyson had clipped the ball over Owain Fon Williams. He did enough to hook the ball away from the goal line and Brad Mckay completed the clearance to avert a certain goal. Nick Walsh was called into question when the ball came off an Inverness arm in a goalmouth scramble but that would have been harsh had he penalised it. He was asked again and this time it could easily have been given as a cross was blocked by an elbow on the edge of the box. We struggled to make much headway in the first half, not helped by injuries to Doumbouya, Horner and Mckay. Fisher replacing the big striker after twenty-one minutes. Polworth replaced the nose bloodied Brad Mckay at the break. Lewis Horner struggled on until the hour before leaving the field, replaced by Billy King. Gary Warren had our only effort of note in the first forty-five but his header went wide. He would do better late in the game. Half Time 0-0 Billy King entered the fray and flashed a shot wide soon after and it looked as though the pace of the game had changed as we ventured forward. However, clean sheets are difficult to come by and Kilmarnock took the lead through a piece of individual magic. Coulibaly scored his wonder goal in the second half, although there was an element of good fortune about it. When he gathered a long ball on the corner of our eighteen yard box, their seemed little danger. The ball bounced up and he controlled it with his arm. Undaunted and unpunished, he twisted and turned substitute Liam Polworth onto the ground before firing a high shot into the keepers near post as defenders closed on him. Chances were at a premium, but Inverness found a way back into the game through captain Gary Warren. Greg Tansey fired a free kick into the box and the Killie rearguard parted to allow Warren every opportunity to head the ball down into the corner past a diving Jamie MacDonald. Just what we needed to get us off the foot of the table again and the game ended with no further scoring. Full Time 1-1 A draw was just about deserved as both sides had their moments on the ascendancy, but Killie will feel they might have nicked it with the one cleared off the line and a couple of penalty claims that were turned down. We came out stronger in the second half and did well to get back on level terms, so we won't complain about a share of the points. Rig saw it like this Really poor game overall. We lacked any attacking intent in the first half and seemed to have no plan for most of the game other than lump balls towards Doumbouya and Fisher. It was desperate stuff. Second half was a bit better but still we lacked an real incisive play in the final third. We seem to absolutely refuse to try and use our wingers and try and cross the ball into the box for the striker to attack. Looked like there was a hint of a handball when Coulibaly took the ball down when he scored the opener. Still, poor defending from Polworth to let him cut back inside and Fon Williams beaten again at his near post. Atrocious marking for our equaliser. Warren seemed to get in between two Kille players and still had a free header to plant the ball past MacDonald. Injuries really disrupted us today. Doumbouya, Horner and Mckay all taken off. Our reorganisation was a bit odd. Polworth at right back was strange. Far rather have Meekings there, drop Draper into defence and stick Polworth into midfield. He (Polworth) seemed to be one of the very few ICT players willing to carry the ball forward instead of battering it towards Fisher. Massively underwhelming first half performance, slightly improved second half but there's a lot of work to be done specifically in terms of our attacking play. We remain one dimensional, predictable and largely toothless. Think we deserved a draw but there's a lot of concerns there for me from an ICT point of view Immortal Howden Ender picked out different highlights in his summary. That was the best away day in years. The game was frenetic. It was highly entertaining and surprisingly competitive. I witnessed levels of skill and endeavour that I had never seen in certain individuals before. But then, unfortunately, the Hang The Man competition ended and we had to go to the game. How the feck did Mary Hill get Bahram Fetai !! The game itself was wholly forgettable. Up until the Coulibally goal BOTH teams served up dire stuff. The game only really heated up after they scored. We did show a lot of guts to recover but they went defensive and paid the price. Speaking to Killie fans afterwards they said that they had been doing the same all season. The goal was terrific and I had to celebrate with a piked, double somersault over the seats in front of me - ably abetted (feckin pushed) by King Beastie. And RedCard organised and won the goalscorer award and Warren could have had time to do a turn in the Hang the Man competition whilst he strolled in for the equaliser. The "spirit" certainly was there. Agree with what SuperFan posted earlier. Strange substitution but injuries are taking their toll. Strange to see the Walrus parading around with a huge ice pack on feckin freezing day and blood oozing from the two others. Tremarco was my clear MOM although Meekings was close. And we have no "teeth" up front. Date: 17/12/16 Venue: Rugby Park, Kilmarnock Attendance: 3294 Referee: Nick Walsh Kilmarnock: 1 Lineup: MacDonald, Hendrie, Boyle, Wilson, Taylor, McKenzie, Smith, Dicker, Jones, Tyson, Coulibaly Subs (not used): Mackay, Bojaj, Frizzell, Smith, Hawkshaw, Cameron, Adams Scorers: Coulibaly (73) Booked: Taylor (63), Smith (90) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings, Draper, Vigurs, Tansey, Horner (King 52), Mckay (Polworth 46), Doumbouya (Fisher 20), Cole Subs (not used): Esson, Doran, Mulraney, Boden Scorers: Warren (84) Booked: Draper (16), Polworth (90) Sent Off: none a

Cole Goal Earns Point Larnell Cole scored his first goal for the club in a 1-1 draw with Hamilton as Accies once more surrendered the lead in an entertaining encounter in the Highlands. This point was enough to lift us off the foot of the table for now as Partick Thistle take over at the bottom. Injuries and suspension robbed Inverness of their standard back line but Brad Mckay and Lewis Horner stepped in to a makeshift back four with Gary Warren suspended and David Raven injured. Mckay was not 100% fit, but that did not deter him from taking to the field to bolster our fragile defence. Fon Williams also took to the field nursing back pain and that was evident as Accies opened the scoring. Accies were coming North with high hopes of a result given their decent record in Inverness in recent times, having won on their last two visits. When Jake Mulraney gave away a free kick wide of our eighteen yard box, there seemed little imminent danger as Ali Crawford sized up his options. I'm not totally convinced his choice was a shot, or was it a low ball to the keepers near post but the end product was a goal as the ball deceived Fon Williams to bounce just inside his near post when a cross looked on the cards. It had been a bright opening quarter as we buzzed around the Accies half with Larnell Cole and Jake Mulraney scampering forward at pace. Lonsana Doumbouya was getting well involved and causing havoc in the Accies rearguard and things looked promising up till this point. Fon Williams stuck up an apologetic glove to the unimpressed fans behind the goal as Accies celebrated this early Xmas gift. Still, plenty of time to get back into the game and we surged forward at will, but as per norm, found Accies a tough nut to crack. A deep cross from Lewis Horner caused problems in the visitors goalmouth and when Doumbouya nodded goalwards, it was knocked clear by the hand of defender Dan Seaborne. Penalty was the obvious choice, but we are talking about Scottish referee's here and play continued without anything given. Rather odd considering Mr Aitken had a good view of the incident. Doumbouya was giving the defenders more hassle and he headed a through ball down towards Iain Vigurs. The ball broke kindly to Mulraney but a despairing lunge by a defender blocked what would have been a certain goal. Greg Tansey twisted and turned his way into the box on the end of a ball forward, but as defenders fell around him, he took one turn too many and the chance was lost as former County keepr Gary Woods narrowed the angle to make a tremendous block and deny the twinkle toed midfielder. I felt he could easily have scored with one touch less as he looked for the immaculate finish. We cut open Accies again as Ross Draper was brilliantly set up by Doumbouya and a busier than usual Iain Vigurs, but he lashed his effort from the edge of the box just over the bar when it looked easier to score. Plenty to enthuse over in a busy first half, but no goals for us as the visitors went in at the break a goal to the good despite Inverness dominating the game. Half Time 0-1 Just after the interval D'Acol brought out a smart save by Fon Williams, low to his left and Doumbouya headed just wide at the other end. We started to up the pace even more after the break and six minutes in we were rewarded with a spanking goal from Larnell Cole, his first for us. Mulraney and Vigurs combined well as they entered the box before Cole stepped in to lash the ball high into the net from seventeen yards, ably assisted by the underside of the bar. Fabulous goal and great reward for the young loan star. That goal opened the game out once more and Accies tried to get their noses in front again. It took a flying save from Fon Williams to prevent them from doing so as a tackle come shot was heading for the top corner before the keepers timely intervention. It was end to end stuff now as the action picked up and Tansey was foiled again, this time it looked as though his goalbound shot struck the back of his own players legs and the ball was hacked clear by a relieved defence. Ali Crawford saw an effort similar to Draper's one curl just over as both teams looked for a winner, but try as they might it never came. Fon Williams made a meal of a long range free kick, pushing the ball out when it looked easier to gather it, but hey ho, he kept the ball out this time. and as the Hamilton corner count increased the game ended with no further scoring. Full Time 1-1 Both sides will feel they could have won this game and fair play to Hamilton for coming out of their shell and having a go to make it an enjoyable spectacle for the fans. Good to see that Fon Williams has a sense of humour after his suspect positioning for the Accies goal. Another free kick in a similar location saw a stinging comment from one fan who shouted, "mind your near post this time". Despite the occasion, he found time to give the thumbs up to quell any fears we all had. Happy days. To be fair to the keeper, he had been struggling all week to make the game and it was touch and go whether we would actually have a keeper at all with Esson also unable to kick properly. Ross Draper courted a red card after his booking earlier in the game. We all held our breath as he made a couple of robust challenges. Careful Ross, Careful. tm4tj MotM is going to Larnell Cole, not just for his tremendous goal but his work rate was good and he got involved in plenty of attacks. This was a vast improvement from the grim performance at Perth and with news that Liam Polworth, Alex Fisher and Scott Boden are nearing full fitness then things will hopefully pick up. Gary Warren should be back from suspension so we might have a full bench next week. Anyway, good to come back and get a point, a point that lifts us off the bottom. Date: 10/12/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2473 Referee: Greg Aitken Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, Tremarco, Meekings, Draper, Vigurs, Mulraney, Tansey, Horner (King 86), Mckay, Doumbouya, Cole Subs (not used): Esson, Doran, Sutherland, Gilchrist, Robertson, Maclennan. Scorers: Cole (51) Booked: Draper (35), McKay (85), King (89) Sent Off: none Hamilton Acc: 1 Lineup: Woods, Seaborne, Gillespie, Imrie, Docherty, D'Acol (Redmond 67), Crawford, Longridge (Bingham 67), Mackinnon, McMann, Sarris. Subs (not used): Thomson, Brophy, Donati, Cunningham, Hughes Scorers: Crawford (16) Booked: Imrie (57), Gillespie (73), McMann (75) Sent Off: none a

Rock Bottom Inverness have sunk as low as they can for now as St Johnstone inflicted more misery than you could shake a stick at. A 3-0 defeat at Perth has us at rock bottom in more ways than one. The 3-0 defeat was misery enough, but Gary Warren saw fit to get himself sent off moments after being booked. We are not helping ourselves here with additional suspensions on top of injuries to crucial players. Liam Craig opened the scoring in the first quarter and Murray Davidson added a second around the hour as Warren left the field. The rout was completed when Danny Swanson knocked home the third. By all accounts, we were pretty limp. Injury crisis time once more for Inverness with two right backs out injured and a third suspended. It doesn't rain but it pours, and with Polworth missing from midfield we were down to the bare bones. Josh Meekings went to full back and Ross Draper was used as a makeshift centre back. Larnell Cole started in midfield. St Johnstone got a boost with Murray Davidson starting and Joe Shaughnessy also fit enough to get a game. As is the norm for these encounters it was a fairly low key opening to the game, with Danny Swanson and Larnell Cole trying their luck at either end but that changed after fourteen minutes when Inverness lost the ball in midfield. Poor tracking back allowed Liam Craig to find plenty space inside the box and he calmly send a low strike into the net from twelve yards. Great strike, but woeful defending and application from the visitors. Craig had an effort from distance well watched by Fon Williams as St Johnstone took control of proceedings and the only attempt of note came from a Carl Tremarco header that caused little concern. Half Time 1-0 The customary dull first forty-five would liven up somewhat after the break, but none of that had much to do with a lethargic Inverness. Josh Meekings was fortunate not to give away a penalty after a shove in the back on Richard Foster. Clumsy stuff from Meekings, and that set the tone for our defending thereafter. Gary Warren took on the mantle of chief clumsiness the pantomime villain and he was booked for a series of minor indiscretions. That would catch up with the veteran defender just moments later when he challenged for a ball with the tricky Danny Swanson who made Warren look like a rugby player. He barged over the Perth player and can have no complaints over the red card that followed. Poor decision making from an experienced player who had left his team further exposed, not only for this game, but for the next one as well. It got worse once the free kick was taken as Murray Davidson turned on the ball as it was fired low into the box to beat Williams for the second time from around eight yards from the left side of the six-yard box. Iain Vigurs suffered the same fate as Foster, and the result was the same, no penalty as Inverness tried to force their way back into the game, and Billy King fired a decent shot just over, but it was an uphill struggle and we looked like we were treading treacle. Two down and playing with a man short the game was well and truly up when Brian Easton ran onto a long through ball to play in Danny Swanson who wasted no time in taking one touch before smacking the ball home from fifteen yards. Good goal to round off the scoring from the quality player on the park. Full Time 3-0 Plenty to ponder over for Richie Foran as we hit the bottom of the league after yesterday's results. Injuries and suspensions are crippling us just now. That's Tansey, Horner and Warren all missing games for sending off's and that's not good enough at a time when we need experience on the park. They are no use sitting in the stand watching a bench filled with youngsters as those that are not injured try to get us out of this fine mess. Here's a couple of observations from those at the game. Alternative Maryhill was less than impressed with the contribution of some. "Warren has looked shaky this season, but he hasn't been helped by having a player who can't tackle and who has no pace - Iain Vigurs - playing ahead of him in deep midfield all season. I understand the thinking behind playing Draper further forward earlier this season, but why on earth Vigurs has consistently been preferred to Polworth in the centre when both have been available is completely beyond me and is, imho, probably the most significant factor in using having the worst defensive record in the league. It was shown again with the opener today, when Craig seemed able to just stroll onto the ball, completely untroubled. Obviously we have been pretty unlucky again with injuries recently, but given the lack of penetration we have up front, the lack of dig and pace we have in midfield, and our woeful defensive record, there's absolutely no reason why we shouldn't be among the favourites to go down". Rig was equally despondent. "Absolutely depressing stuff today. Struggling to think of any real positives at all. We were shocking at the back, had no real control in midfield and struggled to create much of note up front. Our sole tactic of lobbing it towards Doumbouya was easily handled by Anderson and Shaughnessy. With no Plan B Saints rarely looked troubled and ended up with a deserved win. First goal was really poor tracking of Liam Craig who burst into the box and was found by Maclean and the ball was quickly poked beyond Fon Williams. Second came from a free kick which wasn't cleared and Davidson turned the ball in whist the third came late on with our makeshift defence all at sea and Swanson danced inside what was left of it before finding the net. Sending off seemed justified. I can't remember the first yellow but it was a warranted second yellow and Warren had struggled for most of the game to deal with Swanson running right at him. Whilst our players seemed to take a touch of the ball to get it down and kill the forward movement Saint Johnstone continuously looked to attack and get forward. We had a lot of the ball but any time we got into the final third we couldn't break down the Saints defence and just passed the ball or ran across the edge of the penalty area before either shooting wide or passing the ball out for a throw in. It was similar to some of the toothless displays under Hughes last season". And Yngwie summed it up thus; "Any Saints fan or neutral may well conclude today that ICT are a bunch of uncultured thugs, incapable of playing football, or defending, or attacking. They might also conclude that we are the worst team they have seen this season, that we are getting relegated and that the league will be better without us. And based purely on today, it would be hard for me to disagree. So, little for the visiting fans to get excited over and that's a recurring theme this season. We have to take stock and get our heads round this. Bottom of the league is not where we want to be seen. I hope Richie Foran can do something about this. If not, standing in the terraces looks to be an ever increasing possibility, and it could take a while to get back to all seated stadium. Big games coming up in the next fortnight. At home to Hamilton Accies and away to Kilmarnock. These could be season defining moments and we must start to pick up points before we are cut adrift. Sorry to sound a tad depressing, but that's how it is at this stage of the season. Date: 03/12/16 Venue: McDiarmid Park, Perth Attendance: 2549 Referee: Euan Anderson St Johnstone: 3 Lineup: Clark, Foster, Shaughnessy, Anderson, Easton, Coulson (Alston 75), Swanson (Kane 83), Davidson, Craig, Wotherspoon, MacLean (Cummins 82) Subs (not used): Mannus, Scobbie, Millar, Gordon Scorers: Craig (14), Davidson (62), Swanson (81) Booked: Coulson (56), Wotherspoon (74) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Cole, Warren, Meekings, Tremarco (Gilchrist 86), Draper, Vigurs, Doran (Mulraney 69), Tansey, King, Doumbouya (Sutherland 84) Subs (not used): Esson. Robertson, MacLennan Scorers: none Booked: Draper (45), Doumbouya (50), Warren (60) Sent Off: Warren (61) a

Dundee end Inverness hoodoo Inverness crashed to a 2-1 defeat at Dens Park despite dominating for long spells. This was Dundee's first win over Inverness since the Challenge Cup Final in 2009. League games go back 11 years since Dundee last won. Goals from young star Craig Wighton and Kostadin Gadzhalov were enough for Dundee despite a late Carl Tremarco strike for the visitors, but it was Dundee who held on for that crucial win which lifts them to seventh in the league as we slump to tenth, just one point off the bottom. Our miserable day was complete when Lewis Horner was red carded in injury time. Brad Mckay missed out with a shin injury sustained against Aberdeen and Lewis Horner was his replacement with David Raven also unavailable. Greg Tansey returned from suspension. The home side were without Yordi Teijsse and Craig Wighton continued in attack with Nicky Low and Mark O'Hara also unavailable. Rig made the journey as he does to most games, here's what he saw............ Really disappointing result and performance. Foran is kidding himself if he thinks that was our best performance of the season though I suspect he is deflecting attention from the players. Whilst we did knock the ball about pretty well, especially in the first half, all too often our final ball was lacking or Dundee snuffed out any threat. The likes of King and Doran far to often failed to send in a really good cross for Doumbouya to attack and most of our efforts on goal were long range strikes that were always sent flying well over the bar and seldom troubled Bain. Good goal from Wighton to open the scoring driving right at Warren and slotting the ball beyond Fon Williams in the style of Thierry Henry. Dundee also had a penalty claim when Draper tangled with McGowan but it was difficult to see what happened from the other end of the ground. Just before half time there was a bit of a scramble in the Dundee box after a Tansey corner wasn't cleared and despite a number of sclaffed efforts towards goal no ICT player was able to turn it into the net. Half Time 1-0 Second half was much of the same. ICT tended to dominate possession but Dundee created better chances. The second goal largely killed the game off. Free kick on the ICT left was whipped in by Hately, Doumbouya missed the ball and Gadzhalov powered the ball into the net. Whilst we did get a goal back when Tremarco somehow found the net after Bain appeared to cock up his attempted save bagging an equaliser probably wouldn't have been deserved. Full Time 2-1 Dundee were much better than when we cuffed them earlier in the season whereas we seem to have gone backwards somewhat. Despite playing with 'proper' wide men in Doran and King we didn't really get much joy down the left or right flanks and Doran seemed to spend most of his time cutting in from the right and sitting inside leaving Draper to play on the right for large parts of the first half which seemed a bit odd. Vigurs went off injured which might go some way to explain his complete lack of effort when trying to defend Dundee attacks in the second half. Another injury is not really what we need with Polworth and Mackay out but hopefully the former is back soon especially with Raven out and Horner now suspended. We're starting to look a wee bit thin, low on confidence and pretty toothless up front. Some massive games coming up now against St Johnstone, Hamilton and Killie. I think we really need at least two wins from that lot. Going to be a tight old season this one. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dundee:- Bain, Holt, Vincent (Williams 64), O'Dea, Hateley, McGowan, Haber (Etxabeguren 90), Gadzhalov, Kerr, Wighton, Gomis. Subs not used:- Mitchell (GK), Loy, Duffy, El Bakhtaoui, Curran. Inverness CT:- Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings, Draper, Doran (Boden 74), Vigurs (Cole 81), Tamsey, Horner, King (Mulraney 66), Doumbouya. Subs not used:- Esson (GK), Sutherland, Macrae. Referee:- Andrew Dallas. Attendance:- 5094.

Too easy for Dons Aberdeen won convincingly 1-3 with Kevin Clancy instrumental in the first two Dons goals. He was probably man of the match as the Dons won for the first time in five attempts. Lonsana Doumbouya glanced a wonderful opener for Inverness but after that it was Aberdeen that took full advantage of Clancy's assistance. A dubious free kick saw McLean level the scores and after another accidental clash, Clancy saw fit to award a spot kick which Rooney gratefully accepted to slot home. Clancy continued to control the flow of the game as the Aberdeen players threw themselves to the ground at will and it was no surprise (or maybe it was) when Maddison was eventually booked for simulation. They added a third deep into the game when they broke swiftly and McLean completed the scoring. One more assist from Clancy and he would have kept the match ball. Unbelievable Jeff! Plenty to ponder over for Inverness boss Richie Foran as the injury list grows, Brad Mckay stretchered off in the second half as we begin to court the fringes of the relegation tussle this early in the season. RIG was a bit miffed, but managed to squeeze out this report for us................... Some absolute telt today from Aberdeen to Inverness. A really comfortable Dons performance and an easy three points heading back along the A96. Decent start from Aberdeen but we took the lead against the run of play when Draper lifted a cute ball into the box and Doumbouya appeared in acres of space to steer a header past Lewis to put us one up. After that it was pretty much all Aberdeen with any chances for ICT at a premium. Hayes turned in an absolutely stunning performance and a lot of the Aberdeen attacks were coming down the ICT right with Hayes linking up well with Shinnie and also Maddison who was always on offer when Aberdeen drove through the middle. After a Maddison free kick was easily repelled by the Inverness wall McLean had better luck when he curled the ball low round the right edge of the wall and inside the post. A really good free kick and it brought Aberdeen deservedly level. The award of the free kick looked pretty suspect. Maddison seemed to go down very easily, a recurring theme over the course of the game sadly, but disappointing that we didn't defend the resultant strike a bit better. Minutes later Aberdeen were ahead. Hayes scampered into the box and Warren struggled to stay with him and Hayes went down as he collided with Warren. There was certainly contact between the two as Hayes clearly tripped over Warrens outstretched leg but, and this is coming with massive ICT bias, I did wonder if perhaps Warren had just planted his leg slightly ahead of Hayes which the winger then went down over. Regardless, I can probably see why Clancy gave it and again it was poor defending in the first place to let Hayes break into the box like that. Rooney had no issues finding the net with the penalty. Sadly, given how little we had threatened since our opening goal even at 2-1 down I couldn't see a way back into the game for us. However Tremarco saw an effort go wide and McLean nearly bagged his second when a shot that looked like it was already going wide was turned around the post by Fon Williams. Half Time 1-2 Into the second half and it was much the same with the Dons dominating proceedings and ICT resorting to lumping long balls in the vague direction of Doumboya. Aberdeen almost went 3 - 1 up when a fine cross from the right found Considine in the box and his downward header was met by Fon Williams who somehow managed to scramble it away. Aberdeen then saw a great chance for Shinnie go begging as he sped down the left and was picked out with a fine pass from Maddison however the former ICT man shot straight at Fon Williams. Maddison then paid the price for some of his earlier antics when he went down in the box under a challenge by Meekings and was booked. It was difficult to tell from the other end of the pitch if this was justified or not but given his previous histrionics and because I'm a seething, bitter mess right now I'm inclined to say yes. Shortly after Maddison nearly made headlines for better reasons as a fine free kick cracked off the base of the post with Fon Williams well beaten. ICT then lost Mckay to injury after a bad challenge from Shinnie which inexplicably went unpunished from Clancy. Aberdeen eventually got their deserved third goal when they seized on ICT losing possession after a corner and Hayes broke rapidly towards goal and he teed up McLean who drilled the ball past Fon Williams to seal the points. A really good counter attacking goal which triggered a mass exodus from the home support. Full Time 1-3 We seldom had a chance to speak of in the second half. A header from Doumbouya had Lewis scrambling to turn it over the bar, Draper wriggled into the box but his shot wasn't powerful enough to get past Lewis and Tremarco poked a late effort goalwards without really causing any difficulty. If we had got a goal back it would have made the game look a lot closer than it really was. Overall there can't be any complaints about the result and having read the comments from Foran it's good to see he's not trying to dress it up as anything other than what it was - a sound beating by a much better team. Clancy was an absolute omnishambles today with some really questionable calls. His decision not to at least give Shinnie a yellow card for his challenge on Mckay was bizarre as was his incredible call to allow Maddison to go down claiming he was injured, wave play on but then halt play as we got to the edge of the Aberdeen penalty area and allow Maddison to get treatment. But he wasn't the reason for our downfall today. There were plenty of errors from ICT that we should look to address before the next run of crucial games coming up against the likes of Dundee, Hamilton and Killie. Granted we were missing important players in Tansey and Polworth but our sole tactic of leathering it towards Doumbouya was easily being snuffed out by Considine and O'Connor yet we still persisted with it. Joe Lewis is enormous yet we played high balls into the six yard box most of the time we got our crosses in. As for our free kicks....Jesus wept. We really lack a striker who can play off the last defender and a midfielder with a real eye for a pass to play that hypothetical striker in. As it stands we are quite direct and rigidly stick to that direct style come what may. It might work well against some teams but it definitely wasn't working today and we didn't really have a clue what to do about it. In summary.... Date: 19/11/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium, Inverness Attendance: 4867 Referee: Kevin Clancy Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, McKay (Horner 76), Warren, Meekings, Tremarco, Draper, Vigurs, Doran, Cole (Mulraney 70), King (Fisher 84), Doumbouya Subs (not used): Esson, Boden, Sutherland Scorers: Doumbouya (15) Booked: Vigurs (53) Sent Off: none Aberdeen: 3 Lineup: Lewis, Logan, Considine, O'Connor, Shinnie (Reynolds 91), Maddison (Taylor 74), McLean, Jack, Hayes, Stockley (McGinn 73), Rooney Subs (not used): Alexander, Pawlett, Morris, Storey Scorers: McLean (28, 89), Rooney (pen.33) Booked: Maddison (67) Sent Off: none

Tough day at the office. Ten man Inverness went down 3-0 in Glasgow as Celtic eventually wore us down and dominated from the time they took the lead. Nothing surprising about the result, but disappointing to have a man sent off and Liam Polworth crocked. A tight first half saw Inverness go in at the break level. A couple of great chances for Celtic, a superb save from Owain Fon Williams and a half chance for Doumbouya produced no goals. Just after the break Scott Sinclair raced between the centre backs to knock the ball behind Fon Williams to open the scoring. Leigh Griffiths scored a tap-in after slack play from Inverness, and Greg Tansey was red carded in the move that led to the goal, having been booked in the first half. The third goal was scored by sub Tom Rogic with a deflected shot to complete our misery. Inverness were missing David Raven, Carl Tremarco and Aaron Doran with Lewis Horner, Billy King and Owain Fon Williams coming back into the starting XI. Celtic had a pretty potent strike force on from the start with Leigh Griffiths, Scott Sinclair, Patrick Roberts and man of the moment Moussa Dembele all lining up. The first half might have been level in score, but Celtic were mostly on the front foot, that means that we were mostly on the back foot. Best chance of the half went to Leigh Griffiths who saw his close range effort brilliantly turned onto the bar by Owain Fon Williams. For Inverness, Lonsana Doumbouya wasted a half chance and Ross Draper headed straight into Craig Gordon. Celtic squandered a handful of chances which would not have impressed Brendan Rodgers as we kept them at bay. Half Time 0-0 The second half was only a couple of minutes old when Scott Sinclair nipped into the box to get on the end of a smart Callum McGregor pass and he duly dispatched the ball behind the keeper. Just after the hour, Sott Brown came off injured being replaced by Nir Bitton. A double Inverness replacement saw Jake Mulraney and Alex Fisher replace Billy King and Lonsana Doumbouya. Celtic had replaced Mikael Lustig with Emilio Isaguirre in the first half. Moments later Griffiths got a tap-in after Fon Williams stopped Dembele from scoring, the ball breaking kindly for the Celtic striker. Greg Tansey was sent off for his involvement in that goal and there was no way back for the visitors. The Bhoys final change saw Tom Rogic take over from Moussa Dembele with around twenty minutes left. Last change of the match had Larnell Cole coming on for the final fifteen minutes as Liam Polworth was crunched and left the field in pain. With Inverness down to ten men, the final whistle can't come soon enough as Celtic's domination increased. It was no surprise when Rogic added a third after eighty three minutes, the away defence ran ragged by this time. Full Time 3-0 Inverness were seldom seen as an attacking force in the second half. The same could not be said of Celtic who surged forward at every opportunity. No disgrace going down to a rampant Celtic, especially having to play for around half an hour with a man short. There's little point going through every event on the park, suffice to say, we were second best and got away with some missed opportunities for Brendan Rodgers' side, but that's what you get at Parkhead. Tough shift for Inverness. Although it was a bad day at the office, the overall results were favourable and we retained our top-six status for now. As is the case for most teams visiting Parkhead, damage limitation is the first choice and I don't think we can be too vexed at going down 3-0. A couple of observations from RIG who was at the game. "The closest we came to a chance on goal was a free kick from Vigurs after Mulraney had been bundled over as he looked to break clear but I can barely remember us getting out of our half in the second 45". RIG picked out "Mckay as probably our best player (again) and I thought Polworth did well until his injury. Tansey and Vigurs were both poor in terms of their passing with Tansey especially slack at times. All in all, disappointing result but we can't realistically expect to complete with Celtic when they can start players like Dembele, Griffiths, Roberts and Sinclair". Fair enough RIG. Anyway, nothing to see here, big team beats wee team, move along please......... Date: 05/11/16 Venue: Celtic Park, Glasgow Attendance: 54152 Referee: Crawford Allan Celtic: 3 Lineup: Gordon; Lustig (Izaguirre 14), Simunovic, Sviatchenko, Armstrong, Brown (Bitton 61), McGregor, Griffiths, Roberts, Dembele (Rogic 69), Sinclair Subs (not used): De Vries, Gamboa, Christie, Forrest Scorers: Sinclair (48), Griffiths (63), Rogic (83) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Horner, Warren, Meekings, McKay, Draper, Tansey, King (Mulraney 61), Vigurs, Polworth (Cole 77), Doumbouya (Fisher 61) Subs (not used): Mackay, Boden, Sutherland Scorers: none Booked: Tansey (43) Sent Off: Tansey (65)

Six Goal Thriller in the Highlands. The points were shared in the Highlands in an entertaining 3-3 draw where the drama started before the match had begun and continued throughout the game. Owain Fon Williams pulled out in the warm up and Cammy Mackay replaced him between the sticks. That was just the beginning. Carl Tremarco had to be replaced after nine minutes and his replacement scored the opener five minutes later. None other than Dave the Rave, what an introduction from the fans favourite. Lonsana Doumbouya continued his scoring run with the second to double the advantage. Hearts were thrown a lifeline before the break when Bjoirn Johnsen scored and they went for broke in the second period. Faycal Rherras got a fortunate equaliser and it looked as though Hearts had the impetus, but Aaron Doran put the home side ahead again. His first goal since returning from his injury nightmare. Hearts turned the screw again and Arnaud Djoum levelled to set up a tense final fifteen minutes, but neither side could get their noses in front and a point each it was with all the punters going home happy after a highly entertaining contest. Old Caley Girl will have a full report for us when she takes time to digest the afternoon's spectacle. Back in December I had the misfortune to witness the Tynecastle 5-1 horror show, however, what a difference in ICT that day. Richie Foran in his post match interview that day said he knew what was wrong and how to sort it and he has been true to his word. At 3pm at the TCS the music played for the arrival of the players but instead of the players running on to the pitch the music went on and on and on…….............. Eventually both teams appeared but with Cammy Mackay in goal instead of the already announced Owain Fon Williams. OFW apparently had a back problem from the warm up and had to drop out. After nine minutes play David Raven replaced an injured Carl Tremarco and the home crowd wondered if it wasn’t to be our day. We were wrong though as this turned out to be a terrific match to watch with end to end action. Caleyjags started off brightly with Doumbouya hitting the crossbar and on the 15 minute mark David Raven opened the scoring with a cracking volley, finished like a striker after a headed knockdown from Ross Draper following some tidy teamwork. ICT extended their lead in 32 minutes with a right footed shot into the top of the net from 17 yards. We broke up a Hearts forward move and swiftly transferred the ball forward. When it came to Lonsana Doumbouya just inside the box, he wasted no time in smashing it high into the net Liam Polworth with the assist. Hearts huffed and puffed but really were not causing too much problems in front of goal until a slip from Josh Meekings allowed Johnsen to run into the box and pull one back for the visitors eight minutes before the break, rifling the ball home from ten yards on the right side. Hearts continued to press for an equaliser before half time but the Caleyjags went into the break in the lead. Half Time 2-1 Both teams came back out from the break pushing for more goals and it was Hearts who leveled in 51 minutes with Rherras taking a chance from long range and hitting the target beyond Cammy Mackay who was wrong footed and bamboozled by the cross/shot which everyone missed as it bounced into the net. One of those awkward ones I'm afraid. At that point you had to wonder if heads would go down but no, Aaron Doran had other ideas pinching the ball of Don Cowie following a lob and firing low past Hamilton in the Hearts goal. The end to end action continued and Hearts were rewarded with another goal to equalise, Djoum hitting it across Mackay from fifteen yards on the right side. Hearts continued to pile on the pressure with subs Tony Watt and Conor Sammon but fortunately for us, they couldn’t find the winner. In the end 3-3 seemed fair I suppose but I think both players and fans will be disappointed not to take all three points. Full time 3-3 A hugely entertaining match with plenty to thrill fans of both teams and any neutrals present. Defensive mistakes stopping us take the 3 points. An interesting post match debate could be had from comments made by Gary Warren that he would prefer to win ugly than by entertaining draws. Given the injury dramas a point was welcomed by most and cemented our top six place on merit. A small worry is the injuries sustained. Owain Fon Williams, Carl Tremarco, Aaron Doran and Iain Vigurs. Hopefully all not too bad. An unpleasant feature of this game that I feel I must mention was Hearts tendency to go down every few minutes (polite way of mentioning a lot of diving) and the fact that Craig Thomson seemed to be falling for it at every turn. Is it just me or is the standard of refereeing dropping again in this league? OCG MotM – Several candidates but my vote goes to Lonsana Doumbouya. Improving every game, put in a shift and knows where the back of the net is. He is full of promise and hopefully lots more goals to come. Date: 29/10/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium, Inverness Attendance: 3565 Referee: Craig Thomson Inverness CT: 3 Lineup: C.Mackay, B.McKay, Warren, Meekings, Tremarco (Raven 9), Tansey, Polworth, Draper, Vigurs (Horner 89), Doran (Mulraney 81), Doumbouya Subs (not used): Hoban, Boden, Sutherland Scorers: Raven (15), Doumbouya (32), Doran (55) Booked: Meekings (78), McKay (84), Vigurs (85) Sent Off: none Hearts: 3 Lineup: Hamilton, Paterson, Igor Rossi, Souttar, Rherras (Ozturk 59), Cowie, Kitchen, Djoum, Muirhead (Watt 54), Walker, Johnsen (Sammon 76) Subs (not used): Noring, Buaben, Oshaniwa, Nowak Scorers: Johnsen (38), Rherras (51), Djoum (74) Booked: Rherras (50) Sent Off: none

Well Well Well. Wednesday night in Lanarkshire and Inverness were the visitors to Fir Park under the floodlights with both clubs hovering just outside the top-six. It was the visitors that took all three points with an ultimately convincing win, although it never looked that way at the break. Tremarco, Doumbouya and Polworth scored the goals as Motherwell capitulated in the second half. Richie Foran elected to start with Aaron Doran wide replacing Jake Mulraney who drops to the bench. Lonsana Doumbouya retained the strikers jersey. Mark McGhee had Lionel Ainsworth, James McFadden and Scott McDonald on the bench, opting for the youth of Ross McLean and Jack McMillan with Louis Moult the danger man. A promising start for the visitors and a couple of headers go off target, Doumbouya rising highest in the box from a corner but not finding the target. A clash of heads has Carl Tremarco and Richard Tait receiving treatment, the Inverness player donning a bandage before continuing. Soon after this, Liam Polworth hit a long range effort that goes just wide and Motherwell's Craig Clay does likewise at the other end. It's tit for tat stuff halfway through the first half and although the visitors are getting their fair share of the ball, they lack penetration, Brad Mckay foraging well on the right though. Louis Moult made his first telling contribution but his shot hits the side netting on the half hour, and at the other end Doumbouya heads just wide again. Shortly after, Doumbouya and Vigurs combine, but the latter fires over. Just before the break a bit of a cufuffle around our box as Cadden strikes from range. The deflection finds Moult but Mckay recovers to clear. Neither keeper has been seriously tested in a cautious first forty-five and one added minute brings the half to a close. Half Time 0-0 Moult squanders the first chance of the second period as a deep cross is headed over Fon Williams' bar, and Mckay continues where he left off in the first half, but no takers for his cross that fizzes across the box. However, his persistence pays off as he pings another cross into the box and Carl Tremarco meets it on the slide six yards out to knock it in off the underside of the bar. Billy King replaced Doran just after the hour, the Irishman not best pleased by that decision from the gaffer, rightly so as he had been fairly promising all night. The home side react by bringing on Scott McDonald for Bowman as they search for an equaliser. But it's the visitors that take the game forward and Samson has to tip a Polworth shot round the post for a corner. Tremarco and Warren combine well........ in attack, and win a corner. Total football mun. From the corner, the much maligned Doumbouya knocks home from the centre of the six yard box when the ball fell to him, his initial header blocked and dropping at his feet. Great reply from the big man after taking some stick over the last couple of weeks for missing a couple of relatively simple chances. Motherwell clutching at straws now and desperately firing a couple of shots from distance but they don't trouble Fon Williams and with around fifteen minutes to go McGhee makes his last throw of the dice and on come McFadden and Ainsworth for Clay and Maclean. Moult does find the net but is adjudged to be off side, much relief in the visitors ranks. Could be a testing last quarter of the game. Doumbouya should have scored his second of the night but his downward header from three yards bounced up and over the crossbar after a delightful flighted cross from Polworth. However, Liam Polworth had other ideas about a Well revival and rifled a low shot from twenty-five yards to kill off any thoughts of a Motherwell revival. Thumping shot from Polly who makes a habit of this at times, the ball finding the bottom corner with the keeper diving full length to his right. Billy King was the provider for Liam to slash the ball home. A couple of efforts either end after the goal but the result is a formality now and Inverness keep a clean sheet into the bargain to record an excellent away win to push us back into the top-six. Full Time 0-3 A somewhat unexpected but welcome win, and after a dour first half, we swept Motherwell away with some clinical finishing. That's three wins on the trot at Fir Park. We should play there every week. Much improved performance all round and great to see Doumbouya grab another goal, that will do his confidence no harm. Fon Williams kept a clean sheet, although he was relatively untroubled Tremarco keeps on giving and Polly back on the goal trail. All good at Fir Park. Manager Richie Foran had this to say " "There was some great play all over the park, our fitness levels were spot on, and once again we're finishing the game stronger, we're going right to the final whistle, so it was good. I'm delighted for the back four getting that clean sheet". Match video from SPFL Website Date: 26/10/16 Venue: Fir Park, Motherwell Attendance: 3131 Referee: Don Robertson Motherwell: 0 Lineup: Samson, Tait, Heneghan, McManus, Moult, Bowman (McDonald 64), Cadden, Lasley, Clay (McFadden 77), MacLean (Ainsworth 78), McMillan Subs (not used): Brill, Lucas, Ferguson, Hastie Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 3 Lineup: Fon-Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings (Raven 86), Polworth, Draper, Doran (King 62), Vigurs, Tansey, McKay, Doumbouya (Boden 89) Subs (not used): MacKay, Mulraney, Horner Scorers: Tremarco (57), Doumbouya (71), Polworth (83) Booked: Tremarco (85) Sent Off: none a

Another late goal earns a point. Lonsana Doumbouya rescued an unlikely point for Inverness in a dismal display that left the home fans frustrated at the poor performance. Soulimane Coulibaly won and converted a penalty to give the visitors an early lead and it was them that looked most likely to add to their tally until the late strike leveled the scoring. Richie Foran placed Billy King on the bench with the tricky Jake Mulraney getting a start. Iain Vigurs' inclusion was a big talking point as we have not been seeing the best of him recently and Josh Meekings returned to the back line having missed out against the Rangers with David Raven returning to the bench. Liam Polworth did start, but he looked like a fish out of water given his wide position. Kris Boyd made the bench for the visitors who were looking to build on their excellent result from last week where they won at Perth. Killie belied their low key start to the season and looked to get behind the home defence at every opportunity. Nathan Tyson saw an early header sail over the bar from a good position and in just seven minutes they took the lead. From a ball into the box, Garry Warren and Brad Mckay converged on Soulimane Coulibaly. Mckay saw fit to clumsily barge the striker to the deck and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. No complaints from me either as Mckay was rather rash with his challenge. Coulibaly got up and took the penalty himself, low to Fon Williams' right. The keeper got a good hand on the ball but it had just enough pace to reach the back of the net. Not the start we had been looking for, but it was early doors and we had plenty of time to respond. Unfortunately we didn't. A complete lack of understanding and dearth of quality was on display as we toiled to create anything, the visitors leading by example as they managed to unsettle us at the back. Coulibaly almost doubled the advantage as we opened the back door and Fon Williams denied him from close range. He really should have scored, and Josh Meekings made a timely block as we were carved open once more. This provoked a reaction and Lonsana Doumbouya and Liam Polworth brought Jamie McDonald into the game. Greg Tansey latched onto one outside the box but the swerve on the ball brought it too close to McDonald and he saved relatively comfortably, although the shot had plenty of power. That was about as close as we got in a first half lacking endeavour from the home side. Half Time 0-1 The home fans were looking for a vast improvement after the break, but it was still the visitors that looked more threatening and Coulibaly headed over five minutes after the restart. Luke Hendrie tried his luck from outside the box but his swerving shot dipped just wide of the net. At the other end, Liam Polworth had a shot blocked as we tried to salvage something from the game but the harder we tried the more frustrating it became. Substitute Kris Boyd almost extended the lead but his shot was charged down and bounced just wide, possibly glancing off the frame of the goal. But, if nothing else, we are triers. And God loves a trier. With time running out and all our efforts coming to nothing, Carl Tremarco swung over a deep cross. Aaron Doran nodded it back into the mix and Doumbouya chested the ball to the side, nicking it off the toe of Alex Fisher before forcing it over the line from close range. There was still some defending to do though and Killie hit the post again as Rory McKenzie drilled a shot from outside the box that hit the outside base of the post with Fon Williams scrambling across his line. That was it though and the final whistle brought an end to an uninspiring game. Full Time 1-1 We just about deserved a point for neatness, although Kilmarnock will feel hard done by after passing up some gilt edged chances, especially in the first half. They can also point to a couple of shots that came off the woodwork. On the other hand, we will be thankful that we played rubbish but never lost. tm4tj MotM is going to a wee guy with a big heart. Carl Tremarco kept plugging away and thanks to his willingness to get down the left flank we snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat. Many wondered why Iain Vigurs was still on the park at the end, but to be honest there were plenty of candidates to catch Richie Foran's eye as suitable bench warmers. A poor day at the office was the general consensus of opinion. Killie played their part in that though and they will be well chuffed with a point in the Highlands. We are off to Motherwell in midweek and Hearts visit Inverness next weekend. It's not rocket science to see that we will need a vast improvement if we are to take anything from these games. Despite ourselves, we toppled into the top-six on goal difference, and on the bright side, we can only get better. Surely? Highlights will be available to view later today from SPFL website Here's what Killie manager Lee Clark thought about it all Date: 22/10/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2591 Referee: Nick Walsh Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, McKay (Boden 79), Meekings, Warren, Tremarco, Tansey, Vigurs, Mulraney (King 66), Draper (Doran 56), Polworth, Doumbouya Subs (not used): Mackay, Raven, Horner, Fisher Scorers: Doumbouya (86) Booked: Polworth (63), Meekings (80), Vigurs (94) Sent Off: none Kilmarnock: 1 Lineup: MacDonald, Hendrie, S Boyd, Addison, Taylor, Dicker, Coulibaly (K Boyd 79), M Smith (S Smith, 66), McKenzie, Jones, Tyson Subs (not used): Mackay, Boyle, Bojaj, Frizzell, Paterson Scorers: Coulibaly (pen.7) Booked: S.Boyd (26), Hendrie (88) Sent Off: none abcabc

Miller Stunner Stings Caley Jags Inverness went down 0-1 by virtue of a stunning volley from Kenny Miller to end our five game unbeaten run. It was his 100th goal in the blue jesey having previously played in the green and white of Hibernian and Celtic. He won't score many better goals as he smashed a volley past Owain Fon Williams from a deep Lee Wallace cross from around 15 yards, the ball searing past the keepers outstretched hands on it's way to the back of the net. Inverness passed on glorious opportunities, at either end of the game, both headers and both well off target from great positions, but it was Rangers that held on to take all three points back down the A9. Immortal Howden Ender has this TV report for us all the way from Chorley.......... I should begin by emphasising that I was not in attendance at the TCS and this report is based on watching BT Sport in my “snug” in Chorley. It is often stated that it is a different perspective watching on the telly. I concede that but the telly throws up different angles, replays and commentator perspectives. From a BT perspective the only aspect that I feel may be agreed by all is that Chris Sutton is an absolute ****. Paul Ritchie, Craig Brewster, Marius Niculae and even Rory McAllister must be stumped to explain how our two centre forward options, Doumbouya and Fisher failed to connect and score from crosses in the 3rd and 86th minute. I would have knocked them both in maself. Doombars’ was more culpable as it was clear cut. Fishers’ needed a flick but they were both practically unmissable. We simply do NOT have a striker of Premiership class. Draper could well be the answer but what a feckin waste that would be. I still feel really disappointed that we did not pick up at least a point. Richie Foran said that it was our best performance in the last six games. I would disagree with that but it certainly was above average. We looked very threatening in the first 15 minutes. If Doombar had netted then we may have wreaked havoc. Rangers controlled the first half but did not really dominate. They are John Hughes “tippy-tappy” like and have not got that last killer touch. But lets face it Kenny Miller’s volleyed goal / winner was superb. Blame probably is shared between Raven and Polworth for not tracking back. Fon Williams kept us in it with a great stop in the 25th minute. Waghorn and company claimed that it had crossed the line but it clearly didn’t. Polworth then missed a half chance on the 27th minute when he ballooned a 25 yarder well over. Tansey then tried to showboat when a straight strike would have been better. To me the second half was even-stevens but we just about won it – in possession and chances – but not goals unfortunately. It could have been 3-3 in the end but for skied or blocked efforts. We were again lacking in width and we are simply impotent up front. Full Time 0-1 FON WILLIAMS 7/10 – No chance with the goal but look assured and kept us in it, although he did not really have that much to do. RAVEN 6/10 – Worried when I heard of his inclusion but he was more like the Raven of old. WARREN 6/10 – Worries me with his undisciplined impetuousness at times. Warriors do not put themselves at risk and do not take one for the team when there is cover. MckAY 5/10 – Lucky not to be dismissed. Went for balls that were never his. Clearly a better full back. TREMARCO 7/10 – Continues to be solid and consistent. Never given a chance of being an attacking option. POLWORTH 6/10 – I simply cannot believe that he is being played wide right. Drifted inside most of the night and was culpable at not giving Raven cover on quite a few occasions. TANSEY 5/10 – Scored him lower as he feckin annoys me. It was probably a 6 ½ out of 10 but why did he keep his best display of the season to the Showroom game. VIGURS 4/10 – Almost the same comment as Tansey. Appeared to make more effort tonight than he has done for weeks. KING 5/10 – Followed up from a disappointing game at Hamilton to another. Clearly right footed and not looking comfortable wide left. DRAPER 8/10 – My MOM for again filling in so many positions in one night – even taking over the main striker role in the second half. He showed his frustration by dropping too deep at times. DOUMBOUYA 3/10 – Thought that he was shocking even giving him a let off for the glaring 3rd minute miss. Simply does not appear to be Premiership quality. No real pace, won little in the air and allowed himself to be bullied. MULRANEY / DORAN 6/10 each – Have clearly staked the claims to start next game. FISHER 4/10 – Missed another chance at glory. My preference to start as he is more mobile, pacier and better in the air – What the feck more does he need !! Footage from SPFL website INVERNESS CT 0 Fon Williams; Raven, Tremarco, Warren, Mckay, Polworth, Draper, Vigurs (Doran 67), Tansey, King (Mulraney 67), Doumbouya (Fisher 80). Subs unused: Mackay, Horner, Boden, Cole. Booked: Mckay, Warren. RANGERS 1 Fotheringham, Tavernier, Hill, Kiernan, Wallace, Miller, McKay (Garner 70), Halliday, Kranjcar (Windass 75), Holt, Waghorn (Dodoo 70). Subs unused: Gilks, Forrester, Hodson, Senderos. Booked: Waghorn. Scorer: Kenny Miller (22) Referee: W Collum Attendance: 7012

Liam's late show again Liam Polworth extended Caley Thistle's unbeaten run to five games with a superb injury time leveler against Hamilton Accies. The home side had taken the lead in the eighteenth minute after Alexandre D'Acol scored from a rebound. Hamilton enjoyed the lions share of possession, but Inverness were able to fashion an equal share of the chances, however a point looked unlikely until Poly pounced in the 93rd minute. Foran benched Jake Mulraney, handing luxury man Iain Vigurs a start with Lonsana Doumbouya given the striker role. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Immortal Howden Ender has this report for us. For the benefit of those with a humour bypass, some of this may be tongue in cheek. Junior Strictly Come Dancing or Green Street? Are they simply getting nervous at the thought of IHE watching from the stands? It certainly was nowhere near as bad as Tynecastle, although Hearts may well have hit five against us and we were fortunate that their last touch was very poor and their shooting was rushed and mainly way off target. The statistics will suggest that this was a close affair but I feel that we did NOT deserve to take anything from this and that was a real “smash and grab” in injury time. But playing poor away from home, coming away with a point and stretching the unbeaten run to five games. Well you shouldn’t complain but I have enjoyed better games down the park on a Sunday morning. I wonder if other away teams lament the Hamilton experience. Due to the unfriendliness of local hostelries we enjoyed our pre-match bevvy in the Auctioneers in down down Glesga prior to catching the 14.20 train from Central Station. Then a wee trudge through a shittty alleyway and in to a practically empty stadium. Attendance was given at 1611 but it did not even look like that. Only two stands in use. The Main Stand had three sections full and the rest sparsely populated. We must have had 200-300 but we were spread out all over the place and there was little atmosphere to enthuse about. The only craic was the exchanges between our Young Team and their Hamilton counterparts. I don’t think that I will have to use much space to report on the actual game. We looked the part for the first ten minutes but it was tippy-tappy stuff. Then we faded and let Hamilton take control. It looked like a Warren error that allowed D’Acol to put the Accies ahead in the 18th minute. Their young kids basically looked like they had more energy and commitment until we went for broke in the last ten minutes when Accies also looked as if they had run out of steam and settled for a 1-0 win. It sounds as if that is the story of their season. Not sure why Foran decided to start Vigurs instead of Mulraney. He then took Mulraney on to play wide left whilst Hamilton's right flank looked as unsteady as one of the nearby slum tenements. Draper appeared to be in more of a centre forward role and it appeared that a lot of balls were being launched at him instead of Doumbouya. Again the match stats state that we had 7 attempts on target. Well we were looking dangerous only from dead ball situations. Mckay and Warren (twice) had half efforts in the first half. Draper had a great header saved by the substitute keeper, Scott Harrison late on, and then of course Polworth's drive deep into injury time. I suppose that people will say that Foran got the substitutes right but I don’t. Our main saviour was the amount of injury time which resulted from two stoppages for the keeper, time wasting by the Hamilton substitutions and Hamilton sitting back and us going for broke. We could even have snatched three points if Doumbouya had put the last minute header on target. It was nice to see Dougie Imrie prostrate and distraught at the end. I have to add that Hamilton’s youth Academy appears to continue to bring up talented youngsters. I would love to know their recipe for success. Docherty looks a winner and he and Crawford bossed the midfield which turned the whole game in their favour. Imrie to be fair did look illustrious and effective. But I feel that we missed a trick by not targeting the young lad, at left back, making his first appearance. I also thought that Sarris dominated and bullied Doumbouya. I can’t even be bothered doing a Smileymometer as I think that I have summed up the performance previously. Fon Williams did nothing wrong. McKay looked less reassured. Warren and Meekings looked shaky at times but probably not helped by Hamilton totally bossing the midfield. Tremarco continues to be consistent and gets my MotM. Cant believe that we continue to play Polworth wide right and he proved that by coming through the middle for the late goal. I only noticed Tansey for the first time when he went off injured. Same could be said of Vigurs!! King had an off day. Draper had to slot in to three different roles but he looks wholly suited to the front hole role. The surface did not appear to bother him and he looked like our real driving influence. Sorry but I am still not enthralled by Doumbouya. I felt that he let Sarris bully him. Get him down the Gym and on the weights and a wee bit of sprint training as well. But again what service and support did he get. I have already decried taking Mulraney on to the left and when we switched we began to look dangerous. Boden simply looked disinterested and added nothing. Cole is clearly “green” but got involved, appears to have a good touch and pace. Then I bet Doran is one cheesed off punter forced to watch that for 97 minutes. So in essence the first 93 minutes were shocking but the last 4 were promising. As fer Mr Cook – well we would have been better with Mary feckin Berry in the centre. He upheld the current reputation of Scottish officialdom. Talking about bullying earlier on, a wee mention for the so called Hamilton Youth Team. What a feckin firm. They joined us at the trudge back down the alleyway to the Station. They spouted filth at families and disabled supporters. They passed by us and ignored our shouts of abuse encouragement. Some of them were 11 or 12 years old. They did not retaliate. They then grouped at the end of the alley in clear sight of the Polis and entered in to the dancing and come on gesturing. It looked more like Junior Strictly Come Dancing than Green Street. However, please don't try this at home children. Match footage from SPFL Website Post match Richie added – “I thought we had the better chances, their keeper pulled off one or two decent saves, we had one cleared off the line so on chances alone I think we deserved a point. On overall play, I thought they were the better team.” Not sure if he was at the same game. Video from Caley Jags TV Hamilton:- 1 (D'Acol 18) Matthews (Thomson 81), Seabourne, Gillespie, Imrie, Docherty, D'Acol (Bingham 65), Crawford, Longridge (Want 85), Mackinnon, McMann, Sarris. Subs not used: Redmond, Roy, Tierney, Hughes. Inverness CT:- 1 (Polworth 90+3) Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings, Polworth, Draper, Vigurs (Cole 75), Tansey (Boden 50), King (Mulraney 59), Mckay, Doumbouya. Subs not used: Mackay (GK), Doran, Horner, Fisher. Referee: Barry Cook. Attendance: 1611.