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  1. Record Breakers Never had there been a better time for Raith Rovers to break the Caley Jags hoodoo! Inverness, without a win in their last eight games, and Billy Dodds and the management team under fire. A 23 year run of games without a win for Raith Rovers was brought to an end today when Jamie Gullan smashed home from 15 yards with five minutes left. It was harsh on Inverness who dominated for long spells earlier in the game, but it leaves the management with some tough decisions to make. There will be dancing on the streets of Raith tonight! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Billy Dodds was without MacGregor, Nicolson, Welsh, Duffy and the suspended Lodovica. Robbie Thompson started and Anderson, Devine and Billy Mckay returnrned to the starting XI. Rovers looked to have a strong line-up and were looking to consolidate at the top end of the table. Inverness dominated the first half with Raith keeper Dabrowski making three or four great saves to deny Anderson, Boyes and Gilmour with Billy Mckay also being blocked close to goal. Danny Devine did have the ball in the net, but his header was adjudged to be offside. HALF TIME: 0-0. Almost a goal at the start of the second half but Raith survived the scare. Raith grew into the game after the break and Ridgers was eventually called into action with a double block, scooping the ball away from danger. The inevetable happened with three minutes of normal time left when Gullan thumped the ball home after a poor clearance fell to him. Carson was then turned and Gullan hammered home to end the hoodoo. That got the monkey off their backs. Adam Brooks had an opportunity to level the game in time added on but never got enough purchase on the ball and MotM Dabrowski saved comfortably FULL TIME: 1-0 Despite a promising first half where Raith would have had no complaints had we gone in at the interval three ahead, the hosts stuck at it and sneaked a goal in the last few minutes to put them top of the league on their own. A much improved performance from the visitors where the defence did not look like conceding.... and then it happened. More details to follow>>> Highlights from RRFC Date: 16/09/2023 Venue: Stark's Park, Kirkaldy Attendance: 2846 Referee: Chris Graham Raith Rovers: 1 Manager: Ian Murray Lineup: Dabrowski; Millen, Watson, Murray, Dick, Vaughan (Mullin 64), Smith (Easton 64), Stanton (Gullan 85), Brown, Hamilton, Byrne Subs (not used): McNeil; Connolly, Arnott, Hannah, Masson, Scorers: Gullan (87) Booked: Dick (62) Watson (90) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Devine, Boyes, Harper, Longstaff, Anderson, Gilmour (Brooks 87), Shaw, Thompson (Bray 71), B Mckay (Samuels 82) Subs (not used): Mackay; Davidson, Delaney, Hyde, Doran Scorers: none Booked: Gilmour (8), Devine (84) Sent Off: none a
  2. They'll be dancing on the streets After more than twenty years of trying to beat the Caley Jags, Raith Rovers will never get a better chance to win a game against us than this weekend at Starks Park. The last time we lost, Steps were top of the charts with 'Stomp'. The untennable word is ready to hit the press as Inverness continue their downward spiral after eight big boy games in a row without a win and only one draw to show for it. No excuses anymore, we have underperformed everywhere we go and the current regime are taking this club down to the gutter. Billy Dodds is under fire and rightly so as football is a results driven business. He might be the fall guy here though and none of his seniors at the club is smelling of roses at the moment. Robbo can be seen elsewhere on Saturdays while his team suffer another embarrassing defeat. Scot Gardiner is dishing out jobs for the boys and the stench of failure is unbearable. When will it stop? When will the Chairman wake up and smell the stench? One point from a possible twelve is relegation form. Better managers have been sacked for less. How long do we wait??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info Supporters Bus £20 Supporters Trust ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Supporters Trust have called for an open meeting to discuss the Matchday Experience Survey and the demise of our club amongst other things. The natives are restless and the long knives have been drawn for a while now with most fans not liking the direction we are moving towards. One point from a possible twelve makes us relegation candidates and management decisions are being questioned by a disgruntled support who feel many of these decisions are not in the best interest of this club. Come along and let the voice of the support be heard on Saturday 23rd September before the Dundee United game,12:00 – 14:15 @ The Innes Bar (Beer Garden), 61 Innes St, Inverness IV1 1NR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Raith Rovers Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 21 14 5 2 40 15 +25 Away 17 9 5 3 34 21 +13 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 38 23 10 5 74 36 +38 We first met Raith in 1999 and went down 2-0. Report by Ian Broadfoot: Caley Thistle lost this game because of a dismal first half performance. They came out fighting in the second half and matched Raith well but produced no goals. Raith took the lead in the ninth minute after a Jay Stein corner from the right - Marvin Andrews rose above Mann to head downwards and into the net. In 24 minutes the second goal came courtesy of an error. Mann was too slow passing back to Fridge and Didier Agathe stepped in and he ran on and volleyed past Fridge from 20 yards. Caley Thistle hit on the occasional breakaway but to little effect. A disappointing afternoon for the home support despite a spirited fight back. Caley Thistle now slip to second bottom of Division 1. Sounds familiar!!! Fast forward to October 28th 2000. Five defeats and a draw later for the Caley Jags, Raith Rovers would win their last fixture against us over 90 minutes. Unbelievably that is 23 years next month. That unbeaten run is under serious threat as under fire Billy Dodds takes his hapless cloggers down to Kirkaldy. I fear there will be dancing on the streets of Raith after this one. Prove me wrong! Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Raith Rovers 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Ayr United v Partick Thistle (Friday night 19:45) 1. Dundee Utd 4 3 1 0 10 1 10 2. Raith Rovers 4 3 1 0 9 6 10 3. Queens Park 5 3 0 2 8 8 9 4. Partick Thistle 4 2 1 1 10 6 7 5. Airdrieonians 4 2 0 2 5 6 6 6. Arbroath 5 2 0 3 6 8 6 7. Dunfermline 4 1 2 1 4 4 5 8. Morton 4 1 0 3 6 11 3 9. Ayr United 4 1 0 3 3 8 3 10. Inverness CT 4 0 1 3 3 6 1 FRIDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER Ayr United v Partick Thistle SATURDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER Arbroath FC v Airdrieonians United v Morton Queens Park v Dunfermline Raith Rovers v Inverness CT Last Championship game v Pars Our last Championship game saw us gain our first point of the season. However one point from a possible twelve is nothing to crow about. We took an early lead throgh a Nathan Shaw strike with the keeper not covering himself in glory. Alas the confidence is not there and Dunfermline thoroughly deserved their point and probably were unlucky not to take all three but for a great late save from Mark Ridgers. However the defence will be disappointed with the goal we lost as the errors continue to mount up. Current League Form L L L D F3 A6 Latest Team News Billy Dodds will be without MacGregor, Nicolson, Welsh and the suspended Harry Lodovica. We had made eight changes to the starting XI last week against Arbroath, therefore I would expect Billy Mckay, Danny Devine and Max Anderson to be back in the side (should Max be fit). Wallace Duffy was replaced just before the interval last week and is a doubt with a hamstring niggle. Mark Ridgers will surely be back between the sticks, although in his last appearance he was a bit suspect at the Dunfermline goal along with two or three of his defenders. Nikola Ujdur might be over here by next week according to Dodds, i'll no hold my breath... A less than ebullient Billy Dodds What's new at Stark's Park In: Jack Hamilton, forward (Livingston); Keith Watson, defender (Ross County); Kevin Dabrowski, goalkeeper (Hibs); Euan Murray, defender (Hartlepool United); Josh Mullin, midfielder (Ayr United); Dylan Corr, defender (Celtic); Scott McGill, midfielder (Hearts, loan to permanent); Callum Smith, forward (Airdrie). Loan in: Shaun Byrne, midfielder (Dundee). Out: Jamie MacDonald, goalkeeper (Morton); Brad Spencer, midfielder (Falkirk); Tom Lang, defender (Falkirk); Ryan Nolan, defender (Hercules); Connor McBride, midfielder (Gateshead); Greig Young, defender (Dumbarton); Luke Mahady, forward (Bonnyrigg Rose). Loan ended: Isma Goncalves, forward (Livingston); William Akio, midfielder (Ross County); Kieran Ngwenya (Aberdeen). Loan out: Andy McNeil, goalkeeper (Edinburgh City); Kieran Mitchell, forward (East Fife). Last Championship game for Raith Rovers Ian Murray's Raith beat ten man Queens Park 3-2 after coming from behind with two late goals by substitute Lewis Vaughan in the last five minutes. Raith had opened the scoring in the eighth minute through Callum Smith's header. Queens then had William Tizzard sent off before the interval. They hit back after the hour with goals from Turner and Thomas before Vaughan's late brace secured the points that keeps Raith level at the top with Dundee United. Current League Form: D W W W F9 A6 Raith lineup v Queens Park Dabrowski Millen Watson Murray (Ross 84) McGill (Dick 75) Brown Mullin (Easton 75) Byrne Stanton (Vaughan 62) Smith Hamilton (Gullan 45) Subs not used: Thompson; Dick Arnott, Masson A game at the Gleaner Arena, or as we all know it, Boroughbriggs. Good luck to our u18's as they take on Elgin City in the Scottish Youth Cup.
  3. Smoked by the Smokies A visit to Arbroath in the SPFL Trust Trophy saw both sides make a few changes from their Championship personnel. It would appear that Arbroath were taking this more seriously than Inverness although Campbell made four changes to the starting line up this week with Adams replacing Gaston in goals and Jacobs, Hylton and Baldé starting in place of Slater, Dow and the injured Bird. Inverness made eight changes to their side in the spirit of the competition and rested Billy Mckay, Max Anderson and Danny Devine with Doran in for his experience along with youngsters Brooks, Bray and Thompson with Big Harry on the bench. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Little to talk about in the opening exchanges but Arbroath were looking the hungrier side and trying to create with the visitors lacking penetration. David Gold opened the scoring ten minutes before the break smashing the ball in from a Hylton cross. A second followed just before the break after Cammy Mackay produced a spectacular save to deny a Turan header, but from the corner Tam O'Brien tapped in at the second attempt after a scramble in the box. That prompted a rapid response from Inverness when Adam Brooks replied for the visitors two minutes later after goog possession and a cross from Longstaff. Before the whistle Wallace Duffy left the field to be replaced by Cammy Harper in stoppage time. Half Time: 2-1 Charlie Gilmour replaced Austin Samuels at the interval but it was the hosts that went straight onto the front foot. On the hour Doran hit the crossbar after he got on the end of a Longstaff cross to volley from six yards. Big Harry and Nathan Shaw were introduced with Bray and Doran making way with around half an hour remaining. Harry's game was short. He was sent off a couple of minutes after coming on for a reckless challenge on McKenna, lordy lordy Ross Stewart restored the two goal cushion with a vicious strike from just outside the box in the 70th minute. Aaron Steele knocked in the fourth in another melee in the box as we struggled to stop the rot. The smokies could have had a fifth when substitute Slater beat Mackay from eighteen yards but his shot bounced off the post and across the face of the goal. Lewis Hyde reduced the deficit in the final minutes with a header off a Harper free kick to end the scoring. An eventful but unsuccessful afternoon for the Caley Jags. Do I hear the word untennable being passed around? Full Time: 4-2 Regardless of the eight changes made, it was another poor day at the office... The stats don't lie no matter what team you put on the park. That's now seven defeats and one draw in our last eight big boy games (excluding the Inverness Cup Final). Where does Billy Dodds go from here? Most fans, if not all, are bringing out the untennable option. And along with Dodds, is it time for the whole board to resign. By the end of October, it should be clearer. We face Raith Rovers (a), Dundee United (h) and Arbroath (a) again. If we take nothing from these games, then there will be only one option. Date: 09/09/2023 Venue: Gayfield Park, Arbroath Attendance: 780 Referee: Steven McLean Arbroath: 4 Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Adams; Steel, O'Brien, Little, Stewart, Jacobs (Slater 72), Cande Balde (Dow 58), Hylton (Stowe 72), McKenna, Gold (Norey 79), Turan (McIntosh 72) Subs (not used): Gaston; Scorers: Gold (34), O'Brien (41), Stewart (70), Steele (84) Booked: O'Brien (75) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds/Barry Wilson Lineup: C Mackay; Davidson, Duffy (Harper 45+4), Boyes, Delaney, Thompson (Hyde 74), Doran (Shaw 61), Bray (Lodovica 61), Longstaff, Brooks, Samuels (Gilmour 45) Subs (not used): Ridgers; Scorers: Brooks (43), Hyde (90+2) Booked: Boyes (83) Sent Off: Lodovica (63) a
  4. In Dodds We Trust? With no wins in seven games (six defeats and a draw), it's a welcome distraction this weekend as we travel to Gayfield Park Arbroath to take on the 'Smokies' in the third round of the SPFL Trust Trophy. That's no easy task now that Arbroath have pulled their socks up after an opening day trouncing from Dundee United and back to back defeats from Queens Park in the Championship. In saying that, the first three defeats have been against two of the frontrunners in the Championship. However, It might offer us an opportunity to further bed in our latest additions who featured in the draw against the Pars last weekend. Not only that, but it'll be good practice for the Championship encounter at the end of the Month. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arbroath Match/Ticket Info Supporters Bus £20 North of Scotland Cup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Arbroath Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 24 17 4 3 59 19 +40 Away 22 10 6 6 30 23 +7 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 46 27 10 9 89 42 +47 Last encounter from last season saw us win 2-0 at the Caledonian Stadium: Two of the Championship form teams clashed at the Caledonian Stadium with both clubs on good runs, Arbroath unbeaten in seven games and Inverness just the one defeat over the last seven. Both clubs needing the win for different reasons, and both clubs capable of taking the points. After a dismal first half goals from Nathan Shaw and a Scott Allardice penalty settled the points in our favour. The downside was a red card for Jay Henderson... Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 3 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) Last five games including Inverness Cup Arbroath 0-4 Dundee Utd ------- Inverness 1-2 Queens Pk Queens Pk 2-1 Arbroath ----------- Ayr United 1-0 Inverness Arbroath 0-1 Queens Pk ---- Clachnacuddin 1-4 ICTFC XI Morton 0-3 Arbroath ------------ Airdrie 2-1 Inverness Arbroath 2-1 Ayr United ----- Inverness 1-1 Dunfermline What can we expect? Maybe we will see a mixture of new guys, experience and fringe players. Basically anyone that's fit enough and good enough to pull on the jersey. Max Anderson and Morgan Boyes both had decent debuts last week against Dunfermline. However, after a solid first half we started to look jaded all over the park and ended up hanging on for a point. Somethings wrong that's no right and it needs fixing now. Nikola Ujdur still to arrive? Keith Bray was a second half sub last week and Maybe Cammy Mackay will get the gloves. What can Aaron Doran do for us and Billy Mckay needs to show that his extended contract was money well spent instead of having to chase back all over the park to get a kick of the ball. According to Bazza below, we can expect some fringe players in amongst the current incumbents. Welsh might be back in training soon, but the other two are longer term. Arbroath Changes since we last played them In: Leighton McIntosh, forward (Cove Rangers); Kenan Dunnwald-Turan, midfielder (Straelen); Jay Bird, forward (Dagenham & Redbridge); Jess Norey, midfielder (Barking); Aaron Steele (East Fife); Craig Slater, midfielder (Forfar Athletic); Jermaine Hylton, forward (Rushall Olympic); Mark Stowe, midfielder (Linlithgow Rose); Alasdair Adams, goalkeeper (Musselburgh Athletic). Out: Lewis Banks, defender (Altrincham); Sean Adarkwa, forward (Wealdstone); Dale Hilson, forward (Stirling Albion); Cammy Gill, goalkeeper (Montrose); Kieran Shanks, forward (Peterhead); Dylan Paterson, midfielder (Linlithgow Rose); Bobby Linn, forward (Lochee United); Yasin Ben El-Mhanni, forward; Paul Komolafe, forward. Loan Out: Scott Allan. Loan ended: Dylan Tait, midfielder (Hibs); Toyosi Olusanya, midfielder (St Mirren); Scott Bitsindou, midfielder (Livingston); Steven Hetherington, midfielder (Falkirk). Date for your diary, a wee night out at Mackessack Park in Rothes.
  5. Finger Out Time With the fans restless, it's time for the Caley Jags to get their season started and get some points on the board. Many fans have lost any lingering faith in the current regime from the top to the bottom and would like to see change. Yes, it's only three games into the season, but the signs are there for all to see. A lack of direction on and off the park is worrying. Who replaced Robbie Deas? The answer is nobody. Hence our defence is riddled with errors at the moment. Deas leaving has been known for at least six months yet we have done nothing about it. Why? We have been scraping the bottom of the transfer barrel for a while now and performances on the park have reached an unacceptable level. The fans are disgruntled, the manager is getting some heavy flak, the Sporting Director is seen more at Dingwall at the weekends commentating on other sides whilst his own team are floundering, the CEO is taking us down a perilous route with no light at the end of the tunnel after a series of money making ventures have failed. We were well warned, now it's time for the Chairman to speak out before it's too late. We face Dunfermline on Saturday in what many believe could be a season defining encounter. Win and we will paper over the cracks for a while, lose and the only real option is wholesale change from the very top. As Richard Osman would say, we are pointless. The Pars have claimed four points from their opening fixtures; it's time to close that gap. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match & Ticket Info Max Anderson Morgan Boyes Nikola Ujdur ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Dunfermline Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 23 10 8 5 30 21 +9 Away 24 9 10 5 29 26 +3 Neutral 2 0 1 1 3 4 -1 Total 49 19 19 11 62 51 +11 We missed the Pars last season as they were busy getting themselves promoted from League 1 along with Airdrie. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Dunfermline 2 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) The last time we met was a 2-0 win for Inverness at the Caledonian Stadium at the end of season 2021/2022 Inverness took a massive step towards a play off place by defeating Dunfermline Athletic for the first time this season. An encouraging but goalless first half where Reece McAlear had hit the post was replaced by a two goal second half with chances at both ends. The deadlock was broken by a man who only scores screamers. Reece McAlear lashed the ball across the keeper and into the top right corner of the goal from a difficult position wide on the inside right area. What a strike that was but it only woke the Pars up from their lethargy and they had three or four great opportunities before substitute Austin Samuels sealed the points after he sprinted on to a through ball from Aaron Doran to slot neatly behind Mehmet in goal. Comfortable thereafter for the remainder of the game and an excellent three points to strengthen our hold on third place. Last Time Out Despite Billy Dodds oddly claiming we started well against Airdrie, we went a goal down after 35 seconds. And just to rub it in, it was an own goal as Cammy Harper prodded a deflected cross past Mark Ridgers before the sugar had been added to the coffee. The second goal was another defensive masterclass (NOT) as Devine was caught unawares when Davidson tried to play a short ball to him. Top scorer Calum Ferguson needed no second invitation to bury it behind Ridgers and once more leave us chasing the game. Not even with Airdrie being reduced to 10 men could we get anything. Our MotM Nathan Shaw pulled a goal back in the second half but we were unable to complete the comeback thanks to a combination of keeper Josh Rae, the woodwork and some rank rotten finishing. That was on the back of defeats to Queens Park and Ayr United. Meh! The Pars lost their big Fife derby match with Raith Rovers thanks to a Sam Stanton first half goal. It was a tight affair with Rovers just shading it. Rhys Breen and Ewan Otoo went close after the break for the Pars and Stanton almost added a second in front of over 7500 fans but the hosts fell just short. Dunfermline opened their campaign coming from behind to beat Airdrie 2-1 (Otoo & Allan) and followed that up with an encouraging 1-1 draw at Tannadice. Wighton had put the Pars ahead and it took United until the 95th minute to make their point. Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Queens Park 4 3 0 1 6 5 1 9 2. Dundee Utd 3 2 1 0 8 1 7 7 3. Raith Rovers 3 2 1 0 6 4 2 7 4. Airdrieonians 3 2 0 1 5 4 1 6 5. Partick Thistle 3 1 1 1 6 5 1 4 6. Dunfermline 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4 7. Morton 3 1 0 2 5 7 -2 3 8. Arbroath 4 1 0 3 4 7 -3 3 9. Ayr United 3 1 0 2 2 6 -4 3 10. Inverness CT 3 0 0 3 2 5 -3 0 Championship Fixtures Saturday 2nd September Inverness CT v Dunfermline Arbroath v Ayr Utd United v Airdrie Morton v Partick Rovers v Queen's Results so far Inverness 1-2 Queens Pk Ayr United 1-0 Inverness Airdrie 2-1 Inverness Dunfermline 2-1 Airdrieonians Dundee Utd 1-1 Dunfermline Dunfermline 0-1 Raith Rovers Latest Team News Inverness moved into the transfer market to try and arrest our slump and have secured a season long loan for Max Anderson from Dundee. Does this tell us that MacGregor and Welsh might be out for some time or that Glimour and co are not up to the task? Welsh and MacGregor missed out at Airdrie again along with long term Lewis Nicolson. Aaron Doran also missed the Airdrie game. Not sure what's up there as he played in the Inverness Cup game against Clach and looked sharp. Apparently we are actively trying to source a defender to plug the gaps........... And, ask and ye shall get. We have signed defender Morgan Boyes on a season long loan from Livingston and he will be available for selection for the Pars game tomorrow. We have also signed Nikola Ujdur, an Australian defender, on a two year deal. Sean Welsh is still out so I would expext Max Anderson to be in with a shout of starting this one. Here's our latest Max Dunfermline have some new faces. We won't concern ourselves with who they don't have, but here are their latest signings: In: Michael O'Halloran, forward (St Johnstone); Kane Ritchie-Hosler, midfielder (Rangers, loan to permanent); Ewan Otoo, defender (Celtic, loan to permanent); Sam Fisher, defender (Dundee). Loan in: Harry Sharp, goalkeeper (Dundee); Ben Summers, midfielder (Celtic). Joe Chalmers is still at East End Park and Michael O'Halloren and Craig Wighton are an experienced partnership up front. Pars Team v Raith Rovers last week Sharp Fisher Benedictus Breen (Sutherland 86) Comrie Chalmers Otoo McCann Edwards Wighton O'Halloran (Summers 63) Subs not used: Little; Hamilton, Allan, Fenton, Tod
  6. Diamond geezers do it again Inverness were without Aaron Doran and Sean Welsh but Danny Devine returned to the defence and Keith Bray started. Hat-Trick Harry was on the bench with young Adam Brooks. Airdrie had new signing Gavin Gallagher on the bench alongside Nikolay Todorov but Colin Telfer missed out with player manager Rhys McCabe. Top scorer Calum Gallagher is the man to keep an eye on. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WTF! Inverness went behind in the first minute when Cammy Harper scored an own goal. So much for cutting out errors at the back. We chased the game thereafter without creating too much and Calum Gallagher doubled our deficit after half an hour to make our task even more onerous. Austin Samuels hit woodwork and another shambles of a half closed at 2-0 for the hosts with Frizzell booked on the whistle. Depressing stuff from the visitors with no cutting edge. Five minutes after the break Airdrie were reduced to ten men when Adam Frizzell received his second yellow card. Nathan Shaw scored to half the deficit with twenty minutes remaining. We threw everything at Airdrie but Rae was equal to all our efforts and we slumped to our sixth defeat in a row. What now Billy? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WTF! Inverness go behind inside the first minute when Cammy Harper tries to cut out a deflected cross from Lewis McGregor but knocks it into his own net under challenge instead. So much for cutting out errors at the back. Wallace Duffy responded in the third minute but his drive went high and wide and sinner Harper put a good cross into the box but Keeper Josh Rae did well to gather confidently. The hosts were looking for a penalty when Aiken went down in the box and Gallagher fired wide. Nothing given. Keith Bray got on the end of a Nathan Shaw cross but his effort was blocked as we looked to get back on level terms. Just after the half hour Bray was close to getting on the end of a David Carson through ball. Surprise surprise! Chasing the game from thirty-five seconds in, we lost a second goal when Calum Gallagher shot into the bottom corner from inside the box, Danny Devine culpable this time, although the pass from Jake Davidson caught him unawares. Is there no end to our error strewn defending? Austin Samuels hit woodwork, Taylor-Sinclair had blocked his effort onto the post as we struggled to get a foothold in this game with half-time approaching. A great run from Gallagher almost added a third and Samuels was booked as his frustration showed five minutes before the interval. Charlie Gilmour curled over after Rae's clearance fell to him and Shaw missed the target as we desperately searched for a way back. HALF TIME: 2-0 Luis Longstaff replaced Jake Davidson at the break and Billy Mckay was denied by Rae at his near post five minutes into the second period from Longstaff's cross. From the resultant corner Devine's header came off the post and was saved by the keeper then Moments later Frizzell was red carded for his second bookable offence, a late challenge on Bray, having been booked in time added on at the end of the first half. Mckay went close again but was blocked as Inverness looked to take advantage of their superior numbers. Airdrie re-jigged after the sending off with Todorov and O'Connor entering the field. McGregor brought Mark Ridgers into action and likewise at the other end with Shaw on target. Shaw did pull a goal back from close range after seventy minutes when Longstaff's shot came back off the post as we went for broke. Ridgers cut out a cross from Aiken as he broke forward with ten minutes left. Airdrie were living dangerously and Shaw went close again with five minutes left on the clock and he was denied by Rae a minute later. In time added on Sub Robbie Thompson was denied by Rae as he kept Airdrie ahead. Despite a big effort in the second half it ended with Airdrie taking all three points. FULL TIME: 2-1 Chasing the game after more defensive blunders, we squandered numerous opportunities to get back into it before Shaw scored. Alas, Rae was in good form and a combination of him and poor finishing means we are now bottom of the league on our own after six successive defeats, (three in the league), and the errors keep coming. All this against ten men for near 40 minutes. The long knives are well and truly drawn... Date: 26/08/2023 Venue: Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie Attendance: **** Referee: Dan McFarlane Airdrieonians: 2 Manager: Rhys McCabe Lineup: Rae; Ballantyne, Watson, Fordyce, Taylor-Sinclair, Frizzell, McMaster, Aiken, McGregor (Hancock 82), McGill (O'Connor 58), C Gallagher (Todorov 58) Subs (not used): Hutton; McCabe, Dunlop, Cassidy, G Gallagher Scorers: Harper (35sec og), C Gallagher (32) Booked: Frizzell (40+2, 50), McMaster (90+3) Sent Off: Frizzell (50) Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Davidson (Longstaff 45), Duffy, Devine, Harper, Samuels (Brooks (59)), Carson (Delaney 72), Bray (Thompson 83), Gilmour, Shaw, B Mckay (Lodovica 72) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde Scorers: Shaw (70) Booked: Gilmour (28), Samuels (40), B Mckay (66) Sent Off: none a
  7. Diamonds Away It's another tough away day for the Caley Jags as they head to the Excelsior Stadium for a Championship encounter against promoted Airdrieonians, a side that have already beaten us in the League Cup game at the Caledonian Stadium by the odd goal in five. It's scheduled for a 3:00pm kick-off on Saturday as Inverness look for their first points of the season and The Diamonds looking to consolidate their good start to life in the Championship. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/ticket/Bus info £20 Inverness Cup Final Success Max Ram Supporters are reminded that roadworks in the vicinity of the stadium, alongside the partial closure of Petersburn Road, are causing significant delays. Please plan accordingly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ League Cup game at the Caledonian Stadium this season is the only relevant game between these sides in 21 years: 2 - 3 The only highlights for us was a stunning strike from Charlie Gilmour after we gifted Airdrie a two goal start and Billy Mckay's record breaking 102nd goal, a penalty he won then converted. Airdrie benefitted from slack defending, something that has typified our poor start to the season, and scored twice in the first half through Ballantyne and Telfer. Having drawn level our old chum Nikolay Todorov struck the winning blow after more defensive frailties in the final minute. Meh! We also lost the services of young defender Lewis Nicolson that day after he appeared to catch his studs in the turf early in the game. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Queens Park 3 3 0 0 5 2 9 2. Dundee Utd 2 1 1 0 5 1 4 3. Raith Rovers 2 1 1 0 5 4 4 4. Dunfermline 2 1 1 0 3 2 4 5. Morton 2 1 0 1 5 4 3 6. Airdrieonians 2 1 0 1 3 3 3 7. Ayr United 2 1 0 1 2 3 3 8. Partick Thistle 2 0 1 1 3 4 1 9. Inverness CT 2 0 0 2 1 3 0 10. Arbroath 3 0 0 3 1 7 0 Championship Fixtures Saturday 25th August 3:00pm Airdrieonians v Inverness CT Ayr United v Dundee United Dunfermline v Raith Rovers Morton v Arbroath Partick Thistle v Queen's Park Last Time Out Inverness went down 1-0 at Ayr. A tight game but another defeat, five in a row now. Francis Amartey made the difference with a first half goal and Nathan Shaw hit the post with just the keeper to beat. Our previous fixture was a 1-2 defeat to last seasons bogey boys Queens Park. It was a case of too little too late against the Spiders who took advantage of defensive errors to coast into a two goal lead before Jake Davidson headed in near the final whistle. Dom Thomas and Tommy Robson were the scorers for Queens Park. That opening defeats leave us bottom of the table with Arbroath. We did win something though. We lifted the Inverness Cup in a 4-1 win over Clachnacuddin on Tuesday night. A first half hat-trick from big Harry Lodovica did the damage with youngster Lewis Mackie rounding off the scoring in the second half. Former Inverness youth Calum Ferguson scored the Clach goal in what turned out to be a useful exercise for both clubs. Airdrie ran Ross County close in the League Cup before going out 4-3 after extra time. County looked like putting Airdrie to the sword early on with two goals from Kyle Turner and Jordan White inside seven minutes. Gallagher pulled one back before the break but County restored their two goal advantage two minutes later through Simon Murray. Gallagher scored a late penalty to send the tie to an unlikely extra-time but County won it when Eamonn Brophy scored the winner. In their opening day fixture Airdrie went down 2-1 at Dunfermline (Craig Watson had put Airdrie ahead ) but bounced back to beat Partick Thistle in the next game, McGill and Gallagher the scorers. Latest Team News Inverness still have a few injury doubts. Roddy MacGregor and Lewis Nicolson are out longer term. Sean Welsh and Danny Devine have missed the last couple of games but Austin Samuels and Adam Brooks played for an hour in the Inverness Cup win over Clachnacuddin on Tuesday night. Harry Lodovica got a confidence boosting hat-trick against Clach and Wallace Duffy and Aaron Doran came through unscathed. Defender Max Ram has left the Caley Jags to join English National League North side Gloucester City AFC. Max joined us from Wycombe Wanderers last summer and made 14 appearances for the club, scoring once. Welsh still having problems with his groin so he will miss out again. Keith Bray has been the big success story so far, so hopefully he will get some game time and maybe Harry will see some action after his cup final treble. Airdrieonians have lost Justin Devenny since we last played them a month ago. The 19 year old Northern Irishman has joined Crystal Palace. Player Manager Rhys McCabe left Firhill on a stretcher and is out for a couple of months at least with a knee injury. Calum Gallagher is the top scorer this season with three goals and former Caley Jag Nikolay Todorov and Josh O'Connor have two apiece. Airdrie have signed a midfielder today (Friday) in former Rangers and St Mirren youth Gavin Gallagher.
  8. Ayr Away Matchday two will see us head to Somerset Park Ayr for a tough game against the Honest Men. It's a standard 3:00pm kick-off and both clubs will be looking for better results after drawing blanks in the opening day fixtures when Ayr went down 3-1 at Morton and we lost 2-1 at the Caledonian Stadium to Queens Park. Like us, Ayr have brought in five new faces for this campaign and lost some familiar faces. Notable outs are the Championship's top scorer Dipo Akinyemi who has gone to York City and long time servant Michael Moffat who spent eleven years over two spells at Somerset Park scoring 77 goals in 263 appearances. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match /Ticket/Bus Info (£20) 3 For the Future Official Preview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ayr United have advised that there will be no cash gates in operation and tickets must be purchased online. ICT supporters can purchase tickets HERE (West Stand only) Adult – £22 Concession – £15 (Over 65s and Students) Juvenile – £15 (13-17-years-old) Child – £6 (Under 13s) Venue - H2H v Ayr United Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 24 10 11 3 39 26 +13 Away 25 12 6 7 47 31 +16 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 49 22 17 10 86 57 +29 Last seasons Competitive Meetings: Ayr finished 2nd last season, we finished 6th. 1 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 1 - 0 (A) Two away wins last season but the final game ended our interest in promotion: The final game of the regular season would decide who went into the play-offs and who ended their league campaign now. It couldn't be tighter across the Championship on Winner Takes All Weekend. David Carson was a surprise omission from the starting XI after his Cup suspension with Wallace Duffy retaining his place at right back. Billy Mckay was hoping to be a record breaker as he searched for his 101st goal for the Caley Jags. Only a win would be good enough for Inverness who could finish third or sixth, depending on results elsewhere. A win would end speculation and put Inverness in the play-offs. As it turned out we ended the season in sixth place and Ayr, Queen's Park and Partick Thistle will battle it out in the play-offs for a Premiership place alongside Champions Dundee. Ayr United never read the script properly and deservedly took the plaudits in a 2-1 win at the Caledonian Stadium. A first half goal from Josh Mullin who looked close to being offside and Nathan Shaw in a crowded box with ten minutes left looked to be enough for the Honest Men. However Mark McKenzie ensured it would be Ayr's night with an 88th minute strike to shatter our hopes after such a strong finish to the season. Alas we fell at the last hurdle and now have a month to wait for a Scottish Cup Final appearance. SATURDAY 12th AUGUST 3:00pm Airdrie v Partick Ayr United v Inverness CT Dundee Utd v Dunfermline Queen's Pk v Arbroath FC Raith v Morton Team News Inverness CT will be without Roddy MacGregor and Lewis Nicolson for the first few months with knee injuries. Sean Welsh has a groin injury and will miss out again. Adam Brooks missed the Queens Park game whilst Danny Devine remained on the bench after injury. New sensation Keith Bray has a bright future ahead of him and will be difficult to keep out of the starting XI given his performances off the bench recently and Billy Mckay will be eager to add to his record breaking exploits at Inverness. We have frailties in defence and errors are costing us big time at the moment so we'll have to see if Billy Dodds will address those issues as rumours abound on new recruits. Here's our latest signings from the Academy Sam Nixon, Calum MacLeod and Jack Walker have all signed 2-year full-time Apprenticeship contracts with the club. Good luck to these guys as they sign their first professional contract. Ayr United have done some shrewd business in the summer, Aiden McGeady and Jamie Murphy signing on, but have also lost some quality; Akinyemi, Moffat, Mullin and keeper McAdams departing. McAllister and Murdoch both took knocks at Cappielow but are hopeful making the squad. Here's Lee Bullen with the Billy Dodds script after the game at Morton:- Ins & Outs @ Ayr In: Jamie Murphy, forward (St Johnstone); George Stanger, defender (Alloa Athletic); Olly Pendlebury, midfielder (Aldershot Town); Francis Amartey, forward (Aldershot Town); Robbie Mutch, goalkeeper (Edinburgh). Loan in: Elicha Ahui, defender (Lincoln City). Out: Dipo Akinyemi, forward (York City, undisclosed); Daire O'Connor, midfielder (Glentoran); Josh Mullin, midfielder (Raith Rovers); Jordan Houston, defender (Queen of the South); Michael Hewitt, midfielder (Hamilton Academical); James Dolan, midfielder (Stranraer); Kinlay Bilham, defender (Stenhousemuir); Michael Moffat, forward (Glenafton Athletic, loan to permanent); Jayden Mitchell-Lawson, midfielder; Chris Maguire, forward; Aidan McAdams, goalkeeper; Alex Jeanes, defender and David Bangala has also left the club, he had been on loan at Cove Rangers. Loan ended: Alex Kirk, defender (Arsenal); Reece McAlear, midfielder (Tranmere Rovers). Loan out: Lyall Holding, defender (Glenafton Athletic). Ayr United team in 3-1 defeat at Cappielow: Albinson McAllister (Ahui 45) Musonda McGinty Reading Amartey (Rose 70) Dempsey Murdoch (Pendelbury 40) Murphy McKenzie (Ashford 81) Bryden (McGeady 70) Subs not used: Mutch; Smith, Ecrepont, Tomlinson.
  9. As you Were Dundee came North looking to all but wrap up the title. Inverness were on a six game winning streak and looking to force their way into the play-offs with this late run. There was a blow for Inverness with influential captain Sean Welsh missing, although defender Wallace Duffy was the mystery returnee this week. Jay Henderson returned after suspension with Austin Samuels, Dan Mackay and Aaron Doran on the bench with Duffy. Dundee had their big guns out for this one with perennial pest Paul McMullan on the bench. Strike pairing of Jakubiak and Robinson would be a handful. A magnificently observed minutes applause for Tommy Cumming set the scene on a dry but breezy afternoon. As it panned out it ended all square. Dundee were quick out of the blocks and pestered Mark Ridgers early on without creating the clear cut chance to open the scoring. Level at the break, the Dark Blues continued in the same vein after the break and made the breakthrough on the hour when Lyall Cameron scored. However we have been resilient of late and substitute Austin Samuels earned us a point with fifteen minutes remaining as we came back at Dundee to quieten their raucous support who firmly believe Billy is a short rotund person born out of wedlock! Morton and Cove were the only winners today, so as you were at the top of the table as we hang on to third place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dundee started briskly and forged an opportunity in the opening minute when Luke Hannant's cross was not dealt with convincingly and the ricocheted shot from Luke McGowan had to be caught at the second attempt by Mark Ridgers. Alex Jakubiak should have done better when Zach Robinson sent an inviting low cross into the box but Jakubiak almost fresh aired and the ball trundled well wide. Dundee were in the ascendency with Inverness mostly firefighting and reacting to the waves of attacks. Despite their dominance, Ridgers was rarely troubled. In a rare foray forward Robbie Deas tried to improvise a shot from eight yards out but Legzdins pounced to catch the ball and the defenders head at the same time. Just before the interval Robinson headed a couple of yards wide from a good position. HALF TIME 0-0 The second half started similar to the first, Dundee using pace and passing, Inverness using last ditch tackles and blocks to keep the eager visitors at bay. On the hour we lost possession twenty-five yards into the Dundee half. They transferred it swiftly forward through Robinson and Jakubiak. When the latter's shot was blocked the ball fell behind Lyall Cameron who had the presence of mind to step over it before backheeling into the net. Dodds made some game saving substitutions thereafter which paid off as all three were involved in the eqalising goal. It all began in our own penalty box from Ridgers. The main ingredients were Dan Mackay who turned well before driving thirty yards forward then delivering a dangerous ball into the box. Wallace Duffy who had already been involved two or three times in the move seemed to flick it towards the back post where Austin Samuels had arrived to tuck it behind Legzdins with his second touch. A superb team goal which was in stark contrast to the shelled balls Billy Mckay had been expected to deal with over the first hour. Ridgers made a save low down from a miscued clearance and Samuels turned and shot but it was straight at Legzdins and both sides had to settle for a point apiece. Temwork works>>> FULL TIME 1-1 From BBC Sport: Inverness CT manager Billy Dodds: "Dundee edged the first-half without glorious chances. They looked the hungrier, we looked a bit jaded. "We go a goal down and then there's another fightback and we finish quite strongly for a team that are quite tired. We finish with a flourish. My subs made an impact and that's what I want. " Dundee manager Gary Bowyer: "We dominated the first half, but we needed to be better with our final pass and the decision making. We didn't work the goalie enough. "The second-half the game became a bit scrappy but we scored a good goal. We had the domino effect of mistakes for their equaliser. It's something for us to keep working on and improving." Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table after todays games 1. Dundee 34 16 11 7 61 37 59 2. Queens Park 34 17 7 10 59 45 58 3. Inverness CT 35 15 10 10 51 45 55 4. Partick Thistle 34 15 8 11 61 43 53 5. Ayr United 34 14 10 10 58 42 52 6. Morton 34 13 12 9 49 41 51 7. Raith Rovers 34 11 9 14 44 46 42 8. Arbroath 34 6 15 13 29 45 33 9. Hamilton Ac. 35 7 9 19 31 63 30 10. Cove Rangers 34 7 9 18 37 73 30 Date: 22/04/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3822 Referee: Euan Anderson Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Devine (D Mackay 68), Deas, Delaney, Boyd (Samuels 62), Allardice, Harper, Henderson (Doran 76), Shaw, B Mckay (Duffy 62) Subs (not used): C Mackay, L Nicolson, Hyde, Woods, Scorers: Samuels (75) Booked: Delaney (56), Duffy (88) Sent Off: none Dundee FC: 1 Manager: Gary Bowyer Lineup: Legzdins; Mulligan, Sweeney, Ashcroft, Marshall (Clampin 81), McCowan (McMullan 68), Maguire, Cameron (Williamson 85), Hannant (Reedy 81), Jakubiak (Thomas 81), Robinson Subs (not used): Lawlor; Fisher, Byrne, Kerr Scorers: Cameron (60) Booked: none Sent Off: none a
  10. Crunch Time Big game in the Highlands on Saturday as Champions in waiting Dundee head North to the Caledonian Stadium. It's a 3:00pm kick-off, and a big following is expected as the Dark Blues look to get the automatic promotion slot ahead of the imploding Queens Park and the unlikely trio of Ayr United, Morton and Inverness who are making a late bid for the top four. There will be a minutes applause ahead of kick-off in memory of former groundsman Tommy Cumming who passed away on 20th April. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tommy Cumming RIP Match/Ticket info Your Cub Needs You Scottish Cup Tickets/Travel AGM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 17 7 8 2 27 16 +11 Away 21 7 9 5 29 26 +3 Neutral 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 Total 40 14 17 9 58 46 +12 Overall we still hold the advantage over Dundee in the forty games played. All square in the meetings so far this season, but Dundee won on their last visit to the Caledonian Stadium Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Dundee 1 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (A) McMullan strikes: 0 - 1 Dec3rd: Dundee came North as one of the form teams in the championship over the last half dozen games. Naughty boy Paul McGowan was not in the squad. Inverness were still without 75% of their first picks but Daniel Mackay made his comeback last week and Ryan Barrett made his debut against Stirling in the Cup. Paul McMullan opened the scoring midway through the first half after cutting in from the left before curling past Cammy Mackay. Almost a second as the ball deflected onto the bar before Mackay picked up the rebound after the half hour. George Oakley missed what appeared to be a sitter from eight yards as half time approached as Aaron Doran swung in an inviting cross. With no further scoring in the second half, Dundee took the three points and Inverness remain in sixth place, but starting to slip off the pace. Last Time Out The games have been coming thick and fast for the Caley Jags in April. However we have stood firm and handled the pressure well so far. It began well with a 2-1 win at Morton on 1st April. Raith Rovers were despatched 2-0 a week later. A midweek win saw Arbroath go down by the same score before we came from behind to beat a determined Cove Rangers 2-1 at Balmoral Stadium. Then our nemesis, Hamilton Accies. We had to come from behind again with goals from Nathan Shaw and an 88th minute strike from Billy Mckay to earn the points. Billy is now on 98 goals chasing the all time record of 101 by Dennis Wyness. W W W W W W Dundee had to come from 3-1 down at home to Morton to snatch a 94th minute equaliser. Kwame Thomas was the man responsible for rescuing a point when defeat was staring them in the face with twenty minutes left. Luke Hannant levelled the game in the first half but Morton established a two goal lead before Thomas saved the day with two late strikes. D W W D W D Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table ahead of crunch game tonight - Ayr United v Queens Park 1. Dundee 33 16 10 7 60 36 58 2. Queens Park 33 17 6 10 59 45 57 3. Inverness CT 34 15 9 10 50 44 54 4. Partick Thistle 33 15 7 11 59 41 52 5. Ayr United 33 14 9 10 58 42 51 6. Morton 33 12 12 9 48 41 48 7. Raith Rovers 33 11 9 13 44 45 42 8. Arbroath 33 6 15 12 29 44 33 9. Hamilton Ac. 34 7 8 19 29 61 29 10. Cove Rangers 33 6 9 18 36 73 27 Friday 21st April Ayr Utd v Queens Saturday 22nd April Arbroath v Cove Ran Accies v Partick Inverness CT v Dundee FC Morton v Raith Rvr Latest Team News Jay Henderson will return after suspension. He certainly carries a threat and has linked up well with Nathan Shaw recently. Duffy, MacGregor and Ram all missed out at Hamilton. Hopefully no new injuries but it's been a tough schedule in recent weeks and there will be some weary legs around the Caledonian Stadium. Pretty much confirmed that Sutherland and Walsh will probably see no action this season. Dundee starting XI v Morton last week Legzdins Mulligan Sweeney Ashcroft Marshall McCowan Maguire Cameron Hannant Jakubiak Robinson Full bench as well: Kerr, Byrne, Thomas, McMullan, Lawlor, Williamson, Fisher, Clampin, Reedy Here's hoping they can keep McMullan on the bench. He has been a thorn in our side in recent years and scored a good goal in the win at the Caledonian Stadium back in December.
  11. He Scores When He Wants A long trip on a Tuesday night to face your bogey team is not ideal, especially when it gets to the business end of the season. That's what faced the Caley Jags as we looked to win our sixth game on the bounce against struggling Hamilton Accies who have already beaten us four times this season. Inverness could go third, but Accies would be hoping to put some distance between themselves and bottom side Cove Rangers. As it turned out it remained goalless at the interval with Deas seeing a header saved by Fulton just before the break. Connor Smith scored direct from a free kick after the interval but Nathan Shaw equalised three minutes later. Billy Mckay won all three points with a poachers goal in off the post with three minutes left and that's how it ended. Phew! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A beautiful evening greeted the sides at the ZLX Stadium for the third last game of the regular season. Billy Dodds had three changes from the side that won at Cove. Deas, Doran and Boyd started with Harper, Samuels and Dan Mackay dropping onto the bench. Fergus Owens missed out for Accies with De Bolle and Winter dropping to the bench. Mimnaugh and JP Tiehi started. Steven Boyd and Billy Mckay combined well early on with Mckay forcing Ryan Fulton into a save as he palmed his shot away. Zak Delaney fired over the bar from the left side as the visitors probed for an opening when Sean Welsh played him in. Billy Mckay was prominent around the hosts box and he intercepted a pass from Ryan McGowan. He managed to get a shot away from a tight angle after rounding the keeper but he could only find the side netting. Accies responded and Connor Smith tried to find the top corner but his curling effort was just a coat of paint too wide. Just before the break Robbie Deas was unfortunate with a header as Fulton saved low down to deny the Caley Jags defender after a Nathan Shaw corner, and Ridgers saved in the last action of the first forty-five. HALF TIME: 0-0 Aaron Doran brought Fulton into action five minutes after the restart as he met Delaney's cross in the box, the keeper saving well in the bottom corner. Ridgers saved with his legs from Seal as the action went to both ends and Doran shot wide. Boyd followed suit as well, missing the target and did similar again with twenty minutes left. Accies opened the scoring through Connor Smith from a dubious free kick. Nothing wrong with his execution though from 25 yards which was clinical into the top corner. Their success only lasted three minutes when Nathan Shaw scored from close range. Substitute Dario Zanatta went close as we entered the final fifteen minutes. It got even better for the visitors in the 88th minute when Billy Mckay scored a typical 'he scores when he wants' goal. In off the post. That's how it all ended as the late run goes on. FULL TIME: 1-1 What a result for Inverness after going a goal behind with twenty minutes left. Nathan Shaw's contribution has been invaluable of late and Billy Mckay should be knighted and given the freedom of the Highlands. That's his 98th goal for Inverness CT. Up to third in the table for now after six wins on the bounce. Great night for the 165 Caley Jags fans. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Gosh, the table looks better now 1. Dundee 33 16 10 7 60 36 58 2. Queens Park 33 17 6 10 59 45 57 3. Inverness CT 34 15 9 10 50 44 54 4. Partick Thistle 33 15 7 11 59 41 52 5. Ayr United 33 14 9 10 58 42 51 6. Morton 33 12 12 9 48 41 48 7. Raith Rovers 33 11 9 13 44 45 42 8. Arbroath 33 6 15 12 29 44 33 9. Hamilton Ac. 34 7 8 19 29 61 29 10. Cove Rangers 33 6 9 18 36 73 27 Pic from Johndo of the goal celebration>>> Date: 18/04/2023 Venue: New Douglas Park Attendance: 1316 Referee: Graham Grainger Hamilton Accies: 1 Manager: John Rankin Lineup: Fulton; Sparrow, McGowan, O'Reilly, Tumilty (Winter 69), Martin, Lawson, Mimnaugh (De Bolle 62) C Smith, Tiehi (Zanatta 68), Ashley-Seal Subs (not used): J Smith; McGinn, Spence, Easton, Stephenson, L Smith Scorers: C Smith (72) Booked: Martin (45), O'Reilly (59) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Devine, Deas, Delaney, Boyd (Samuels 73), Welsh (Woods 89), Allardice, Shaw, Doran (D Mackay 73), B Mckay (Harper 90) Subs (not used): C Mackay; L Nicolson, Hyde Scorers: Shaw (75), B Mckay (88) Booked: Devine (24) Sent Off: none a
  12. Oh No, Accies Again! Inverness make the long trek to Hamilton on Tuesday night for a rescheduled 7:45pm Championship fixture at New Douglas Park. Yes, I know, we do have to play them, but I promise this is the last time this season. We have failed to beat Accies in the three previous Championship games this season and they also knocked a young Caley Jags side out of the Challenge Cup at the height of our injury crisis. They simply have had our number this season, however we are a different beast at the moment having won five games on the bounce. The law of averages says we must beat them sometime. Doesn't it? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info Scottish Cup Tickets AGM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Accies Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 17 5 4 8 25 23 +2 Away 13 6 2 5 18 17 +1 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 30 11 6 13 43 40 +3 Strangely enough, we have fared better away from home against Accies. However, as below, our statistics over the last ten meetings don't make good reading. Seven defeats and only two wins Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Accies 1 - 2 (A) 0 - 3 (H) 0 - 2 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 4 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (A) Accies Have Us Sussed: Feb21st 2023: 1 - 2 The second game between these sides in three days produced yet another three points for bottom club Accies and a red card for Billy Mckay to rub salt into our wounds. Accies took the lead when a Lawson short corner fed Connor Smith who crossed in for Daniel O'Reilly to powerfully head home. Billy Mckay had a header blocked away for a corner as the pressure ramped up heading towards the interval and it paid off in the 43rd minute when Allardice drilled home from the edge of the box to level the game after a Carson cross was half cleared. Still time for Winter and JPT to combine but the latter shot wide. A deserved goal for the Caley Jags who have pushed hard to get back on level terms. Similar to Saturday, Connor Smith made no mistake from the spot after Dan Mackay brought down Rhegan Tumilty after the previous claim for handball was waived away. Billy Mckay shot wide as Inverness looked to come back again and Henderson had an effort blocked in the last minute of normal time. Billy got a yellow instead of a penalty then a second yellow followed and that just about summed up our three days of the Jackass. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table ahead of Accies game on Tuesday night. 1. Dundee 33 16 10 7 60 36 58 2. Queens Park 33 17 6 10 59 45 57 3. Partick Thistle 33 15 7 11 59 41 52 4. Ayr United 33 14 9 10 58 42 51 5. Inverness CT 33 14 9 10 48 43 51 6. Morton 33 12 12 9 48 41 48 7. Raith Rovers 33 11 9 13 44 45 42 8. Arbroath 33 6 15 12 29 44 33 9. Hamilton Ac. 33 7 8 18 28 59 29 10. Cove Rangers 33 6 9 18 36 73 27 Tuesday 18th April Hamilton v Inverness Ct Friday 21st April Ayr United v Queen's Pk Last Time Out Inverness made hard work of overcoming injury hit Cove Rangers at the weekend. Iain Vigurs gave Bottom club Cove the lead with a low curling free kick after the interval. Ten minutes later Billy Mckay drove home from the spot to level the game and the comeback was complete a further four minutes later when Cammy Harper fired in from the edge of the box to make it five wins on the bounce. Not as easy a game as recent form would suggest, but another three points in the bag. W W W W W Hamilton went down to Queens Park on the Friday night when Grant Savoury scored with fifteen minutes left. Jake Davidson hit the post as Queens Park held on comfortably to leave Accies two points off the bottom. L W D L L Accies have won all three Championship encounters. Here's a thing. Had we won those three games then we would be sitting top of the table and Accies would be all but relegated by now. Just let that sink in how important these games have been for both clubs. Latest Team News Current injuries aside we have Jay Henderson unavailable for the second game of his two match ban. Wallace Duffy and Roddy MacGregor and Max Ram missed out again but Danny Devine got some game time at Cove whilst Robbie Deas was rested for the first 75 minutes before replacing Devine. Sutherland and Walsh look like they will be missing the whole season at this rate. Unless we have picked up any new injuries, then I suspect we will be along similar lines to the Cove game. Hamilton Starting XI in the 2-0 loss to Morton Fulton Sparrow McGowan O'Reilly Tumilty Lawson Winter Martin De Bolle Smith Ashley-Seal
  13. Crucial Three Points Whilst we have not had our own troubles to seek on the injury front, Cove Rangers were facing a similar crisis to what we went through as the relegation battle continues. With Accies losing to Queens Park last night, Cove had the opportunity to get off the bottom of the table should they win today. We were looking for a win to keep in the hunt for a play-off place and keep the pressure on those above us. Inverness were without the suspended Jay Henderson with Danny Devine starting in place of Robbie Deas who was on the bench for a rest. Neither side had a full bench and Iain Vigurs started for Cove. After a goalless first forty-five of anti football Inverness came from behind in the second period through a Billy Mckay penalty and Cammy Harper who drilled home the winner with twenty minutes left. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first chance fell to Scott Ross but he headed wide from an Iain Vigurs corner. A minute later Billy Mckay was flagged offside as he netted after meeting Nathan Shaw's pass in the box. Cammy Harper saw Kyle Gourlay tip a free kick onto the top of the bar and behind for a corner. However it was mostly grim stuff with so much at stake for both clubs and it was no surprise it remained goalless at the interval. HT: 0-0 Iain Vigurs opened the scoring in the 56th minute with a trademark free kick but Billy Mckay levelled from the spot after Doran was tripped by Morgyn Neill. Cammy Harper then put the Caley Jags in front with twenty minutes left, shooting home from the edge of the box. Ridgers denied Ross as he headed goalwards from a corner but Inverness held on to record their fifth win in a row. Booooom! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FULL TIME: 1-2 A tough Saturday afternoon across the Championship, but at the end of the day Inverness were the only winners as others faltered. It's still in our own hands over the final three games. Billy Mckay is now just five goals short of our all time record set by Dennis Wyness (102) Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Dundee 33 16 10 7 60 36 58 2. Queens Park 33 17 6 10 59 45 57 3. Partick Thistle 33 15 7 11 59 41 52 4. Ayr United 33 14 9 10 58 42 51 5. Inverness CT 33 14 9 10 48 43 51 6. Morton 33 12 12 9 48 41 48 7. Raith Rovers 33 11 9 13 44 45 42 8. Arbroath 33 6 15 12 29 44 33 9. Hamilton Ac. 33 7 8 18 28 59 29 10. Cove Rangers 33 6 9 18 36 73 27 *COVE RANGERS 1-2 INVERNESS CT* DUNDEE 3-3 MORTON PARTICK 1-1 AYR Utd ROVERS 1-1 ARBROATH Date: 15/04/2023 Venue: Balmoral Stadium Attendance: 959 Referee: Gavin Duncan Cove Rangers: 1 Manager: Paul Hartley Lineup: Gourlay; Scully (Glass 90), Reynolds, Ross, Neill, O'Halloran, Longstaff (Dunne 76), Vigurs, Longridge, McIntosh, Megginson (Weston 76) Subs (not used): Demus; Naismith Scorers: Vigurs (56) Booked: Neill (16) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Devine (Deas 75), Delaney, Harper, D Mackay (Doran 59), Welsh, Allardice, Shaw, Samuels (Boyd 70), B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; L Nicolson, Hyde, Woods Scorers: B Mckay (67 pen), Harper (71) Booked: Devine (55) Sent Off: none a
  14. Easy or No Easy? Game four of a frantic April which will culminate in a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on the 29th. So far so good with three wins in April and four on the bounce. You could be forgiven for thinking this will be an easy win, but given Cove's recent form that is what the bookies will be suggesting after only two draws in their last nine games. Over two months without a win, on February 4th, 1-0 against Partick Thistle. They have been known to concede multiple goals at times, in fact we have put 11 past them this season in the Championship. However, it might be prudent of us to be cautious as it would be foolish to throw away our good work with an under par effort at Cove. We won our fifth game on the bounce back in October at Cove. Can we do it again? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus info Semi-Final Tickets ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 5 4 1 0 16 5 +11 Away 2 1 0 1 2 3 -1 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 7 5 1 1 18 8 +10 Only the seven games played, but a big advantage to the Caley Jags at the moment. All Competitive Meetings 6 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 3 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (H) Cove Cruise, July 2021: 1 - 3 Inverness' dismal run of League Cup results continued with defeat at Cove. Our only crumb of comfort...A penalty to Inverness in the 90th minute offered little consolation for the Caley Jags but Duku duly converted from the spot. Cove kept at Bay, Oct 2022: 1 - 0 Our first visit to Balmoral Park on League business ended with a hard fought win, our fifth on the bounce. Inverness opened the scoring after twenty minutes through Steven Boyd, his first of the season. However Roddy MacGregor was helped off the pitch after being injured in the build up to that goal. Allardice stayed in the dressing room at the interval to be replaced by Lewis Hyde. Ridgers did well to deny Cove after the break and right at the end Cove were reduced to ten men as McIntosh was sent off. Still joint top as Partick also win with Dundee and Morton leading the chasing pack. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table ahead of Friday night game 1. Dundee 32 16 9 7 57 33 57 2. Queens Park 32 16 6 10 58 45 54 3. Partick Thistle 32 15 6 11 58 40 51 4. Ayr United 32 14 8 10 57 41 50 5. Inverness CT 32 13 9 10 46 42 48 6. Morton 32 12 11 9 45 38 47 7. Raith Rovers 32 11 8 13 43 44 41 8. Arbroath 32 6 14 12 28 43 32 9. Hamilton Ac. 32 7 8 17 28 58 29 10. Cove Rangers 32 6 9 17 35 71 27 Fiday 14th April (7:45pm) Queen's v Accies Saturday 15th April (3:00pm) Cove Rangers v Caley Jags Dundee v Morton Partick v Ayr Utd Rovers v Arbroath Last Time Out We kept the Raith Rovers hoodo going last weekend then followed that up with another convincing 2-0 home win on Tuesday against Arbroath. Second half goals from the form guys Nathan Shaw and a Scott Allardice (pen) put us in control. However, Jay Henderson was red carded with ten minutes left and will miss the game at Cove. I suppose if you could pick a game to miss, then this would be your choice. L W W W W Cove took a much needed away point in the relegation battle with Hamilton Accies. Luis Longstaff had given Cove the advantage in the second half but Connor Smith squared matters five minutes later. That's a point more than we have managed against Accies all season. That's a concern for us as Cove dig their heels in as they try the great escape. Their previous home game was a 5-0 thrashing from Partick Thistle. L L L L D Latest Team News Jay Henderson is suspended. Danny Devine has sat on the bench over the last two games after a recent injury. Max Ram, Roddy MacGregor and Wallace Duffy have all been missing in recent weeks along with season long casualties Sutherland and Walsh. Here's Bazza to tell you what's happening>>> Cove Rangers starting XI v Hamilton Fox Logan Ross Reynolds Longridge Longstaff Yule Scully Dunne Megginson O'Halloran That's a potentially potent strikeforce with Mitch Megginson who likes a goal against us and Michael O'Halloran the former St Johnstone and Rangers player. Plenty experience in defence as well with Shay Logan, Mark Reynolds and Luis Longstaff. Let's not forget that Iain Vigurs is still around as well. Not as easy a game as some might have you believe, we may have to be patient again.
  15. Four in a row Two of the Championship form teams clashed at the Caledonian Stadium with both clubs on good runs, Arbroath unbeaten in seven games and Inverness just the one defeat over the last seven. Both clubs needing the win for different reasons, and both clubs capable of taking the points. After a dismal first half goals from Nathan Shaw and a Scott Allardice penalty settled the points in our favour. The downside was a red card for Jay Henderson A beautiful afternoon gave way to an overcast but calm evening ahead of kick-off. One minute into the game and keeper Derek Gaston was called into action to punch away a shot and Sean Welsh shot wide from a free kick just after as the Caley Jags showed their intent in the opening minutes. Lewis Banks brought Mark Ridgers into the game as he saved his low angled shot after seven minutes. João Baldé had an effort saved by Ridgers midway through the half then picked up a booking minutes later. There was a distinct lack of goalmouth action in the first quarter of the game. Strange given what's at stake for both clubs. Just on the interval Tam O'Brien headed wide from a corner and that brought a poor first half to an end. HALF TIME 0-0 Ten minutes after the break they did it again. Nathan Shaw scored after the Caley Jags broke forward from their own box. Three or four passes later and the final ball through from Jay Henderson saw Shaw scoring at the near post to give the hosts the advantage, his eighth of the season. Billy Mckay headed a Shaw cross over on the hour. Sean Welsh fired one over the bar from twenty-five yards and in the 77th minute Henderson won a spot kick after being brought down in the box. Scott Allardice crashed home from twelve yards to double our advantage. Henderson's joy was short-lived as he was sent off for a clumsy challenge on McKenna a couple of minutes later. Ridgers saved from Bobby Linn but Arbroath were unable to penetrate the home defence and it ended 2-0 to the Caley Jags. FULL TIME 2-0 The win puts Inverness within two points of fourth place Ayr United. A rubbish first half followed by a two goal second half to take the points. That will do at this stage of the season, grinding out results for another four games... Cove up next on Saturday, bring it on Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Updated table after tonight's results 1. Dundee 32 16 9 7 57 33 57 2. Queens Park 32 16 6 10 58 45 54 3. Partick Thistle 32 15 6 11 58 40 51 4. Ayr United 32 14 8 10 57 41 50 5. Inverness CT 32 13 9 10 46 42 48 6. Morton 32 12 11 9 45 38 47 7. Raith Rovers 32 11 8 13 43 44 41 8. Arbroath 32 6 14 12 28 43 32 9. Hamilton Ac. 32 7 8 17 28 58 29 10. Cove Rangers 32 6 9 17 35 71 27 Other games tonight Dundee 3-1 Rovers Morton 2-0 Accies Inverness CT 2-0 Arbroath FC Date: 11/04/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2038 Referee: Gavin Duncan Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Deas, Delaney, Harper, Henderson, Welsh, Allardice, Shaw (Boyd 82), Samuels (D Mackay 74), B Mckay (Woods 66) Subs (not used): C Mackay; L Nicolson, Devine, Hyde, Doran Scorers: Shaw (53), Allardice (78 pen) Booked: Shaw (32) Sent Off: Henderson (79) Arbroath : 0 Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Gaston; Banks, Little, O'Brien, Hetherington, Baldé (Tait 45), Gold (Olusanya 65), Stewart (Linn 65), McKenna, Dow (El-Mhanni 65), Hilson (Komolafe 82) Subs (not used): Gill; Jacobs, Allan, Adarkwa Scorers: none Booked: Baldé (21) Sent Off: none a
  16.   Five to go   Down to the last five league games starting with the visit of Arbroath on Tuesday night for a 7:45pm kick-off. That's two of the current form teams clashing, somethings going to give. After successive victories over Partick, Morton and Raith Rovers, we have brought our own fate back into our own hands with a late run. It's still a big ask, but win our remaining games and we will be in the play-offs. Who saw that coming a month ago? Mind you, we still have to play Hamilton, and that gives me the fear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info Scottish Cup Tickets AGM 2023 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 23 16 4 3 57 19 +38 Away 22 10 6 6 30 23 +7 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 45 26 10 9 87 42 +45 We hold the overall advantage over the Smokies but four of the last five games ended all square after ninety minutes. They are now fighting to avoid relegation and will be a tough nut to crack as Dundee found out at the weekend in a scoreless draw at Gayfield. We surprised our own fans with a 4-1 win out of the blue at Arbroath in January. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath 4 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 3 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) From CTO 4 - 1 win January 2023: Smokies Smoked: Both clubs had big wins in the first games of 2023 and it was Inverness that continued in style with a 4-1 win at Gayfield. Billy Mckay, who scored a hat-trick last week, opened the scoring at the back post in the ninth minute but Ben El-Mhanni levelled fifteen minutes later when he slotted into the bottom corner. Jay Henderson put us ahead just before the break as he lifted a shot high into the net from inside the box. Twenty minutes into the second half Dan Mackay shot into the bottom corner to double our advantage. Substitute Lewis Nicolson concluded the scoring in the 86th minute with a header from sub Steven Boyd's cross. Great win on the road for the Caley Jags that moves us into sixth place in the table, eleven points behind table toppers Queens Park. Great start to 2023 for the Caley Jags with two big wins on the bounce. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Three fixtures on Tuesday night 1. Dundee 31 15 9 7 54 32 54 2. Queens Park 32 16 6 10 58 45 54 3. Partick Thistle 32 15 6 11 58 40 51 4. Ayr United 32 14 8 10 57 41 50 5. Inverness CT 31 12 9 10 44 42 45 6. Morton 31 11 11 9 43 38 44 7. Raith Rovers 31 11 8 12 42 41 41 8. Arbroath 31 6 14 11 28 41 32 9. Hamilton Ac. 31 7 8 16 28 56 29 10. Cove Rangers 32 6 9 17 35 71 27 Tuesday 11th April Dundee v Rovers  Inverness CT v Arbroath FC Morton v Accies Last Time Out We won our third game on the bounce with a comfortable 2-0 win over Raith Rovers. Jay Henderson played after being injured at Cappielow the previous week and opened the scoring before Nathan Shaw crashed in a second ten minutes later. With Raith Rovers looking like their season was already over, the Caley Jags did just enough without over exerting themselves and keeping themselves fresh for the coming busy April schedule culminating in the Scottish Cup tie against Falkirk at Hampden on the 29th. W L W W W  Arbroath, unbeaten in their last seven league games, have eased themselves clear of Hamilton and Cove at the bottom of the table after two wins and a draw in the last three. However, it's still tight at the bottom and they will be in no mood to gift three points to us. A win over Queens Park  was followed by another over Ayr United before the goalless draw against Dundee on Saturday. D D W W D  Latest Team News Billy Dodds has no apparent fresh injuries after the weekend and Jay Henderson played and scored which was a bonus. Danny Devine stayed on the bench which will benefit him in the coming weeks. No sign of Roddy MacGregor, Max Ram, Wallace Duffy or the two season long crocks in Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh. There's little time to rest players with this month's heavy schedule so don't look for too many changes.   Arbroath Starting XI v Dundee: Gaston; Banks, Little, O'Brien, Hetherington, Baldé, Gold, Stewart, McKenna, Dow, Hilson Arbroath assistant manager Ian Campbell said on BBC Sport: "I think everyone saw an Arbroath team really fighting for each other, well organised and professional. "The plaudits come to Arbroath today, we were tremendous. I'm so happy we done today what we've been doing since Christmas, we went about our business exceptionally (against Dundee)  
  17. Up to 5th Jay Henderson was deemed fit enough to start but Danny Devine only made the bench. Wallace Duffy and Roddy MacGregor missed out again. That made it the same starting XI that won at Cappielow. Raith had a sparse bench with only three outfield players, but their starting XI still carried plenty of threats, making four changes from the side that lost to Hamilton in midweek. With Partick thrashing Queens Park last night this was a must win for both sides. In the end it was first half goals from Henderson and Shaw that gave Inverness all three points. The ball was in the net early doors but Aaron Doran was flagged offside. First real action saw Aidan Connolly shoot from distance with Mark Ridgers making the save. The hosts went ahead after twelve minutes when Cammy Harper fed Jay Henderson in on the right and he buried his shot from fifteen yards across MacDonald. With twenty minutes gone Nathan Shaw scored a peach into the top corner to double our advantage after persistent work by Billy Mckay. Great left footed strike by Shaw. McBride and Lewis Vaughan had efforts that missed the target as Rovers looked to get back into the game and five minutes before the break Aaron Doran shot from inside the box but MacDonald saved low to his right. HALF TIME 2-0 Chances were at a premium in the second half and Billy Mckay shot over before being substituted for Austin Samuels with twenty minutes left. Mark Ridgers saved well from Vaughan. Inverness did what they had to do to see out the game and a series of substitutions littered the closing stages as Inverness kept a lacklustre Raith Rovers at bay. A lack of bookings maybe gave the game away that they have already downed tools. They now look destined for another season in the Championship while we hang on in the belief that we can still make the play-offs. FULL TIME 2-0 We did enough to justify the three points without over exerting ourselves. Good contributions from Carson, Ridgers, Henderson and Shaw who scored a belter. We are still getting the results required and are still hanging on by a thread to our promotion hopes, albeit a long shot. Rovers wait for a win enters a 24th season. The goals>>> Date: 08/04/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2198 Referee: Craig Napier Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Deas, Delaney, Harper, Henderson (Boyd 77), Welsh, Allardice, Shaw (Hyde 82), Doran (Woods 77), B Mckay (Samuels 69) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Devine, Nicolson, D Mackay Scorers: Henderson (12), Shaw (21) Booked: none Sent Off: none Raith Rovers: 0 Manager: Ian Murray Lineup: MacDonald; Millen (Young 52), Brown, Nolan, Ngwenya, Connolly, Easton (Ross 81), Stanton, McBride, Vaughan, Akio (Goncalves 81) Subs (not used): Thomson; Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none a
  18.   A must win game   Raith Rovers head North this Saturday for a 3:00pm kick-off at the Caledonian Stadium looking for their first win over the Caley Jags since October 28th, 2000. Yes, it really is that long since they beat us over ninety minutes. Once upon a time, Raith were one of the benchmarks for a rising Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Since we started beating them there has been no going back. However, there are no easy points at this stage of the season and this amazing run will come to an end one year, Let's hope it's not this Saturday. If this is not seen as a must win game, then it's certainly in the category of must not lose, and that applies to both teams. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info AGM Hampden Calling ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 20 13 5 2 38 15 +23 Away 17 9 5 3 34 21 +13 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 37 22 10 5 72 36 +36 It's unbelievable to think that Raith's last win over Inverness over 90 minutes was almost 22 years ago. Mind you, Raith had a pretty handy team back then and they had won four of the previous five encounters since we met them in the big boys leagues, with the other one drawn. Since then, we have literally swamped Rovers with 22 wins, 10 draws and zero defeats. Getting back up to date over the last ten, it's 4 wins, 6 draws and zero defeats. Starting to level out a bit, but still no wins for Raith. Here's who played for them last time they won: Peter Hetherston was player manager back then. Van de Kamp; McCulloch, Dennis, Hamilton, Browne, Black, Hetherston, Ellis, Mballa, Clark, Stein Last 10 Competitive Meetings 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) Last Raith win: Oct 28th 2001 - 1 - 2. Injury-hit Caley Thistle lost this game because of a poor first half display. Despite this they nearly took the lead in 13 minutes when a David Bagan shot was blocked by Greig McCulloch and spun over the bar. Raith scored first in 16 minutes when Jim Calder failed to hold a Shaun Dennis cross and Jay Stein hit home the loose ball from six yards. In 21 minutes a poor headed clearance by Stuart McCaffrey was picked up by Andrew Clark and he set up Ivan Mballa and the Frenchman slammed the ball into the net from 12 yards. ICT had a penalty claim turned down in 38 minutes when Charlie Christie was brought down by Paul Browne. After the break the home side improved but Guido Van de Kamp denied them on several occasions. Paul Sheerin pulled one back in 79 minutes when he netted from close range after a good cut back by Roy McBain. Four minutes later Sheerin watched in frustration as Van de Kamp saved his low shot. As time ran out he came close twice more but Raith held on to win. Report by Ian Broadfoot Last Time Out Inverness pulled off a good win at Cappielow last weekend beating Morton 2-1 with super strikes from Scott Allardice and a late one from David Carson, only his second goal for the club. Pretty much a replica of his other goal against Dunfermline Athletic. Another few replicas would not go amiss.    Raith Rovers failed to capitalise on their game in hand by going down at home to Hamilton Accies by 2-1 on Tuesday night. That result keeps them one point behind Inverness in the race to get into the play-offs. Time Accies did us a favour instead of beating us all the time! Encounters this season have been tight affairs. A Scott Allardice penalty and a late Billy Mckay strike were the difference between the sides at Kirkaldy back in September. There followed two draws since then home and away. The 1 - 1 draw at Inverness saw a tremendous header from Robbie Deas cancel out a Sam Stanton strike. That was the game where Deas broke his leg late in the game. Remarkable that he has made such progress since then.  2 - 2 in the last one at Stark's Park with Billy Mckay once again saving the day with another late goal to frustrate Rovers once more. Rovers had led twice through Lewis Vaughan and Aidan Connolly but Jay Henderson then Mckay squared matters. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table ahead of Partick v Queens Park tonight at 7:45 BBC Scotland TV 1. Queens Park 31 16 6 9 58 41 54 2. Dundee 30 15 8 7 54 32 53 3. Ayr United 31 14 7 10 56 40 49 4. Partick Thistle 31 14 6 11 54 40 48 5. Morton 30 11 10 9 42 37 43 6. Inverness CT 30 11 9 10 42 42 42 7. Raith Rovers 30 11 8 11 42 39 41 8. Arbroath 30 6 13 11 28 41 31 9. Hamilton Ac. 30 7 7 16 27 55 28 10. Cove Rangers 31 6 8 17 34 70 26 Friday 7th April Partick Thistle v Queen's Park Saturday 8th April Arbroath v Dundee Ayr Utd v Morton Accies v Cove  Inverness CT v Raith Rovers Latest Team News Danny Devine, Wallace Duffy and Roddy MacGregor all missed out at Cappielow last week leaving us with a sparse bench. Jay Henderson came off injured after ten minutes but will be assessed closer to kick-off to see if he is fit enough. Here's Dodds to spill the beans...   Raith Rovers top scorer is Aidan Connolly with twelve goals followed by Dylan Easton seven goals and Lewis Vaughan with five. Connolly is the big danger here, not just his goals but he is also credited with seven assists, much greater than any of his team mates.          
  19. Vital three points at Morton Danny Devine was missing again along with Roddy MacGregor and Walllace Duffy for this vital clash at Cappielow which could define our season. That left us with a sparse bench. For Morton, Brian Schwake was given the gloves despite his blunder against Arbroath and condemnation from his gaffer. George Oakley started up front against his old club. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It goes from bad to worse. Ten minutes gone and our most productive player recently Jay Henderson limped off with an ankle injury to be replaced by Austin Samuels. George Oakley and Nathan Shaw exchanged efforts once the game resumed and Mark Ridgers did well to parry a shot from Calum Waters as the hosts looked to take charge of proceedings. Cammy Harper had a pop from a tight angle saved and Robbie Muirhead brought Ridgers into action again as he saved low down. Sean Welsh was sending probing balls into the box almost picking out Aaron Doran and then providing an opportunity for Robbie Deas which the keeper held onto. Best chance of the first half fell to Ali Crawford who failed to convert when it looked easier to score. HALF TIME 0-0 Welsh shot over after the restart, however, in the fifty-fourth minute Scott Allardice opened the scoring with a tremendous half-volley, drilling a precision shot low into the bottom corner from outside the box. Aaron Doran appeared to be fouled in the box by Schwake two minutes later, but nothing given by David Dickenson. He's not the real deal methinks. Harper then saw Schwake save his free kick from distance before Oakley's effort was matched by Ridgers at the other end. Ridgers was involved minutes later again, but this time it was giving away a disputed penalty after bringing down Muirhead. Grant Gillespie scored from the spot to level the game with over twenty minutes remaining. Robbie Muirhead shot over as Morton tried to get their noses in front. He had a shot blocked by Zak Delaney after this and with five minutes left he hit the bar with a long range free kick from around 38 yards. Some strike and a let off for the Caley Jags. After that break, David Carson popped up with the winner in the 88th minute to take a valuable three points North. Nathan Shaw did well to win the ball in his own half before sending a long diagonal ball forward that was helped onto Carson by Boyd for the wee man to finish well from inside the box after a great run forward. That win moves us to within a point of fifth placed Morton. FULL TIME 1-2 Top performers were Allardice, Deas, Shaw and Carson with everyone giving their all for the cause. Bit of a cufuffle off the pitch with cards being shown to management teams for some verbal spats. All in, a good day for the Caley Jags Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table after todays games 1. Queens Park 31 16 6 9 58 41 54 2. Dundee 30 15 8 7 54 32 53 3. Ayr United 31 14 7 10 56 40 49 4. Partick Thistle 31 14 6 11 54 40 48 5. Morton 30 11 10 9 42 37 43 6. Inverness CT 30 11 9 10 42 42 42 7. Raith Rovers 29 11 8 10 41 37 41 8. Arbroath 30 6 13 11 28 41 31 9. Cove Rangers 31 6 8 17 34 70 26 10. Hamilton Ac. 29 6 7 16 25 54 25 Date: 01/04/2023 Venue: Cappielow Park Attendance: 1958 Referee: David Dickinson Morton: 1 Manager: Dougie Imrie Lineup: Schwake; O'Connor, Baird, Gillespie (McGrattan 77), Waters, Blues (Miller 45), Grimshaw, R Crawford, Muirhead, Oakley, A Crawford (Quitongo 58) Subs (not used): Green; Pignatiello, Roy, Ambrose, Garrity, King Scorers: Gillespie (69 pen) Booked: Gillespie (52), O'Connor (63), R Crawford (72) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Deas, Delaney, Harper, Henderson (Samuels 11), Welsh, Allardice, Doran (Boyd 74), Shaw, B Mckay (D Mackay 77) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Wood Scorers: Allardice (54), Carson (88) Booked: Carson (76), D Mackay (79), Samuels (90) Sent Off: none a
  20.   The Quest for Points Goes On   With only seven games left to salvage something from an error strewn season, we go searching for that elusive three points from Morton, something we have yet to achieve this season. Two wins and a draw so far against Dougie Imrie's team. The 4-0 loss at Cappielow at the end of October prompted the start of 'Ridgersgate'. How ridiculous does that look now given Mark's stunning performance last Friday in the ten man win over Partick Thistle. Not one of Billy Dodds' better decisions made in the heat of battle as Morton cuffed us and resigned Mark to the naughty step at half time and over the next seven games until Partick put five past Cammy on Xmas Eve. That period saw us win two points from a possible fifteen. It's just as well they don't do that to managers as Doddsy would have been sitting in the stand for months. However, all has hopefully been forgiven and Mark produced the performance of the season on telly to remove any lingering doubts about his ability.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info Semi-Final Tickets On Sale Now ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Morton Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 21 12 5 4 48 20 +28 Away 18 10 3 5 35 23 +12 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 39 22 8 9 83 43 +40 Overall we hold a massive advantage home and away over Morton, but recent games show that the trend is changing as we only have one win in the last five encounters. It took a late strike from Ethan Cairns to salvage a point last time in a 2 - 2 at the Caledonian Stadium. Calvin Miller had put Morton ahead early in the first half before Billy Mckay levelled around the hour. Robbie Muirhead looked to have given Morton all three points ten minutes before the end before substitute Cairns scored his first goal for the Caley Jags to share the spoils. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Morton 2 - 2 (H) 0 - 4 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 6 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A)   Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Arbroath v Ayr United Friday Night 1. Queens Park 30 16 6 8 58 39 54 2. Dundee 29 14 8 7 47 32 50 3. Ayr United 30 14 7 9 56 38 49 4. Partick Thistle 30 13 6 11 49 40 45 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Inverness CT 29 10 9 10 40 41 39 7. Raith Rovers 28 10 8 10 39 37 38 8. Arbroath 29 5 13 11 26 41 28 9. Cove Rangers 30 6 8 16 34 65 26 10. Hamilton Ac. 28 6 7 15 25 47 25 FRIDAY 31ST MARCH 7:45 Arbroath v Ayr United SATURDAY 1ST APRIL 3:00 Cove Rangers v Partick Thistle Dundee v Accies       Morton v Inverness  Raith Rovers v Queen's Park Last Time Out A rousing backs to the wall performance from the Caley Jags earned a 1-0 win over Partick Thistle. After Jay Henderson nicked the ball off of a Partick player, he danced down the wing before delivering a terrific pin point ball into the box for Nathan Shaw to slide in and convert. Sean Welsh was wrongly sent off with forty minutes remaining and Partick besieged the Inverness penalty box. However, Mark Ridgers was in tremendous form to deny the eager Partick attack time after time and 1-0 it was for the hosts. Ridgers had pulled off a worldy save in the first half to deny a stunned Brian Graham and was unbeatable on the day. That ensured Inverness' last five results look like this L D W L W    Morton dropped points at Gayfield after George Oakley scored his sixth goal in eight games for the Cappielow side. However keeper Brian Schwake blundered to allow Sean Ardakwa to tap in. That fumble was not lost on Morton manager Dougie Imrie who told BBC Sport: "I think for large parts of that game we were by far the better team. I'm lost for words. I thought my players were superb to a man. The amount of chances we created - I don't know how we didn't win that. "He's [Schwake] a young goalkeeper in the game trying to make a name for himself. He has to be switched on and his concentration levels have to be high. That's not the first time this season he's cost us points."  (Naughty step for you m'lad) Morton Last Five W D L D D  This season Morton hold the Indian Sign over us. A 0 - 1 at the Caledonian Stadium followed by the 0 - 4 game at Cappielow before the 2 - 2 draw back in Inverness at the beginning of February. Time to sort it out guys. Latest Team News Just when we thought things were getting better we lost Danny Devine to injury in the warm up last Friday. The previous game Roddy MacGregor was injured in his second appearance since returning from months out. Potentially, Sean Welsh could also have missed out but we appealed that, and given the secret society within the refereeing circles then I wasn't holding my breath. However, miracles do happen, the spell has been broken and he is now free to play at Morton. Unless of course he is injured. Zak Delaney filled in for Devine last week and did well after an early booking. We also found out that Ben Woods is a real thing after he came on as a substitute in the second half. Thankfully Robbie Deas has not shown any adverse reaction on his return to action and likewise Scott Allardice.  So, it sounds like MacGregor and Ram plus the long term Walsh and Sutherland will be unavailable. Danny Devine? Your guess is as good as mine. Morton starting XI v Arbroath: Judging by wee Dougies reaction to the Gayfield fumble then Schwake could be on the naughty step for Morton. Jai Quitongo has been out recently but could be near to a return to the squad. 1Schwake   23Grimshaw 5Baird 4O'Connor 6Waters   14Crawford 8Blues   9Muirhead 30Crawford 21Gillespie   22Oakley George Oakley seems to have had a new lease of life since joining Morton. I wonder what, or who was holding him back at Inverness? Six goals in eight games since leaving Inverness. Hmmnnn? On a sad note, Ian Manning the former club physio has passed away. RIP Ian. Condolences to family and friends.    
  21. Backs to the wall win for ten man Caley Jags Lewis Hyde was a late replacement for Inverness with Danny Devine pulling up in the warm up which prompted a reshuffle of the pack with Delaney covering for Devine and Harper dropping back into defence with Hyde going into midfield. Roddy MacGregor and Wallace Duffy missed out for Inverness but Sean Welsh returned to the midfield. Attacking options of Dan Mackay, Aaron Doran and Austin Samuels were on the bench for the Caley Jags. Partick Thistle had sent a strong squad North with the dangerous Scott Tiffoney and Brian Graham the big threats up front. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a flat calm afternoon, the heavens opened an hour before kick-off and patches of surface water greeted the teams as they took to the field under the floodlights. Inverness got the game underway and the first real action came when a long ball forward from Nathan Shaw after six minutes saw Billy Mckay control then offload a shot from the edge of the box which keeper David Mitchell beat away from goal. Good effort, good save. Mckay looked dangerous on a few early occasions and his persistence up front won him a corner after twelve minutes. From the corner the ball fell to Robbie Deas but his volley was gathered under the bar by Mitchell. Mark Ridgers produced a superb save to deny Brian Graham as Partick cut us open through the middle. The big striker was favourite to score as he opened up his body but Ridgers dived full length to his left to get his fingertips to the netbound ball and tip it round the post. Sensational save! There followed a midfield battle until three minutes before the interval when Ridgers blocked a near post effort from Scott Tiffoney and then David Carson made a crucial clearance moments later. Here's the reason it was goalless at the interval>>>> HALF TIME 0-0 No changes at the break with Inverness now playing towards the North Stand. In the fiftieth minute Inverness broke down some Partick possession in midfield. Jay Henderson skipped forward and his low cross into the box was converted by Nathan Shaw sliding in ahead of the defender. Either way it was 1-0 to the hosts. Mckay combined with Welsh in the box but he never connected properly with the ball and Mitchell's save was made easier. Moments later Welsh was sensationally sent off as Tiffoney took off down the left and Welsh tripped him late. Grant Irvine saw it as a red and Welsh was off. Ridgers saved a ten yard scuffed shot from Graham on the line as Partick went for broke against the ten men. Could be a long night now for the fans and the defence with over half an hour to go. Partick were piling the pressure on the hosts and Ridgers denied a Graham shot at the expense of a corner with fifteen minutes remaining. Despite Partick pressing hard, the Inverness defence held out for the three points, putting bodies on the line when it mattered and MotM Mark Ridgers kept his sheets clean. FULL TIME 1-0 Mark Ridgers was MotM with a confident display including one absolutely superb save from Brian Graham in the first half, and when the backs were against the wall he commanded his area taking the pressure off his overworked defenders. Welsh red card looked to be harsh, not heard the last of that yet. Tremendous workrate by everyone who blocked Partick time after time in a desperate second half. Get in Nathan Shaw>>> Match Reaction Inverness manager Billy Dodds tells BBC Scotland: "We knew we had to win tonight or the playoff dreams were probably over. "We say the word proud a lot in the dressing rooms but I am tonight as we had to win it the hard way. "We started well, then they took control as we just started launching it straight away, I'd have liked us to pass it a bit more. "We had to hang on. "I don't have to [see the red card challenge again], it’s cynical, it’s a trip. "I want to move on from it as we’ve had a lot of hard luck, and I know everyone had but we probably have more than most, and I'd rather move on as if I say something I'll get into trouble. "We’ll be appealing it." Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Updated table after tonight's games 1. Queens Park 30 16 6 8 58 39 54 2. Dundee 29 14 8 7 47 32 50 3. Ayr United 30 14 7 9 56 38 49 4. Partick Thistle 30 13 6 11 49 40 45 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Inverness CT 29 10 9 10 40 41 39 7. Raith Rovers 28 10 8 10 39 37 38 8. Arbroath 29 5 13 11 26 41 28 9. Cove Rangers 30 6 8 16 34 65 26 10. Hamilton Ac. 28 6 7 15 25 47 25 Ayr 3-0 Cove Queens 0-1 Arbroath Caley Jags 1-0 Partick Jags Date: 24/03/2023 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2075 Referee: Grant Irvine Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, Hyde (Boyd 90+3), Deas, Delaney, Henderson (Doran 85), Welsh, Allardice, Harper, Shaw (Woods 69), B Mckay (D Mackay 70) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Samuels Scorers: Shaw (50) Booked: Delaney (14), Hyde (65), Woods (81), Hyde (84) Sent Off: Welsh (55) Partick Thistle: 0 Manager: Kris Doolan Lineup: Mitchell; McMillan, Holt, Brownlie, Milne (Hodson 60), Tiffoney, Turner (Mullen 79) Bannigan (Fitzpatrick 79), Docherty, Lawless (Dowds 56), Graham. Subs (not used): Sneddon; Smith, Muirhead, Owens, MacKenzie Scorers: Shaw (50) Booked: Milne (25) Sent Off: none a
  22. Yay, It's a home game It's five games since we last played at home in the Championship and that one never went well, a 0-3 loss to Hamilton Accies. In fact our League form has been abysmal over the last 19 games as we have only managed a mere sixteen points from a possible fifty seven. That's a poor return in any language. 28%. These statistics have not gone unnoticed by the long suffering Caley Jags fans who have seen their club plunge deeper into trouble on and off the field. I'm sure Billy Dodds will be grateful for the second chance in the Scottish Cup, but is that simply papering over the cracks? Friday nights visitors at 7:45pm have already pumped us 4-1 and 5-1 this season although we did win the home game 1-0. However, that was not good enough for the Partick board and Ian McCall was relieved of his duties in February as Partick fell off the pace slightly and Kris Doolan has replaced him to good effect. Looks like the jobs for boys pact at Inverness is alive and kicking though and despite protestations from many quarters, Billy Dodds is still hanging on by a thread as we look set for another season in the Championship with a Premiership play-off place looking highly unlikely if not virtually impossible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket info The Wyness Shuffle Live on BBC Scotland ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Partick Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 24 11 6 7 38 33 +5 Away 24 6 6 12 25 39 -14 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 48 17 12 19 63 72 -9 Overall Partick have stormed ahead of us thanks to the heavy defeats this season. Home results show that we are still ahead of Partick, but those massive defeats this season will have dented our confidence somewhat. This season's aggregate is 9-3 for Partick Thistle. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Partick Thistle 1 - 5 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 4 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (A) 3 - 3 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) He scores when he wants: 1 - 0 October 7th 2022: A first half where defences were on top offered little opportunity for either side to create the clear cut chance required until the half hour when Robbie Deas pounced on a loose clearance within the box. His header was bundled away from goal a yard from the line by two defenders with Mitchell floundering. A couple of minutes later and Mitchell was called into action to scramble the ball away low down at his post from a Duffy header. Billy Mckay clipped one over the bar after a tremendous turn and run by Daniel Mackay. Kyle Turner was red carded for what appeared to be a slightly high tackle on Roddy MacGregor and Inverness ended the half knocking on the Partick door. Cammy Harper brought out a super save from Mitchell with 65 minutes gone, diving high to his top left corner. Ten minutes later Billy Mckay opened the scoring with his fifth goal of the season, drilling home from twelve yards after good work by MotM Dan Mackay. Kevin Holt came close to an unlikely equaliser with a low shot across the face of the goal ten minutes from the end, but Partick rarely threatened. Oakley had an effort kept out on the line acrobatically by Holt as Inverness looked to close out the game. However, Inverness saw out the game to go joint top of the table after their fourth win in a row. That'll do nicely. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Dundee beat Ayr United 3-1 on Tuesday night to keep their auto promotion hopes alive 1. Queens Park 29 16 6 7 58 38 54 2. Dundee 29 14 8 7 47 32 50 3. Ayr United 29 13 7 9 53 38 46 4. Partick Thistle 29 13 6 10 49 39 45 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Raith Rovers 28 10 8 10 39 37 38 7. Inverness CT 28 9 9 10 39 41 36 8. Cove Rangers 29 6 8 15 34 62 26 9. Arbroath 28 4 13 11 25 41 25 10. Hamilton Ac. 28 6 7 15 25 47 25 FRIDAY 24TH MARCH 7:45pm Inverness CT v Partick Thistle Ayr United v Cove Rangers Queen's v Arbroath Last Time Out We are all but out of contention after losing 2-1 to Championship leaders Queens Park. Despite taking a half time lead thanks to a good strike by Dan Mackay, we were unable to sustain any consistency in the second half and two unchallenged headers from Grant Savoury and the giant Stephen Eze saw Queens Park take all three points. Sandwiched between the 2-1 win at Ayr (Welsh & Henderson scoring) and defeat to Queens Park there was a rousing 2-1 win on the telly over Kilmarnock with Billy Mckay (pen) and Sean Welsh with the goals. If only we could replicate that level of performance in the League games. Partick have drawn their last two outings without scoring against Dundee and Morton. They did put three past Raith Rovers the same day we won at Ayr. Partick Thistle are top of the Current Form table over the last six games (12 points), we are second bottom with 5 points Latest Team News Roddy MacGregor limped off last week in his second appearance after months out. Sean Welsh missed the game at Ochilview so not sure what's happening there, but he's unfortunately made of rice paper which has been a problem for him whilst here. When fit he makes our midfield tick and can be a match winner as shown recently. A couple of new issues according to Bazza, presumably MacGregor (ankle), maybe Welsh and by the sounds of it, maybe more??? Where's Tom Walsh when you need him??? Here's Bazza Firhill Facts Kris Doolan was in charge of the u18's and had been in interim charge of first team matters for almost three weeks prior to being rubber stamped on 3rd March, overseeing away victories over Ayr United and Dundee as well as a draw at Arbroath. Since then a 3-0 home win over Raith Rovers has been followed by goalless draws with Dundee and Morton, but more importantly he has dragged Partick back into play-off contention whilst we slip further away. Partick Starting XI v Morton: Mitchell; McMillan, McAvoy, Muirhead, Milne, Docherty, Bannigan, Lawless, Turner, Tiffoney, Graham. The obvious and perennial threats to us are striker Brian Graham and chief provider Scott Tiffoney. Lawless, Turner and Dowds will also need well policed.
  23. All but ended Sean Welsh was the mystery injured player this week with Dan Mackay starting. Inverness' play-off hopes all but ended at Ochilview after we surrendered a half time advantage once more at the same venue. Both sides had gone close early on before Daniel Mackay drilled home a tremendous low strike from around twenty-five yards after the ball broke back to him off Billy Mckay on the edge of the box. Twenty minutes after the interval the Spiders pressure saw them level when Grant Savoury headed home unchallenged. They went in front some five minutes later when Stephen Eze headed into the top corner, once more unchallenged. Substitute Roddy MacGregor limped off to be replaced by the even lesser spotted Ben Woods. Both sides created opportunities as the game entered the final phase and Duffy and Samuels went close to an equaliser deep into time added on but it was Queens that took a massive step towards the Premiership as we took a massive step back into the Championship pack. Good luck to them. If it's any consolation, Falkirk, our semi-final opponents lost 1-0 at Queen of the South today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More match reaction to follow>>> From BBC Sport Queen's Park manager Owen Coyle: "We didn't perform to the level we're capable of first half, but second half we certainly stepped it up. "It's a young group and a lot of them haven't been round about where we are, so there was an edginess to them but at half-time I asked them to relax and get back to what we're known for." Inverness CT manager Billy Dodds: "We didn't set about the second half the way we should. If we had just kept it simple and neat and tidy, I think we would've got them. "We were denied a penalty when Billy Mckay felt he got a shove in the back. But we handed Queen's Park the game." Massively disappointing result for the Caley Jags after the euphoria of the Scottish Cup exploits. Queens can rest easy knowing we have been unable to beat them in five attempts this season, a fact that has not gone unnoticed amongst the Caley Jags fanbase. Anyway, our secretary is better than theirs...... Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table not looking good for the Caley Jags 1. Queens Park 29 16 6 7 58 38 54 2. Dundee 28 13 8 7 44 31 47 3. Ayr United 28 13 7 8 52 35 46 4. Partick Thistle 29 13 6 10 49 39 45 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Raith Rovers 28 10 8 10 39 37 38 7. Inverness CT 28 9 9 10 39 41 36 8. Cove Rangers 29 6 8 15 34 62 26 9. Arbroath 28 4 13 11 25 41 25 10. Hamilton Ac. 28 6 7 15 25 47 25 Our remaining Championship fixtures. I'm afraid it will take a miracle to make the play-offs. 24th Mar 19:45 - PARTICK THISTLE (H) 01st April 15:00 - MORTON (A) 08th April 15:00 - RAITH ROVERS (H) 11th April 19:45 - ARBROATH (H) 15th April 15:00 - COVE RANGERS (A) 18th April 19:45 - HAMILTON (A) 22nd April15:00 - DUNDEE (H) 05th May 19:45 - AYR UNITED (H) Date: 18/03/2023 Venue: Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir Attendance: 627 Referee: Alan Muir Queens Park: 2 Manager: Owen Coyle Lineup: Ferrie: Oakley (Jarrett 56), Eze, Fox, Robson, Thomas, Davidson, Savoury, Boateng (Longridge (44)), Henderson (Healy 76), Shields Subs (not used): Heraghty; Bruce, McPake, Williamson, Bannon, Biggar, Scorers: Savoury (64), Eze (69) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy, Devine, Deas, Harper, D Mackay (MacGregor 61, Woods 74), Carson, Allardice (Samuels 71), Henderson, Shaw, B Mckay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Delaney, Hyde, Doran, Boyd, Scorers: D Mackay (27) Booked: Devine (8), Shaw (65) Sent Off: none a
  24. Euan Henderson Appreciation Encounter After the heroics of the Scottish Cup win over Kilmarnock and the anticipation of the semi-final draw for Hampden Park it's back down to earth with a bang and a trip to Ochilview Park to take on league leaders Queens Park in the Championship. Queens will be hurting after beating Inverness on the park in the Scottish Cup, but off the park it was Inverness that progressed and subsequently went on to dispose of Livingston and Kilmarnock to reach the semi-finals of the Cup. If only, if only.... Anyway, it's back to league business and this is another tough game on Saturday with kick-off due at 3:00pm. The Spiders might find us better equipped this time round as injured players return and our bench fills up. Could be a bit of a grudge match to add some extra spice to the occasion. Thanks Euan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scottish Cup Semi Final Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info The Wyness Shuffle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Queens Park Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 12 4 5 3 15 14 +1 Away 7 5 0 2 14 10 +4 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 19 9 5 5 29 24 +5 Only this season's fixtures are really relevant to this game as prior to this season we had not played a league game against Queens Park since *1997, although we have met them in Cup games in 1998, 2003, 2010. We have failed to beat Queens Park since they gained promotion at the end of last season. *1997 - A win for the visitors but not a convincing one. The first half was a non event with only two half-chances falling to Scott McLean in the 28th & 40th minutes - both good shots from 15 yards deflected over. In 54 minutes Queens Danny Ferry should have scored when he ran through the defence but Jim Calder came out and stopped it with his legs. Against the run of play Queens took the lead in 72 minutes. A cross from the right was headed home by Scott Edgar as Jim Calder lost the ball in the strong sun. Three minutes later it was 1-1 when a Barry Wilson cross broke to Iain Stewart and he scored from 8 yards. Two minutes later Ross Tokely celebrated his 18th birthday with the winning goal. It was an exact repeat of his goal against Albion Rovers three weeks ago and in the same minute of the match - a Barry Wilson corner was partly cleared and Tokely hammered it home from 20 yards. In the dying minutes Jim Calder saved a good low shot from Scott Edgar to preserve the score. The Inverness side are clear Championship favourites on 60 points - 11 clear of Ross County with 9 games left. Report by Ian Broadfoot March 1997 2 - 1 Last 4 Competitive Meetings (including the 0-2 defeat in the cup) 0 - 2 (H) 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) The CTO summary on the first encounter this season was complimentary to The Spiders: Queens make their point: Queens 39 year hiatus from this tier of football ended as they ventured into the Championship, and it all started well when Jake Davidson opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute. In a half of many chances, Billy Mckay levelled the score a minute before the interval. That's how it stood until the final whistle with neither side able to make the breakthrough despite numerous opportunities at both ends thanks to Callum Ferrie and Mark Ridgers and some wayward finishing. Queens Park showing they are not here just to make up the numbers and were good value for their point. Last Time Out Inverness were able to field their strongest squad of the season as they dumped Killie out of the Scottish Cup. Despite losing an early goal Inverness dominated their Premiership opponents and a Billy Mckay penalty before the interval was added to by a Sean Welsh strike from over twenty-five yards. The week prior to that we came from behind against Ayr United at Somerset Park to take a much needed three points up the A9. Akinyemi had put Ayr ahead in thirteen minutes but Sean Welsh levelled soon after. Ayr were reduced to ten men before the interval and Jay Henderson notched the winner late in the game as our pressure paid off. Last five Championship games: D L L D W Queens Park are still heading the table even without Simon Murray. They beat Cove Rangers 1-0 last week but it took an own goal to settle the points with both clubs hitting the woodwork. In their previous game Queens Park squandered a two goal lead at home to share the points with Morton. Tommy Robson and Marcus Oakley had the Spiders coasting towards victory at the interval but two second half poachers goals from George Oakley gave Morton a surprise share of the points. That left Owen Coyle less than impressed: "We were excellent. We were by far the better team. That's as good as we have been in a long long time." Queens last five: L D W D W We have failed to beat Queens Park in four games this season. There's a reason for that and it's that they have been better than us so far. However, with a better squad available for Dodds to choose from then we might just get the points here, but it won't be easy. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Updated table after Arbroath draw with Morton who had a penalty saved by Gaston 1. Queens Park 28 15 6 7 56 37 51 2. Dundee 27 13 7 7 44 31 46 3. Partick Thistle 28 13 5 10 49 39 44 4. Ayr United 27 12 7 8 50 35 43 5. Morton 29 11 10 8 41 35 43 6. Inverness CT 27 9 9 9 38 39 36 7. Raith Rovers 27 9 8 10 33 36 35 8. Cove Rangers 28 6 8 14 33 56 26 9. Arbroath 28 4 13 11 25 41 25 10. Hamilton Ac. 27 6 7 14 25 45 25 FRIDAY 17th MARCH 7:45pm Arbroath 1-1 Morton SATURDAY 18th MARCH 3:00pm Hamilton v Ayr United Partick v Dundee Queen's Park v Inverness CT Raith Rovers v Cove Rangers Latest Team News Billy Dodds had the unusual luxury of a relatively fit squad for the game against Kilmarnock with the added bonus of Roddy MacGregor coming off the bench to make his 100th appearance. Austin Samuels is working his way back to full fitness and came off the bench later in the second half. The rarely seen Ben Woods was back from injury and remained on the bench. Devine, Allardice Welsh and Harper have given us a massive boost since returning and Jay Henderson gives us a wee buzz when he gets on the ball up front. His deliveries are proving to be very effective. Billy Mckay is just six short of Dennis Wyness now after his penalty against Killie in the cup. He scored his first goal for the Caley Jags in a 3-2 loss at home against Dundee United on December 10th 2011. Billy will be looking for his 16th goal of the season this weekend. Owen Coyle will have a legitimate Euan Henderson available. That's their team lines for their game against Cove on 10th of March. Still plenty of fire power after Simon Murray left and Shields, Thomas and McPake have proven to be a handful for us before. Queens are heading towards the Premiership and it's their title to throw away. Only seven games left for them after this one and they have a cushion over Dundee. With that in mind, I'm sure they won't begrudge us the three points
  25. Red Oh Daire Three points would have been a welcome diversion from off-field issues for the Caley Jags. Inverness missed Cammy Harper from last week and Austin Samuels dropped to the bench as Billy Mckay returned from suspension. Frankie Musonda was on the Ayr bench and 15 goal striker Dipo Akinyemi led their attack with Josh Mullin and Ben Dempsey backing him up. At the end of the day it was Inverness that picked up a valuable win. First Half Billy Mckay was keen to get going again after his suspension and he hit one from distance in the opening moments but it went over the bar and he followed that with another that went wide after seven minutes. Ten minutes in and Sam Ashford replaced the injured Josh Mullin and two minutes later Dipo Akinyemi scored his sixteenth of the season to put United ahead. The lead lasted just seven minutes when Sean Welsh scored after a Jay Henderson cross fell to him in the box to level the game. Charlie Albiston was quick off his line to deny the eager Mckay as he honed in on goal and five minutes later he was close to getting on the end of a Shaw cut back after Albiston made a mess of a clearance. Before the half hour Daire O'Connor was sent off for a challenge on Wallace Duffy. Duffy then shot over before Mckay had an effort deflected over the bar and Duffy headed the resultant corner over as well. Just on the break the keeper saved well from a Duffy shot into the top corner, just after Paddy Reading had gone close at the other end. Half Time: 1-1 Ayr began the second half on the front foot with McKenzie and Akinyemi shooting wide before Billy Mckay was blocked in the box at the other end and Scott Allardice fired one over. Ashford shot over on the hour after some good possession from the hosts and Duffy shot wide after finding himself in an advanced position again. More profligacy from the visitors as Henderson missed the top corner after a burst into the box. Welsh was blocked then had another effort deflected behind for a corner with twenty minutes left. The chances eventually paid off when Henderson connected with a Nathan Shaw cross at the back post to fire home. Mckay then shot wide after being played through ten minutes from the end. Inverness saw out the game to put themselves on the outer fringes of a play-off spot. Full Time 1-2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness got a vital three points on the road against 10 man Ayr United to move up a place in the table as Partick beat Raith Rovers 3-0. Wallace Duffy was the pick of the bunch today finding time to get forward and help out in attack, ably assisted by David Carson and Jay Henderson. RIG on CTO: At times we played some nice football. Most of the threat seemed to come down the right especially after Henderson and Shaw rotated and, with the extra man, Duffy and Delaney started pushing further up the pitch to offer support. Ayr tended not to double up on the wide men so it meant that Henderson or Shaw had to beat just one man and they had a chance to get a cross in. Henderson in particular was tormenting the Ayr defence and he had the best chance for us before we scored when he wriggled through a ruck of players at the edge of the box and lashed an effort over the bar. Some solid performances from us to win that one today with Duffy, Carson and Henderson probably the pick of the bunch. Duffy was helped out by Mullin going off injured and also the fact that Ayr played a lot of the game a man down. Carson took a bit of time to adapt to the 10 position but he carried the ball forward well and could have had a goal himself had he been more selfish and taking a shot instead of passing to a team mate. Date: 04/03/2023 Venue: Somerset Park, Ayr Attendance: 1820 Referee: Scott Lambie Ayr United: 1 Manager: Lee Bullen Lineup: Albinson; McAllister (Musonda 72), Kirk, McGinty, Reading (McGuire 84), O'Connor, Mullin, McAlear, Dempsey, Akinyemi, McKenzie (Hewitt 84) Subs (not used): McAdams; Bilham, Ashford, Smith, Bryden, Houston Scorers: Akinyemi (12) Booked: McAllister (35), McGuire (89) Sent Off: O'Connor (29) Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Bily Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy, Devine, Deas, Delaney, Carson, Welsh, Allardice (Doran 63), Henderson, Shaw (Boyd 90), B Mackay Subs (not used): C Mackay; Thompson, Cairns, Hyde, Harper, D Mackay, Samuels Scorers: Welsh (19), Henderson (74) Booked: Deas (49), Welsh (77) Sent Off: none a
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