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Smokies Smoke Sloppy Jags After a minutes applause for three former Arbroath players in left back Tommy Hughes, striker Billy Pirie and keeper Gordon Marshall, the game got under way on a bright afternoon at the Greenversity Stadium at Gayfield. An even opening saw Alfie Bavidge pass up an early opportunity from a long ball forward from Remi Savage and another saved by McAdams. Moments later Scott Stewart was denied by the legs of Inverness keeper Musa Dibaga as he bore down on goal from the right side of the box after fifteen minutes, the ball spinning wide for a corner. An inviting free kick from Fraser Taylor curled nicely onto the boot of Aaron Steele six yards out as he opened the scoring on his return to Arbroath. He got on the end of the free kick to guide the ball behind Dibaga in the twenty-fifth minute. Arbroath had been looking for the chance to win a penalty kick and the ref duly obliged a few minutes before the interval when the lead was doubled from the spot. Andy Winters scored his second goal since coming in from Livingston, the ball going in off the post. Remi Savage was deemed the culprit in a handball incident wide left inside the box when he really could not do anything about it. Harsh decision to award the penalty. That spurred the Lichties on just before the break and Savage was booked moments later thwarting another surge down the Arbroath right. From another curling Taylor free kick Dibaga pulled off a tremendous diving save to his right to tip the ball behind for a corner from Stewart's header, possibly shaving the post on the way out. On the stroke of half time Taylor almost got on the scoresheet but he was denied as Dibaga spread himself well on the goalline to block the ball away to safety. Into the second half with Billy Mckay replacing Alfie Stewart and it would be an uphill task thereafter. Mckay did bounce a trundler off the post on the hour but he would be subbed himself before the end. The rout was complete after seventy minutes when Fraser Taylor slipped substitute Ryan Dow through and he slipped the ball past Dibaga to end the scoring. Game over! FULL TIME: 3-0 We've had better days to be honest. We were smoked by the smokies today with Arbroath making the most of their opportunities whilst we mainly failed to make the keeper work too hard to earn his corn. By the end of the game the Eagle had been subdued... Mantis on CTO: That’s the first time this season I’ve seen us comprehensively hammered. Arbroath are the best side I’ve seen, quite physical in defence and midfield and quick on the break. They’ve added the boy Penman on loan from St. Mirren and Sam Stanton from Raith. Mind you, we were the better side for the first 25 till they scored from a set piece. Highlights from Arbroath FC TV (minus our better opportunities) Cove play Montrose this Tuesday night. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Stenhousemuir 24 9 38 2 Arbroath 22 10 37 3 Cove Rangers 22 10 34 4 Queen of Sth 24 -3 32 5 Kelty Hearts 22 7 31 6 Alloa Athletic 24 3 31 7 Annan Athletic 24 -16 27 8 Montrose 23 -5 26 9 Inverness CT 24 0 22 10 Dumbarton 23 -15 08 Great overview from Naelifts on CTO: Only my second game this season. Always a pleasure going to Gayfield. They seem to have done quite a lot of work around the ground. The weather was merciful as we know what it can be like there. A sound start, moving the ball well for the first quarter. 3 extravagant 70 yard crossfield passes all hit Longstaff and on the third occasion he bore down on goal only to be foiled by a good block. Prior to that Bavidge's first touch was sublime before he poked the ball just wide of the advancing keeper. Arbroath took the lead against the run of play and a quick second in effect put the game to bed. Two good saves kept us in touch in theory before half time. Arbroath were tenacious in midfield and fast to break and after half time we weren't at the races. You could argue that Billy unluckily hitting the post could have breathed new life into the team but, in reality, we were outplayed by a superior team. For the home side their Luca Modric ( 5' 5"?) like number 14 buzzed around the park linking play and he impressed. 248 Caley souls was a great turn out. For me, Arbroath go up and we must buckle down and try to maintain Div 1 status. Any talk of play offs is fanciful. Date: 08/02/2025 Venue: Gayfield Attendance: 1500 Referee: Graham Grainger Arbroath FC: 3 Manager: Colin Hamilton & David Gold Lineup: McAdams; Steele, Watson, O'Brien (Dow 21), Penman, Spalding (Gold 86), Stanton, Wilkie, Stewart (Murray 86), Taylor (McKechnie 81), Winter (King 80) Subs (not used): McConnell; Scorers: Steele (26), Winter (42 pen), Dow (70) Booked: none Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Bray, Devine, Savage, Nolan, Longstaff, Gilmour, Allan (R Thompson 81), Mackinnon (Macleod 58), Stewart (B Mckay 46, Cairns 83) Bavidge Subs (not used): Rebilas; J Walker, Strachan, Ewan, Keogh Scorers: none Booked: Savage (42), Gilmour (46) Sent Off: none a
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*** VOTING IN THE POLL ABOVE IS FOR PEOPLE WHO WERE AT THE MATCH OR WATCHED A LIVE STREAM OR TV *** If you were at the match or viewing, please use the poll above to vote for your top 3 players. As a bit of fun, we have also added an option to rate the referee .... Please make sure you vote for 3 separate players. If you make an error, let us know so we can fix it. PLEASE ONLY VOTE ABOVE IF YOU WERE AT THE GAME or WATCHING LIVE STREAM or TV Anyone caught trying to cheat the system WILL be banned from voting in ALL site polls...this is your only warning. **NOT at the game ?** As a result of requests received, we have made a slight change to how these threads work for site users who listened to the full game live on the radio ....... You too will now be able to cast your votes, but should do it in the thread below, and NOT in the official poll above. Just list the three players of your choosing and award 5,3, or 1 point(s). You can give the ref a mark if you want too ! These votes will NOT be counted in the official total, as we only count votes from those who where actually at the game or viewed live streams, but it IS a way for you to participate in the process .... which many people asked for .... a happy medium we hope !!!!!
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Stand to Attention We will play Arbroath on Saturday at Gayfield in a Stadium with recent damage to their stand. Well I never! Saturday is the 8th of February and it's 25 years to the day since the last time this happened. SuperCaleygobalisticArbroathareatrocious won't have the same impact or quite the same ring to it, but a repeat of that famous scoreline will do nicely. Of course this game was dependent on work to rectify the storm damage being done and or the insurers coughing up the money. I wonder if they already gave them an advance given the number of new faces joining in the January transfer window? A couple of recent defeats have knocked Arbroath off their perch at the top of the table. It's a League nobody is prepared to take the bull by the horns as the lead changes hands every couple of weeks. Some good news this week, it has been revealed that the Supporters Trust will have a seat on the Board of the club once they come out of Administration. George Moodie, Chairman of the Trust, was talking at the Football Memories group at at the stadium and said "We have been promised a seat around the boardroom table once the club gets out of administration". Unfortunately some sad news last week with the passing of former Highland League striker Billy Pirie at the age of 75. Billy played for a number of Scottish sides; Huntly, Arbroath (39 in 85 apps), Aberdeen (11 in 45 apps) and Dundee where he scored 93 in 112 appearances for the Dark Blues. They don't make them like that anymore. RIP Billy. Further sad news announced today is that former Arbroath keeper Gordon Marshall has passed away. Gordon played between 1972 & 1978 making 148 appearances for the Lichties. He had previously played for Hearts, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Hibernian, Celtic and Aberdeen as well as being capped for England at Under 23 level. RIP Gordon. Attention Attention: Please note that due to damage caused to Arbroath’s stand last Friday, seating in the Coelbrew stand is unavailable to away fans at the moment. Repairs are underway and hopefully will be done before the game. Arbroath FC are doing their utmost to remedy this but the reality is that it may not be repaired in time for Saturday ***UPDATE: Repairs to the roof above the away seating in the Coelbrew Stand at Gayfield Park have now been completed and tickets are now available for that stand. Game On! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus/Info Arbroath Stand Keith Bray Calum Mackay Billy Pirie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 28 18 5 5 62 24 +38 Away 26 11 7 8 36 31 +5 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 54 29 12 13 98 55 +43 Records will show that over the years we still have the edge over Arbroath. However, recent events, even before administration, reveal that Arbroath are narrowing the gap, especially at Gayfield. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath 0 - 2 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 2 - 4 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A) INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L(11)D W W W L W L W W L W W Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game last weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. *It was then on to Palmerston on the Tuesday night but in a five goal encounter we went down 3-2. Alfie Bavidge notched his third goal in three games and Keith Bray added a second but goals from Adam Brooks (2) and Jordan Allan kept the points in Dumfries. We bounced back with a resilient 1-2 win at Alloa in our third away game on the bounce, Keith Bray with his fourth of the season and Alfie Stewart his first. Up next a revenge mission at home to QotS. *There were plenty of positives to be taken from the defeat against Queen of the South in last midweek. Alfie Bavidge is on form with three from three and Keith Bray added his third League goal of the season. Luis Longstaff was a big miss at Palmerston having been injured at Annan last Saturday and missed out again at Alloa. The good news for us was that Longstaff returned for the the home win against QotS and Alfie Bavidge notched his fourth goal in five appearances. Sadly it has been confirmed that we will be losing Keith Bray at the end of the season although his new club, Dunfermline, have loaned him back to us for the remainder of the season. Par for the course I suppose. Calum Mackay has left Inverness after mutual agreement between player and club. Scot Kellacher speaking to the media on the squad going forward after the transfer window: “I’m really confident in the squad, the squad we have now has got us to where we have got to. We have given ourselves a fighting chance, it has been a big ask in terms of the task we have been set. The boys have done great, every single one of them even the boys that haven’t played too many games. They’ve been on the training ground, pushing the other boys to their limits.” “We’re happy with the squad. Whether we can get another one in, we’ve got until the end of February [until the loan window shuts]. Hopefully nobody gets injured, we’ve got the squad we’ve got and that is more than enough for me.” Cove v Kelty is a casualty of Scottish Cup duty for the Balmoral Stadium side. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Stenny 23 8 35 2 Cove 22 10 34 3 Arbroath 21 7 34 4 Queen of Sth 23 -2 32 5 Kelty Hearts 22 7 31 6 Alloa Athletic 23 3 30 7 Montrose 22 -5 25 8 Annan Ath 23 -17 24 9 Caley Jags 23 3 22 10 Dumbarton 22 -14 08 Arbroath went down 2-1 at Cove after taking an early lead through Andy Winter. However, two late goals for the hosts saw them snatch all three points with Megginson and Harrington the scorers. This was their Starting XI at Cove. Arbroath's Last six League games: W L W W L L Working back from the defeat at Cove, they lost 3-1 at Alloa but scored seven without reply in big wins over Montrose and Annan. A 3-2 defeat at Kelty brings them back to our last encounter in the Highlands which Arbroath won 2-0 with goals from Smith and Reilly in a game that Inverness had Robbie Thompson red carded before half time when the score was 0-0. During that period Arbroath have had a couple of games postponed. The January sales have been good for Arbroath: Aaron Steele has returned from Stenhousemuir. Big coup getting Sam Stanton in on loan from Raith Rovers. The vastly experienced Billy King (once at ICTFC) has signed on at Gayfield. Andy Winter came in on loan from Livingston and scored at Cove. Kieran MacKechnie signs on from QotS and Keeper Jack McConnell extends his loan stay for the remainder of the season as has Robbie Hemphrey. Callum Penman has also been brought in on loan from St Mirren. A few outs: Ross County's highly rated young defender Dylan Smith has returned North. Craig Slater to Forfar, Gordon Walker (without club) and Brynn Sinclair (off down under). Liam Callaghan, Quinn Coulson and Layton Bisland (loaned out).
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Revenge is Sweet Inverness gained revenge for a 3-2 defeat eleven days ago at Palmerston when Alfie Bavidge struck his fourth goal in five games with a neat finish from the left side of the penalty box after being fed through by Paul Allan following good work by the returning Luis Longstaff. It was a tight game against a robust Doonhamers side with on form Adam Brooks looking lively for Queens early on before the game settled down. Good pace and power from Bavidge to get on the end of the ball and slip it past keeper Ross Stewart. A slow burner of a second half with chances at a premium. There was a flurry of activity around Stewart before and after Brydon was sent off for persistent fouling and a second yellow card. Stewart made a couple of super saves late in the game as the hosts threatened to increase their advantage and he was in the right place to deny a slick flick from Longstaff when he met a cross from the right. An ultimately deserved win over a Queens side who adopted a 'they shall not pass at any cost' attitude throughout the game and no surprise they ended up with ten men. Unfortunately for us Annan pulled off a great win at Kelty but Montrose are now a target for the bottom three to aim at. Special mention for Michael Hewitt who managed to get play stopped for a head injury when we had possession but made a miraculous recovery to play a blinder for the remainder of the game.............. starting seconds later. The result was greater than the performance and we dug deep to get this win against an over enthusiastic Queens side who were prepared to use underhand tactics to try and derail our admin train. Great finish from Alfie Bavidge which won the points. Luis Longstaff was a popular choice for MotM after returning from injury. Chances were at a premium throughout the game. Dibaga blocked an early effort from Jordan Allan after twenty minutes before Bavidge struck. In the second half Alfie Stewart had an effort from twenty-five yards clawed away from the top corner and Longstaff was unlucky as he flicked towards goal from a front post ball in by Alfie B. Late in the game keeper Stewart kept out a prod forward from Paul Allan with an outstretched arm after good work down the left flank involving Billy Mckay sending Longstaff down the wing to cross to Allan. Like us eleven days ago, it's a long way home when there's no points in the bag... Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Stenny 23 8 35 2 Cove 22 10 34 3 Arbroath 21 7 34 4 Queen of Sth 23 -2 32 5 Kelty Hearts 22 7 31 6 Alloa Athletic 23 3 30 7 Montrose 22 -5 25 8 Annan Ath 23 -17 24 9 Caley Jags 23 3 22 10 Dumbarton 22 -14 08 Date: 01/02/2025 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1726 Referee: Alastair Grieve Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Bray, Devine, Savage, Nolan, Longstaff, Gilmour, Allan, MacKinnon (Cairns (83)), Stewart (Mckay (73)), Bavidge Subs (not used): Rebilas; Strachan, Ewan, Keogh, MacLeod, R Thompson, Scorers: Bavidge (36) Booked: MacKinnon (27), Gilmour (31), Bray (87) Sent Off: none Queen of the South: 0 Manager: Peter Murphy Lineup: Stewart; Douglas, MacIntyre, Hannah (J Brydon (56), Hewitt, Allan (Charters 37), Cochrane, Lyon, Walker (Smith 55), Dickenson, Brooks (F Bryden 70) Subs (not used): Johnson; McLinden, O'Donnell, Scorers: none Booked: Cochrane (20), Dickenson (27), Allen (28), Brydon (72, 81) Sent Off: Brydon (81) a
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*** VOTING IN THE POLL ABOVE IS FOR PEOPLE WHO WERE AT THE MATCH OR WATCHED A LIVE STREAM OR TV *** If you were at the match or viewing, please use the poll above to vote for your top 3 players. As a bit of fun, we have also added an option to rate the referee .... Please make sure you vote for 3 separate players. If you make an error, let us know so we can fix it. PLEASE ONLY VOTE ABOVE IF YOU WERE AT THE GAME or WATCHING LIVE STREAM or TV Anyone caught trying to cheat the system WILL be banned from voting in ALL site polls...this is your only warning. **NOT at the game ?** As a result of requests received, we have made a slight change to how these threads work for site users who listened to the full game live on the radio ....... You too will now be able to cast your votes, but should do it in the thread below, and NOT in the official poll above. Just list the three players of your choosing and award 5,3, or 1 point(s). You can give the ref a mark if you want too ! These votes will NOT be counted in the official total, as we only count votes from those who where actually at the game or viewed live streams, but it IS a way for you to participate in the process .... which many people asked for .... a happy medium we hope !!!!!
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The Queens Head North It's an early chance for revenge after we were beaten in Dumfries nine days ago as Queen of the South visit the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday afternoon, having won 3-2 at Palmerston. They have climbed to third in the table with former Caley Jag Adam Brooks scoring for fun in recent games. Luis Longstaff has trained this week and if he shows no reaction he will be included in the squad. Queens could top the table on Saturday night should they win and other results go their way. Our target is a win over Queens with Annan failing to win and that would put the Caley Jags up to eighth. Plenty of incentives for both teams to do well and that should make for another entertaining encounter. Remember to try the new improved bus service for home games. For 3 pm kick offs, buses leave the Bus Station at 1 pm and 2.15 pm. Buses return from the Stadium 10 minutes after the full time whistle and again at 6 pm. Stagecoach operates these journeys as normal bus services, open to all passengers, and at no cost to either the club or the Supporters Trust. Passengers holding Under 22 or Senior Citizen and Disabled Concessionary Cards will travel free on the service. For other passengers the fare is £2.40 for a single journey. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hospitality/Match/Ticket/Bus/Bar Bus to game Sponsorship ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue for H2H Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 22 13 3 6 39 26 +13 Away 21 8 7 6 36 25 +11 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 43 21 10 12 75 51 +24 Over the years we generally held the upper hand over the Doonhamers with home advantage showing a greater chance of taking all three points. Administration has it's knock on effect though and this will be a tougher ask than previous years. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 2 - 3 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 3 - 0 (A) 3 - 1 (H) It's one win each so far this season. A 1-0 win back at the end of August with Billy Mckay notching a first half winner during the Ferguson era. The next game was re-scheduled, hence the two in nine days with Adam Brooks grabbing a brace. Alfie Bavidge and Keith Bray had pulled us level but substitute Jordan Allan nicked the winner ten minutes from the end. A long journey home with no points after putting so much into the game. Maybe we can repay them this weekend. INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L(11)D W W W L W L W W L W Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game last weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. *It was then on to Palmerston on the Tuesday night but in a five goal encounter we went down 3-2. Alfie Bavidge notched his third goal in three games and Keith Bray added a second but goals from Adam Brooks (2) and Jordan Allan kept the points in Dumfries. We bounced back with a resilient 1-2 win at Alloa in our third away game on the bounce, Keith Bray with his fourth of the season and Alfie Stewart his first. Up next a revenge mission at home to QotS. *There were plenty of positives to be taken from the defeat against Queen of the South in last midweek. Alfie Bavidge is on form with three from three and Keith Bray added his third League goal of the season. Luis Longstaff was a big miss at Palmerston having been injured at Annan last Saturday and missed out again at Alloa. Scott Kellacher on Luis Longstaff: “He’s back in contention, he’s trained a fair bit so we’ll see how he gets on. He got through training today [Thursday] so we’ll see how he is tomorrow [Friday] and take it from there. He’s been back training a couple of days so that has been ideal to get him back involved with the squad.” Full Preview from Scott Kellacher Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 20 8 34 2 Stenny 22 5 32 3 Queen of Sth 22 -1 32 4 Cove 21 9 31 5 Kelty Hearts 21 9 31 6 Alloa Athletic 22 3 29 7 Montrose 21 -2 25 8 Annan Ath 22 -19 21 9 Inverness CT 22 2 19 10 Dumbarton 21 -14 07 L D W D W W Queens recent run of form has lifted them up to third in the table. A loss at Kelty was followed by a home draw against Annan Athletic then a win over Cove Rangers before drawing with Alloa Athletic. There was the Cup defeat against St Mirren where they gave the Premiership side as good as they got but just fell short and they picked themselves up to beat the Caley Jags in Dumfries in a five goal thriller. They then scored three again against Dumbarton. Adam Brooks has scored four in his last two games, five in the last six League matches and six League goals for the season. Meh! This was their starting XI against the Sons. With Harry Cochrane and Kyle Doherty out there were starts for Josh Walker and Lewis O'Donnell. Taylor Charters, a 23 year old midfielder, has joined on loan from Carlisle United this week for the remainder of the season and goalkeeper Murray Johnson has returned on loan from Hibs. Forward Leighton McIntosh has now left Queens.
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Wasps Stung by Caley Jags With storm Eowyn having passed over yesterday it was game on at the Indodrill Stadium within Recreation Park. The Caley Jags last visit here saw them relinquish a two goal lead within six minutes all too easily after Conor Sammon entered the fray. With the only League1 fixture failing to weather the storm being the Arbroath v Kelty game, this was an opportunity for Alloa to get up to second spot and for Inverness to keep abreast of the relegation zone with Dumbarton at Queen of the South. Charlie Dewar started his first game with Josh Gentles on the bench for the hosts. Luis Longstaff failed to make the starting XI or the bench with Alfie Stewart starting again for an unchanged visitors. Inverness took a first half lead through a Keith Bray header but immediately after the break Cameron O'Donnell equalised however Alfie Stewart got his first goal for Inverness with ten minutes remaining. We saw out the game thereafter and took a big step towards safety. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alloa were keen to take the initiative and Dibaga had to save from Conor Sammon in the first couple of minutes followed by Luke Rankin having his effort blocked. James Nolan and Stefan Scougall exchanged misses at opposite ends of the park after ten minutes as the game settled down. Almost midway through the half and a Sammon header brought Dibaga back into action, but it was at the other end that the first goal came. Keath Bray won a corner when his effort had been blocked and when Alfie Stewart swung the ball in Bray headed home to open the scoring. That's three in three for Bray, becoming a habit now! Adam MacKinnon fired goalwards after twenty-five but Morrison saved. Danny Devine picked up a booking and from the free kick Cameron O'Donnell went close but missed the target. Three minutes before the interval Alfie Bavidge almost got his four in four but his first time shot from outside the box hit the post. HALF TIME: 0-1 Here we go again as we lose a goal within a minute, Cameron O'Donnell scoring from close range to draw Alloa level. A bit of a lull in the game and possession had levelled out with a spate of corners for the Caley Jags producing nothing but a couple of bookings for Mckay, Bray and Nolan. Devine had a header pushed away from goal from an Allan free kick and with ten minutes left Alfie Stewart opened his account at the Caley Jags, slotting in after a great assist from Paul Allan. Kane Thomson had an effort saved by Dibaga in the bottom corner as the game approached the ninety minutes. Despite five minutes of time added on, the visitors saw out the game relatively unscathed and took a massive step towards safety. FULL TIME: 1-2 This was a huge win for the Caley Jags with Dumbarton losing and Annan Athletic drawing today after equalising in the last minute. Meh! Only two points behind Annan now and twelve points ahead of Dumbarton although they have a game in hand over us. We showed great resilience to weather the storm and push on for the win. Pleasing and deserved result after the disappointment in midweek at Dumfries. Biggest surprise was no goals for Alfie Bavidge today. Send him back Mantis on CTO: Never a dirty game but Alloa led us on bookings 4-1 before we came back to 4-4 but they snatched it with a last minute card Should have been out of sight at half time. Bavidge was probably poorer than usual but was unlucky when his drive came off the inside of the post. Paid for it within a minute of the restart and Alloa had a good spell for 15 minutes when we could have conceded. Any worries about tiredness after all the long away trips soon evaporated as we took control and forced corner after corner. Billy had a good chance but his legs gave up on him, then Stewart grabbed the winner, in a game where he started to show a bit of overdue class. What a player Keith Bray is. What a support we have right now Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 20 8 34 2 Stenny 22 5 32 3 Queens 22 -1 32 4 Cove 21 9 31 5 Kelty 21 9 31 6 Alloa 22 3 29 7 Montrose 21 -2 25 8 Annan 22 -19 21 9 Caley Jags 22 2 19 10 Sons 21 -14 07 Date: 25/01/2025 Venue: Recreation Park, Alloa Attendance: 0741 Referee: Steven Kirkland Alloa Athletic: 1 Manager: Andy Graham Lineup: Morrison; Thomson, Dewar, Neill, Taggart, O'Donnell (Buchanan 86), Virtanen, Scougall, Sammon (McDonnell 86), Rankin (Gentles 67), Donnelly Subs (not used): Ogayi; Graham, Honeyman, Mullen, Roberts, Cawley Scorers: O'Donnell (46) Booked: Virtanen (7), Thomson (48), O'Donnell (57), Scougall (70), Neill (90) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Bray, Devine, Savage, Nolan, Stewart, Gilmour, Allan MacKinnon, Bavidge, B Mckay (Cairns 83) Subs (not used): Rebilas; Strachan, Ewan, C Mackay, R Thompson, MacLeod, Scorers: Bray (21), Stewart (79) Booked: Devine (33), B Mckay (73), Bray (75), Nolan (77) Sent Off: none a
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After the Wind It's our third away game on the trot as we head for Alloa on Saturday should Storm Eowyn relent sufficiently to allow Alloa to host our League1 encounter at Recreation Park. It's scheduled for a 3:00pm kick off and is the shortest trip of the trio of away days which has given us one win at Annan and a defeat at Queen of the South so far. Nine points in the last six games for Inverness whilst Alloa have gathered seven points from their last six games. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Travel/Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L(11)D W W W L W L W W L Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game last weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. It was then on to Palmerston on the Tuesday night but in a five goal encounter we went down 3-2. Alfie Bavidge notched his third goal in three games and Keith Bray added a second but goals from Adam Brooks (2) and Jordan Allan kept the points in Dumfries. Oh well, on to Alloa on Saturday... Plenty of positives to be taken from the defeat against Queen of the South in midweek. Alfie Bavidge is on form with three from three and Keith Bray added his third League goal of the season. Luis Longstaff was a big miss at Palmerston having been injured at Annan last Saturday. We threw away a two goal lead on our last visit to Recreation Park after Conor Sammon came on and changed the game. Danny Devine and Calum MacLeod had put us in the driving seat but goals from Sammon and Luke Donnelly earned the Wasps a point. In November a Charlie Gilmour goal was the difference between the sides at the Caledonian Stadium as the Caley Jags took the points in a 1-0 win. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 20 8 34 2 Stenny 21 9 32 3 Kelty Hearts 21 9 31 4 Alloa Ath 21 4 29 5 Queens 21 -3 29 6 Cove 20 5 28 7 Montrose 20 -2 24 8 Annan Ath 21 -19 20 9 Inverness CT 21 1 16 10 Dumbarton 20 -12 07 Inverness CT Latest Team News Scott Kellacher talking at press/media conference: On Luis Longstaff“ He got a real bad dead leg. He’s going to be 50-50 for the match this weekend. He was a real big loss for us the other night because he’s a big player for us.” If he's giving nothing else away then that may be our major doubt, therefore expect us to be along similar lines to midweek against Queens. In fairness, we don't have much options available anyway. Alloa Athletic: W L L L W D A 2-0 win at Kelty was followed by three defeats on the trot to Montrose, Cove and Stenhousemuir (1-2, 2-0, 1-3). Highlight for Alloa would be their next game, a 3-1 win at Arbroath. They then drew 1-1 at home to Queen of the South last Saturday. Seven points from their last six League games. Luke Donnelly is top scorer with six goals backed up by the vastly experienced Conor Sammon (5) and Luke Rankin (5) Here's how Alloa lined up in the draw with Queen of the South last week. They have since added a couple of loan signings: Josh Gentles a striker from Rangers and Charlie Dewar a defender from Dundee United.
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Pointless at Palmerston Luis Longstaff missed out for the visitors after picking up an injury at Annan on Saturday. Queens had Adam Brooks up front after the player had to leave Inverness since administration. It was a lively start to the game in Dumfries. It was three in three for Alfie Bavidge as his early goal put the visitors ahead. However the lead only lasted two minutes as former player Inverness striker Adam Brooks levelled in the tenth minute. Nip and tuck thereafter in an entertaining first half with the hosts shading the possession and the opportunities but it was all square at the break and all to play for in the second half. Brooks added his second of the night ten minutes after the break. Chances went abegging at both ends of the park before Keith Bray equalised with fifteen minutes remaining. Alas substitute Jordan Allan was on hand to knock in the winner following a corner to keep all three points in Dumfries. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's an overview from CTO - Eagle4Caley: I journeyed up...Euston to Carlisle, Carlisle to Dumfries, Last train back to Carlisle, Overnighter in Carlisle, back in my London office by lunchtime...bloody loved it A bit chilly, but at half time was chatting to a Man Utd/QotS fan in the drinks queue, before discovering they don't take payment card, and he bought my coffee! (which got me through the 2nd half) Thought the team played pretty well last night, Longstaff being out affected the midfield balance in my view. When we equalised to 2-2 I think the team got too excited about trying to win and left themselves a bit open. There were times during the match when our defence seemed to consist of just the two CB's as the FB's were pushing up so much...the tikki-takki stuff seems to be largely out Bavidge is some signing, and Bray looked great at right wing-back. Slightly annoying that Brooks got two against us, but did he get a fair crack when he was our player or does he fit better at QotS Anyway that's another ground ticked off...roll on Dumbarton away in March FULL TIME: 3-2 An all action encounter with five goals and the home side edging it 3-2. An Adam Brooks double and a Jordan Allan strike won the points after Alfie Bavidge had opened the scoring after ten minutes. Keith Bray had made it 2-2 before substitute Allan forced in the winner with ten minutes remaining. A tough result to take after our second long haul in three days. It's a long way home if there's no points in the bag. Meh! Full report to follow Date: 21/01/2025 Venue: Palmerston Park, Dumfries Attendance: 0775 Referee: Gavin Duncan Queen of the South: 3 Manager: Peter Murphy Lineup: Stewart; Hewit, Douglas, Hannah, MacIntyre, Doherty (Jack Bryden 71), Luissint, Cochrane, Lyon, Dickenson, Brooks (Allan 77) Subs (not used): Thomson; McKechnie, O'Donnell, Walker, McLinden, McIntosh, Fraser Brydon Scorers: Brooks (12, 53), Allan (79) Booked: Hannah (41), Hewit (64), Luissint (74), Dickinson (76) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Bray, Devine, Savage, Nolan, Stewart (R Thompson 87), Gilmour, Allan (MacLeod 86), Mackinnon, B Mckay (Cairns 86), Bavidge Subs (not used): Rebilas; Strachan, C Mackay Scorers: Bavidge (10), Bray (74) Booked: none Sent Off: none a
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On the Road Again As Canned Heat once said to me, we are 'on the road again'. It's the second of three away games in a row as we head to Palmerston three days after beating Annan Athletic at Galabank. After this and weather permitting, we are off to Alloa this Saturday. That's a tough schedule for Scott Kellacher and his young side, but they have shown that they are well capable of competing at this level despite administration and all the hurdles that come with it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 22 13 3 6 39 26 +13 Away 20 8 7 5 34 22 +12 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 42 21 10 11 73 48 +25 We generally have the upper hand over the Doonhamers although many of these encounters are fairly tight affairs. We lost our last game at Palmerston which was in the Championship in 2022 by 2-1. Absolutely Buffered! After a sloppy opening from the visitors who appeared bus-lagged, Queens opened the scoring through Josh Todd who took advantage of a poor defensive clearance to finish tidily. Logan Chalmers did likewise after Queens gave away the ball in midfield, his finish was stunning. Queens went back in front before the break, goal was scored by buffering. A great finish by East I am told. Half Time 2-1 and there was no further scoring after the break. Our aim was to get enough points to clinch third place to get the slight advantage of playing at home in the 3rd/4th place play-off second leg with second place pretty much out of our reach. We failed to achieve that, on to the next game. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 3 - 0 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (A) INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L(11)D W W W L W L W W Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. We took part in the only League1 game last weekend and came away from Annan with a resounding 3-0 win, Alfie Bavidge netting again with Keith Bray and then Billy Mckay from the spot. On to Palmerston on Tuesday night (21st January). Here's the table ahead of our game tonight, the only League1 game before Saturday Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 20 8 34 2 Stenny 21 9 32 3 Kelty 21 9 31 4 Alloa Ath 21 4 29 5 Cove 20 5 28 6 Queens 20 -4 26 7 Montrose 20 -2 24 8 Annan Ath 21 -19 20 9 Caley Jags 20 2 16 10 Dumbarton 20 -12 07 Inverness CT Latest Team News Concerns over Luis Longstaff who came off injured at Annan. Luis is proving to be a valuable player this season with his trickery out wide and has been an important player in recent weeks. Other than that we are not aware of any other new injuries other than the longer term ones. Scott Kellacher talking to the media: On Charlie Reilly’s status “That deal has finished; the loan has expired and unfortunately, he is not under 20 so that rules out bringing him back. It was a shame because he’s a very good footballer, we’d have loved to have him back but if we are to take any players now they must be under 20.” On the other hand we have Alfie Bavidge “Alfie has been a breath of fresh air since coming in. He wants to score goals, wants to be in the right place, he anticipates things and he could’ve had a few more on Saturday if it wasn’t for their keeper pulling off some great saves.” Team News: “We’ve got a few struggling; we’ve got a few injury doubts. They’ll be assessed today [Monday], and we’ll see where they’re at after that. We’ve got a few but we’ll try and get through it, manage them and see how they are.” Longstaff will no doubt be the major concern. Queen of the South Queens were knocked out of the Scottish Cup 3-1 by St Mirren on Saturday at Palmerston with this squad on the left. Brennan Dickenson scored a superb volley after the interval to pull it back to 2-1 before St Mirren bagged a late third. Queens last six League1 games: L W L D W D Defeat at Arbroath was followed by a win over Stenhousemuir but again a loss at Kelty followed. A home draw against Annan Athletic then a win over Cove Rangers before drawing with Alloa Athletic. Last Saturday was the Cup defeat against St Mirren where they gave the Premiership side as good as they got but just fell short.
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3-0 on the Road Wullie Gibson has a couple of absentees in defence with Rhys Breen and Scott Hooper out, but left back Rico Quitongo will be added to the squad for todays game. Unfortunately, Tommy Goss will require more detailed surgery after his pre-op showed more work required to tidy up his knee injury and striker Aiden Smith is suspended. Scott Kellacher once again went with Alfie Bavidge up front with Billy Mckay. Alfie Stewart started on the bench. With seven points separating the clubs before kick-off, this was a vital game to avoid defeat if we wanted to reel in Annan and aspire to climb out of the relegation zone. A dull first half was interrupted by a goal and it was no surprise that it took forty minutes to open the scoring. Alfie Bavidge with his second goal in his second game made it 0-1 at the interval. Keith Bray doubled our advantage just after the break with a header and a late penalty won by Alfie and scored by Billy Mckay ended the scoring and brought us three points closer to Annan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Paul Allan had an early opportunity but he missed the target and Luis Longstaff brought out the first save of the game when Jamie Smith denied him from distance after a couple of minutes. It wasn't long before Musa Dibaga got a touch on the ball saving from Charlie Maxwell as Annan responded. Not much to shout about in the opening exchanges as Paul McGowan shot over approaching midway in the first half. Player manager Wullie Gibson earned his wages with a couple of great challenges and blocks to deny Paul Allen's effort from crossing the line. Around the half hour, Inverness missed a clutch of chances with Allen, Billy Mckay, Adam Mackinnon and Danny Devine all off target. Luca Ross was denied by Dibaga as Annan came out of their half before the interval but two minutes later the Caley Jags took the lead, and once again it was loan signing Alfie Bavidge that broke the deadlock after Longstaff sent in an inviting cross having made space for himself on the left wing, Alfie heading in from close range at the back post. Two in two for young Bavidge. He tried his luck with another couple of speculative efforts just before the break but never made the keeper work. HALF TIME: 0-1 The Longstaff - Bavidge combination forced keeper Smith into action just after the restart with Smith saving Alfie's header. Four minutes after the interval the visitors doubled their lead when Keith Bray headed home Paul Allan's corner kick into the bottom corner. The Dunfermline loanee's corner kicks are becoming the stuff of legend. It had been a great start to the second half from the Caley Jags and Allen fired over before Bavidge was again denied by Smith with an excellent save. Dibaga kept out an effort from Quitongo ten minutes from the end but it was the visitors that were in control. The result was put beyond any doubt with three minutes remaining when Billy Mckay scored from the spot after Bavidge was tripped whilst skinning the defender. Billy drilling his spot kick down the middle when the keeper moved to his left. Game over! What a result on the road and just what we needed as we clawed our way to within touching distance of Annan in eighth place. Alfie Bavidge has made a huge impact since coming in on loan and that's Billy Mckay's first goal since August 31st when he scored the winner against Queen of the South. That's his 114th goal for the Caley Jags and great to see him back on the scoresheet. FULL TIME: 0-3 The 3 B's Bavidge Bray Billy Annan 0-3 ICTFC (only game today) Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 20 8 34 2 Stenny 21 9 32 3 Kelty 21 9 31 4 Alloa Ath 21 4 29 5 Cove 20 5 28 6 Queens 20 -4 26 7 Montrose 20 -2 24 8 Annan Ath 21 -19 20 9 Caley Jags 20 2 16 10 Dumbarton 20 -12 07 Here's Wullie with his take on the game from Annan's perspective Date: 18/01/2025 Venue: Galabank Stadium, Annan Attendance: 0438 Referee: Craig Napier Annan Athletic: 0 Manager: Wullie Gibson Lineup: Jamie Smith; Dixon, T Muir, Gibson, R Muir (Quitongo 51), McGowan, P Smith (K Fleming 62), Ross, Todd (Carmichael 77), Maxwell, Stevenson Subs (not used): G Fleming; Bell Scorers: none Booked: T Muir (68), J Stevenson (74) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Bray, Devine, Savage, Nolan, Longstaff (MacLeod 79), Gilmour, Allan, Mackinnon (Stewart 71), Bavidge (Cairns 88), B Mckay (R Thompson 88) Subs (not used): Rebilas; Gardiner, C Mackay Scorers: Bavidge (40), Bray (49), B Mckay (pen 87) Booked: MacKinnon (16) Sent Off: none a
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One Week On Inverness travel to Galabank Stadium Annan for this rescheduled game which was a casualty of the winter weather last weekend. With both clubs dumped out of the Scottish Cup, this free weekend comes in handy to take up the slack after last weeks postponement and it negates the need for an arduous midweek trip to the other end of the world in mid winter. It's the fourth meeting between the sides this season with Annan holding the upper hand so far with two wins, with one of those being an away tie in the League Cup. Incidentally, we won the last encounter which was Duncan Ferguson's last game in charge before administrators took over the running of the club. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info Queen of the South next game ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's our report of Big Dunc's Last Stand: 1-0 - With Administration pending at the start of next week, this game might be the last time we will see the famous Inverness Caledonian Thistle in it's present form. Administration does not come alone. Redundancies and heartbreak goes hand in hand with it and that is the price paid for years of neglect. We had already lost twice to Annan this season, once in the League Cup and once on League business when a Tommy Goss penalty was the difference at Galabank but he was missing out this time. Paul McGowan and Wullie Gibson added their experience to the Annan starting XI. Danny Devine returned to the team but Charlie Gilmour, Adam Brooks and Charlie Reilly were missing. After a slow start, Danny Devine headed Inverness in front in the twenty-first minute. That's how it was at the interval with chances difficult to come by. The second half was similar with Devine coming closest to adding a second but his header was just the wrong side of the post and it ended 1-0 with the creditors closing in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A bright and breezy afternoon greeted the players on a somewhat sombre afternoon for the Caley Jags with the stench of administration lingering around the stadium. Annan looked spritely in the opening few minutes firing wide on a couple of occasions before Inverness ventured forward. Duncan Ferguson was yellow carded after discussing a penalty claim with the referee when Billy Mckay appeared to be barged off the ball inside the penalty area. After a couple of poor balls into the box Paul Allan provided Danny Devine with the perfect opportunity and Danny duly headed the Caley Jags in front after twenty minutes to lift the mood. Keith Bray was put through on goal on the right side of the box but keeper Smith spread himself to block well. HALF TIME: 1-0 The second period was less than entertaining with a bit too much faffing around outside the box and down the wings with directness the last thing on the minds of the players. Bray had a volley comfortably saved and Devine went very close following a free kick angled into the box by Paul Allan, Danny's header just bouncing past the wrong side of the keepers left hand post with Smith beaten. We did have a few attempts from around the edge of the box but they all went well wide of the target. Meanwhile Annan never troubled Musa Dibaga and two poor teams played out the final forty-five without adding to the scoreline. FULL TIME 1-0 INVERNESS CT The Season So Far D L D D W D D D L / W L(11)D W W W L W L W ? Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, there has been a more positive approach to our matches which has resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office. However, we bounced back in our first game of the second half of the season in the six pointer against Dumbarton with a hard fought 2-0 win. That win over Dumbarton was a vital one and the introduction of Alfie Bavidge was a welcome one as he opened the scoring early in the first half. Charlie Gilmour slotted in the clincher in the second half to give us a cushion over the Sons and to narrow the gap on Annan to seven points. Only a handful of League games across the SPFL Leagues this weekend and we are the only League1 game tomorrow. We also play Queen of the South away on Tuesday night (21st January) Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 20 8 34 2 Stenny 21 9 32 3 Kelty Hearts 21 9 31 4 Alloa Ath 21 4 29 5 Cove 20 5 28 6 Queen of Sth 20 -4 26 7 Montrose 20 -2 24 8 Annan Ath 20 -16 20 9 Inverness CT 19 -1 13 10 Dumbarton 20 -12 07 Inverness CT Latest Team News Nothing new coming out of our camp. One or two niggles but we expect the team to be along similar lines to the Dumbarton game. On the Transfer Window, Kellacher had this to say to the press: “There’s nothing going about at the minute, I’ve heard bits and bobs about clubs being interested and that’s what you’re going to get when boys are doing well. You want boys to be playing well every week and we’re getting results and that’s the main thing. As far as we’re aware, nothing will be happening in the short term.” Annan Team News Annan have signed midfielder Dan Carmichael from Dalbeattie Star since they fielded this side in a 1-1 draw against Stenhousemuir a couple of weeks ago. Tam Muir headed in the equaliser after Buchanan had given the Warriors the advantage just after the interval. Annan keeper Jamie Smith saved a penalty and there was a red card for Aidan Smith for his involvement leading up to the spot kick and he will miss out this weekend. Luca Smith's loan deal has been extended for the season. Last Six League Games: L D W L D D Only one win over the last six League1 games. That was a crushing 1-5 win at Dumbarton. Losses were against Montrose and Arbroath and also a surprise 2-0 Scottish Cup defeat at Fraserburgh. The draws were against Cove and away to Queen of the South and Stenhousemuir a fortnight ago.
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What's it all about Alfie Inverness bolstered their squad with a couple of Alfie's on loan from Aberdeen, Bavidge and Stewart. Jack Walker also returned from Nairn County ahead of the visit of fellow Administration side Dumbarton, in what has been described as a six-pointer and it's only the 4th of January. The covers were removed in double quick time thanks to around fifty volunteers who turned up to help get the pitch ready for today's game after a week of frost on a brisk Saturday morning with the sun splitting the sky. It turned into a bitterly cold afternoon but new signing Alfie Bavidge warmed the home fans palms when he opened the scoring after fifteen minutes. The Sons had to replace keeper Brett Long before the break after he caught a ball but landed awkwardly and had to get helped from the pitch. Replacement keeper Paddy O'Neil pulled off a tremendous save just on the interval but he had no chance with a powerful drive from Charlie Gilmour who doubled the lead twenty minutes from the end. The Sons battled hard and Finlay Gray struck the post but Inverness took the points to narrow the gap on Annan Athletic to seven points with a game in hand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With Alfie Bavidge running the channels up front alongside Billy Mckay and often Adam MacKinnon backing them up it was no surprise that Inverness were on the front foot in the early exchanges. It was no surprise that the hosts opened the scoring after fifteen minutes when a superb ball down the right wing from Luis Longstaff curled invitingly into the feet of Adam MacKinnon who had made the run forward. He went to the byeline before swinging in a dangerous first time ball into the Sons six yard box which they failed to deal with effectively. Alfie won't score an easier goal this season as the ball broke to him inside the box and he swept it into the net for a debut goal. Lovely moment for the young striker. His next attempt minutes later was not so profitable as a wild swing saw him slice the ball out for a throw in fifty yards wide. We'll ignore that one. There followed a bit of a lull with Inverness dominating play and Dumbarton looking to keep the damage to a minimum. They almost conceded a second when Billy Mckay was threaded through on the left side, however after skipping wide of Brett Long, the keeper recovered sufficiently to get a touch on Mckay's effort from the tightest of angles, the ball running across the face of the goal and out for a corner. The Sons then had to replace keeper Long ten minutes before the break after he caught a ball but landed awkwardly and had to get helped from the pitch. MacKinnon tested the sub keeper with a low shot from the edge of the box and the replacement keeper Paddy O'Neil pulled off a stunning save just on the interval diving high to his left to deny a thunderous Luis Longstaff volley from the edge of the box as he tipped the ball out for a corner which never happened. HALF TIME: 1-0 Dumbarton looked a bit more aggressive after the break and Ethan Brown's blocked shot brought about appeals for a penalty, but to no avail. Mckay had an effort saved as the hosts continued to dominate and with twenty-minutes remaining Charlie Gilmour side footed in a second goal after a short corner routine saw MacKinnon cut the ball back to Gilmour fifteen yards out and he first timed a side footer high into the net with power. That goal stung Dumbarton into action and they eventually managed to create a couple of opportunities of their own. Dibaga blocked well from Gray as he sprinted clear on the left side of the box. From the corner, Clark's header grazed the top of the bar although there may have been an infringement in the build up. Either way, a goal kick or free kick was given. Gray was then unlucky with twenty minutes remaining when he was put through on the left side again, this time he beat Dibaga at his near post but the ball rebounded to safety off the base of the post. Devine headed wide late on and a couple of promising moves broke down on the edge of the visitors box as Inverness then saw out the game in control. The only downside was an injury to Longstaff who was replaced by Alfie Stewart for his debut. FULL TIME: 2-0 A thoroughly deserved win after last weeks disappointing result against Cove Rangers. New signing Alfie Bavidge was rightly awarded the MotM, not just for his debut goal, but he was a constant threat, tirelessly running the channels like his olde man did back in the day and with plenty of pace and a good first touch. He also seemed to give Billy Mckay an extra spring in his step and he was unlucky not to score. He will certainly be an asset for the Caley Jags in 2025 and Alfie Stewart got a few minutes under his belt as well. Good start to the year for us and hopefully the springboard to go on a wee run and get back into the pack. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 20 8 34 2 Stenny 20 9 31 3 Kelty Hearts 20 9 30 4 Cove 20 5 28 5 Alloa Ath 20 4 28 6 Queen of St 19 -4 25 7 Montrose 20 -2 24 8 Annan Ath 20 -16 20 9 Inverness CT 19 -1 13 10 Dumbarton 20 -12 07 Date: 04/01/2025 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1894 Referee: Dan McFarlane Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Bray, Devine, Savage, Nolan, Longstaff (Stewart 75), Gilmour, Allan, MacKinnon (Cairns 85), B Mckay, Bavidge (C Mackay 94) Subs (not used): Rebilas; Strachan, J Walker, MacLeod, R Thompson Scorers: Bavidge (15), Gilmour (77) Booked: none Sent Off: none Dumbarton: 0 Manager: Stephen Farrell Lineup: Long (O'Neil 37); Pignatiello, Lynas (Durnan 68), Brown, Clark, Wilson (Hilton 68), Niang, Gray (Mumbongo 85), Blair, Shiels (McGuffie 85), Orsi Subs (not used): Young, Wallace, Doyle, Nicol. Scorers: none Booked: Shiels (60), McGuffie (88) Sent Off: none a
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Admin Derby It's the Admin Derby at the Caledonian Stadium on the 4th of January as fellow Administration adversaries Dumbarton FC come North for what has become a six-pointer already, four days into 2025. There has been a bit of a freeze on since the biblical rainfall early in the week and the covers are on at the stadium. With that in mind the club are asking for volunteers to turn up at 09:00 on Saturday morning to help remove the covers that are protecting the surface from the frost. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bar94/Bus from City Centre What it's all about Alfies Jack is back from Nairn Latest on the Admin Topic on CTO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The two previous meetings this season shows a draw at the Caledonian Stadium and a defeat at Dumbarton. The first encounter was dedicated to the memory of Johndo, who sadly passed away in 2024. Game of Two Halves: 1-1 :- A rousing round of applause rang out from the crowd on the sixth minute in appreciation of the dedication of John Mackenzie, AKA the Immortal Howden Ender who sadly passed away last week. A fitting tribute as cheering and clapping broke out around the ground and one in which he would have loved to have led the way. Rest in Peace my well travelled friend. You would have enjoyed the first half. The second I'm sure you would have had some choice words for in your after match summary. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was the proverbial game of two halves. Inverness were miles ahead in the first half and rubbish after the break. Plenty of possession and slick movement with new signings Flynn Duffy and Adam Mackinnon prominent in attacking moves. Charlie Gilmour brought out a tremendous reflex save from keeper Long, however most of the good work petered out when we got into the final third but we took the lead on the stroke of half time when Danny Devine sneaked in behind the defence to nod in unchallenged at the back post from a corner. Hey ho we all thought, lifes not so bad after all. Wrong!!! We allowed Dumbarton to dominate the next half hour and they deservedly levelled through Carlo Pignatiello as we seemed to go back into our shell. Niang was booked a second time for persistent fouling and reluctantly left the field when he was red carded. Billy Mckay had cracked one off the bar and Charlie Gilmour and Remi Savage were denied by the keeper but it was a bit of an anti climax after a promising first half. Jack Newman also had to make a good save five minutes from the end to keep the score level when he denied Mumbongo. The second meeting was Scott Kellacher's first game in charge after administration when he only had three days to prepare his reduced squad for the game at Dumbarton: 3-1 :- Handicap Hurdles: And they're off. With a fifteen point deduction because of Administration, we started our League1 campaign again at Dumbarton under the guidance of Scott Kellacher and Billy Mckay for the first time. Danny Devine and Charlie Gilmour were missing which would make Scott Kellacher's team selection more difficult. The Son's were along similar lines to last weeks excellent win at Arbroath. It would be an uphill battle after James Hilton fired the Sons ahead but Jake Davidson headed us level after half an hour and that's how it was at the break. Ryan Blair restored the Sons lead and Hilton added a third to push the Sons 15 points ahead of Inverness. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not much to shout about in the opening exchanges until James Hilton smacked in the opening goal from the edge of the box to put the hosts ahead quarter of an hour into the game. Inverness responded with player coach Billy Mckay firing over the bar. On the half hour and it was all square. Jake Davidson scored following a corner with a close range header, Paul Allan with the assist. The visitors upped the pressure on the home goal and Billy Mckay headed over before Adam MacKinnon's header was saved by Brett Long in the home goal. MacKinnon fired wide moments later. Mathew Shiels brought Musa Dibaga into action as the keeper saved comfortably. Five minutes before the break a neat move from a corner ended with the Sons defence having to block from Robbie Thompson as he offloaded. Hilton missed the target with a header just before the break as the ball bounced wide. All to play for in the second period. HALF TIME: 1-1 No changes at the interval. Brett Long saved from Mckay's low shot five minutes after the restart and the defenders mopped up the loose ball. Dibaga again denied Hilton just before the hour. Ryan Blair edged the hosts ahead after a corner was recycled. Blair finished with a curling shot behind the keeper. Hilton had been causing problems and he notched his second of the game and Dumbarton's third after driving forward and shooting into the bottom corner. A late flurry of activity saw Remi Savage head over from a corner and Sons sub Mumbongo shooting wide on the run. The last action had Long saving from Nolan as time ran away from Inverness. FULL TIME: 3-1 Our Season so far at the half way mark INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L / W L(11)D W W W L W L Since Scott Kellacher was handed the reins in game 11, their has been a more positive approach to the games which resulted in improved performances and a more enjoyable matchday experience all round. Alas we were brought back to earth with a disappointing result in our last game of 2024, a crushing 1-4 defeat at home to Cove Rangers. We'll have to put that one down to a bad day at the office and hope we can bounce back in this six pointer against Dumbarton, the first game of 2025. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 19 10 34 2 Stenny 19 9 30 3 Kelty Hearts 19 9 29 4 Cove 19 6 28 5 Alloa Ath 19 2 25 6 Montrose 19 -2 23 7 Queen of Sth 18 -5 22 8 Annan Ath 19 -16 19 9 Inverness CT 18 -3 10 10 Dumbarton 19 -10 07 Latest Team News Inverness have young defender Jack Walker returning from Nairn County after his loan spell at the Highland League side expired whilst Sam Nixon's stay at Forres Mechanics has been extended. Rumours abound that Aberdeen youngsters Alfie Bavidge and Alfie Stewart could be on our radar again on loan deals. No team news available from ICTFC at the moment. ***Update on Latest Team News*** Striker Bavidge, son of Martin, and midfielder Stewart have signed on loan until the end of the season and both should be available for todays game against Dumbarton. Happy days! Dumbarton's Last Six League1 Games: W D L L W W Their last League game in November brought the Sons a 3-2 win over Alloa Athletic. A re-arranged game then saw them draw 2-2 with the same club followed by two crushing defeats to Stenhousemuir (4-0) and at home to Annan (1-5) They have picked themselves up since then with two wins over Montrose (1-2) and a great result against Kelty Hearts last week (2-0). <<<That was their team lines for the game against Kelty where Kalvin Orsi scored twice late in the second half after Scott Allan had been sent off for the Maroons in the 68th minute. Two minutes later Orsi opened the scoring and a minute from the end he fired into the bottom corner to secure the points.
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Big Loss to Round off a Miserable 2024 Last game of Annus Horribilis had Cove Rangers as visitors to the Highlands on a damp but mild afternoon at the Caledonian Stadium. Robbie Thompson returned to the squad after suspension. Charlie Reilly and Jake Davidson were the main players missing. Paul Hartley in his 200th game in charge of Cove covering two spells was without Will Gillingham, Liam Parker and Blair Yule but Mitch Megginson returned after injury and Findlay Marshall and Declan Glass also started. This fourth meeting of the season between the clubs ended in a disappointing defeat. Declan Glass had opened the scoring in just five minutes after Dibaga had knocked away a shot from Megginson and on the rebound, Emslie. Megginson helped himself to number two after a corner. Remi Savage halved the deficit before the interval. Arron Darge headed Cove two ahead just after the interval, his second in two games. A late Emslie strike was the icing on the cake for Cove. Too little too late despite a late flurry from the hosts made all the more disappointing with the news that Dumbarton won whilst our goal difference took a hammering and Annan picked up a point. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An early setback for the hosts in the fifth minute when Glass scored on the rebound after Megginson's and then Emslie's shot broke to him from Dibaga. Glass had a second effort saved by the keeper a few minutes later as Cove dominated the early exchanges. James Nolan fired over before Megginson forced Dibaga into action again winning a corner. From that corner Megginson added a second goal heading in from the corner of the six yard box, his eighth strike in the League campaign. An uphill struggle after only twenty minutes with Cove dominating proceedings and Inverness unable to create anything of note. Out of the blue, we scrambled a goal back through Remi Savage following a Paul Allan free kick. Just what we needed to kick-start our afternoon. However, the ever dangerous Megginson was denied by Dibaga a couple of minutes later some five minutes before the break. The hosts were trying to salvage their poor first forty-five and Billy Mckay had an effort saved by Nick Suman as possession almost levelled out after Cove's blistering start but Dibaga had been the busier of the two keepers in a disappointing half for the home fans. HALF TIME: 1-2 Ethan Cairns replaced Mathew Strachan at the interval but we fell further behind minutes after the restart when Darge headed home following a free kick. Mckay was denied two minutes later from close range from Luis Longstaff's free kick. Suman saved from Cairns, tipping over the bar after an hour and Connor Scully shot just wide from a free kick with Danny Devine being booked for his troubles. Allan missed the target as Inverness looked to get a lifeline with twenty minutes left. Cove still looked more dangerous and Glass saw an effort saved by Dibaga after being put through by Megginson. Into the final ten minutes and Inverness were finding it difficult to break Cove down and create anything meaningful whilst Darge fancied another but headed off target. Keith Bray saw his shot saved by the keeper from distance and substitute Robbie Thompson headed wide. Adam Emslie rounded off the scoring as we chased a late consolation, slotting in from the edge of the box in some style. FULL TIME: 1-4 Well that was a kick in the teeth for the Caley Jags who were well beaten by Cove. A random summary on CTO: A game of 2 halves and we were sh!te in both Perhaps too much Christmas pud was had by those in red and blue! Couldn't keep possession - either pushed off the ball far too easily or passing to an opponent. Cove came prepared and soaked up everything we threw at them with ease, and with similar ease strolled through our defence whenever they fancied a shot at goal. They wanted it so much more than we did and could have won by a much bigger margin. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 19 10 34 2 Stenny 19 9 30 3 Kelty 19 9 29 4 Cove R 19 6 28 5 Alloa Ath 19 2 25 6 Montrose 19 -2 23 7 Queen of Sth 18 -5 22 8 Annan Ath 19 -16 19 9 Inverness CT 18 -3 10 10 Dumbarton 19 -10 07 Date: 28/12/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1974 Referee: Iain Snedden Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Nolan (R Thompson 85), Devine, Savage, Strachan (Cairns 46), Bray, Gilmour, Allan, Longstaff, MacKinnon, B Mckay Subs (not used): Patterson; S Thompson, L Walker, Gardiner, MacLeod, C Mackay Scorers: Savage (37) Booked: Devine (65) Sent Off: none Cove Rangers: 4 Manager: Paul Hartley Lineup: Suman; Lobban, Doyle, Darge, Harrington, Fyvie, Marshall, Scully, Glass, Megginson (Gaffney 81), Emslie Subs (not used): Demus; Murray, McAllister, McGrath Scorers: Glass (5), Megginson (18), Darge (49), Emslie (90+2) Booked: Harrington (81) Sent Off: none a
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Happy New Year I hope we will all have a great New Year and are looking forward to getting back to business as usual. For Inverness Caledonian Thistle that will be a case of steadying the ship, not dropping any further in terms of league positions, sorting out the massive black hole where the finances disappeared into, hopefully a new buyer with the interest of the club and the community at heart and the process of building bridges with the local business community and fanbase can be reborn and flourish. Alan Salvage, as we know him on here, has gone a long way to restoring the good name of the Caley Jags. There is, however, still a long way to go. Duncball, relegation, reign of tyranny, oligarchy, lies, deceit destruction and administration. This last season has seen our darkest moments on and off the park and one that showed that Immortality is real as one of our legendary supporters moved on to a spiritual level to oversee our resurrection from the ashes of administration. It's been a difficult time for the club and it's supporters who now have one of their own, Scott Kellacher trying his utmost to repair the damage done over the years of mismanagement. So far it's been a steadying process and recent results have been encouraging as he adopts a more positive approach to the beautiful game, something that has not gone unnoticed amongst the fanbase who are seeing the improvements from a year of Duncball; all possession, relegation and limited entertainment. On Saturday, we face Cove Rangers at the Caledonian Stadium in the last game of our Annus Seasonal Horribilis. It's scheduled for a 3:00pm kick off before Dumbarton first foot us on 4th of January 2025 bringing coal, shortbread, their own administration and a wee dram. To be honest, I'd rather have the three points instead. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters/ Bus Info Half Season Tickets Administration Topic on CTO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last 10 of 11 Competitive Meetings 0 - 2 (A) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 6 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 3 (A) 3 - 2 (H) INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L / W L(11)D W W W L W That's our League1 season so far, almost half way through the campaign for us. Scott Kellacher came in at matchday 11. His winning streak bookended by the losses at Dumbarton and the loss at home to Arbroath before last weeks stirring late drama at Stenhousemuir where Charlie Gilmour was credited with the goal after full time. We have played Cove Rangers three times this season and it's one win apiece and a draw. Cove's win was a Scottish Cup tie. Drab Draw: 1-1 Inverness hosted Cove Rangers and were without Flynn Duffy, Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns. Paul Allan and former Cove players Luis Longstaff and Charlie Gilmour had returned to the squad with Gilmour and Longstaff starting. Cove had won their last two outings and put three past Kelty Hearts last weekend with Mitch Megginson always a threat up front. Adam Emslie tapped in at the back post to open the scoring after twenty minutes. Substitute James Nolan levelled five minutes after the restart following a corner. A replacement official was required to complete the game and despite fifteen minutes added on, there was no further scoring. Caley Jags Get Vital Win: 1-2 Top versus bottom ended in victory for the Caley Jags who climb into positive numbers at the foot of the table. Cove had made one change from the win at Dumbarton as they looked for their fifth win on the trot. Findlay Marshall replaced Arron Darge. For Inverness, graduate Sam Reid took his place on the bench with Lewis Nicolson missing. On the field, Charlie Gilmour returned to midfield to bolster the squad with Connal Ewan out injured and boss Scott Kellacher would be looking to get into positive numbers with his positive team talks. However, it only took Cove ten minutes to get in front through top scorer Mitch Megginson. Megginson failed to convert a first half penalty with Dibaga saving and two minutes later it was all square when Adam MacKinnon drilled high into the net. With 25 minutes left, Keith Bray popped up with a much needed and deserved winner. This was a great result played out at Cove, sharpened at Inverness but made in the Isle of Lewis. Cup of no Cheer: 0-2 Jake Davidson, Keith Bray, Charlie Reilly, Connell Ewan and Lewis Nicolson were all missing for the The Caley Jags on Scottish Cup 3rd Round action at Balmoral Stadium, Cove. Fraser Fyvie was out for Cove. No scoring in the first half, not for the want of trying, but two very late goals, one from the spot after a dubious handball attributed to Danny Devine put Cove into the draw for the 4th Round. Substitutes Glass with the penalty and McGrath with a strike into the bottom corner sent the Caley Jags tumbling out of the cup after it was looking good for soooo long. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 18 7 31 2 Kelty 18 11 29 3 Stenny 18 7 27 4 Alloa Ath 18 4 25 5 Cove 18 3 25 6 Montrose 18 1 23 7 Queen of S 17 -5 21 8 Annan Ath 18 -16 18 9 Caley Jags 17 0 10 10 Dumbarton 18 -12 04 Latest Team News Inverness have limited options as is the norm these days since administration. No new injury worries that we are aware of and Robbie Thompson will be available after his suspension last week. Charlie Reilly will hopefully be getting closer to a return. Jake Davidson will miss out. Kellacher is reported to have one or two niggles within the squad, we'll have to wait and see what transpires. Cove Rangers Last Six League games: L L L D D W A poor recent run by Cove saw them drop from the top spot but they had a good win last week as they beat Alloa Athletic 2-0 in front of a mere 323 fans at Balmoral Stadium to get back on track. This was their squad for that encounter. Arron Darge scored his first goal for Cove with a header after twenty minutes. Substitute Myles Gaffney sealed the points in the second half with a couple of minutes to spare. Everyone is beating each other as Arbroath sneak their way to the top of the table. Cove are sitting in fifth place only six points off the pace. Ones to watch: Mitch Megginson (7 League ), Adam Emslie (4 ), Findlay Marshall (3 ) Connor Scully and Fraser Fyvie along with Emslie are able providers. Striker Mitch Megginson should be fit to return having missed the Alloa game, but Liam Parker and Blair Yule are still unavailable. Saturday will be manager Paul Hartley's 200th game in charge and it coincides with his 500th game in football management overall. Hartley is confident his team will be well prepared to mount a serious challenge for promotion in the New Year.
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Stormy at Stenny It was a wild wet and windy weekend at the foot of the Ochil's as troubled Inverness took to the park for the tenth meeting between the sides. Matty Aitken and Buchanan were out for the hosts with Corey O'Donnell starting up top and Bannon covering for Buchanan. On top of the visitors injury list, Robbie Thompson was suspended with Keith Bray starting and Ethan Cairns making the bench. A great save from big Musa denied Yates early in the first half but it remained goalless at the break in an even contest. Inverness forced the pace after the interval and Paul Allan did it again (we think) with four minutes of normal time remaining. There may have been a touch in the box but at the moment Allan is the hero. After the game it was confirmed that it was Charlie Gilmour that got the final touch. Still, another great ball in from Paul Allan. An important win with Dumbarton also winning at Montrose. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There was massive early save from Musa Dibaga and his bar as he tipped a wicked shot by top scorer Matty Yates from half a mile out onto the bar and behind for a corner. Oooooft! Paul Allan responded but missed the target before Dibaga then had to save an effort from Michael Anderson off Ross Meechan's cross. The hosts were pushing Inverness back at every opportunity and O'Reilly saw an effort blocked in the next attack. An Inverness 'goal' was ruled out for offside as we settled into the match. Charlie Gilmour headed wide from Allan's flighted free kick into the box midway through the half. The tide was turning somewhat and Billy Mckay had a header saved in the bottom corner by Jamieson before Adam MacKinnon was also denied by the keeper when his shot was deflected towards the keepers gloves. Ten minutes before the break Remi Savage knocked on Allan's free kick but Gilmour shot over. In the final few minutes of the half Stenny made a late push for an opener and James Berry was denied by the Inverness keeper before James Nolan brought Jamieson back into action. Yates had the final say of the half but Dibaga was equal to it and that was the last action of the first forty-five. HALF TIME: 0-0 After a fairly even first half the visitors started the second on the offensive and Keith Bray and Luis Longstaff missed the target in the opening exchanges. Longstaff headed goalwards but Jamieson was able to gather relatively comfortably. MacKinnon and Gilmour were next up to have a go but again Jamieson was alert enough to deny the visitors. With half an hour remaining the game was still up for grabs. A thirty-five yarder from Allan was tipped behind for a corner off the woodwork as the pressure mounted on the home goal and he almost did it again direct from the corner, alas his ball in struck the post. MacKinnon was next to be denied as he shot from outside the box, the keeper again in the right place. Mathew Strachan ventured forward, but he too missed the target from distance, as did Mckay from a Longstaff delivery. He's done it again. Paul Allan swung his corner in and the ball ended up in the net. There may have been another touch in the box, but at the moment, Allan has been credited with the goal and that's how it ended after four minutes of time added on. However the goal has now been awarded to Charlie Gilmour. As long as it's in the net, that's all that matters. FULL TIME: 0-1 Merry Xmas Yngwie on CTO: We were the better side and dominated the second half in particular, with the wind behind us, but as is often the case we lacked any cutting edge in the final third. When we did have clear chances or tried shooting from outside the box, the finishing was often woeful. And it’s increasingly clear that we need a striker to challenge/replace Billy, sorry. The pluses for us were that the defence did its job, Savage won everything, Mousa made a great save tipping a long distance free kick onto the bar, and in midfield MacKinnon and Allan did a lot of impressive stuff. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 18 7 31 2 Kelty Hearts 18 11 29 3 Stenny 18 7 27 4 Alloa Ath 18 4 25 5 Cove R 18 3 25 6 Montrose 18 1 23 7 Queen of Sth 17 -5 21 8 Annan Ath 18 -16 18 9 Inverness CT 17 0 10 10 Dumbarton 18 -12 04 Date: 21/12/2024 Venue: Ochilview Park Attendance: 0719 Referee: Graham Grainger Stenhousemuir: 0 Manager: Gary Naysmith Lineup: Jamieson; Meechan, Banner, Steele, Bilham, Berry, Wedderburn (Cameron 89), Anderson, O'Reilly (Alston 67), O'Donnell, Yates (Taylor 79) Subs (not used): Kyle; Scorers: none Booked: Yates (61) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Nolan, Devine, Savage, Strachan, Bray, Gilmour, Allan, Longstaff, MacKinnon, B Mckay (Cairns 90+4) Subs (not used): Patterson; L Walker, S Thompson, Gardiner, C Mackay, MacLeod Scorers: Gilmour (86) Booked: Devine (62) Sent Off: none a
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A view of the Ochil's for Xmas An away day to Ochilview Park lies in wait for the Caley 'IOU' Jags on Saturday. With the creditors looming, the club still running at -£10K per week and Administrators already running up a bill of over a quarter of a million pounds, are we a viable proposition or are we running on borrowed time? The financial mess left in the wake of the ill fated previous regime uncovered by the forensic sweep over club accounts is staggering. It's embarrassing to be honest and shameful that the list of creditors still owed money has over 140 names on it. These range from a few £'s to £1.6m in the case of former Chairman Ross Morrison. In total the Caley Jags IOU total is standing at over £3.8m and rising daily. Morrison, Allan Munro and David Cameron alone are down £2,721,751. That's not a lot if you say it quickly. How low can we stoop. I hope they all paused for thought when they donned their red poppy in November, the food suppliers are owed over £26K! There's also a geezer called Scot Gardiner who is looking for £70K and O2 are £1.64p short. WTaF. Meanwhile, on the Park Inverness have to pick themselves up after tasting defeat at home to Arbroath last weekend. The dismissal of Robbie Thompson means that he will miss out along with the injured Jake Davidson, Lewis Nicolson, Charlie Reilly and Connall Ewan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Travel/Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue (only 9 meetings) Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 4 3 1 0 11 3 +8 Away 5 3 1 1 10 5 +5 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 9 6 2 1 21 8 +13 Not many games against the Warriors over the years. Prior to the earlier fixture this season that ended 0-0, our next most recent game was a League cup encounter in 2012 that ended 1-1 at Ochilview. Our one defeat was back in 1997 at Ochilview. Match report by Ian Broadfoot can be read below. The rest of our meetings took place between 1996 -1998. All 9 Competitive Meetings 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 3 - 1 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 3 - 0 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 2 - 3 (A) 5 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) Stenhousemuir 3-2 Inverness: Aug30th 1997. The game started at a fast pace and the home side thought they had scored in 4 minutes when an Innes effort was cleared off the line. In 7 minutes an excellent McCulloch 20 yard shot was painfully blocked by a defender and it fell harmlessly into the arms of Alexander. Wilson had a great chance in the 11th minute - he was clean through after a good pass from Thomson but he dithered too long. Stenhousemuir took the lead in 18 minutes when a Roseburgh cross from the left was knocked in by Farrell from close range. The visitors fought back and in 26 minutes a Wilson corner led to an Alexander save from Cherry and a Teasdale header off the bar. The Warriors took control and came close in 29 minutes when a 25 yard blast from Fisher flew low past the post. On 45 minutes Fisher collected a pass 30 yards out, calmly drew Fridge and slotted the ball home. On 47 minutes the visitors came back into the game when Wilson was brought down and Thomson hammered home the penalty. The revival lasted for 3 minutes. MacArthur was judged to have handled in the box to the amazement of all who saw the ball hit his shoulder. The soft penalty was converted by Roseburgh. In 73 minutes Henderson had the miss of the season. He was one yard out when the ball came across the face of the goal but he failed to connect. In the 85th minute a 25 yard McCulloch strike was tipped over by Alexander. Ross took the corner and Addicoat forced the ball over the line with his chest to make it 3-2. Caley Thistle chased the equaliser in the last 5 minutes but could not penetrate the well organised home defence and overall the final score of 3-2 flattered the Inverness side. Starting XI in bold Alexander Sprott Roseburgh pen (Campbell 84) Armstrong Innes Law Farrell Fisher Little Brown Henderson Les Fridge Richard Hastings Iain MacArthur (Ross 75) Paul Cherry Vetle Andersen Mark McCulloch Charlie Christie Mike Teasdale Barry Wilson (Addicoat 75) Iain Stewart pen Brian Thomson INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L / W L D W W W L That's our League1 season so far. Scott Kellacher came in at matchday 11. His winning streak bookended by the losses at Dumbarton and the loss at home to Arbroath last week. The earlier fixture against the Warriors ended in a Bore Draw (0-0) Stenhousemuir came North for the first time since 1998 on League business when a Mike Teasdale brace won the day after Ian Little had opened the scoring for the Warriors in front of 1414 fans. Brian Thomson has been our all time top scorer against them with seven goals including a hat-trick in a 5-1 rout in 1997. Hope he has taken his boots along for this one. In an instantly forgettable first half, the only highlight was a brilliant penalty save from Musa Dibaga to keep the score level with opportunities non-existent for both sides. The closest we came was when Davidson shot just wide when we broke forward. The second half produced more of the same with neither side able to find the finishing touch. Another point and another game without a goal. Whatever way you spin it, it's another dire performance which won't encourage many fans to come back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A chilly afternoon with the threat of rain dampened the atmosphere and to be honest it must have got to the players who produced a dire first forty-five only brought to life by a superb penalty save from Dibaga. Nothing wrong with the strike, but the keeper guessed right as he dived full length low to his right to deny Matty Yates. The rest of the half was disjointed and Jake Davidson was the only other one that went close ten minutes before the interval. Half Time: 0-0 The second half was no better with half chances and missed opportunities. Anderson glanced a header a yard or two wide and Yates shot wide as the Warriors threatened to take control. However with defences on top it was unlikely that anyone would score and James Nolan lifted a shot over the bar after good work down the right flank by Longstaff and lay-off's from Billy Mckay and MacKinnon. Nobody could hit the target and Brooks dragged a long range shot two or three yards wide. MacKinnon had an effort blocked from close range from the edge of the six yard box. Highlight of this half was a tremendous block by Jake Davidson as Ross Meechan looked favourite to score. Unfortunately it was the same old same old as we struggled badly to create enough and take any chances that did come our way. Full Time: 0-0 Poor fare at the Caledonian Stadium as we huffed and puffed our way around the park to little effect. Great save from MotM Musa Dibaga to deny Matty Yates but that was all there was to cheer. We did have an early penalty claim brushed aside, as Billy Mckay seemed to be barged off the ball and another in the second half when Duffy appeared to be pushed in the box going for a cross. Either way, a draw was about right, but two poor teams on display..... That was Duncball for you! Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 17 3 28 2 Stenny 17 8 27 3 Kelty Hearts 17 9 26 4 Alloa Ath 17 6 25 5 Montrose 17 2 23 6 Cove 17 1 22 7 Queen S 16 -3 21 8 Annan Ath 17 -12 18 9 Inverness CT 16 -1 07 10 Dumbarton 17 -13 01 Stenhousemuir Last Six League1 Games: L D W W W L The Warrior's form over the last six League games is a mirror image of our own. One of the big differences is they have scored plenty goals. 4-0, 3-0 and 1-0 wins over Dumbarton, Cove and Montrose are sandwiched between defeats at and Queen of the South and Arbroath with a draw against Annan five games ago. This was their line-up in the 2-1 defeat at Palmerston last week. Reece Lyon put Queens ahead early in the first half. And look who added a second, none other than Adam Brooks with a sharp first time hit from a low cross into the box. Connor O'Donnell reduced the deficit on the hour but despite Queens keeper being the busiest, it ended in a loss in Dumfries. Unfortunately, Matty Aitken will be unavailable after suffering a kidney injury at Dumfries and has been receiving hospital treatment. Greg Buchanan is over the bookings threshold but should be available for this one. Matty Yates is top scorer with five and Blair Alston has four. Danny Devine is still our top 'striker' with three goals. Nat Wedderburn is still at Stenny. Latest Inverness CT Team News A disappointing defeat last week at home to Arbroath was not helped by the sending off of Robbie Thompson who will miss this clash at Ochilview. No news again from the Inverness camp but as we have heard nothing, can we assume we will be along similar lines with Keith Bray starting in place of Thompson. Talk of a new young striker in the New Year, but we need the goals now as Billy seems to have run dry. Missing last week were Davidson, Reilly, Ewan, Nicolson and Cairns. No news from the gaffers this week again
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The Curse Strikes Inverness and Arbroath met at the Caledonian Stadium as the Christmas shopping got into full swing. With the frost lifting, it was a chilled afternoon for this fixture with Inverness missing four longer term casualties in Jake Davidson, and Lewis Nicolson along with loan players Connall Ewan and striker Charlie Reilly . Ethan Cairns was also missing. Corey Patterson came in as an emergency loan due to an injury to Szymon Rebilas. Arbroath, like Inverness, were one of the form teams in League1 prior to kick off and talk of the Manager of the Month curse was rife. As it happened, the Curse saw Robbie Thompson sent off before the interval and second half goals from Dylan Smith & Gavin Reilly won the points for the Smokies. In truth it wasn't a great performance today, but we can't complain after the recent run we had been on. It was a result that puts Arbroath top of the table, not a bad week for them, and their assistant gaffer who had a Golden baby boy introduced to the world. Congratulations David Gold and fiance Claire. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A quick start from the hosts offered them what looked like a decent chance when a ball from the left was met by a couple of attackers near the edge of the six yard box, alas we seemed to try and walk the ball into the net rather than attempt a first time strike and the fleeting moment passed us by. The fleet footed Luis Longstaff tried to replicate his goal against Montrose from the previous week as he cut in from the left across the face of the box. It was perfect up until his parting shot which he dragged wide on this occasion in the tenth minute. After the initial surge, the game lapsed into mediocrity, littered with fouls and errors from both sides with Arbroath not in any hurry to venture forward. Robbie Thompson was booked for a soft infringement on Ryan Dow. That would come back to bite him on the arse before the interval. On the half hour and following a corner, Adam MacKinnon saw his fierce volley deflected just wide. Five minutes later, the already booked Robbie Thompson was sent off after he tripped Fraser Taylor who had picked up the ball about 30 yards from his own goal and was preparing to surge forward, albeit some 70 yards from Dibaga in the Inverness goal. A needless foul with plenty of bodies between Taylor and Dibaga and a simple clip on the heels was enough for the incompetent Colin Steven to produce a second yellow followed quickly by a red. Thompson slowly took the walk of shame and hopefully he will etch this in his brain for future reference. The sending off was all the impetus that Arbroath needed for the start of the second half and they showed that intent on the interval when after a wee flurry of attacks since the red card, Dow shot over into the North stand. HALF TIME: 0-0 The writing was on the wall from kick-off in the second forty-five and it was no surprise when Ross County loanee Dylan Smith headed high into the net in the fifty-second minute. We had been under the cosh in the opening gambits of the second half failing to clear our lines once too often. That stopped us feeling sorry for ourselves and we tried to make a game of it thereafter, but it was difficult to see where a goal was coming from apart from at the other end when Arbroath looked more direct going forward. Fraser Taylor should have put the game beyond us when Arbroath cut us open but his shot from the centre of the box was blocked by Dibaga who spread himself well on the hour. James Nolan fired a rebound just over after a shot had been blocked in the box and he met it around twenty yards out on the right side of centre. He also shot high and wide into the North Stand when on a promising burst forward and Charlie Gilmour fired a vicious shot over as we realised we were still within range of the Smokies. Our best chance of the game ended without making Smokies keeper McAdams work. A long diagonal ball from Nolan on the right side was well controlled by MacKinnon about eight yards from goal, but instead of bursting the net he stretched out a gangly leg early and his shot sailed harmlessly over the bar. Dow might have done better in the dying embers but he Dibaga denied him. However, we were caught up the park when Nolan fluffed his pass back to his keeper allowing Gavin Reilly to drive forward before calmly clipping the ball past Dibaga and watch it roll slowly into the empty net from twenty yards in stoppage time. Game Over! That was a stand emptying moment if ever I saw one. FULL TIME: 0-2 Our big highlight apart from MacKinnon's miss with fifteen to go was an Arbroath player having to pay to get back into the ground after Luis Longstaff left him for dead around the halfway line. Made me laugh anyway. A disappointing result and an untidy game to boot. We spurned what looked like a great opportunity in the first couple of minutes where nobody was willing to put their laces through the ball and the chance petered out. Some second half wasted opportunities but that would have papered over the cracks where we looked like we didn't believe in ourselves. Arbroath were equally poor but once we were reduced to ten the writing was on the wall. Only a matter of time. The second goal was immaterial as we never looked like scoring and it came as a result of an error from a pass back that gifted Reilly the ball to allow him to run on unchallenged in stoppage time. Dibaga made a couple of good stops when Arbroath should have put the game beyond us, unlike McAdams who could have sat in the stand. Dust ourselves down and we go again next week at Stenhousemuir. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Arbroath 16 4 28 2 Stenny 17 8 27 3 Alloa Ath 17 6 25 4 Kelty Hearts 16 8 23 5 Montrose 17 2 23 6 Cove 17 1 22 7 Queens 16 -3 21 8 Annan Ath 17 -12 18 9 Inverness CT 16 -1 7 10 Dumbarton 17 -13 1 Date: 14/12/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1531 Referee: Colin Steven Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Nolan, Devine, Savage, Strachan (Bray 68), Longstaff, Gilmour, Allan, R Thompson , MacKinnon (Gardiner 82), B Mckay Subs (not used): Corey Patterson; S Thompson, L Walker, C Mackay, MacLeod Scorers: none Booked: R Thompson (18+35), Longstaff (93) Sent Off: R Thompson (35) Arbroath: 2 Manager: Colin Hamilton & David Gold Lineup: McAdams; Smith, Watson, O'Brien, Wilkie, Murray (Spalding 58), Flynn, Taylor (Reilly 76), Stewart, Gallagher (Slater 76), Dow Subs (not used): McConnell; Coulson, Bisland, Sinclair, Callaghan Scorers: Smith (52), Reilly (90+3) Booked: Murray (13) Sent Off: none a
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Smokies pre-Xmas fare Arbroath are next up for Inverness at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday as long as we can beat the frost. It's a 3:00pm kick-off as Scott Kellacher looks for his fourth win on the bounce in League1. Arbroath have edged their way up to third in the table, just two points off the pace with a game in hand over the top two. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bar94/Info ***Supporters Trust AGM*** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ahead of kick-off and in Bar94, the Supporters Trust will hold their AGM Inverness Caledonian Thistle Supporters Society Ltd Notice of Annual General Meeting On Saturday 14th December 2024 at midday At Bar 94 – Inverness Caledonian Stadium The Annual General Meeting of Inverness Caledonian Thistle Supporters Society Limited will take place at Bar 94 in Inverness at the Inverness Caledonian Stadium at 12.00pm on Saturday 14th December 2024 Please note – if you are unable to attend and you would like to nominate a proxy on your behalf - please forward the details to [email protected] Also note :- The formal AGM meeting is expected to finish at 12.30 Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 27 18 5 4 62 22 +40 Away 26 11 7 8 36 31 +5 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 53 29 12 12 98 53 +45 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 0 - 1 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 2 - 4 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) We have played Arbroath twice this season. The first encounter was a no scoring draw in the league cup group stage where Arbroath won the bonus point after a penalty shoot-out. The League game played at Gayfield ended in a 1-0 win for the hosts when Gavin Reilly scored the only goal. Namesake Charlie Reilly who has on the treatment table since he joined us on loan from Dundee after debuting for the Caley Jags in that game. Another Blank: 1-0 Massive financial hurdles were put to one side as we went down to the Greenversity Stadium, or Gayfield as we all know it, for this Scottish League 1 fixture against Arbroath. With both sides getting off to a cautious start in the league this fixture between last seasons relegated pair might give an indication if either of them are capable of challenging for a play-off place at the top end of the table or will it be a few seasons in the doldrums, or administration or worse. Flynn Duffy, Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns were missing. Charlie Reilly came in on loan from Dundee this week met his new team mates today for the first time and Started up front with Billy Mckay. Arbroath were without Scott Stewart and Tam O'Brien with co-manager David Gold and Ross County's young on loan defender Dylan Smith in their starting XI. The other co-manager Colin Hamilton, Ali Spalding and Calum Gallagher were all on the injured list. After a goalless first half where Inverness were looking the more likely, Reilly opened the scoring. Unfortunately it was Gavin Reilly for Arbroath. Another Saturday, another game slips away. INVERNESS CT: Our Season so far... D L D D W D D D L / W L D W W W That is how our season has gone so far. Scott Kellacher has won his last three League games since he started five league games ago with a 3-1 defeat at Dumbarton and he will be looking for a fourth on the trot against Arbroath. That run in November where we picked up seven points from a possible nine earned him the League1 manager of the month trophy. Let's not get too carried away with that, as cast your mind back to last November when none other than Duncan Ferguson won the same November accolade. Nonetheless, congratulations to Scott for picking up this award and let's hope the curse of the MotM does not strike on Saturday. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Stenny 16 9 27 2 Wasps 16 7 25 3 Smokies 15 2 25 4 Jambos 15 8 22 5 Toonsers 16 1 21 6 Gable E's 16 1 20 7 Queen's 15 -4 18 8 B&G's 16 -16 15 9 Caley Jags 15 1 07 10 Sons 16 -9 01 LATEST TEAM NEWS Read Scott Kellacher's thoughts HERE. Remi Savage returned last week and Keith Bray made the bench. However, Jake Davidson, Charlie Reilly, Connall Ewan and Lewis Nicolson are all longer term casualties. No new team news available at present. Arbroath fielded this team last week in a 2-1 win over Queen of the South thanks to a late strike from Calum Gallagher. Douglas had put Queen of the South ahead with the proverbial screamer twenty minutes from the end. A couple minutes and a couple of inspired subs later and one of them Innes Murray fired in his own screamer. Two minutes later the two subs combined for Murray to cross for Gallagher to secure all three points. Arbroath were one of the bookies favourites before the season started and after a slow start they are now knocking on the door at the top end. L W W D W W Last six League1 results Highlights in this sequence were wins over Annan, Stenhousemuir, Cove & Queen of the South. A draw with Montrose and a disappointing 1-3 defeat at home to Dumbarton.
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It's behind you... Inverness were without Jake Davidson, Charlie Reilly, Connall Ewan, and Lewis Nicolson. Remi Savage started after being injured last week and Keith Bray made the bench. Former Inverness players Michael Gardyne and Matheus Machado started for Montrose. With points at a premium, and despite the Caley Jags creating plenty with Cammy Gill the busier keeper, it was Montrose that went in at the break two goals up. Graeme Webster headed in Michael Gardyne's free kick to open the scoring before Blair Lyons added a second ten minutes before the break. The second half started in the same vein with Inverness pushing to get a goal back but squandering opportunities that came their way. We bucked the trend after the hour when Luis Longstaff drilled in from outside the box. Montrose were reduced to ten men when Steeve's was red carded and a late Paul Allan double saved the day in true pantomime fashion as he scored direct from a corner to take all three points back up the A9. Oh no he didn't.......Oh yes he did ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Remi Savage took his place in defence but Keith Bray only made it onto the bench. Academy player Ben Gardiner was called into the squad for the first time. James Nolan shot wide early on and Adam MacKinnon brought out a save from Cammy Gill. That would be the order of the day as chances came and went. However, not so for Montrose who took the lead just before the half hour through Webster who headed in a Gardyne free kick. They doubled the lead ten minutes before the break when Lyons fired high into the net from the centre of the box. That apart, the half consisted of missed chances and saves by Cammy Gill who denied Billy Mckay and Adam MacKinnon amongst others. Half Time: 2-0 The second half was similar to the first with Inverness probing, missing and Gill saving. However he could do nothing to stop Longstaff drilling into the bottom corner after the hour. Game on, and moreso ten minutes later when Steeves received a straight red card. Billy Mckay and Adam Mackinnon were notably denied by keeper Gill and it was all hands to the pumps for for Montrose now but they were powerless to stop Paul Allan slotting in an equaliser in the 88th minute. No more than Inverness deserved for their attacking endeavour. However, we weren't finished and absolute limbs in the 94th minute when Paul Allan's shot come cross from a corner ended up in the net for the visitors to snatch a deserved win and three valuable points. Full Time 2-3 (phew) A dramatic ending to the game with Paul Allan snatching the win and up until that moment probably the MotM award from Cammy Gill who broke Inverness hearts on at least a dozen occasions throughout the game. When Paul's dipping corner ended up in the net, the MotM award was diverted to the Inverness match winner with Gill holding his head in disbelief. What a comeback. I doubt this would have happened under Duncan Ferguson's tenure. With his negative approach we would have been more likely to take on another couple of defenders and retain possession. Not for Scott Kellacher who continued to drive his team forward and deservedly got all three points at the death. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Stenny 16 9 27 2 Alloa Ath 16 7 25 3 Arbroath 15 2 25 4 Kelty Hearts 15 8 22 5 Cove 16 1 21 6 Montrose 16 1 20 7 Queen of Sth 15 -4 18 8 Annan Ath 16 -16 15 9 Inverness CT 15 1 7 10 Dumbarton 16 -9 1 A chuffed Scott Kellacher Is he having a laugh... Date: 07/2/2024 Venue: Links Park, Montrose Attendance: 0502 Referee: Lloyd Wilson Montrose: 2 Manager: Stuart Petrie Lineup: Gill; Dillon, Quinn, Mckenzie (Steeves 49), Bertie, Masson (Maciver-Redwood 70), Gardyne, Webster (Shrive 76), Machado, Hester (Brown 60), Lyons (Hannah 76) Subs (not used): Mathews; Balfour, Watson Scorers: Webster (27), Lyons (38) Booked: Lyons (32), Masson (40), Brown (88) Sent Off: Steeves (74) Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Nolan, Devine, Savage, Strachan (Cairns 76), Longstaff, Gilmour, Allan, R Thompson (Bray 72), MacKinnon, B Mckay Subs (not used): Rebilas; S Thompson, C Mackay, L Walker, MacLeod, Gardiner Scorers: Longstaff (64), Allan (88, 90+4) Booked: none Sent Off: none a
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Links Park Test It's another away game for the Caley Jags as they head to Links Park, Montrose for another tough fixture on the road in our quest to get closer to the teams above us. We tumbled out of the Cup last weekend at Cove whilst Montrose earned a trip to Hampden, the prize for beating Peterhead 2-3 at Balmoor Stadium. Scott Kellacher has mounting injury concerns with Defender Remi Savage the latest to be added to the list that already has the names of Jake Davidson, Keith Bray, Charlie Reilly, Connall Ewan and Lewis Nicolson. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Travel/Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last 3 Competitive Meetings are the only relevant ones May (play offs & League1 fixture) 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) This seasons fixture at the Caledonian Stadium ended all square. New Start Same Problems: The first game after the olde CEO was prized from his oligarchy bubble saw a decent crowd turn out in appreciation of the efforts of Alan Savage to right the wrongs. It won't happen overnight, but the first steps have been taken to put some life back into the ailing Caley Jags. On the park, Musa Dibaga replaced the injured Jack Newman in goal with emergency loan keeper from Clach Martin MacKinnon on the bench. Keith Bray kept his place with Adam Brooks on the bench. Montrose were the visitors and they are a more settled side although Michael Gardyne was suspended with former Inverness youth player Matheus Machado starting. Both teams were looking for their first win of the League campaign. Kane Hester scored after twenty minutes but on the interval Montrose were reduced to ten men when Sean Dillon was sent off. After the break it was one way traffic against the ten men and no surprise when Adam MacKinnon equalised. However the winning goal eluded us and it was a point apiece. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was an overcast, breezy and somewhat chilly afternoon with an Autumnal feel about it as the teams emerged from the tunnel, Inverness in their new strip, the visitors in white tops with black shorts. Prior to kick off Captain Billy Mckay was presented with a wee memento on reaching 300 appearances for the Caley Jags, not to mention his 112 goals for the club. The first action saw Keith Bray's shot deflected at the expense of a corner when he spun on the edge of the box and tried to get his shot away in the seventh minute. Twenty minutes in and what a finish for the opening goal. Former Elgin player Kane Hester opened the scoring with a tremendous strike into the top corner from a tight angle after his mis-control seemed to deceive Danny Devine to give the visitors the early advantage. Machado was booked a minute later. Billy Mckay came close to levelling the scores after half an hour when Cammy Gill turned his shot across the keeper onto the post with his fingertips. It was a half littered with fouls and Luis Longstaff shot over ten minutes before the break. Sean Dillon headed over at the other end before he received a second yellow card for a late challenge on Billy Mckay. How dare he on his 300th appearance! That was on the interval to leave the visitors to face the second half a man short but a goal to the good. HALF TIME: 0-1 Mathew Strachan replaced Flynn Duffy at the start of the second half and Gill denied Longstaff shortly after. The other Duffy was hooked for Callum MacLeod ten minutes into the half and Mckay was again foiled by Gill as he shot from inside the box. It was turning into a procession towards Cammy Gill and Longstaff and Gilmour had a go before Adam Mackinnon equalised just after the hour, drilling home from outside the box. He almost scored a second moments later. Mckay would not find that elusive strike as Gill saved again and Gilmour was blocked before Davidson should have done better at the back post. MacKinnon had another couple of attempts ten minutes from the end and Mckay was denied for the 300th time by the keeper in the top corner. We plugged away until the end but try as we did, the winning goal eluded us and it ended all square. FULL TIME: 1-1 Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Stenny 15 5 24 2 Kelty Hearts 14 10 22 3 Alloa Ath 15 5 22 4 Arbroath 14 1 22 5 Montrose 15 2 20 6 Cove 15 1 20 7 Queen of Sth 14 -3 18 8 Annan Ath 15 -16 14 9 Inverness CT 14 0 4 10 Dumbarton 15 -5 1 Montrose squad last time out at Peterhead. I see that Michael Gardyne is still there along with Kane Hester and Matheus Machado. Plenty experience between the sticks in Cammy Gill and Sean Dillon in defence. Montrose last six League games: W L L D L W Highlights: Wins at Kelty (2-0) & at home to Annan (2-1) Lowlights: Defeat at home Cove (0-2), QotS away (1-0), Stenny away (1-0) Meh result: Arbroath at home (1-1) Last Week: 2-3 win at Peterhead in the Scottish Cup Latest Team News from Inverness CT INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L / W L D W W That is how our season has gone so far. Scott Kellacher won his last two League games and will be desperate for a third. Remi Savage and Keith Bray might make the squad this weekend but it's touch and go. Jake Davidson, Charlie Reilly, Connall Ewan and Lewis Nicolson are all longer term casualties.
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Cup of no Cheer Jake Davidson, Keith Bray, Charlie Reilly and Lewis Nicolson were all missing for the The Caley Jags on Scottish Cup 3rd Round action at Balmoral Stadium, Cove. Fyvie was out for Cove. No scoring in the first half, not for the want of trying, but two very late goals, one from the spot after a dubious handball attributed to Danny Devine put Cove into the draw for the 4th Round. Substitutes Glass with the penalty and McGrath with a strike into the bottom corner sent the Caley Jags tumbling out of the cup after it was looking good for soooo long. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A mild St Andrew's day at Balmoral greeted the sides and a moment of respect before kick-off for a stalwart, Cove's former coach, physio, kit man and long time friend and supporter Mike Pirie who recently passed away. There was an early touch of the ball in the third minute for Musa Dibaga who had to save a curling shot from Findlay Marshall when he let fly from outside the box. It was all a bit frantic in the opening exchanges with opportunities hard to come by on the artificial surface, the same could not be said for free kicks that were dished out at the drop of a hat. Danny Devine had our first serious attempt after quarter of an hour when his shot from outside the area was saved by Balint Demus in the home goal. The keeper did well again ten minutes later to deny an Adam MacKinnon header from eight yards out, the keeper pushing the ball away after MacKinnon met a great cross from the right. Robbie Thompson was next to have a go but his left footed shot on the run from the edge of the box was too close to the keeper who gathered easily. Dibaga saved a weak effort from Megginson, but it was Demus that had been the busier keeper and he was made to work harder five minutes before the break when MacKinnon let fly from eighteen yards and he pulled off another great save to deny the lively Inverness forward. HALF TIME: 0-0 Cove started the half on the front foot and Reuben McAllister saw Dibaga gather his flick towards goal from Adam Emslie's inviting cross. Musa denied McAllister from a free kick, saving low to his right then smothering the cross back into the box as Cove began to push forward more although the game was littered with either petty fouls or poor refereeing. Probably a bit of both. Billy Mckay had an opportunity from a long ball into the box from the left side but he hit his first time effort into the ground and that made it easier for Demus to make the save. Savage was replaced by Calum Mackay for the final twenty minutes and that started the rot. Out of the blue, up step Mr Hanvidge to award a penalty when the linesman with a clear view signalled for a corner after Devine charged down an attempted cross from a couple of yards from his body. Incredible refereeing not lost on the entire Caley Jags staff and players. Substitute Declan Glass remained calm to slot the ball into the keepers right, unfortunately the keeper had dived to his left. That seemed to take the wind out of our sails and despite six minutes of added time it was Cove that broke forward to end the tie in the 96th minute. As we pushed for an equaliser, a ball out of defence from Glass found Grady McGrath sprinting forward unchallenged to dink the ball behind the exposed keeper. Game over and out of the cup for Inverness. Thank you Gary Hanvidge for ruining our weekend. Good luck to Cove in the next round. FULL TIME: 2-0 A disappointing result given a possible pot of money if afforded a favourable draw. Bring on the "the league is more important anyway" brigade, which, whilst true, doesn't disguise the fact that this was a winnable tie that we lost. Meh! Another downside of this game was an injury to Remi Savage late in the game before the two goals were scored. Nobody happy with the penalty and a sucker punch when chasing the game thereafter. Here's a leaked image of the Caley Jags being knocked out of the Cup down by the sea. Was it a penalty? Very harsh if true at all. It matters not a jot now so let's concentrate on the League games. Only one aim now and that is to claw back the deficit on Annan and co. Danny Devine may have been red carded in the tunnel after the game ended as he questioned the referee over the penalty awarded which basically changed the outcome of this game. Either that or he was asking him if he was qualified to do the job! That may mean he misses the next Scottish Cup tie, depends on what the ref's report said. Date: 30/11/2024 Venue: Balmoral Stadium, Cove Attendance: 0539 Referee: Gary Hanvidge Cove Rangers: 2 Manager: Paul Hartley Lineup: Demus; Doyle, Gillingham, Harrington, Scully, Emslie, Yule, Megginson (McGrath 91),McAllister, Darge, Marshall (Glass 72), Subs (not used): Suman; Murray, Lobban, Gaffney Scorers: Glass (89 pen), McGrath (96) Booked: Yule (30), Marshall (68) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Nolan, Devine, Savage (C Mackay 82), Strachan (Cairns 91), Longstaff, Gilmour, Allan, R Thompson (MacLeod 71), Mackinnon, B Mckay Subs (not used): Rebilas; L Walker, S Thompson Scorers: none Booked: Longstaff (32), Devine (68), B Mckay (88) Sent Off: none a
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Queen of the South -V- Inverness CT - League1 - Postponed
tm4tj posted an article in Previews 2024-25
Storm Bert Incoming? ***BERT CAME IN GAME OFF*** We are scheduled to take on Queen of the South at Palmerston this Saturday afternoon should Bert allow a window of calm to let the game go ahead. Two wins on the trot for Scott Kellacher and his administration hit squad have given the Caley Jags a glimmer of hope of avoiding relegation to League2. I'm sure Scott would rather that we played this weekend to keep us on a roll, but Bert might put a stop to that. The sad news that Dumbarton have also entered administration has given us further incentive to maintain our form and focus on gaining another place in the table. It's not the way we would like to escape relegation, but the antiquated rules in operation hit those that can ill afford them and that's the sad state of the game outside of the top table. Anyway, should the weather relent, then Palmerston it is for us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info & Preview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Season so Far on the park INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L / W L D W W Our season got off to a slow start with a draw at home to Dumbarton followed by a penalty defeat at Annan. Another two draws against Montrose (h) and Kelty Hearts (a) before our first win of the season over Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium. We beat Stirling Albion 3-0 to send us into a fourth Rnd tie away to Livingston thanks to a brace from Adam Brooks and a strike from Adam MacKinnon. That was followed up by us throwing away a two goal lead at Alloa to end up with a 2-2 draw six minutes later. A Danny Devine volley and Calum MacLeod with his first goal for the club were the scorers at Recreation Park. Last time out we had a disappointing 1-1 draw at home against Cove Rangers who opened the scoring through Adam Emslie. James Nolan on loan from Manchester United's youth squad levelled the game before the hour. Next up was a home game against Stenhousemuir. Quite frankly this was a dull game with neither side able to score although Musa Dibaga did make a wonderful penalty save in the first half. Relegated Arbroath was our final game of the opening round of fixtures and despite creating enough chances, we came away from Gayfield with our second defeat of the League1 campaign. Away from League duty last weekend, we put up a good fight against Livingston in the Challenge Cup at Almondvale but lost out 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out after it finished 2-2 over the ninety minutes. Paul Allan and Charlie Gilmour were our scorers during the ninety minutes. Our first game in the second round of fixtures turned out to be Duncan Ferguson's last stand. It ended like his first game in charge, a win as we defeated Annan 1-0 at home. Administration and management removal followed by five players being released and fifteen points being wiped off our total. First game after Admin was at Dumbarton with Scott Kellacher as head coach and Billy Mckay his assistant on and off the park. Alas it ended in a 3-1 defeat after a promising first hour. Kelty Hearts came North next and went away with a point in a 1-1 draw. Kell's got his first win in week (unlucky for some)13, a deserved 2-1 win at top of the table Cove Rangers. Alloa were up next at Inverness in matchday 14 and another 1-0 win thanks to a second half strike from Charlie Gilmour. Our first win of the season was in the Duncan Ferguson era on Matchday5: A first half goal from Billy Mckay in a turgid encounter was enough to secure all three points. A bit of pinball around the visitors goal ended with Billy scoring from close range. Referee Gavin Duncan was the focal point of many a strange decision as he ignored two big penalty claims for the hosts, and a brilliant goalline clearance from an Adam Brooks effort kept Queens in with a chance. Despite a late flurry from Queens we held on for our first win of the League 1 campaign. The downside of these industrial challenges today was that both Duffy's left the field injured, Flynn on a stretcher. Duncan Ferguson was also red carded for continually questioning the referee's decisions. One in particular when Brooks was booked for simulation instead of being awarded a penalty. Baffling incompetence from the ref! On the plus side, the pitch looked in fantastic condition. The points were more important than the performance. However, it was encouraging to kick-start our season today and put us only three points off the pace in the table. Billy Mckay beavered away on scraps and got his reward in the first half and Brooks was unfortunate a couple of times. Musa Dibaga did not have too much to deal with, but he seemed to read situations well and took the pressure off the defence with some good catches under pressure, especially when Queens were hurling massive throw-ins into our penalty box in the final quarter of the game. Devine and Savage were solid in the heart of the defence but it was disappointing to lose both full backs to injury. That goal was Billy Mckay's last goal for the Caley Jags and his 113th for the club. Time for some more now the shackles are off. This is how the table looked after Matchday5 Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Kelty Hearts 5 5 9 2 Stenhousemuir 5 3 9 3 Alloa Athletic 5 2 9 4 Queen of Sth 5 1 7 5 Inverness CT 5 0 6 6 Montrose 5 0 6 7 Annan Athletic 5 -4 6 8 Dumbarton 5 0 5 9 Cove Rangers 5 -3 4 10 Arbroath 5 -4 3 Here's the scheduled fixtures and the current table after Admin for Inverness & Dumbarton Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Kelty Hearts 14 10 22 2 Arbroath 14 1 22 3 Alloa Athletic 14 5 21 4 Stenny 14 2 21 5 Cove Rangers 14 4 20 6 Queen of Sth 14 -3 18 7 Montrose 14 1 17 8 Annan Ath 14 -15 14 9 Inverness CT 14 0 4 10 Dumbarton 14 -5 0 Queen of the South's tale of the tape at Palmerston (7 games). Home wins: 5 v Cove Rangers 2-1, Annan Athletic 2-0, Arbroath 2-1, Montrose 1-0, Dumbarton 2-1. Home loss: 1 A 5-1 hammering from Kelty Hearts on 5th October. Home draw: 1 A 1-1 Draw with Alloa Athletic on 9th November This was Queens last starting XI in a 2-1 defeat at Dumbarton last week. Michael Ruth opened the scoring in the second half but ten minutes later Queens thought they had secured a point when Kyle Doherty netted. Alas for them, and us, Tony Wallace won the points with a 95th minute winner. McKechnie and Hewitt both have three League goals, as has our own Danny Devine. Queens have scored 12 League goals, the same as Inverness. The main difference though is 11 of those have come at home.-
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Wasps Stung Inverness were looking to push on up the table but leaders Alloa were looking to remain unbeaten away from home in League1. Something was going to give. Robbie Thomson replaced the injured Keith Bray (shoulder) in the only change from last week. Sammon and Cawley were again starting on the bench for Alloa. Inverness dominated most of the game with both keepers having to make a crucial save. With twenty minutes left, Charlie Gilmour slotted in the only goal after great work by Adam MacKinnon down the left. No more than we deserved to be honest and another vital three points, much appreciated by the home fans. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A chilly and showery afternoon greeted the teams as they kicked off in this top versus bottom encounter. A slow start from both sides with Jake Davidson and Adam MacKinnon firing the first warning shots of the afternoon. Davidson's afternoon was cut short after quarter of an hour when he burst forward into the box. Unfortunately keeper Morrison came out to meet him at the corner of the six yard box and Jake came off second best as they clashed. Jake's day was over and Mathew Strachan was called into the game to go to left back with James Nolan switching wings to cover the right back berth. Billy Mckay almost sneaked in the opening goal as he pounced on a ball into the box from Paul Allen's free kick, Morrison denying the striker diving low to his right. Robbie Thompson did well but his final shot was dragged wide as the hosts looked the likeliest to open the scoring. Alloa eventually woke up just before the break and picked up a couple of yellow cards but Musa Dibaga remained untroubled at the interval. HALF TIME: 0-0 Alloa probably got a rocket at the interval for their lacklustre approach and looked sharper in the second period. Dibaga saved from Luke Rankin and Callum Waters shot wide but it was at the other end where a goal almost came when Morrison saved from Billy Mckay. A wake up call for the hosts when Donnelly headed onto the post with Dibaga scrambling across goal to try and cover his line. On the hour Adam MacKinnon hit the post at the other end and Paul Allen fired the rebound wide as he shot across the keeper and wide of the post. Danny Devine had a header saved before the winning goal was scored. A recycled ball was taken wide of the box by MacKinnon on the left flank. He did well to pick out Charlie Gilmour who buried his low cut back behind Morrison to the relief of the North Stand. Big Musa saved from Kevin Cawley as Alloa made a late surge to try and get something from the game but a confident Musa and his defence stood firm to a man to ensure the Caley Jags picked up successive wins against the teams at the top. FULL TIME: 1-0 Two wins on the trot for Billy and Kells and not only wins but a dash of panache at times as well. Unfortunate not to score more and fairly comfortable most of the game. Only downside was an injury to Jake Davidson as he was challenged on his own through ball by keeper Morrison. He was replaced by Strachan with Nolan moving to the right side where he combined well with the busy Longstaff. More match reaction>>> Scott Kellacher says his Caley Thistle players stood up and were counted as they defeated Alloa Athletic 1-0 for a second successive victory. “You can see from the boys’ performances that’s what we’re looking to portray on the pitch. “I am delighted for everyone at the club including the staff working behind the scenes. We’re all in this together. “We’re going in the right direction in terms of players, fans, staff and everyone coming together. “When you work as hard as we do, around the stadium or on the pitch, with the fans getting behind us, you can see how much it helps.” Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table after matchday 14. Off to Dumfries next Saturday 1. Kelty Hearts 14 6 4 4 23 13 22 2. Arbroath 14 6 4 4 17 16 22 3. Alloa Athletic 14 5 6 3 17 12 21 4. Stenhousemuir 14 6 3 5 17 15 21 5. Cove Rangers 14 6 2 6 23 19 20 6. Q.O.S. 14 5 3 6 12 15 18 7. Montrose 14 4 5 5 12 11 17 8. Dumbarton 14 3 6 5 19 24 15 9. Annan Athletic 14 4 2 8 9 24 14 10. Inverness CT 14 4 7 3 12 12 4 Date: 16/11/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1578 Referee: Colin Whyte Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Davidson (Strachan 16), Devine, Savage, Nolan, Longstaff, Gilmour, Allan, MacKinnon, R Thomson (MacLeod 66), B Mckay (Cairns (90+4)) Subs (not used): Rebilas: S Thomson, Reid, L Walker, C Mackay Scorers: Gilmour (70) Booked: Gilmour (55), Devine (B Mckay), (Nolan 90+3) Sent Off: none Alloa Athletic: 0 Manager: Andy Graham Lineup: Morrison; Taggart, Mckay, Neill, Waters, Virtanen (Hetherington 58), Scougall (Sammon 82), Buchanan (Cawley 58), Donnelly, O'Donnell (McDonnell 82), Rankin Subs (not used): Ogayi; Graham, Thomson, Nevan, Honeyman Scorers: none Booked: Waters (42), Scougall (44) Sent Off: none a