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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

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.

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

Top v Bottom Again For the second week in a row Inverness face table toppers. This time it's Alloa Athletic after our win over last weeks toppers at Cove. Now into plus figures, the Caley Jags can focus on the teams directly above them in the knowledge that they can compete with the best in this league after the shackles have been taken off, the legacy from the Duncball era no longer restricting them on the park. It won't all be plain sailing, but those that witnessed the second half at Cove have said this was the best performance for a couple of years. A word of warning, Alloa come North unbeaten away from home on League1 business. For us, it's onwards and upwards as they say at the bottom end of the table. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Bar94/Info Battery Farm Appeal Thrown Out Bar94 Drop Off Point ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Going to the game today? Then drop your donation into Bar94 12:00 - 2:30pm to help the Community Development Trust to provide as many Festive Hampers as possible. The CDT holds free Christmas Lunches at the Stadium for elderly fans and delivers hampers to vulnerable and deserving fans in the lead up to Christmas. Please donate if you can to help make someones Xmas that little bit better. Click HERE for more detail. Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 20 8 10 2 36 22 +14 Away 23 11 6 6 47 24 +23 Neutral 1 0 1 0 4 4 0 Total 44 19 17 8 87 50 +37 Looking at the stats, a draw seems to be the favoured result over the last three encounters with goals in every game. Overall, in a previous life the Caley Jags used to get the better of the Wasps but times have changed. They seem to be a more resilient side at the moment and wins breed confidence, that's why they find themselves leading the pack in the chase for promotion to the Championship. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 0 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 2 (A) 2 - 0 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 3 - 0 (H) The last encounter at Recreation Park ended all square when we threw away a two goal advantage after the introduction of seasoned campaigner Conor Sammon. Wasps Buzzing: 2-2 Inverness were without Charlie Gilmour, Flynn Duffy, Paul Allan, Ethan Cairns and Lewis Nicolson for the trip to Alloa although Jack Newman, Luis Longstaff and Keith Bray have returned to the squad after injury. Alloa have plenty experience in their ranks, notably Conor Sammon and Kevin Cawley and went in to this encounter off the back of a superb win over Partick Thistle last weekend in the Challenge Cup. Sammon started on the bench with Cawley joined by Luke Donnelly up front. Danny Devine gave Inverness an early lead with a tremendous birthday boy volley into the corner. Calum Macleod added a second but a few minutes later we were level when substitute Sammon and Luke Donnelly scored for the Wasps and despite a frantic last twenty minutes, that's how it ended. Our Season so Far on the park INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L / W L D 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 up next at Inverness in matchday 14... ALLOA Athletic: D D W W D D WD L / W L W D Alloa had an eight game unbeaten start to League1. They began the League campaign with draws at home to Queen of the South and away to Dumbarton followed by a home win over Stenhousemuir and another win away to Annan at the same ground we lost 1-0. They drew 0-0 at Gayfield and the following week was Challenge Cup action and Alloa pulled off a shock 1-3 win over Partick Thistle who had opened the scoring through our olde 'friend' Brian Graham. However, three second half goals from Kevin Cawley (65', 76') and Scott Taggart (90'+5 pen) gave the Wasps a tremendous result and a home tie against Arbroath in the next round which they also won (1-0). That was Cawley's 79th & 80th goals for Alloa. Our first meeting with the Wasps ended 2-2 after we were two up. Meh! A win over Kelty followed by a draw at Montrose before Cove dished out their first defeat. However they followed that with a win away to Stenhousemuir before Arbroath gained revenge for the Challenge Cup defeat winning 1-0 for Alloa's second League defeat. November saw them hammer Annan 5-0 before drawing with Queens. In midweek they bowed out of the Challenge cup going down 1-0 at Championship side Dunfermline. League1 Fixtures all 3:00pm this Saturday Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Alloa Athletic 13 6 21 2 Cove Rangers 13 5 20 3 Kelty Hearts 13 8 19 4 Arbroath 13 0 19 5 Stenny 13 1 18 6 Queen of Sth 13 -2 18 7 Montrose 13 2 17 8 Annan Ath 13 -13 14 9 Dumbarton 13 -6 12 10 Inverness CT 13 -1 +1 Latest Team News With Scott Kellacher getting the first win under his belt at Cove, hopes are high for another upset at home against Alloa who currently top the table. Charlie Gilmour returned at Cove and our goals were made in the Western Isles thanks to Adam MacKinnon and Keith Bray. Connall Ewan and Lewis Nicolson missed out last week. Former Caley Jags keeper Michael Fraser has been offering advice to cult keeper Musa Dibaga since Goalie Coach Stuart Garden was dismissed in administration. Will post official team news when the club upload it. Alloa's team versus Dunfermline in the Challenge Cup in midweek is shown below. I notice that the keeper was a busy man starting and on the bench. A first half strike from McCann was enough to put the Pars into the semi-final. Noted that Sammon and Cawley started on the bench and keeper PJ Morrison was missing since we last played them, presumably Ogayi getting some game time. Connor Sammon, Luke Donnelly and Luke Rankin all have four League goals. Incidentally, defender Danny Devine tops our League1 scoring chart with three goals. Remember: After the game, our sponsors Dog Falls Brewing Co will be presenting the MotM in Bar94 where all are welcome to attend with players and management in attendance. The bar will remain open until 6:00pm Dog Falls is an award-winning nano brewery in the heart of the Highlands, cranking out fresh, bold & distinctive beers according to one simple observation: Flavour Reigns Supreme. We brew beer that brings people together, beer that captures a moment, and beer that transcends the ordinary.

Caley Jags Get Vital Win 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A fine afternoon for a game of football and after a minutes silence it was game on. Billy Mckay brought out the first save of the game but one minute later we were behind. A bit of hesitancy in defence, but no surprise for guessing that Mitch Megginson opened the scoring. The on form striker fired home after Fraser Fyvie threaded a ball to Blair Yule who unselfishly teed up Megginson to open the scoring. Half an hour gone and chances were difficult to come by with Cove not shy to halt our attacks by fair or foul means. Touch wood and Cove had the opportunity to double their lead when Megginson stepped up to take a penalty after he was fouled by Jake Davidson. Musa Dibaga saved his spot kick and two minutes later we were level when Adam MacKinnon's shot from outside the box found the net. Just before the break Luis Longstaff slashed wide after James Nolan headed down to him in the box. HALF TIME: 1-1 Longstaff and Billy Mckay missed the target and Nolan had his attempt saved as the visitors started the second period on the front foot. Goal scorer MacKinnon was unfortunate as his long range shot came back off the post and Nolan missed the target after good work by Jake Davidson. Megginson brought Dibaga into action as the big keeper denied the strikers low shot towards the bottom corner, the keeper saving comfortably. Charlie Gilmour's deflected shot from range at the opposite end had the same result, Demus saving. However, the visitors persistence paid off when Keith Bray drilled in from outside the box. Gilmour shot over and Mckay saw his shot saved as the visitors looked for a wee cushion in the final quarter of the game. Into the final ten and substitute Declan Glass fired just over as Cove looked to level the game. In the final minutes Glass saw Dibaga save from close range at the expense of a corner as the visitors held firm for an important three points. FULL TIME: 1-2 Good performance from the Caley Jags and a deserved win on the road after a swashbuckling second half performance from the visitors. Great to see the young team scoring the goals today in Adam MacKinnon and Keith Bray. Goals made in the Western Isles. Musa Dibaga saved his second penalty of the season and made a crucial late block to deny Declan Glass as Cove tried to salvage something. Into plus numbers in the table; onwards and upwards hopefully. Late game: Queen of the South 1-1 Alloa Athletic - A result that puts Alloa top of the table. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Alloa Athletic 13 6 21 2 Cove Rangers 13 5 20 3 Kelty Hearts 13 8 19 4 Arbroath 13 0 19 5 Stenny 13 1 18 6 Queen of Sth 13 -2 18 7 Montrose 13 2 17 8 Annan Ath 13 -13 14 9 Dumbarton 13 -6 12 10 Inverness CT 13 -1 +1 Date: 09/11/2024 Venue: Balmoral Stadium Attendance: 0551 Referee: Euan Anderson Cove Rangers: 1(penalty saved Megginson (37)) Manager: Paul Hartley Lineup: Demus; Lobban (Glass 70), Doyle, Gillingham, Harrington, Emslie, Yule, Marshall (McAllister 70), Scully, Fyvie, Megginson (Gaffney 90) Subs (not used): Suman; Murray, McGrath Scorers: Megginson (10) Booked: Fyvie (90+2) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Davidson, Devine, Savage, Nolan, Longstaff, Gilmour, Allan, MacKinnon, Bray, B Mckay (Cairns 90+2) Subs (not used): Rebilas; R Thompson, Strachan, Sam Reid, C Mackay, MacLeod Scorers: MacKinnon (39), Bray (67) Booked: none Sent Off: none a

Kells Home Draw Kelty came North on the back of two defeats on the trot looking to get back on track. Inverness were looking to get out of the minus points total and back into the land of the living with Scott Kellacher and his positive vibes at the helm in his first home game in charge. Danny Devine returned after suspension for the hosts with Tam O'Ware doing likewise for the visitors. Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns made long awaited returns to the bench but Charlie Gilmour is still missing. Pre-match entertainment was in full swing in Bar94 with raffles, auctions, merriment and Dog Falls refreshments lubricating the vocal cords as the Supporters Trust heralded the new partnership with the Dog Falls Brewing Co. An early Luis Longstaff strike was cancelled out by a Ross Cunningham 25 yard free kick after fifteen minutes and that endeth the scoring. Danny Devine hit a post from close range and Keith Bray saw his effort brilliantly saved by Adams just before the break. No further scoring after the interval and it ended all square in the Highland Capital. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A chilly morning gave way to glimpses of sunshine as the day headed towards kick-off on a reasonable afternoon for a kick about with a stiff breeze the only downside, but it dropped before a ball was kicked as we started in a hurry with Luis Longstaff drilling home from a tight angle in the fourth minute following a corner. We let Kelty back into the game after quarter of an hour when Danny Devine gifted the ball to the eager Kelty forwards who drove towards our box only for Connell Ewan to abruptly stop Luke McCarvel in his tracks and earn a caution for his last ditch tackle. Ross Cunningham stepped up and curled a beauty into the top corner from outside the box. In as soon as it left his foot. Doh! Kelty were in control of proceedings in the middle of the half but Inverness ended the half knocking on the door. Clear chances had been hard to come by and a Billy Mckay snap shot on the turn was easily dealt with by Adams in the visitors goal. Ten minutes before the break and Devine was unfortunate to see his hooked shot bounce off the keepers post and back into Adams' arms as he watched helplessly. Keith Bray was then denied by a tremendous save from the keeper who should buy a few lottery tickets tonight. Great save though. Half time followed soon after with Inverness dominant again. HALF TIME: 1-1 Paul Allan had a go but his shot was weak and swallowed up by Adams and Adam MacKinnon leaned back and shot over after a promising move cut open the Kelty defence. Musa Dibaga was forced to dive late to keep out a low curling effort from Mercer as bodies crossed the keepers path to make his task more difficult. Bray did have the ball in the net fifteen minutes from the end but it was ruled out for an infringement on the keeper as we pushed the visitors onto the back foot. Billy Mckay spurned a great headed chance from a super ball into the front post from the industrious Jake Davidson with fifteen minutes remaining. Good to see Ethan Cairns get on the park, albeit only for a few minutes as time ran away from us. FULL TIME: 1-1 Points dropped after a blistering start and then the dreaded defensive error to create the opportunity for the equaliser. Cairns got a few minutes under his belt and Lewis Nicolson took his place on the bench. Charlie Gilmour was missed for a bit of steel in the middle but otherwise a game we could easily have taken all three points although Kelty might disagree, despite Adams and his post dealing with more challenging efforts than Dibaga had to. I thought Davidson was a driving force on the right side. Our biggest downfall was the lack of shots offloaded from good positions, especially in the second half where we tended to end up playing wide instead of having a pop. Paul Allan was named Bar94 MotM after a busy performance. More reaction to follow>>> Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Only 14 points behind now 1. Cove Rangers 12 6 2 4 21 15 20 2. Alloa Athletic 12 5 5 2 16 10 20 3. Arbroath 12 5 3 4 14 14 18 4. Stenhousemuir 12 5 2 5 15 14 17 5. Q.O.S. 12 5 2 5 10 12 17 6. Kelty Hearts 12 4 4 4 19 13 16 7. Montrose 12 4 4 4 11 9 16 8. Annan Athletic 12 4 1 7 8 21 13 9. Dumbarton 12 2 6 4 17 21 12 10. Inverness CT 12 2 7 3 9 11 -2 Week 12 results Results from the weekend that have put Cove Rangers at the top of the table with Alloa Athletic on 20 points. Unfortunately for us, Cove Rangers have hit a bit of form since they rubbed shoulders with us at the lower end of the table a few weeks ago. Since drawing with us back in the last week of September, Cove were beaten 2-4 by Arbroath, but since then have three 2-0 wins in a row and last week they pumped Dumbarton 3-0 at the Rock. 15 points that has rocketed them to top spot. We play Cove away next week with the teams at Polar ends of the table right now. Date: 02/11/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1502 Referee: Ryan Lee Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Scott Kellacher Lineup: Dibaga; Ewan (R Thompson 36), Devine, Savage, Nolan, Longstaff, Davidson, Allan, MacKinnon, Bray (Cairns 87), B Mckay Subs (not used): Rebilas; Strachan, Nicolson, C Mackay, MacLeod Scorers: Longstaff (4) Booked: Ewan (13), Devine (49) Sent Off: none Kelty Hearts: 1 Manager: Michael Tidser (player manager) Lineup: Adams; Mercer (Thomas 75), O'Ware, Harding, Paterson, McCarvel (Flatman 75), Allan, Moore (Williamson 46), Tidser (Trialist 90+2), Johnston, Cunningham (Owens 87) Subs (not used): Adamson; Bryce, Cole, Hobbs Scorers: Cunningham (14) Booked: none Sent Off: none a

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: 1-1No 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. FULL TIME: 3-1 Scott Kellacher's first game in charge ended in defeat at the Rock. Not the start we had hoped for but it was a big ask with Devine and Gilmour missing. Great Summary on CTO by Mantis: Massive disappointment in the end. So much positivity in the bar and in the stand, and the team were excellent first half. Hilton’s goal was pretty much Dumbarton’s only attacking effort of the half, completely against the run of play, but what a worldie giving Musa no chance, although he was allowed too much room to turn. The Sons started the second half much better and I always felt that if they scored first, they would win. One or two experienced pros such as Wallace and Carlo. They stuck to the basics, defended well without trying to be fancy, and hit us on the break. A couple of unforced errors cost us. ICT heads dropped at 2-1 and we never looked like coming back. Fantastic support today and great applause for the team at the end. Rather weird coming to a team with such a poor support when you are used to Championship crowds like Partick and the Pars. Hardly heard a sound when they scored. Big uphill task now. Annan beat QotS 1-0 in the late game on BBC Alba Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Cove Rangers 11 3 17 2 Stenhousemuir 11 2 17 3 Alloa Athletic 11 1 17 4 Montrose 11 3 16 5 Kelty Hearts 11 6 15 6 Arbroath 11 -1 15 7 Queen of Sth 11 -3 14 8 Annan Athletic 11 -8 13 9 Dumbarton 11 -1 12 10 Inverness CT 11 -2 -3 Date: 26/10/2024 Venue: Marbill Coaches Stadium, Dumbarton Attendance: 0872 Referee: Graham Grainger Dumbarton: 3 Manager: Stephen Farrell Lineup: Long; Miller, Durnan, Brown, Blair, Pignatiello (Orsi 81), Wilson (McGuffie 81), Niang, Hilton (Wallace 77), Ruth (Mumbongo 81), Shiels (Gray 55) Subs (not used): O'Neil; Young, Lynas, Clark Scorers: Hilton (14, 72), Blair (63) Booked: Wilson (80) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Scott Kellacher (Head Coach) Lineup: Dibaga; Davidson, Ewan, Savage, Nolan, Longstaff, R Thompson (MacLeod 76), Allan, MacKinnon (Strachan ), Bray (C Mackay 77), B Mckay Subs (not used): Rebilas; S Thompson, Scorers: Davidson (28) Booked: Nolan (21), Savage (56) Sent Off: none a

Life in Administration Starts on Saturday at Dumbarton Stadium in the Scottish League 1 with Inverness now deducted fifteen points which puts us twelve points below our hosts this weekend. Unfortunately, five players have been released along with the management team of Duncan Ferguson, Gary Bollan and Stuart Garden. So far, we have retained the bulk of our squad including our senior players with Scott Kellacher taking on the head coaching role assisted by none other than Billy Mckay. They will also be given further assistance from Charlie Christie and the rest of the youth squad trainers. So, it's almost as you were without our management team and a 15 point deduction. The downside so far is the dismissal of four contracted players and loan keeper Jack Newman. More details later in the preview. Good luck to those released through no fault of their own. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Administration Info on ICTFC Match/Ticket/Travel/Info 5 Players let go (1 loan) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Season so Far on the park INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L / 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 in 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. First game after Admin is at Dumbarton this week... Dumbarton: D D D D D D L L L / W Dumbarton started the season with six draws on the trot followed by three defeats. It was only last week that they recorded their first league win of the season in their tenth League fixture with an excellent 1-3 away win at Gayfield. Arbroath had opened the scoring through Tam O'Brien after ten minutes but Carlo Pignatiello replied ten minutes later. A Dylan Smith og and a last minute goal from Finlay Gray ended the scoring as the Sons celebrated their first win in style..... just in time for our visit, meh! Our first game of the League1 campaign was against Dumbarton at the Caledonian Stadium on the back of disappointing League Cup group stages for both sides. It was also the game where Johndo was remembered in the sixth minute. I wonder what Johndo would make of all this. As already said on CTO, plenty of scope for his CTO Xmas pantomime with villains in abundance and a hero in Alan Salvage. 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. Here's the fixtures for this weekend and this is how the table looks after we were deducted 15 points. Meh! Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Alloa Athletic 10 2 17 2 Montrose 10 5 16 3 Kelty Hearts 10 7 15 4 Cove Rangers 10 1 14 5 Stenhousemuir 10 1 14 6 Queen of Sth 10 -2 14 7 Arbroath 10 -2 12 8 Annan Athletic 10 -9 10 9 Dumbarton 10 -3 9 10 Inverness CT 10 0 -3 Latest Team News With administration comes redundancies. First to go was Duncan Ferguson and his coaching staff of Gary Bollan and Stuart Garden. Four players were released although the bulk of the experienced players were retained. No surprise that Cameron Ferguson was released. Bit part striker Adam Brooks was also released along with the promising left back Flynn Duffy who has been recovering from a punctured lung after looking lively in the five games he did play. Wallace Duffy was the most experienced player to be released after coming back into the squad since being ignored at the end of last season, in total making 113 appearances and scoring five goals. Big comedown for Wallace having been our MotM in the Scottish Cup Final against Celtic in 2023. I'm sure we all appreciated the efforts of those released although like every team, we have our boo boys who picked on the unfortunate. In this instance young Cameron was the brunt of most ill feeling which probably stunted his development whilst here although one wonders would he have been here had his father not been the manager. Some may say that the release of the management team is a step in the right direction as many questioned our style of play since Ferguson arrived. It looked like a case of keep the ball at all costs and don't be rushing up the park. We were set up to hold what we had with little directness. That led to too many draws and late defeats as we regressed. That aside, he can't be faulted for his gesture of not drawing a wage and I wish him and his team good fortune for the future. Duncan Ferguson gone. Gary Bollan gone Stuart Garden gone Players out Cameron Ferguson (12 appearances, not ready at this level) Adam Brooks (7 goals in 41 appearances) Flynn Duffy (recovered from a punctured lung) Wallace Duffy (113 apps, 5 goals) Jack Newman (loan ended back to Dundee United...maybe) On the plus side, Scott Kellacher has been promoted to Head Coach with Billy Mckay as his assistant player coach. Charlie Christie appears to be assisting as well, possibly overseeing/helping with the coaching along with the rest of the clubs youth coaches. Good luck Scott and Billy, all the best and all at CTO will get behind you and the boys as we attempt to play.... Against All Odds as Charles Bannerman once said. (No truth in the rumour that his next book will be entitled Against All Frauds) Given the circumstances, I imagine we will be along similar lines to last time out without Wallace Duffy in the starting XI. It will be interesting to see how we set our stall out under Scott and Billy. Good luck guys. Dumbarton's last Starting XI in the win at Arbroath. Carlo Pignatiello scored in the first fixture at the Caledonian Stadium and he scored last week in the 3-1 win over Arbroath. Pignatiello, Ruth and Durnan have all scored three League goals. Dumbarton have the leakiest defence conceding 17 goals whereas we have only conceded 7 times. The Sons are third top scorers with 14 goals, twice as many as our shot shy players.

There's Life Jim but not as we know it 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 I suppose the result was more important than the performance, which was just as well as both sides were honking. However we have bigger fish to fry on Monday as the grim reaper comes calling with bad news. We may have seen the last of some of these players as the high earners might be culled as our cloth gets cut by the Administrators. Billy Mckay did get a rousing round of applause when he was substituted five minutes before the end and the rest were warmly applauded as they left the field at the end of play. Match reaction from CTO Good summary from Robert: I thought we deserved the win, but once again we made hard work of it in the second half. We dominated the first half and should have had more than one goal. One definite penalty was not given, possibly two (I wasn’t sure if the other incident was in or just outside the box). Devine took his goal well and led the back line with, as others have said, MacKinnon also having a good game. Allan also looked good to me. We allowed ourselves to get hemmed in after the break but Annan were fortunately toothless. With the 15 point penalty, next week’s game at Dumbarton becomes a real six pointer as we try to get ourselves back into the pack. Well done to all who played a part today. It must be tough with all the uncertainties at present. Robbo 1985: Danny Devine was awarded the sponsors man of the match and credit to him for popping up with another crucial goal and putting on another very good defensive display. For me though, Adam MacKinnon stood head and shoulders above every other player on the park today. Broke up play, drove us forward, distributed the ball well, had some shots on goal and worked his absolute socks off. A fantastic individual performance but well done to all the players and staff today for digging in to get the result. Alan: A deserved victory over a poor Annan side who didn't manage one shot on target during the 90 minutes. it wasn't the most exciting game but I'll take 1-0 wins in every every match between now and the end of the season. A wins a win Alloa top the table after a 78th minute winner at Stenhousemuir. Other winners today were Inverness, Dumbarton, Cove & Montrose. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Alloa Athletic 10 2 17 2 Montrose 10 5 16 3 Kelty Hearts 10 7 15 4 Cove Rangers 10 1 14 5 Stenhousemuir 10 1 14 6 Queen of Sth 10 -2 14 7 Inverness CT 10 0 12 8 Arbroath 10 -2 12 9 Annan Athletic 10 -9 10 10 Dumbarton 10 -3 9 Danny Devine got his MotM award after the game in Bar94. Date: 19/10/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1501 Referee: Peter Stuart Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Dibaga; Duffy (Macleod 46), Devine, Savage, Nolan (Ewan 92), Longstaff (Thompson 84), Davidson, Allan, MacKinnon, Bray, B Mckay (Ferguson 84) Subs (not used): Newman; Strachan, C Mackay Scorers: Devine (21) Booked: Devine (17), B Mckay (20), MacLeod 75) Sent Off: none Annan Athletic: 0 Manager: Wullie Gibson (player manager) Lineup: J Smith; Gibson, Todd, Dixon (Ross 81), Breen, Kilsby, (Quitongo 31), Zaid (Quigg 81), A Smith, McGowan, K Fleming, Stevenson, Subs (not used): Aitchison; Muir, Barnes Maxwell, Lennon Scorers: none Booked: Dixon (42), Stevenson (46), Quitongo (74) Sent Off: none a

If we still have a team We are scheduled to play Annan Athletic on Saturday 19th October at 3:00pm as the second phase of League1 fixtures begin. Having played all nine of the teams we find ourselves second bottom of the table with only one win from our opening round of games, a 1-0 win over Queen of the South in the Highlands, who, incidentally are sitting one point off the top in fourth place. However, should administration hit us then a 15 point deduction would see us go bottom on minus 6 points. Worse would follow with top earners being removed from the club and all the other embargo's that go along with these situations. It's almost inevitable that we will drop into League two after 30 years of being in existence. As expected, Administration has now been confirmed this evening, Friday, 18th October 2024. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket & Bar94 Info Supporters Trust Fans Meeting ADMINISTRATION CONFIRMED Club Statement 29 18th OCT ICTFC GO FUND ME PAGE ALL OFFICIAL CLUB NEWS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Events off the Park have caught up with us after more than five seasons of tyrannical malfunction and despite some last ditch efforts to find a buyer to take on the club and their debt we find ourselves heading for Administration and redundancies and all that goes along with it unless there is one final twist to this sorry self inflicted saga. News coming out of the club is changing every few hours, so fingers crossed for a happy ending as we enter Administration on Monday. Bar 94 will be open after the match and will include a presentation to the Man of the Match. If popular, it will hopefully become a permanent additional facility for those attending the games. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Season so Far on the park INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D L 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. Annan Athletic: W W L L L D L L W After an encouraging start to the season that included two wins over Inverness, one in the League Cup and one in the League, they hit a bit of a slump losing five of the next six League games before beating Montrose 1-0 at home. They crashed out of the Challenge Cup last weekend as Queens Park beat them 1-4, Nikola Ujdur scoring in that one. Our League encounter in August ended in defeat at Galabank at the start of the League campaign. Too Little Too Late: Inverness added their two new signings to their squad which meant Keith Bray was benched with Wallace Duffy returning to the starting XI and Musa Dibaga as back up keeper on the bench. Annan had one change with Josh Dixon replacing Paul Smith in midfield. Jack Newman had the only notable save of the first forty-five denying Aidan Smith after ten minutes. Other than that it was Annan on top without overly threatening. After the interval Annan were awarded a penalty after fifty minutes and Tommy Goss duly scored from the spot. That was the difference between the sides as Annan took all three points despite a late charge from the visitors. Plenty of early posturing and the first action for the keepers saw Jack Newman save brilliantly from an Aidan Smith header in the tenth minute as Annan came close to the opening goal. Inverness' first effort followed soon after as Adam Brooks shot over from a tight angle. Annan were controlling the pace of the game in the first quarter and forced three corners to no avail. Smith again went close on the half hour when he shot just wide. Josh Dixon shot over from the edge of the box ten minutes before the break and Wallace Duffy picked up a yellow for abruptly stopping an Annan attack. Half Time: 0-0 Danny Devine gave away a penalty five minutes after the restart when he fouled Tommy Goss who got up to slot home the spot kick into the bottom corner. Luis Longstaff fired a free kick over the bar and Billy Mckay was denied by the keeper after a turn and run from Longstaff. Almost a tap in for Smith but for a great interception by the defence. Devine headed wide from a Charlie Gilmour free kick as we tried to get back on level terms. A double denial for Inverness as Gilmour's effort was well saved then Devine hit the underside of the bar from the recycled ball as we entered the final ten minutes. Bray shot wide as we pushed for an equaliser with Annan looking for the final whistle. Annan were by now hanging on by a thread and a couple of late corners for the visitors came and went before the final whistle ended the siege. Full Time: 1-0 Here are your fixtures for Saturday 19th October and this is how the table looks ahead of Saturday's fixtures Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Kelty Hearts 9 9 15 2 Stenhousemuir 9 2 14 3 Alloa Athletic 9 1 14 4 Queen of the Sth 9 0 14 5 Montrose 9 3 13 6 Arbroath 9 0 12 7 Cove Rangers 9 -1 11 8 Annan Athletic 9 -8 10 9 Inverness CT 9 -1 9 10 Dumbarton 9 -5 6 Latest Team News It's bad enough off the field of play, but we don't have our troubles to seek on the park either. Flynn Duffy, Ethan Cairns, Lewis Nicolson, Charlie Reilly and possibly Charlie Gilmour are all out. Danny Devine was missing at Livingston.

Valiant Effort Ends in Penalty Loss It was a case of taxi for the Caley Jags at The Home of the Set Fare Arena after a dramatic penalty shoot-out defeat when Stephen Kelly swept in the final spot kick to put us out of the Challenge Cup. Danny Devine and Charlie Reilly were missing for the Caley Jags but Keith Bray returned to the starting XI with Jack Newman taking the gloves. Jake Davidson was part of a five man midfield. Livi had former Caley Jags players Samson Lawal and Andy Shinnie starting with Reece McAlear on the bench. David Carson was missing for Livingston. Paul Allan scored his first goal for the Caley Jags in the tenth minute as he headed in an inviting cross from Luis Longstaff. Stevie May levelled after seventeen minutes and top scorer Scott Pittman edged the hosts ahead. However Charlie Gilmour equalised almost immediately in an entertaining first half. No further scoring in the second half and it went to penalties with the hosts prevailing 5-4 Meh! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Most expected this to be a stroll for Livi but it was Inverness that were first to threaten when Billy Mckay's shot from distance was saved by Pitaluga. Stevie May saw a header saved by Jack Newman before Inverness went back up the park to open the scoring through a Paul Allan header into the bottom corner off a great ball in from Luis Longstaff. The lead was short lived as Stevie May equalised seven minutes later with a low shot in off the post from inside the box, assisted by Scott Pittman. May and Shinnie returned the compliment ten minutes later to leave Pittman with an easy header. However, Charlie Gilmour scored from close range to level matters two minutes later. Minutes later Pitaluga had to tip an effort from Billy Mckay over the bar. Just before the break, Samson Lawal, Andy Shinnie, May and Clarke set up a chance for Pittman but his header was too close to the keeper and easily dealt with by Newman. In an open first forty-five, Inverness had given Livi a run for their money as the whistle went with the score level. HALF TIME: 2-2 No changes at the interval but Gilmour got an early booking for a high challenge on Shinnie. May fired a thirty-yarder just wide as the hosts threatened and at the other end Pitaluga pulled off a tremendous double save to deny Adam MacKinnon and Longstaff's follow up was also blocked. With twenty minutes remaining, Keith Bray's cross was knocked over by MacKinnon from the edge of the box. Lawal mishit an effort at the other end and was subbed moments later along with Shinnie. Livi upped the intensity and Montano headed over before fellow substitute Liam Sole was denied by Newman and Clarke's effort on the rebound was blocked. With the pressure mounting on the visitors defence Shinnie headed over. Jack Newman received treatment for a leg injury as we went in to overtime. Despite the late pressure it ended all square and penalties would decide who goes into the hat for the draw. FULL TIME: 2-2 Livingston win penalty shoot-out 5-4, scoring all five penalties (Shinnie, McGowan, Winter, Yengi & Kelly) ICT: Davidson Gilmour Savage B Mckay Thompson Saved by Keeper We lost didn't we... Date: 12/10/2024 Venue: Almondvale Attendance: 0943 Referee: Colin Steven Livingston: 2 (5 pens) Manager: David Martindale Lineup: Pitaluga; Clarke (Yengi 84), Nottingham, McGowan, Finlayson, Lawal (Montano 72), Pittman, Kelly, Shinnie, May (Winter 71), Smith (Sole 55) Subs (not used): Prior; McAlear, Green, Muirhead, Stark Scorers: May (17), Pittman (28) Booked: Smith (26) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 (4 pens) Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Newman; Bray (Thompson 84), W Duffy, Savage, Nolan (Strachan 63), Longstaff, Davidson, Gilmour, Allan (MacLeod 63), MacKinnon, B Mckay Subs (not used): Dibaga; Ewan, C Mackay, Ferguson, Brooks Scorers: Allan (10), Gilmour (30) Booked: Gilmour (52) Sent Off: none a

Another Blank 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An early shout for a penalty in the first minute when Watson brought down debutant Charlie Reilly but nothing given. A recycled ball after a corner in the eighth minute offered Paul Allan a chance but Aidan McAdams somehow clawed away his header destined for the bottom corner. Charlie Reilly looked eager to please and the keeper had to deny his effort from outside the box. Billy Mckay might have done better after getting behind the defence but the keeper made a good block to deny the ageing striker. Arbroath's first effort of the game came in the 28th minute with a powerful Fraser Taylor shot from the centre of the box but it was straight down Musa Dibaga's throat. Ten minutes before the break, Luis Longstaff was next to have a go after cutting in from the right, but his shot was kept out by McAdams assisted by his post before the resultant corner was cleared. Just before the break Mckay missed the target and Charlie Gilmour had a shot blocked as the visitors finished the half with a flourish having had the better of the first forty-five. HALF TIME: 0-0 Substitute Quinn Coulson went close minutes after coming off the bench as he bent an effort just wide. Ryan Dow's reverse pass allowed Gavin Reilly to score with a tidy curling shot from the edge of the box to open the scoring for the hosts. Minutes later, Charlie Reilly hit the post for Inverness with twenty minutes remaining. Everything in our favour seems to be against us. Reilly and Mckay had both been substituted for the final throws of the game and as it slipped from our grasp Cameron Ferguson saw an effort from outside the box blocked and he shot wide in the 90th minute. Keith Watson was given a second yellow in time added on, and that brought about a yellow card for Arbroath coach Jimmy Boyle as well. It was just another Saturday as we failed to score again and after 96 minutes the full time whistle ended another disappointing day for the Caley Jags. That's three wins on the trot for the Smokies and, erm, just one win in nine for us. FULL TIME: 1-0 From CTO Heartbroken and Embarrassed. A totally broken club. How long has it been since anything to do with ICT brought a smile to your face? Missed chances and lose a goal, same old story. Desperate, miserable, awful. What a mess. We play mostly part time teams with a pro squad and we still can't score. The buck rests with the manager. That's the first round of nine games played ------- And we sit second bottom of League 1. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Kelty Hearts 9 9 15 2 Stenhousemuir 9 2 14 3 Alloa Athletic 9 1 14 4 Queen of South 9 0 14 5 Montrose 9 3 13 6 Arbroath 9 0 12 7 Cove Rangers 9 -1 11 8 Annan Athletic 9 -8 10 9 Inverness CT 9 -1 9 10 Dumbarton 9 -5 6 Highlights from Arbroath FC TV Date: 05/09/2024 Venue: Gayfield Attendance: 1381 Referee: Craig Napier Arbroath FC: 1 Manager: Colin Hamilton & David Gold Lineup: McAdams; Smith, Wilkie, Watson, Bisland, Gold (Slater 62), Taylor, Sinclair (Coulson 46), Flynn, Dow (Callaghan 86), Reilly (Murray 80) Subs (not used): McConnell; Scorers: Reilly (67) Booked: Watson (55, 90+3) Sent Off: Watson (90+3) Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Dibaga; Davidson, Devine, Savage, Nolan, Longstaff, Gilmour, Allan (MacLeod 64), MacKinnon, Reilly (Brooks 75), B Mckay (Ferguson 80) Subs (not used): Newman; Duffy, Bray, Ewan, Thompson Scorers: none Booked: Reilly (53) Sent Off: none a

Meanwhile, on the pitch With the noose of administration tightening around the Caley Jags' neck, the team on the park will head down to Gayfield on Saturday looking to put off-field issues behind them as they take on a rejuvenated Arbroath at 3:00pm. Flynn Duffy appears to be the main one missing out again although Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns may also still be absent. Loan signing Charlie Reilly will meet up with the squad at Arbroath and will be in contention for a place in the squad on Saturday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info £££SAVE ICTFC FUND£££ OPEN MEETING ON MONDAY 7th Finances & Threat of Admin Panos Thomas Resignation There's a lot to take in in the above links Have a read on CTO for fans reactions Charlie Reilly on Loan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v ARBROATH Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 27 18 5 4 62 22 +40 Away 25 11 7 7 36 30 +6 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 52 29 12 11 98 52 +46 Historically we hold a big advantage over Arbroath. However, most of that was built up in a previous life when we dished out the odd seven goal thrashing. Changed days now and many of the more recent games are close affairs. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath 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) 0 - 0 (A) It's a long time since our first encounter with Arbroath back in August 13th 1994 when Alan Hercher scored that hat-trick as we started off on the bottom rung of Scottish Football. He would be turning in his grave if he knew what they have done to our club now. 30 years of memories; Scottish Premier League Football, a Scottish Cup win and European Football, all undone by total mismanagement on a scale unheard of around here. Hang your heads in shame!... Ian Broadfoot reported on this historic occasion: Caledonian Thistle's Scottish League debut resulted in a tremendous performance and a fine victory. Alan Hercher was the hat-trick hero as Caley Thistle got their League campaign off to a flying start. Three first half goals by Hercher set the scene for a dramatic opening League 3 encounter. In the opening minutes Caley Thistle 'keeper Mark McRitchie had to look sharp to save a 15 yard drive from John Reilly. In 13 minutes Mark McAllister won a corner and Alan Hercher headed in Graeme Bennett's kick to score Caley Thistle's first ever Scottish League goal. It was not long before he also scored the second and third! Before that Arbroath came close on two occasions -the first when a John Brock header went inches past the post and the second when a 25 yard free kick almost found the net. John Scott and Mike Andrew had chances for the home side before Alan Hercher again wrote his name into the record books. In 31 minutes he shot home his second goal through a ruck of players then headed home another corner in 33 minutes. Half Time: 3-0 In the second half Arbroath came back into it and scored through Brock and Reilly - Caley Thistle bounced back and scored twice more. In 71 minutes Paul McKenzie latched onto a long McRitchie clearance and lobbed over the keeper then Wilson Robertson completed the scoring six minutes later with a high ball from 22 yards. Full Time: 5-2 This rounded off an exciting match and an historic occasion for both the club and Inverness. ##################################### Season so Far INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D D 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. ARBROATH FC: L D L D D L W W Arbroath were propping up the League at the start of the season but have slowly lifted themselves up to mid-table with wins in their last two games over Annan at home and Cove Rangers away. Their three defeats came from Stenhousemuir (2-1) on day one, Kelty Hearts (0-3) on day three and Queen of the South (2-1) on Matchday six. The draws came against Montrose, Dumbarton and Alloa in that order. They also dumped Montrose out of the Challenge Cup with a resounding 3-0 win at Gayfield There's nothing to separate the sides on the park, but will the off-field struggles affect the players. Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Queen of South 8 4 14 2 Alloa Athletic 8 3 14 3 Montrose 8 4 13 4 Kelty Hearts 8 5 12 5 Stenhousemuir 8 0 11 6 Inverness CT 8 0 9 7 Arbroath 8 -1 9 8 Cove Rangers 8 -3 8 9 Annan Athletic 8 -9 7 10 Dumbarton 8 -3 6 LATEST TEAM NEWS The Smokies had this squad representing them in their televised clash against Cove Rangers last weekend. Just to be sure, there's pics of all their Starting XI for good measure. They came away with their second win in a row and bagged four goals in an excellent 4-2 win. Scott Stewart, Innes Murray. Ali Spalding and Jack Wilkie were the scorers Ryan Dow is top scorer with three League goals. Scott Stewart has bagged two. Arbroath have scored 10 goals in the League but have conceded 11. In contrast, we have only conceded 6 but have only scored 6. Something is going to give. INVERNESS Flynn Duffy and Lewis Nicolson definitely out and no news of Ethan Cairns. Charlie Reilly will manifest at Arbroath. He made five appearances for them last season so will know his way to the stadium. Wonderful gesture by Duncan Ferguson to do the job for nothing at the moment to help our plight. Some might say that's what he is worth, however hats off to him for doing it.

Bore Draw 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-existant 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. OCG on CTO: Well that was dire possibly even worse than last week. Does DF ever try to play football that suits the players he has? Does he even know that we need to win anymore? Most exciting bit was good natured banter with the Stennie keeper! Finding it harder and harder finding any positivity these days. Can you imagine what it will be like watching football like this when it's minus 3 and dark by full time!! More match reaction to follow Big Musa with a big hand <<caleyjags.com>> Pos Team Pld Gd Pts 1 Queen of the South 8 4 14 2 Alloa Athletic 8 3 14 3 Montrose 8 4 13 4 Kelty Hearts 8 5 12 5 Stenhousemuir 8 0 11 6 Inverness CT 8 0 9 7 Arbroath 8 -1 9 8 Cove Rangers 8 -3 8 9 Annan Athletic 8 -9 7 10 Dumbarton 8 -3 6 Date: 28/09/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1601 Referee: Peter Stuart Inverness CT: 0 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Dibaga; W Duffy, Davidson, Devine, Savage, Longstaff, Gilmour, MacLeod (Allan 69), Nolan, MacKinnon, B Mckay (Brooks 68) Subs (not used): Newman; Strachan, Ferguson, Ewan, C Mackay, Thompson Scorers: none Booked: Devine (17), B Mckay (56) Sent Off: none Stenhousemuir: 0 Manager: Gary Naysmith Lineup: D Jamieson; Meechan, Buchanan, Bilham, Wedderburn (Alston 55), Berry, Ewen (Tomlinson 75), Aitken, Banner, Anderson, Yates (O'Reilly 88) Subs (not used): Trialist A (Hogarth), Trialist B (Cameron). Scorers: none Booked: Berry (45) Sent Off: none a

Warriors up for the Battle The second home League1 game in a row has Stenhousemuir visiting for the first time since 1998 when we won 2-1. Mike Teasdale scored both goals as we came from behind to win that relegation battle after Ian Little had opened the scoring early in the first half. It's a standard 3:00pm kick-off this Saturday afternoon apart from Cove v the Smokies which can be seen on BBC Alba at half past five. The revamped 94' Bar will be open at mid-day for both sets of fans with Supporters Trust members and helpers at your service and if you are free around 10:30am on Saturday morning, pop over and help with the tidy up around the Stadium. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info Livingston Date Ch Cup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 3 3 0 0 11 3 +8 Away 5 3 1 1 10 5 +5 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 8 6 1 1 21 8 +13 Brian Thomson We have only met Stenhousemuir eight times in total, winning six and losing once, a 3-2 reverse at Ochilview in August 1997. Our top scorer of all time against Stenny is Brian Thomson who has scored seven times in all competitions including a hat-trick in a league cup encounter in 1997 at the Caledonian Stadium. Get yer boots on Brian, we need someone to put the ball in the net. Alas, Brian can't make it, he's washing his hair this weekend. Signed from Huntly - Position: Forward Previously with Fraserburgh, Motherwell, Peterhead & Arbroath Debut Played: 16 Dec 1995 - Last Game: 2 May 1998 Third Division Championship medal 1996/97; Joint top Second Division goalscorer 1997/98 (20 goals) Scored a barrowload, including the vital goal v Stenhousemuir which gained access to Rangers in the Scottish Cup in 1996 and he was a star in that quarter final at Tannadice as well. He made a stunning debut v Ross County in the Inverness Cup Final in December 1995. First Goal: January 13th, 1996 - Alloa Athletic 0 - 2 Caley Thistle (Div 3 "The first goal came in 30 minutes - a header by Brian Thomson after a cross from Richard Hastings) Born: June 19th, 1966 (Fraserburgh) Height: 1.83m Position: inside forward Signed: July 1st, 1995 Left Club: May 31st, 1998 Career Stats: 93 appearances, 34 goals Full Debut: December 16th, 1995 - Cowdenbeath 0 - 0 Inverness CT (League - ) First Goal: January 13th, 1996 - Alloa Athletic 0 - 2 Inverness CT (League - ) Also Played For: Arbroath, Buckie Thistle, Fraserburgh, Huntly, Motherwell, Peterhead Season so Far INVERNESS CT: D L D D W D D 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 with his first goal for the club. The optimist said it's only one defeat in seven games. The pessimist said FFS, we've only won one game out of seven. Billy Dodds said folk have been sacked for less... Stenhousemuir: W L L W W L D Having been promoted as Champions in season 23/24, the Warriors opened their account in League1 with a 2-1 home win over Arbroath but lost the following week at Kelty (2-0). Another loss followed at Alloa (1-0) before a 3-2 home win over Cove Rangers. The highlight of their season so far was a 5-1 thrashing of Annan Athletic at Ochilview. Bilham, Anderson and a Blair Alston hat-trick did the damage as Stenny took their chances whilst Annan only took one of their many opportunities. Montrose brought them back down to earth in the next League game with a 3-0 win at Links Park. Last week a no scoring home draw where Queen of the South dominated the game as Darren Jamieson earned the Warriors another vital point. They also knocked Falkirk out of the Challenge Cup on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Jamieson was again a standout for Stenhousemuir denying Falkirk half a dozen times. Blair Alston is their top scorer in the League with three goals followed by midfielder Michael Anderson on two. Former Hearts defender Gary Naysmith is the Warriors manager. It's difficult to assess the teams this early in the season with everyone capable of pulling off wins over all the other challengers.... except for us with our waltzing slowwww slowwww slowwww slowwww slowwww approach to the game which must be easy to set up against and our lack of penetration in the final third. Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts Table ahead of this weekends game with Stenny two points above Inverness. 1. Alloa Athletic 7 3 4 0 8 5 13 2. Montrose 7 3 3 1 7 3 12 3. Q.O.S. 7 3 2 2 6 4 11 4. Stenhousemuir 7 3 1 3 10 10 10 5. Kelty Hearts 7 2 3 2 9 7 9 6. Inverness CT 7 1 5 1 6 6 8 7. Cove Rangers 7 2 2 3 10 11 8 8. Annan Athletic 7 2 1 4 6 12 7 9. Dumbarton 7 0 6 1 10 11 6 10. Arbroath 7 1 3 3 6 9 6 Saturday 28 September 2024 Inverness CT v Stenhousemuir Kelty Hearts v Annan Athletic Montrose v Alloa Athletic Queen Sth v Dumbarton (BBC Alba) Cove v Arbroath (17:30) Latest Team News Flynn Duffy, Lewis Nicolson and Ethan Cairns are still out and Keith Bray has not trained all week. We remain toothless up front with Billy in a withdrawn role and little other attacking options available. Striker for the weekend anyone? Here's Dunc talking about his young team, strikers (or lack of), grass, defence and goals; the hardest part of the game isn't it>>> <<<This was the Stenhousemuire starting XI that Gary Naysmith went with in the home draw against Queen of the South. Nat Wedderburn was a sixth minute sub for the Warriors as Kyle Jacobs went off injured. With six yellow cards last week, looks like the Warriors will be up for the battle. Last week was an open game with Queens more than matching their hosts who were thankful for keeper Jamieson pulling off a handful of great stops. Assistant manager Brown Ferguson bemoaned a number of injuries during this game and was pleased with the battling point against a full time team in QotS. Alston, Taylor, Steele, O'Reilly and Jacobs were all substituted against Queens. Maybe Alston for his own good having just been booked in the closing stages of the game. Ayr United midfielder Scott Tomlinson has recently signed on loan for the season at Ochilview.