Jump to content

Search the Community

Showing results for tags 'challenge cup'.

  • Search By Tags

    Type tags separated by commas.
  • Search By Author

Content Type


Categories

  • News 2023-24
  • Previews 2023-24
  • Reports 2023-24
  • Uncategorized
  • History
  • Archives
    • News Archive
    • Preview Archive
    • Report Archive
    • Gringo
    • Boardroom Banter

Forums

  • The Terracing
    • Caley Thistle
    • General Football
    • Other Sports
    • Supporters Trust
    • Rumour Mill
    • Gringo's NPL
    • Betting Forum
  • Down The Pub
    • Serious Discussion
    • General Nonsense
    • For Sale/Swap/Auction
    • Video Games
    • Technical Support
  • Memory Lane
    • Olde Inverness
    • Classic Music
    • Retro TV

Blogs

  • Site Admin Blog
  • CaleyD's Blog
  • Across the Pond
  • The Gringo's Gossip
  • Gabby's Blog
  • Narey's Toepoker
  • Football adventures with James Rendall
  • Moving The Goalposts

Product Groups

  • Membership
  • Advertising

Calendars

  • CTO Calendar
  • Fixtures & Events

Find results in...

Find results that contain...


Date Created

  • Start

    End


Last Updated

  • Start

    End


Filter by number of...

Joined

  • Start

    End


Group


Website


Facebook


Twitter


Skype


Location


Interests

Found 24 results

  1. Smoked by the Smokies A visit to Arbroath in the SPFL Trust Trophy saw both sides make a few changes from their Championship personnel. It would appear that Arbroath were taking this more seriously than Inverness although Campbell made four changes to the starting line up this week with Adams replacing Gaston in goals and Jacobs, Hylton and Baldé starting in place of Slater, Dow and the injured Bird. Inverness made eight changes to their side in the spirit of the competition and rested Billy Mckay, Max Anderson and Danny Devine with Doran in for his experience along with youngsters Brooks, Bray and Thompson with Big Harry on the bench. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Little to talk about in the opening exchanges but Arbroath were looking the hungrier side and trying to create with the visitors lacking penetration. David Gold opened the scoring ten minutes before the break smashing the ball in from a Hylton cross. A second followed just before the break after Cammy Mackay produced a spectacular save to deny a Turan header, but from the corner Tam O'Brien tapped in at the second attempt after a scramble in the box. That prompted a rapid response from Inverness when Adam Brooks replied for the visitors two minutes later after goog possession and a cross from Longstaff. Before the whistle Wallace Duffy left the field to be replaced by Cammy Harper in stoppage time. Half Time: 2-1 Charlie Gilmour replaced Austin Samuels at the interval but it was the hosts that went straight onto the front foot. On the hour Doran hit the crossbar after he got on the end of a Longstaff cross to volley from six yards. Big Harry and Nathan Shaw were introduced with Bray and Doran making way with around half an hour remaining. Harry's game was short. He was sent off a couple of minutes after coming on for a reckless challenge on McKenna, lordy lordy Ross Stewart restored the two goal cushion with a vicious strike from just outside the box in the 70th minute. Aaron Steele knocked in the fourth in another melee in the box as we struggled to stop the rot. The smokies could have had a fifth when substitute Slater beat Mackay from eighteen yards but his shot bounced off the post and across the face of the goal. Lewis Hyde reduced the deficit in the final minutes with a header off a Harper free kick to end the scoring. An eventful but unsuccessful afternoon for the Caley Jags. Do I hear the word untennable being passed around? Full Time: 4-2 Regardless of the eight changes made, it was another poor day at the office... The stats don't lie no matter what team you put on the park. That's now seven defeats and one draw in our last eight big boy games (excluding the Inverness Cup Final). Where does Billy Dodds go from here? Most fans, if not all, are bringing out the untennable option. And along with Dodds, is it time for the whole board to resign. By the end of October, it should be clearer. We face Raith Rovers (a), Dundee United (h) and Arbroath (a) again. If we take nothing from these games, then there will be only one option. Date: 09/09/2023 Venue: Gayfield Park, Arbroath Attendance: 780 Referee: Steven McLean Arbroath: 4 Manager: Dick Campbell Lineup: Adams; Steel, O'Brien, Little, Stewart, Jacobs (Slater 72), Cande Balde (Dow 58), Hylton (Stowe 72), McKenna, Gold (Norey 79), Turan (McIntosh 72) Subs (not used): Gaston; Scorers: Gold (34), O'Brien (41), Stewart (70), Steele (84) Booked: O'Brien (75) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Manager: Billy Dodds/Barry Wilson Lineup: C Mackay; Davidson, Duffy (Harper 45+4), Boyes, Delaney, Thompson (Hyde 74), Doran (Shaw 61), Bray (Lodovica 61), Longstaff, Brooks, Samuels (Gilmour 45) Subs (not used): Ridgers; Scorers: Brooks (43), Hyde (90+2) Booked: Boyes (83) Sent Off: Lodovica (63) a
  2. Your predictions please for Game 09 Challenge Cup match so HT and FT only. HT: FT: Update expected to be completed by 0700 Sat 23 Sept Site errors continue to bug the NPL thread updates so posts could be later than expected.
  3. In Dodds We Trust? With no wins in seven games (six defeats and a draw), it's a welcome distraction this weekend as we travel to Gayfield Park Arbroath to take on the 'Smokies' in the third round of the SPFL Trust Trophy. That's no easy task now that Arbroath have pulled their socks up after an opening day trouncing from Dundee United and back to back defeats from Queens Park in the Championship. In saying that, the first three defeats have been against two of the frontrunners in the Championship. However, It might offer us an opportunity to further bed in our latest additions who featured in the draw against the Pars last weekend. Not only that, but it'll be good practice for the Championship encounter at the end of the Month. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arbroath Match/Ticket Info Supporters Bus £20 North of Scotland Cup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Arbroath Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 24 17 4 3 59 19 +40 Away 22 10 6 6 30 23 +7 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 46 27 10 9 89 42 +47 Last encounter from last season saw us win 2-0 at the Caledonian Stadium: Two of the Championship form teams clashed at the Caledonian Stadium with both clubs on good runs, Arbroath unbeaten in seven games and Inverness just the one defeat over the last seven. Both clubs needing the win for different reasons, and both clubs capable of taking the points. After a dismal first half goals from Nathan Shaw and a Scott Allardice penalty settled the points in our favour. The downside was a red card for Jay Henderson... Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Arbroath 2 - 0 (H) 4 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 3 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (A) Last five games including Inverness Cup Arbroath 0-4 Dundee Utd ------- Inverness 1-2 Queens Pk Queens Pk 2-1 Arbroath ----------- Ayr United 1-0 Inverness Arbroath 0-1 Queens Pk ---- Clachnacuddin 1-4 ICTFC XI Morton 0-3 Arbroath ------------ Airdrie 2-1 Inverness Arbroath 2-1 Ayr United ----- Inverness 1-1 Dunfermline What can we expect? Maybe we will see a mixture of new guys, experience and fringe players. Basically anyone that's fit enough and good enough to pull on the jersey. Max Anderson and Morgan Boyes both had decent debuts last week against Dunfermline. However, after a solid first half we started to look jaded all over the park and ended up hanging on for a point. Somethings wrong that's no right and it needs fixing now. Nikola Ujdur still to arrive? Keith Bray was a second half sub last week and Maybe Cammy Mackay will get the gloves. What can Aaron Doran do for us and Billy Mckay needs to show that his extended contract was money well spent instead of having to chase back all over the park to get a kick of the ball. According to Bazza below, we can expect some fringe players in amongst the current incumbents. Welsh might be back in training soon, but the other two are longer term. Arbroath Changes since we last played them In: Leighton McIntosh, forward (Cove Rangers); Kenan Dunnwald-Turan, midfielder (Straelen); Jay Bird, forward (Dagenham & Redbridge); Jess Norey, midfielder (Barking); Aaron Steele (East Fife); Craig Slater, midfielder (Forfar Athletic); Jermaine Hylton, forward (Rushall Olympic); Mark Stowe, midfielder (Linlithgow Rose); Alasdair Adams, goalkeeper (Musselburgh Athletic). Out: Lewis Banks, defender (Altrincham); Sean Adarkwa, forward (Wealdstone); Dale Hilson, forward (Stirling Albion); Cammy Gill, goalkeeper (Montrose); Kieran Shanks, forward (Peterhead); Dylan Paterson, midfielder (Linlithgow Rose); Bobby Linn, forward (Lochee United); Yasin Ben El-Mhanni, forward; Paul Komolafe, forward. Loan Out: Scott Allan. Loan ended: Dylan Tait, midfielder (Hibs); Toyosi Olusanya, midfielder (St Mirren); Scott Bitsindou, midfielder (Livingston); Steven Hetherington, midfielder (Falkirk). Date for your diary, a wee night out at Mackessack Park in Rothes.
  4. Kidz Kup By all accounts, a young Inverness XI will travel to Hamilton to play Accies in the SPFL Trust Trophy amid a controversial decision by the Caley Jags to try and rest players as an unprecedented injury crisis ravages the club. The game is scheduled for a 3:00pm start on Saturday. Here's the Official Statement from the club. Despite this, the Supporters Club are still running a bus to Hamilton at 10:00am to get behind whoever will be taking to the field in the name of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Match tickets are priced at an amazing Xmas special of £3:00. Ryan Esson will be in charge of the young team as far as I know. Good luck guys. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ICTFC ACADEMY TWITTER ACCOUNT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well done to the ICT Supporters Travel Club who are backing the players whether they are 16 or 36 Book your seats HERE or call 07462 218717 to get a seat on the bus. At the risk of facing a backlash from the authorities Inverness have let their intentions be known that they will be massively understrength for this SPFL Trust Trophy game. They are looking at the bigger picture which is obviously the Championship, but I wonder what the sponsors feel about this. It's difficult to conjure up a meaningful preview for this one given that the Official Site has little to no information regarding the u18 squad. I imagine the squad will have the likes of out of favour keeper Mark Ridgers in goal, or maybe not as they must have an u18 keeper of their own. It's probably best for you to make up your own preview for this one as off the field ICTFC are fast becoming less media friendly than Welfare League clubs of the 70's. Come on guys, time to get your act together. I'll try and find out more, but it needs to be released by the club before we can find out who or what are our likely squad players for this weekend. I'll wait...just like I have to do every weekend as we are normally the last team to release squad details. Pull your socks up. Anyway, good luck to whoever plays in this one, can't really do much worse than the present crop of first team substitutes who have struggled recently. Here's Ryan to give us an insight into the predicament. This was one of the more recent releases by the club regarding the u18's. Not sure how Accies will react to our plight but they also have a job to do. Here's Eck's insight》》》 No new signings have arrived at New Douglas Park. Manager (at the moment) John Rankin has some injury worries in the midfield area with Lewis Spence and Marley Redfern both out with knee injuries. Lucas De Bolle is out with concussion and not expected back in action until the end of the year.
  5. Brechin pay the Penalty Prior to today, Brechin had only won twice at Inverness in ten encounters. This was a close one that went to penalties to decide who went into the hat for the fourth round draw. Inverness got off to the perfect start through George Oakley in the fifth minute to open the scoring. However, Kevin McHattie levelled the score with a great strike into the top corner after half an hour. Ten minutes before the break Oakley caught the side netting after being fed through by Duffy. A couple of minutes later Nathan Shaw put the hosts back in front. Half Time 2-1. Oakley scored from the spot just after the break, but it was far from job done. Two late strikes from Grady McGrath and Euan Spark took the game to penalties where Inverness just got over the line 4-3. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first meeting between the sides since 2018 had a low key approach to it. Inverness had Max Ram back in for a start after an early season injury in the League Cup against Kelty Hearts saw him miss the next two months. Billy & Bazza made a number of changes to the side that beat Dundee a week earlier. Cammy Mackay came in for Mark Ridgers with Nathan Shaw, Lewis Hyde and Dan's younger brother Calum all starting. Keith Bray and Mathew Strachan were part of a strong bench for the hosts (Ridgers; Carson, Deas, Allardice, D Mackay, B Mckay, Boyd, Strachan, Bray). Andy Kirk's Brechin had former Inverness players Kevin McHattie and Anthony McDonald in their squad and will be in confident mood after scoring ten goals in their last two games, both away from home. Good to see both these players back performing well on the park after careers disrupted by serious injuries. Aaron Arnott makes his debut for City after coming in on loan from Raith Rovers and Michael McArthur comes back into the starting XI after missing out last week. McHattie started with McDonald on the bench. An early tap in from George Oakley after a great save by keeper Wilson from a Max Ram header set Inverness up nicely but former Inverness defender Kevin McHattie levelled the scores after half an hour with a great curling strike into the top corner from twenty yards. Ten minutes before the break Nathan Shaw put Inverness ahead after Oakley pressurised defender Nathan Cooney into making a costly error before passing to Shaw to score his second goal for the club and that's how it stood at the interval. HALF TIME: 2-1 Oakley converted from the spot 3 minutes after the interval when Duffy was fouled in the box by Cooney. Shaw did well on a couple of occasions after the break but it was Brechin that pulled a goal back through Grady McGrath when he slotted in after Scott set him up with twenty minutes remaining. With ten minutes left they were level after Euan Spark knocked home following a corner. Inverness searched for a winner but time ran out and it went to penalties. Cammy Mackay made a crucial brilliant save from Ryan McInnes in the shoot out then Robbie Deas blasted home his spot kick, and that was the difference. FULL TIME 3-3 Penalties: Brechin City: Bain, McGrath, Loudon, Inglis, McInnes - 3 Inverness CT: B Mckay, Oakley, Boyd, Allardice, Deas - 4 The opening goal was Oakley's 20th goal for the Caley Jags. Incidentally, his first goal was also against Brechin City in a 3-0 league cup win in July 2017 in the 57th minute. Credit to Brechin for making a come back when heads could have dropped just after the interval when Oakley scored his second goal. By all accounts a miserable performance by a side without a number of first picks starting. The only consolation is that we are in the next round, but performances like that won't see us go far in this competition. School report: Must try harder It's no pretty, but we're in the next round From CTO: Awful performance. At 3-1 I thought like most that it was game over despite our midfield setup being so poor. But to concede 2 goals and almost another was criminal, I can't even think apart from Oakley any player that deserved a pass mark! Lethargic, Clueless wrong tactics and player choice made it difficult viewing for the fans.... Well that was painful. 3-1 up and we throw that away. The whole attitude was wrong today. They thought they just had to turn up. No drive,energy,tempo or hunger to win. Passing woeful. This was a great chance for the fringe players to show what they could do and they blew it... Here's Bazza Date: 24/09/2022 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 832 Referee: Barry Cook Inverness CT: 3 (4 pens) Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; Duffy, Devine (Allardice 45), Ram (D Mackay 62), Delaney, Shaw, Hyde, Harper (Deas 45), Doran (B Mckay 83) Callum Mackay (Boyd 62), Oakley Subs (not used): Ridgers; Carson, Strachan, Bray Scorers: Oakley (6, 47pen), Shaw (38) Booked: none Sent Off: none Brechin City: 3 (3 pens) Manager: Andy Kirk Lineup: Wilson; McHattie, Cooney, Northcott, Spark (90+1), Scott (Inglis 90+2), McArthur (Loudon 25), MacLeod, Cruickshank, Arnott (Bain 67), McGrath Subs (not used): Easton; Thomson, McDonald, Naglik Scorers: McHattie (28), McGrath (72), Spark (78) Booked: none Sent Off: none a
  6. Your predictions for Game 13 are now invited: HT: FT: 1st Scorer ICT: N/A 1st Scorer Dee: N/A Crowd: N/A Update for this game expected to completed no later than 2200 on 24 Sept
  7. If you like a challenge We host Brechin City this Saturday in the Challenge Cup, or SPFL Trust Trophy if you prefer, but remember to set your alarm clock early as it's a 2:00pm kick-off. This is Brechin's third game in this competition having ousted Hibernian colts and Stirling Albion in previous rounds. Both games went to penalties with City prevailing. Inverness are thrice winners of the Challenge Cup if you include the joint affair with Raith Rovers. MATCH/TICKET INFO Over the years we hold a massive advantage over the Hedgers and they now find themselves plying their trade in the Highland League after dropping out of League Two in May 2021 after losing out in the play-off to Kelty Hearts. However, wins breed confidence and they have started this season with a flourish, winning all seven of their Highland League games scoring 17 goals, conceding only twice. Our last fixture against Brechin was a Championship game back in 2018 when Inverness ran out 4 - 0 winners over a side heading for relegation having picked up only four points during the 2017/2018 season with four draws. George Oakley was one of our scorers in that game. Out of the SPFL: On 23 May 2021, Brechin lost 3–1 on aggregate to Lowland League side Kelty Hearts in the relegation playoffs, dropping down to the Highland League, the club's first spell out of the national leagues in 67 years. In June 2021, after the departure of player/manager Michael Paton, the club appointed Andy Kirk to the role of club manager. In the club's first season in the Highland League, they secured a respectable third-place finish. (Wikipedia) Venue Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 10 7 1 2 25 5 +20 Away 8 5 2 1 17 9 +8 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 18 12 3 3 42 14 +28 Last Time Out We had a tremendous result at Dens Park against the background of some powderpuff performances over the previous few weeks. An encouraging 2-0 win at Starks Park in the game before ignited a wee spark of optimism and a hard fought 3-2 win at Dundee followed, despite going behind early doors. Cammy Harper was the hero with two sublime strikes from distance to add to Billy Mckay's penalty just before the break. Chances at both ends in an open game where we eventually got on top and deservingly took all three points. Our goals at Dundee. BOOM! Brechin's tremendous start to the season continued with high fives all round. Their last two fixtures saw them trounce Strathspey Thistle 0-5 in the Highland League followed by a 1-5 defeat of Jeanfield Swifts in the Scottish Cup at the Riverside Stadium. Note that former Inverness player Anthony McDonald was instrumental in this game and scored City's third goal. And full back Kevin McHattie is also back playing after his injury problems. Here's Brechin putting five past Swifts in a second half blitz... Lenny Wilson: Kevin McHattie, Nathan Cooney, Marc Scott, Grady McGrath, Michael Cruickshank, Fraser MacLeod, Anthony McDonald, Ewan Loudon, Jordan Northcott, Euan Spark Latest Team News Usual suspects out for Inverness but maybe an opportunity to give some fringe players some game time and rest some weary legs for the bigger picture. Cammy Mackay may be in line for the keepers gloves. Max Ram is possibly the only recovering player that may get a run out with younger fringe players also getting involved. Eric's Brechin catch-up " Manager Andy Kirk has made a number of additions over the summer mostly from the junior ranks or lower league sides, he has however secured a loan deal for a promising youngster Aaron Arnott from Raith Rovers. Arnott only transferred on 7th September and has yet to make an appearance for the Glebe Park side" One or two recognisable names around Glebe Park. Euan Spark formerly with Dundee United and Dunfermline, Anthony McDonald and Kevin McHattie both ex ICT. They also have had Rogue defender *Iain Davidson* of Raith Rovers red card fame. *update* Fortunately for the ref and our players, Davidson may have left Brechin recently. Anyway, they have a good blend of youth experience and confidence which may well be enough to see them back in league 2 at the end of the season. They will have to do it without star midfielder Seth Patrick. The Zimbabwean has returned home for personal reasons after some great performances for City. (maybe he fell out with Davidson) It's only the main stand that will be open for this game and tickets are available now online from ictfc.tickethour.co.uk, the Club Shop (Monday-Friday)10am-4pm and you can buy them over the phone on 01463 222880 Ticket Prices:- Adults: £10. Concessions (Over 65s & Students): £8 Under 12s: Free*Disabled Carers: Free
  8. Joint holders clash It's the second game of a hectic period for the Caley Jags as the joint holders of the Challenge Cup meet at the Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday night in a game that kicks-off at 7:45pm. This season it's called the SPFL Trust Trophy and last time it was held it ran out of time with Inverness and Raith being awarded joint custody of the Tunnocks Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup for 2019/2020. No event for 2020/2021 as covid was the only winner that season. Inverness have held the Challenge Cup three times with Raith holding it twice. Falkirk have the most victories with four wins. MATCH INFO & TICKETS PPV STREAMING £10 OFFICIAL PREVIEW Venue Head 2 Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 17 13 2 2 36 13 +23 Away 14 7 4 3 27 17 +10 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 31 20 6 5 63 30 +33 First Competitive Meeting Sep 25th, 1999 League (H) 0 - 2 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Oct 23rd, 2021 League (Championship) (A) 1 - 1 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 3 - 3 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 4 - 3 (H) Despite our recent run of form, we hold the Indian sign over Raith Rovers with only two defeats in seventeen home games in all competitions, and that was not yesterday (Oct 2000)... This season it took a super strike from Roddy MacGregor to separate the sides back in August and more recently at Starks Park Aiden Connolly and Sean Welsh scored the goals in a 1-1 draw where Ross Mathews was sent off on half time for Rovers. Billy Mckay is our top scorer with 10 goals for the season, half of those coming in the Challenge Cup including a hat-trick against Elgin City in the last round. The Caley Jags put Buckie Thistle out in the previous round 4-2 with Mckay and Jamieson scoring braces. Raith got here by virtue of beating East Fife 3-1 at Starks Park. Tait, Connolly and Poplatnik the scorers for them. They put Forfar Athletic out before that scoring the only goal of the game. Latest Team News The mystery continues as the tough winter schedule kicks in and with an unwanted Scottish Cup replay coming up against Morton, the frailties of our wafer thin squad will no doubt be severely tested over the next few weeks. Unfortunately there is some unfinished personal business that is disrupting the squad and it's affecting performances on the park. It's about time the club acted professionally on this and make the paying public aware of the situation to avoid further embarrassment. A good chance to progress, but also a great opportunity to give some of our fringe players some more game time and those returning from injury. Manny Duku seems to have lost his way, but maybe he fancies a game against his old club and the likes of Cammy Mackay, Harper, Duffy, McDonald and Jamieson are all in need of getting some mileage on the park. Scott Kellacher ahead of the Raith game View full article
  9. Challenging Penalty Woe The Caley Jags and Raith had made ten changes between them for this Challenge Cup encounter and that was maybe evident by a lack of quality in the final third with neither side over exerting the opposition keepers in a goalless first half. The second half came and went with Jamieson and Connolly passing up on the best chances and it went to a penalty shoot out. Raith held their bottle better and when Shane Sutherland saw his penalty saved it was Raith that progressed to play Killie who edged out Hamilton 3-2. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness had won this trophy outright twice before and shared it last time it was held with Raith Rovers, who had also a previous win to their name. Could the Caley Jags look forward to the semi-finals against Killie or Accies or will Rovers progress, all will be revealed... A sprinkling of fringe and Academy players were on display as we tried to balance the competitive edge with sustainability as the tough schedule will continue, a Championship encounter against Kilmarnock coming up this Friday night, which surely carries more significance than the SPFL Trust Trophy. With that in mind, Ridgers, Sutherland and Doran did not start with Devine, Broadfoot, Duffy and Duku missing altogether, and he who shall not be named also not named. Under 18 players Kenny MacInnes, Ben Barron, Jamie Carnihan and Duncan Proudfoot made the bench for the first time this evening. Rovers went with a strong starting XI without a spare keeper. Raith set the ball rolling with Inverness playing towards the South stand and the first opportunity to put pressure on the away defence came in the ninth minute when a McDonald free kick was knocked high over the bar under challenge in the box. Reece McAlear flashed a shot from outside the box narrowly past the keepers left hand post after good pressure from the hosts in the twelfth minute. Minutes later Billy Mckay couldn't get his shot away properly and Tom Walsh ballooned the loose ball high into the stand. Centre half for the night Sean Welsh sprayed a couple of wonderful crossfield balls as Inverness probed and Lewis Jamieson smothered a shot from inside the box. Robbie Thomson comfortably flopped on top of the ball to mop up the first real opportunity of the game. A McDonald free kick from the left saw Mckay get the ball into the net but it was ruled offside. It looked a really tight decision to deny Mckay his sixth goal in this competition. Just over half an hour gone and chances were at a premium as Raith were forced into a personnel change with Ethan Ross having to be replaced by Riley-Snow. Cammy Harper made a vital headed clearance as Raith flighted a ball to the back post, the defender putting the ball behind for a fruitless corner. Raith were starting to press more approaching half time. Connolly whipped a free kick into the box but Cammy Mackay was in the right place to block a Benedictus header at the far side of the box. In a half of few chances, it was no surprise it ended goalless at the break, and should it remain that way after ninety minutes it will be penalty kicks that will decide who wins the tie. Half Time: 0-0 Shane Sutherland replaced Billy Mckay during the interval. Positive start to the second half from the hosts and one attack halted by an offside decision inside the box as we looked for an opening. An hour gone and there's still little goalmouth action as Inverness make a double substitution, Welsh and MacGregor off with Kenny Macinnes and Scott Allardice coming on. An untidy phase after the substitutions as both sides reorganised themselves and in the best move of the game a superb ball from McAlear fed Walsh on the left and his ball picked out Jamieson who tried to dink it over Thomson, alas the keeper spread himself well to block the effort. The hosts were upping the intensity on the visitors end and Jamieson almost picked out a comrade in the box after a good break down the left side with fifteen minutes to go. Cammy Mackay confidently punched clear from a corner as Raith came back into proceedings. Harper found Walsh at a tighter angle than he would have liked and he fired wide from eight yards as the game entered the final ten. Mackay was called into action as Raith swung a ball in from the left, the keeper pulling a header out of the air relatively comfortably. Aidan Connolly shot just wide with Mackay flying full length across his goalmouth as both sides looked for a winner before penalty kicks became real. Into time added on and Raith would launch a long ball from a free kick in their own half but it was mopped up and penalties it was. Full Time: 0-0 Penalty Kicks Tait 1 Doran 1 Berra 2 Harper 2 Mathews 2 Deas 2 Varian 3 Jamieson 3 Connolly 4 Allardice 4 Dick 5 Sutherland 4 Raith win shoot-out 5-4 Date: 30/11/2021 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 000 Referee: Barry Cook Inverness CT: 0 (4) Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; Carson (Carnihan 77), Deas, Harper, McDonald, Welsh (Allardice 61), McAlear (Doran 77) MacGregor (Macinnes 61), Walsh, Jamieson, Mckay (Sutherland 45) Subs (not used): Ridgers; Barron, Proudfoot, Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none Raith Rovers: 0 (5) Manager: John McGlynn Lineup: Thomson; Tumilty, Berra, Benedictus (Lang 79), Dick, Connolly, Mathews, Tait, Ross (Riley-Snow 35 - Arnott 79), Zanatta (Mitchell 57), Poplatnik (Varian 56) Subs (not used): Musonda, Young Scorers: none Booked: Riley-Snow (42) Sent Off: none a
  10. Joint holders clash It's the second game of a hectic period for the Caley Jags as the joint holders of the Challenge Cup meet at the Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday night in a game that kicks-off at 7:45pm. This season it's called the SPFL Trust Trophy and last time it was held it ran out of time with Inverness and Raith being awarded joint custody of the Tunnocks Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup for 2019/2020. No event for 2020/2021 as covid was the only winner that season. Inverness have held the Challenge Cup three times with Raith holding it twice. Falkirk have the most victories with four wins. MATCH INFO & TICKETS PPV STREAMING £10 OFFICIAL PREVIEW Venue Head 2 Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 17 13 2 2 36 13 +23 Away 14 7 4 3 27 17 +10 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 31 20 6 5 63 30 +33 First Competitive Meeting Sep 25th, 1999 League (H) 0 - 2 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Oct 23rd, 2021 League (Championship) (A) 1 - 1 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 3 - 3 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 4 - 3 (H) Despite our recent run of form, we hold the Indian sign over Raith Rovers with only two defeats in seventeen home games in all competitions, and that was not yesterday (Oct 2000)... This season it took a super strike from Roddy MacGregor to separate the sides back in August and more recently at Starks Park Aiden Connolly and Sean Welsh scored the goals in a 1-1 draw where Ross Mathews was sent off on half time for Rovers. Billy Mckay is our top scorer with 10 goals for the season, half of those coming in the Challenge Cup including a hat-trick against Elgin City in the last round. The Caley Jags put Buckie Thistle out in the previous round 4-2 with Mckay and Jamieson scoring braces. Raith got here by virtue of beating East Fife 3-1 at Starks Park. Tait, Connolly and Poplatnik the scorers for them. They put Forfar Athletic out before that scoring the only goal of the game. Latest Team News The mystery continues as the tough winter schedule kicks in and with an unwanted Scottish Cup replay coming up against Morton, the frailties of our wafer thin squad will no doubt be severely tested over the next few weeks. Unfortunately there is some unfinished personal business that is disrupting the squad and it's affecting performances on the park. It's about time the club acted professionally on this and make the paying public aware of the situation to avoid further embarrassment. A good chance to progress, but also a great opportunity to give some of our fringe players some more game time and those returning from injury. Manny Duku seems to have lost his way, but maybe he fancies a game against his old club and the likes of Cammy Mackay, Harper, Duffy, McDonald and Jamieson are all in need of getting some mileage on the park. Scott Kellacher ahead of the Raith game
  11. Olde rivalry renewed Its not often we get the opportunity to renew acquaintances with one of our, (especially Caley), main adversaries in ye olde Highland League, but this Saturday we will travel to Borough Briggs for a Challenge Cup tie against Elgin City. This season it's called the SPFL Trust Trophy. Don't forget this game is an early kick off at 2:00pm. In the previous round, we disposed of Buckie Thistle with an ultimately comfortable 4-0 scoreline. It was not as clear cut as the score suggests, but we eased to the win with two late goals from Billy Mckay. Lewis Jamieson had us in front before the break but not before Buckie had rattled the woodwork and Cammy Mackay had made a great save to keep the high scoring Highland League side at bay. Cammy Harper put us two ahead before the late cameo from Billy. Elgin got here having beaten Hibs young team 1-2 and were the given a bye when Dunfermline were below par as covid put paid to their Challenge and they conceded the tie. OFFICIAL PREVIEW PPV STREAMING MATCH TICKETS MATCH INFO Match Info from Elgin City We have only played Elgin twice in big boy matches 2017 Jan 21st Scottish Cup (Rd 4) 2 - 1 (A) 3,624 2011 Jan 8th Scottish Cup (Rd 4) 2 - 0 (H) 2,808 Although we have played them in pre-season games and NoS Cup games. 2020 Oct 3rd Friendly (Pre-season) 1 - 1 (H) - Sep 24th Friendly (Pre-season) 7 - 3 (A) - 2017 Jul 8th Friendly 0 - 2 (A) - 2016 Jul 12th Friendly 3 - 0 (A) - 2014 Jul 12th Friendly 2 - 1 (A) - 2013 Jul 13th Friendly 2 - 0 (A) 559 2012 Jul 14th Friendly 1 - 0 (A) - 2011 Jul 2nd Friendly 3 - 0 (A) - 2010 Jul 21st Friendly 6 - 0 (A) - 2009 Jul 14th Friendly 3 - 1 (A) - 2007 Jul 17th Friendly 3 - 0 (A) - 2006 Jul 12th Friendly 2 - 0 (A) 530 2004 Jul 27th Friendly 5 - 0 (A) - Apr 25th North Cup (Final) 0 - 1 (N) 400 2002 Jul 27th Friendly 1 - 0 (H) 332 2001 Jul 31st Friendly 4 - 0 (A) 300 1998 Apr 25th North Cup (Final) 1 - 3 (H) - Bazza ahead of the game against Elgin City Latest Team News Elgin went down 0-2 to Stirling Albion in League 2, and that was after an excellent away win at Stenhousemuir the previous week, McHardy and Dingwall scoring in each half.Last time out we suffered our first defeat in the Championship as a rather tepid display against ten man Accies saw us lose 2-1 @ NDP. Great strikes by Smith and Ryan had Accies in control and a backs to the wall determined effort saw them hold out until the 92nd minute when Michael Gardyne scored a superb curling effort from just inside the left edge of the box. Too little too late though and our shot shy performance got what it deserved. Billy Dodds kept his injuries quiet prior to the defeat at Hamilton where David Carson, Danny Devine and Aaron Doran all missed out. Shane Sutherland was back in action last week after injury and will no doubt be looking for a start against his former team. Expect Reece McAlear to start in this one and it's a good opportunity for Billy Mckay and Lewis Jamieson to impress with Cammy Mackay getting a chance to shine between the sticks. Barry Wilson was the main man for the previous round and he will be in charge of this one against the club he previously managed. Elgin's Gavin Price has former Inverness youth and exciting young prospect Matheus Machado in his squad. Tom Grivosti on loan from County as well. Kane Hester has been out recently having pulled his hamstring in training last week and missed City’s 1-1 draw at League Two leaders Kelty Hearts. It is a medial hamstring strain requiring a minimum of three weeks rest, with a worst case scenario of six weeks out. He will be a big miss for City having netted seven goals this season with 48 goals for the Black and Whites in just 82 starts. Elgin last time out: McHale, Spark, Grivosti, McHardy, McPhee, MacEwan (Allan 90′), Mailer (Wilson 46′), Cameron, T.Dingwall, R.Dingwall (Sopel 85′), O’Keefe (Machado 73′) View full article
  12. He scores when he wants Elgin City raced into an early two goal lead through a Tom Grivosti header and a great finish from Brian Cameron as City hit on the counter when Connor O'Keefe did well down the right before Cameron hammered a tremendous shot high into the net from just inside the box. Just when it looked like Elgin were cruising, Billy Mckay took matters into his own hands when he fired home from sixteen yards and then grabbed a second two minutes later as pressure mounted on the home goal. Half Time: 2-2 After an even opening to the second half, Billy Mckay got his hat-trick before a great through ball from McAlear put Lewis Jamieson through to dink his shot behind McHale for the fourth Inverness goal as Elgin heads went down. With the wind now out of the Elgin sails, Inverness saw out the game comfortably to progress into the next round to face Raith Rovers. Full Time: 2-4 A good workout for the guys and great to see MotM Billy Mckay amongst the goals, that's five in the two ties so far. Elgin gave the visitors plenty of problems in the first half hour before the Billy Mckay show started. A tidy finish from Lewis Jamieson as well when he tucked the ball round the keeper, the spin just enough to take the ball inside the post to round off the scoring in an entertaining game. Cammy Mackay made a great stop from a powerful drive in the second half as Elgin threatened momentarily, but Inverness eventually wore down the League two side. The Goals Here's Bazza Date: 09/09/2021 Venue: Borough Briggs Attendance: 1348 Referee: Barry Cook Elgin City: 2 Manager: Gavin Price Lineup: McHale; Spark, McHardy, MacPhee (Peters 85), Grivosti, MacEwan (Allen 76), Mailer, T Dingwall, R Dingwall, O'Keefe (Machado 58), Cameron Subs (not used): Cooney, Wilson, Lawrence, Sopel, Little. Scorers: Grivosti (9), Cameron (22) Booked: MacEwan (28), Grivosti (64), Mailer (69), R Dngwall (71) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 4 Manager: Barry Wilson Lineup: C Mackay; Duffy, Devine (Doran 76), Deas, Harper (Allardice 50), McAlear, Welsh, MacGregor, Sutherland (Duku 76) Jamieson, Mckay Subs (not used): Ridgers; Scorers: B Mckay (38, 40, 68), Jamieson (72) Booked: McAlear (63) Sent Off: none a
  13. Olde rivalry renewed Its not often we get the opportunity to renew acquaintances with one of our, (especially Caley), main adversaries in ye olde Highland League, but this Saturday we will travel to Borough Briggs for a Challenge Cup tie against Elgin City. This season it's called the SPFL Trust Trophy. Don't forget this game is an early kick off at 2:00pm. In the previous round, we disposed of Buckie Thistle with an ultimately comfortable 4-0 scoreline. It was not as clear cut as the score suggests, but we eased to the win with two late goals from Billy Mckay. Lewis Jamieson had us in front before the break but not before Buckie had rattled the woodwork and Cammy Mackay had made a great save to keep the high scoring Highland League side at bay. Cammy Harper put us two ahead before the late cameo from Billy. Elgin got here having beaten Hibs young team 1-2 and were the given a bye when Dunfermline were below par as covid put paid to their Challenge and they conceded the tie. OFFICIAL PREVIEW PPV STREAMING MATCH TICKETS MATCH INFO Match Info from Elgin City We have only played Elgin twice in big boy matches 2017 Jan 21st Scottish Cup (Rd 4) 2 - 1 (A) 3,624 2011 Jan 8th Scottish Cup (Rd 4) 2 - 0 (H) 2,808 Although we have played them in pre-season games and NoS Cup games. 2020 Oct 3rd Friendly (Pre-season) 1 - 1 (H) - Sep 24th Friendly (Pre-season) 7 - 3 (A) - 2017 Jul 8th Friendly 0 - 2 (A) - 2016 Jul 12th Friendly 3 - 0 (A) - 2014 Jul 12th Friendly 2 - 1 (A) - 2013 Jul 13th Friendly 2 - 0 (A) 559 2012 Jul 14th Friendly 1 - 0 (A) - 2011 Jul 2nd Friendly 3 - 0 (A) - 2010 Jul 21st Friendly 6 - 0 (A) - 2009 Jul 14th Friendly 3 - 1 (A) - 2007 Jul 17th Friendly 3 - 0 (A) - 2006 Jul 12th Friendly 2 - 0 (A) 530 2004 Jul 27th Friendly 5 - 0 (A) - Apr 25th North Cup (Final) 0 - 1 (N) 400 2002 Jul 27th Friendly 1 - 0 (H) 332 2001 Jul 31st Friendly 4 - 0 (A) 300 1998 Apr 25th North Cup (Final) 1 - 3 (H) - Bazza ahead of the game against Elgin City Latest Team News Elgin went down 0-2 to Stirling Albion in League 2, and that was after an excellent away win at Stenhousemuir the previous week, McHardy and Dingwall scoring in each half.Last time out we suffered our first defeat in the Championship as a rather tepid display against ten man Accies saw us lose 2-1 @ NDP. Great strikes by Smith and Ryan had Accies in control and a backs to the wall determined effort saw them hold out until the 92nd minute when Michael Gardyne scored a superb curling effort from just inside the left edge of the box. Too little too late though and our shot shy performance got what it deserved. Billy Dodds kept his injuries quiet prior to the defeat at Hamilton where David Carson, Danny Devine and Aaron Doran all missed out. Shane Sutherland was back in action last week after injury and will no doubt be looking for a start against his former team. Expect Reece McAlear to start in this one and it's a good opportunity for Billy Mckay and Lewis Jamieson to impress with Cammy Mackay getting a chance to shine between the sticks. Barry Wilson was the main man for the previous round and he will be in charge of this one against the club he previously managed. Elgin's Gavin Price has former Inverness youth and exciting young prospect Matheus Machado in his squad. Tom Grivosti on loan from County as well. Kane Hester has been out recently having pulled his hamstring in training last week and missed City’s 1-1 draw at League Two leaders Kelty Hearts. It is a medial hamstring strain requiring a minimum of three weeks rest, with a worst case scenario of six weeks out. He will be a big miss for City having netted seven goals this season with 48 goals for the Black and Whites in just 82 starts. Elgin last time out: McHale, Spark, Grivosti, McHardy, McPhee, MacEwan (Allan 90′), Mailer (Wilson 46′), Cameron, T.Dingwall, R.Dingwall (Sopel 85′), O’Keefe (Machado 73′)
  14. Olde rivalry renewed   Its not often we get the opportunity to renew acquaintances with one of our, (especially Caley), main adversaries in ye olde Highland League, but this Saturday we will travel to Borough Briggs for a Challenge Cup tie against Elgin City. This season it's called the SPFL Trust Trophy. Don't forget this game is an early kick off at 2:00pm. In the previous round, we disposed of Buckie Thistle with an ultimately comfortable 4-0 scoreline. It was not as clear cut as the score suggests, but we eased to the win with two late goals from Billy Mckay. Lewis Jamieson had us in front before the break but not before Buckie had rattled the woodwork and Cammy Mackay had made a great save to keep the high scoring Highland League side at bay. Cammy Harper put us two ahead before the late cameo from Billy. Elgin got here having beaten Hibs young team 1-2 and were the given a bye when Dunfermline were below par as covid put paid to their Challenge and they conceded the tie.     OFFICIAL PREVIEW PPV STREAMING MATCH TICKETS MATCH INFO Match Info from Elgin City   We have only played Elgin twice in big boy matches  2017  Jan 21st Scottish Cup (Rd 4) 2 - 1  (A)    3,624      2011  Jan 8th Scottish Cup (Rd 4) 2 - 0  (H)    2,808       Although we have played them in pre-season games and NoS Cup games.  2020  Oct 3rd Friendly (Pre-season) 1 - 1  (H)    -      Sep 24th Friendly (Pre-season) 7 - 3  (A)    -      2017  Jul 8th Friendly 0 - 2  (A)    -      2016  Jul 12th Friendly 3 - 0  (A)    -      2014  Jul 12th Friendly 2 - 1  (A)    -      2013  Jul 13th Friendly 2 - 0  (A)    559      2012  Jul 14th Friendly 1 - 0  (A)    -      2011  Jul 2nd Friendly 3 - 0  (A)    -      2010  Jul 21st Friendly 6 - 0  (A)    -      2009  Jul 14th Friendly 3 - 1  (A)    -      2007  Jul 17th Friendly 3 - 0  (A)    -      2006  Jul 12th Friendly 2 - 0  (A)    530      2004  Jul 27th Friendly 5 - 0  (A)    -      Apr 25th North Cup (Final) 0 - 1  (N)    400      2002  Jul 27th Friendly 1 - 0  (H)    332      2001  Jul 31st Friendly 4 - 0  (A)    300      1998  Apr 25th North Cup (Final) 1 - 3  (H)    -       Bazza ahead of the game against Elgin City Latest Team News Elgin went down 0-2 to Stirling Albion in League 2, and that was after an excellent away win at Stenhousemuir the previous week, McHardy and Dingwall scoring in each half.Last time out we suffered our first defeat in the Championship as a rather tepid display against ten man Accies saw us lose 2-1 @ NDP. Great strikes by Smith and Ryan had Accies in control and a backs to the wall determined effort saw them hold out until the 92nd minute when Michael Gardyne scored a superb curling effort from just inside the left edge of the box. Too little too late though and our shot shy performance got what it deserved.  Billy Dodds kept his injuries quiet prior to the defeat at Hamilton where David Carson, Danny Devine and Aaron Doran all missed out. Shane Sutherland was back in action last week after injury and will no doubt be looking for a start against his former team. Expect Reece McAlear to start in this one and it's a good opportunity for Billy Mckay and Lewis Jamieson to impress with Cammy Mackay getting a chance to shine between the sticks. Barry Wilson was the main man for the previous round and he will be in charge of this one against the club he previously managed. Elgin's Gavin Price has former Inverness youth and exciting young prospect Matheus Machado in his squad. Tom Grivosti on loan from County as well. Kane Hester has been out recently having pulled his hamstring in training last week and missed City’s 1-1 draw at League Two leaders Kelty Hearts. It is a medial hamstring strain requiring a minimum of three weeks rest, with a worst case scenario of six weeks out. He will be a big miss for City having netted seven goals this season with 48 goals for the Black and Whites in just 82 starts. Elgin last time out: McHale, Spark, Grivosti, McHardy, McPhee, MacEwan (Allan 90′), Mailer (Wilson 46′), Cameron, T.Dingwall, R.Dingwall (Sopel 85′), O’Keefe (Machado 73′)    
  15. In Dodds we Trust A wee break from the Championship this weekend as we face high scoring Buckie Thistle in the SPL Trust Trophy. That's the Challenge Cup to you and me of which we are the joint holders with Raith Rovers when Tunnocks Caramel Wafers were the sponsors. The game kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday at the Caledonian Stadium, and if you can't make it to the ground, then live streaming is available from ICTV at a mere £10. Games against Buckie Thistle are like buses. None for years then two come along within months of each other. We do like a cup game against green and white hooped teams. We have a decent record against them right up to Scottish Cup semi-finals. This time it's Buckie Thistle, a team we put out of the Scottish Cup last season with a very late Daniel Mackay goal in a 3-2 win at the fishing town. It was scarcely deserved as Buckie were equal to a mostly youthful Inverness side, and despite going behind to a James Keatings goal after 35 seconds they fought back when Jack Murray deservedly headed Buckie level fifteen minutes in. A shot from distance by Sean Welsh restored the visitors advantage but a final flurry of activity saw Callum Murray equalise only for Dan to score two minutes later. Credit to Buckie for making this difficult for the youngish Inverness side and a trip to Dingwall beckoned and ultimately an away tie at Paisley where we bowed out of the cup to a late St Mirren goal. OFFICIAL PREVIEW PPV STREAM £10 Anyway, to the job in hand, a testing tie against a high scoring Buckie Thistle who sit second in the Highland League behind the Broch. Buckie have scored an incredible 31 goals in just seven games. A thumping 10-0 win over Keith the highlight. To get to this round, Buckie disposed of Brechin City at the Hedge by 3-1 with Sam Morrison, Sam Urquhart and Callum Murray scoring the goals in an impressive performance. Unfortunately Sam Morrison was red carded late in the game and will miss this tie. Buckie have already drawn with leaders Fraserburgh and the only blemish was a 2-0 reverse against Rothes. They warmed up for this game by trouncing Formartine United 5-1 away from home at North Lodge Park. Inverness are themselves in fine form in the Championship, winning their opening four fixtures on the trot, all by 1-0. An excellent well drilled performance at Rugby Park saw the Highlanders come away with all three points to put Inverness on top of the table on their own with twelve points from four games after Michael Gardyne scored his first goal for the club, a thumping shot from twelve yards palmed into the roof of the net by the keeper. Boom! Latest Team News It looks like some fringe players will be involved in this one with Barry Wilson seeing this as an ideal opportunity to give the likes of Cameron Harper and Billy Mckay some game time whilst resting up some of the guys that have put us on top of the Championship after four games. Michael Gardyne picked up an injury in training and will miss out. Maybe Cammie Mackay will get a run out between the sticks as well. However, there's a fine balance between resting players and still remaining competitive. Buckie are not to be underestimated. View full article
  16. In Dodds we Trust   A wee break from the Championship this weekend as we face high scoring Buckie Thistle in the SPL Trust Trophy. That's the Challenge Cup to you and me of which we are the joint holders with Raith Rovers when Tunnocks Caramel Wafers were the sponsors. The game kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday at the Caledonian Stadium, and if you can't make it to the ground, then live streaming is available from ICTV at a mere £10. Games against Buckie Thistle are like buses. None for years then two come along within months of each other. We do like a cup game against green and white hooped teams. We have a decent record against them right up to Scottish Cup semi-finals. This time it's Buckie Thistle, a team we put out of the Scottish Cup last season with a very late Daniel Mackay goal in a 3-2 win at the fishing town. It was scarcely deserved as Buckie were equal to a mostly youthful Inverness side, and despite going behind to a James Keatings goal after 35 seconds they fought back when Jack Murray deservedly headed Buckie level fifteen minutes in. A shot from distance by Sean Welsh restored the visitors advantage but a final flurry of activity saw Callum Murray equalise only for Dan to score two minutes later. Credit to Buckie for making this difficult for the youngishl Inverness side and a trip to Dingwall beckoned and ultimately an away tie at Paisley where we bowed out of the cup to a late St Mirren goal. OFFICIAL PREVIEW Anyway, to the job in hand, a testing tie against a high scoring Buckie Thistle who sit second in the Highland League behind the Broch. Buckie have scored an incredible 31 goals in just seven games. A thumping 10-0 win over Keith the highlight. To get to this round, Buckie disposed of Brechin City at the Hedge by 3-1 with Sam Morrison, Sam Urquhart and Callum Murray scoring the goals in an impressive performance. Unfortunately Sam Morrison was red carded late in the game and will miss this tie. Buckie have already drawn with leaders Fraserburgh and the only blemish was a 2-0 reverse against Rothes. They warmed up for this game by trouncing Formartine United 5-1 away from home at North Lodge Park. Inverness are themselves in fine form in the Championship, winning their opening four fixtures on the trot, all by 1-0. An excellent well drilled performance at Rugby Park saw the Highlanders come away with all three points to put Inverness on top of the table on their own with twelve points from four games after Michael Gardyne scored his first goal for the club, a thumping shot from twelve yards palmed into the roof of the net by the keeper. Boom! Latest Team News It looks like some fringe players will be involved in this one with Barry Wilson seeing this as an ideal opportunity to give the likes of Cameron Harper and Billy Mckay some game time whilst resting up some of the guys that have put us on top of the Championship after four games. Michael Gardyne picked up an injury in training and will Maybe Cammie Mackay will get a run out between the sticks as well. However, there's a fine balance between resting players and still remaining competitive. Buckie are not to be underestimated.         
  17. Chocolate cup delight Inverness made a number of changes for this Challenge Cup fourth round tie against Alloa Athletic but still came out on top after a somewhat listless game where errors were more commonplace than slick incisive football. Less than 1000 fans were in attendance as Mitch Curry scored his first goal for the club just before the interval. Debutant Nathan Gilhooly gave away the ball thirty yards out and Curry ran into the box before cutting the ball back across the keeper and into the net. We got a deserved second when Charlie Trafford crashed a shot goalwards. It took a big deflection to fly high into the net with keeper Jamie MacDonald stranded. Alloa hit the woodwork twice through Trouten and Graham before we wrapped the game up. In the last minute Matheus Machado was on hand at the back post to knock a Miles Storey cross into the net for his first senior goal. Brazilliant! Five or six non regulars were given the nod in this one, notably, keeper Cammy Mackay, Cammy Harper, Kevin McHattie and Mitch Curry who returned after injury, his first game in eleven weeks. The Wasps were along more familiar lines and made two or three changes from the side that beat Dundee United last Friday. Nathan Gilhooly was making his first start for the club with Robbie Deas missing. Steven Hetherington also missed out and Liam Buchanan started. It was a low key game and the performance echoed that in terms of urgency. Inverness were dominant in the first half but wasteful in the final third with some preferring to flatter to deceive rather than go for the jugular. Mitchell Curry had a couple of efforts as did Roddy MacGregor but either failed to make the keeper work or made it easy for him to gather the ball comfortably. Shooting practice might be on the agenda this week as Aaron Doran fired harmless efforts well over the bar. Curry opened the scoring just before the break after he cut out a loose ball from Gilhooly. He carried on across and into the box before cutting the ball back across the keeper and into the bottom corner. He wasted an equally good chance within a minute after bursting into the left side of the box but shot weakly with his left peg at the near post where MacDonald gathered the ball with ease. He would have been better opening his body looking for the far post or squaring to the incoming teammates. Half Time 0-1 The second period saw our dominance continue and Jamie MacDonald did well to stop a MacGregor shot on the line after a deflection took a bit of the pace off the ball. Aaron Doran looked as though he had scored with half the North Stand already on their feet. However his dipping volley sliced narrowly wide of the keepers left hand post. Close, but no cigar! Our dominance eventually paid off but it took a deflected shot from Charlie Trafford to get the two goal cushion. He bludgeoned the ball from outside the box and it deflected high into the net with MacDonald stranded. We seemed to stir a hornets nest after the second goal and the wasps almost stung us, three times, with Alan Trouten firstly taking forever to pick his spot. That spot was the post and it rebounded back towards the keeper. Adam Brown tried from distance and Cammy Mackay stopped the shot, but as it bounced away from him Robbie Thomson looked favourite to get to the ball first but Cammy dived full length forward to deny the Waspy. Andy Graham also saw a late header come down off the bar as we lost our focus a little. We rallied again and the often wasteful Storey managed to get a cross into the box. Jordan White challenged for it and it was met at the back post by young Matheus Machado who tidily and gleefully knocked it into the net. That's his first senior goal for the club, many more to come methinks. Good end to the contest by the Caley Jags who seemed to be in control but almost undid the good work prior to Alloa's wee revival bid. Overall we were comfortable winners, but had we taken a more urgent approach could have scored half a dozen goals. Unfortunately we were somewhat pedantic at times with Doran going round in circles and Storey often taking the wrong option when he should be using his best asset, his searing pace and power. Good cross for the third goal though. MacGregor is young and comes across as over eager to score. Very busy player though and will be a great asset once he gets off the mark. The goals can be seen here https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=392555228366434 Not easy to spot the MotM. A few contenders with Charlie Trafford in particular having a good day. David Carson was also industrious and at the back Coll Donaldson looks more focussed than he was at the start of the season and Kevin McHattie will be knocking on the managers door very soon. No real failures, but some need to work to their strengths rather than be fancy Dans. Good to be back.......... The draw for the semi-finals will be made at 1:00pm on Wednesday 16th October. Also through along with Inverness are Stenhousemuir, Elgin City, Clyde, Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers, Wrexham and the winners of Solihull Moors v Rangers Colts(Tues 15th). Date: 12/10/2019 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 973 Referee: John McKendrick Inverness CT: 3 Lineup: C Mackay, Rooney, Donaldson, McHattie, Harper, Doran, Carson, Trafford (Vincent 78), Curry (White 75) , MacGregor (Machado 85), Storey. Subs (not used): Ridgers; Tremarco, McCart, Scorers: Curry (42), Trafford (64), Machado (88). Booked: none Sent Off: none Alloa Athletic: 0 Lineup: MacDonald; Taggart, Graham, Cawley, Robertson, Buchanan, Trouten, Flannigan, Brown (O’Donnell 86), Gilhooly, O’Hara (Thomson 65) Subs (not used): Henry; Scorers: none Booked: none Sent Off: none a
  18. Chocolate Biscuit action Hold your horses, we play Rangers Colts in the Chocolate Biscuit Cup semi-final this Sunday at the Caledonian Stadium, Inverness. I bet you all forgot about this competition. Kick off for this one is 16:10 with the P&J Lounge within the stadium being open for a day of televised football, the drinks starting to flow at 12 midday. Ross County are the current holders of the Challenge Cup having beaten Connagh's Quay 3-1 in the final last season. The last round of the competition was played three months ago, I kid you not. So, back in November, we knocked out Clyde after a penalty shoot-out and Rangers u21's beat Wrexham 2-0. The other semi-final will be between Partick Thistle and Raith Rovers which will be played on the Friday night ahead of our game on the Sabbath. (Raith Rovers wait for the winners of this tie after they beat Partick Thistle 2-1. It was a frantic end to the game as Partick went two down with 15 minutes to go but they fell just short and hit the post as Raith hung on. They'll be dancing in the streets of Raith etc......) We have been in the final of this competition four times, winning the Challenge cup twice. To be honest it's an event that does not really come to life until the final stages for many fans. So here we are in the semi's against Ranger's finest youngsters and the opportunity to go further and gain some confidence as the league campaign gets to the business end. It's not for everyone, but our last final against Dumbarton showed what it meant to them and their fans as they lit up the day in Perth, their first final since the bronze age. Here's how we won the trophy two seasons ago......... Who are Rangers u21's/Colts. I imagine they are the finest hand picked youngsters who have been gathered from around the country and tied to Rangers on contracts that our players can only dream about. Add in a couple of seasoned professionals and there you have it. A team capable of challenging those outside the premiership in a trophy for the best of the rest. Rangers senior side won this competition in 2016. Rangers Team for the 2-0 win over Wrexham Wright; Patterson (Young-Coombes 31), Edmundson, Breen, Flanagan, Mayo, Barjonas, Maxwell, Dickson (Butterworth 87), Atakayi (Lyall 76), Kennedy. Subs not used: Budinaukas; Williamson, O'Connor, Miller. Goals: Jamie Barjonas (35), Nathan Young-Coombes (71) ***Inverness Team News*** John Robertson has fitness doubts over Aaron Doran and Lewis Toshney. Doran took a knock late in the home game against Alloa Athletic and Toshney, who had been cup-tied, has fluid on the knee which requires attention. Otherwise, it should be business as usual. Robbo insists that he has had The Rangers Colts watched a couple of times but admits it's difficult to know which players they will choose their squad from due to the nature of the competition. It could be a case of perm any XI from a possible thirty or so players. Good luck with that John. ***LATE NEWS*** The dates for the Scottish Cup game at Easter Road have been set and it's Friday night football for the Caley Jags. The game will also be televised live on BBC Scotland with a 7:45pm kick off ?Our @ScottishCup Quarter Final against @HibernianFC will take place on Friday 28th February at 19:45pm and will be shown live on @BBCScotland Ticket Information for Inverness fans will be announced over the weekend ? https://t.co/xPUhTigW3k
  19. Chocolate Cup weekend Bully-off against the Bully Wee on Saturday is at 3:00pm at the Caledonian Stadium with the visitors in the middle section of League1 and Inverness in the middle of a shocking slump. I don't even think we can blame HMRC. It's a break from League business though as we enter the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup, this year sponsored by Tunnock's Caramel Wafers and if you are quick off the mark you might even get some freebies prior to kick-off. Why the Bully Wee? From the Clyde FC Official Website:- As nicknames go, "The Bully Wee" is quirky and affectionate. It's not clear when it was first coined, or by whom, but it has been synonymous with Clyde. There appear to be three main theories how the name originated. The first refers to the fact that Clyde's support and possibly players were drawn from the Bridgeton area. Renowned for their pugnacious character the support were 'wee bullies' and hence the Bully Wee. The second theory takes a European dimension. Apparently some Frenchmen were at Barrowfield around 1900. Upon a disputed goal they cried: "But il'y, oui?" This translates as: "Their goal, yes", but sounds very like "Bully Wee". Our third and by far the most credible theory is that "Bully" was a Victorian synonym for first-rate/good/worthy. As Clyde were a small club it seems obvious that "Bully Wee Clyde" must have rolled off the tongue. The Bully Wee began life at Barrowfield Park in 1877 before moving to Shawfield in 1898. Their record attendance at Shawfield was for a game against Rangers in 1908 when 52,000 were at the game. That puts Shawfield at sixth place in the record attendances for Scottish football grounds. Clyde have come a long way since they were kicked out of Shawfield in 1986. 15.3 miles in fact and they now play out of Broadwood, Cumbernauld, the scene of one of our great achievements when we beat Clyde 2-1 to top the First Division before going on to promotion the following week on helicopter Saturday. What a day that was back on the 8th of May 2004. Goals from Liam Keogh and Stevie Hislop were enough to edge out Clyde who had levelled the score through an Ian Harty penalty until Hissy headed into the top corner with 10 minutes to go: Scenes! Turn the clock back Robbo, you were in charge then as well! Back to the future It's a chocolate themed weekend coming up with Inverness playing in the Chocolate Biscuit Cup and ironically we are as much use as a chocolate teapot just now. We are absolutely Tunnock's at the moment with only one win in our last five matches. It doesn't help when we have a Willy Wonka at the helm (according to some) but we certainly need a golden ticket to get us out of this mess. Now that takes the biscuit, crackers isn't it! We could really do with a boost as we are a bit flakey just now. Last week was one of the worst results in the history of the club since it joined the Leagues some 25 years ago. The 5-2 thrashing of Arbroath seems a long time ago now as the Smokies absolutely binned us last week with a comfortable 3-0 win over an uninspired Inverness who seem to have lost the plot. These players need to take a long hard look at themselves and ask if they actually give a feck whether they pull on the jersey or not. Wouldn't have happened on Hercher's shift! Even Bobby Mann had more pace than half of the current squad. Most of them lack the quality, the passion, the drive, the focus, the invention, in fact the basic skills of the game. If we were not in such a poor financial state, I doubt many would be retained. I suppose you only get what you pay for (buttons), let's hope we don't pay too much for the current squad. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to competition sponsors Tunnock’s there will be a limited stock of FREE Caramel Wafer Biscuits to supporters attending the match. The offer is one per person and while stocks last, so get down early! TICKET INFO Adult: £10 - Concessions (Over 65s, 16-25s, Juniors): £5 Under 12s: FREE (With an accompanying ticket holding adult or concession). ***Club Statement*** Two directors join the board. David Cameron (no not that one) and Allan Munro ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our last Tunnock's game saw us defeat Alloa Athletic 3-0, just one week before we struggled to a 2-2 draw against the same side in the Championship. We have made many changes to the starting XI for these ties and hopefully this game will not be an exception as the guys that played at Arbroath have lost something. Rumours of an advert circulating on facebook in the Arbroath Neighbourhood Watch pages are so far unfounded. The advert is alleged to have been from a man who went only by the name of John. He said that whilst in Arbroath at the weekend with his mates an entire football team had lost it's mojo. It may be reluctant to be returned to it's rightful owners, but if found could you please contact Inverness Caledonian Thistle football club, the Caledonian Stadium, Inverness. Thanks, John. Meanwhile, back to the task in hand, maybe a change of personnel will see players who want to put in the effort and pull on the jersey. Cammy Mackay has been between the sticks for these games so far and should continue, although Mark Ridgers is one of the few who are not to blame for our demise. If the manager has any ideas left, surely the likes of Storey, will be binned, he has been a waste of space since he came back, flattering to deceive. He must be doing something in training, but we never see it on a matchday. Have the likes of Doran and Tremarco seen better days? Get the young team on the park with Harper, McHattie, MacGregor, Machado surely having as much to offer as the impostors that get the regular games. ***Latest News*** The sickness bug that has been lurking around the Stadium for a week or two now is still lingering on and James Keatings seems to be suffering at the moment. John Robertson, Scott Kellacher, Barry Wilson Ryan Esson will possibly be in charge of the squad and other unnamed players are also suffering but he expects the squad to be along familiar lines with a couple of exceptions. It's not looking great down at the stadium with this bug running through the team, that might explain the lethargy shown over the last month as performance on the park has certainly dipped from being top of the League for four minutes to losing three of the last four games and conceding six goals in our last two whilst scoring zero! Raith Rovers are the first team through to the Semi-Finals after beating 10 man Elgin City 3-2 last night. Shane Sutherland scored for Elgin and good to see Daniel Mackay back on the park after his recent injury. Defender Mathew Cooper was also in the Elgin ranks as they played the last half hour with 10 men. Other Q/F ties Rangers u21 v Wrexham Stenhousemuir v Partick Thistle Here's Machado opening his account against Alloa.... Clyde lost 1-2 against Peterhead in League 1 last Saturday, Two goals from former Inverness striker Rory McAllister (remember when we all slagged him off ), were enough to see off Clyde who scored late on through defender Scott Rumsby. To put our humiliation into perspective, it was Clyde that knocked Arbroath out of the competition at Gayfield with a 2-0 win. An own goal and one from Chris Johnston set Clyde up for this tie against Inverness. Just let that sink in for a moment. Former St Mirren manager Danny Lennon is the man in charge of Clyde and he reckons he has similar problems to Inverness judging by his comments after the Peterhead game. Danny: "At half-time we asked the players to install a bit of pride and reminded them that their reputation, every time they take to the pitch in a Clyde jersey, is under the microscope. It's a response that I'm asking for too often at the moment." Rumour has it that David Goodwillie could well miss this game through injury and Clyde are down to the bare bones. Should make it an even game then. Danny Lennon might even have to list himself on the bench such is the plight of the Broadwood side. If you like a wee flutter, our partnership with FansBet can offer you something. Just click on FansBet to get started. "Remember to select CaleyThistleOnline when you register and you’ll be helping us support ICT fan causes." FansBet are partners with Supporters Direct Scotland and already have many impressive stories of giving back to and empowering fans, ranging from funding away travel, share purchases, backing safe standing projects and many more. You can read some of FansBet’s Giving Back stories on their blog. Always remember to adopt safe gambling and responsible policies.
  20. Challenging Times Challenging times ahead both on and off the park. Let's concentrate on the park for now as we entertain Alloa Athletic in the Challenge Cup on Saturday as the Wasps come North for a 3:00pm kick off at the Caledonian Stadium. It's the fourth round, or if you prefer, the quarter finals of the Chocolate Biscuit Cup sponsored by Tunnock's Caramel Wafers. If they like it up here, they will be back the week after to face us in the Championship. Bit of Deja Vu there as we also had a double header with Morton which went 8-1 in our favour. In the last round of this competition we put Morton out 3-1 at the Caledonian Stadium the week after pumping them 5-0 in the League. It was a much changed side that took to the field for the second game as Robbo introduced fringe players to the squad and added the returning Sean Welsh to the team to get some game time in his recovery from injury. That went well until last week when it was feared he had broken a metatarsal in his other foot! That has now been confirmed. He will be a big loss as the season unfolds. Anyway, goals by Todorov, Doran and Storey saw us comfortably beat the Ton despite making eight changes from the previous week. Many of them had tasted first team football but not on a regular basis. Cammy Mackay was in goal with the likes of Cameron Harper, Roddy MacGregor, Kevin McHattie and Nikolay Todorov all starting. All in, it was an excellent result given the alterations. Our last competitive match saw us take all three points at Ayr thanks to a rare goal from James Vincent and one from photographer Shaun Rooney with a superb solo goal. Great result from us against one of the form teams in the Championship. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPORTS BAR OPEN FROM 1PM TICKET PRICES FOR THIS MATCH ARE AS FOLLOWS Adult: £10 Concessions (Over 65s, 16-25s, Juniors): £5 Under 12s: FREE* when accompanied by a ticket holding adult/concession. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alloa's progress was less clear cut but they pulled off a tremendous away win at Dunfermline, beating the Pars 1-2. Robert Thomson and Alan Trouten were the scorers as the Wasps came from behind to win this one, but at a cost Keeper Neil Parry was injured and Alloa have since taken Jamie MacDonald on emergency loan from Kilmarnock to cover the position. They finished the game with ten men after Blair Malcolm pulled up but held on to go in to the draw for the next round. Alloa's last outing was an even better performance as they deservedly beat League Leaders Dundee United at Recreation Park. Kevin O'Hara scored the only goal but Alloa were brilliant on the night and the Arabs could have no complaints at the result which could have been greater. They certainly showed the rest of the league how to tackle United. Given that we will tinker with our squad somewhat, I feel that Alloa will be more direct in their approach to this game and will see it as a tremendous opportunity to pick up some silverware, whereas we have bigger fish to fry as the season goes on. That could make it more difficult for us to progress although the squad will be along similar lines to the one that performed so well at Ayr last week. Robbo will draft in some more fringe players and we could see the likes of Tremarco, White and Doran rested. Brad Mckay and Mitch Curry could come into contention for a start, but Sean Welsh is definitely out. Tom Walsh is reportedly suffering from a hamstring injury. This will be a good benchmark for the game next week against the Wasps and any shortcomings will surely be addressed for the Championship encounter. Don't forget to listen to the latest offering from the Wyness Shuffle guys. If you like a wee flutter, our partnership with FansBet can offer you something. Just click on FansBet to get started. "Remember to select CaleyThistleOnline when you register and you’ll be helping us support ICT fan causes." FansBet are partners with Supporters Direct Scotland and already have many impressive stories of giving back to and empowering fans, ranging from funding away travel, share purchases, backing safe standing projects and many more. You can read some of FansBet’s Giving Back stories on their blog at https://blog.fansbet.com/fansbet-giving-back/partners/fan/ Always remember to adopt safe gambling and responsible policies.
  21. Chocolate Biscuit Cup Morton come back up the A9 this weekend no doubt looking for some revenge after last Friday nights heavy defeat. The Challenge Cup game kicks off at 3:00pm at the Caledonian Stadium with chocolate bars replacing tins of fizzy juice as the sponsors this season. We have had the DIY cup, the whisky, Alba, Ramsdens, Petrofac, and the fizzy pop cup. It's now called the chocolate biscuit cup, and this weekend we entertain Morton once more. I'm sure they will be delighted to be returning North so soon after Friday nights TV drubbing in the Championship. This time it's the Tunnock's Caramel Wafer Cup. I kid you not, that's the new name for the Challenge Cup. Who knew! Last week saw us rack up our biggest win in the Championship with a 5-0 thrashing of Morton, although a dour first half gave little indication of what was about to unfold. Jame Keatings opened the scoring just before the break and scored a second one minute into the second half. Jordan White, Coll Donaldson and Nikolay Todorov added some extra polish to the turd as we ran out convincing winners in the end, and with Morton unable to convert a penalty, Mark Ridgers saved to maintain a clean sheet. Overall it was a dominant performance, although the first half was a bit of a non event. A word of caution however. I don't imagine David Hopkin will let this one slip and I'm sure he will have tightened up all the loose nuts and bolts. Morton were a shambles in the second half but let's not get carried away after one big result. How often have we seen players running in on goal only to see their effort saved or slip by the post. Last Friday all the stars were aligned and every time we went through on goal we scored. 80% of the time that doesn't happen, however, we will take it but I won't be expecting that every week. Robbo has hinted that there may be some subtle changes on the cards as he rotates his squad to give fringe players an outing. That's all good and well, but I hope that's not to detract from the competition and take the opponents too lightly after the previous encounter. I doubt Morton will be feeling the same way and they will probably be looking to exact some revenge for that heavy defeat. In the North of Scotland Cup semi-final in midweek, an Inverness CT XI moved into the final after beating Clach. They will play Brora Rangers in the final on 5th or 6th October. There was game time for some players needing to boost their fitness ................ Given the squad that played in the 4-1 win over Clach in midweek, it looks as though Nikolay Todorov may well start with Miles Storey up front and possibly the exciting young talent of Roddy MacGregor. Matheus Machado could also be worth a shout. Jamie McCart took a bash on his fizzog on Wednesday night but hopefully he is fit if needed. Cameron Harper is scheduled to start this one. Sean Welsh played against Clach and is nearing match sharpness and Kevin McHattie played 45 minutes. So plenty of choice for Robbo, although according to Robbo it's Barry Wilson and Scott Kellacher who will be calling the shots. David Hopkin has brought in two loan signings since last Friday. It's no surprise that both are defenders. Adam Livingstone comes in from Motherwell as a left back for the season. Jack Baird has plenty Premiership experience with St Mirren and will be at Morton up to the January window at least. 26 DREAM RINGS AND 104 FREDOS There's the latest podcast from the Wyness Shufflers. Have a listen to the guys, it's another great effort from them and will Paul McGowan's barber sue........? If you like a wee flutter, our partnership with FansBet can offer you something. Just click on FansBet to get started. "Remember to select CaleyThistleOnline when you register and you’ll be helping us support ICT fan causes." FansBet are partners with Supporters Direct Scotland and already have many impressive stories of giving back to and empowering fans, ranging from funding away travel, share purchases, backing safe standing projects and many more. You can read some of FansBet’s Giving Back stories on their blog at https://blog.fansbet.com/fansbet-giving-back/partners/fan/ Always remember to adopt safe gambling and responsible policies.
  22. No Sweetener for IrnBru Champs It's a tough opening tie for Challenge Cup holders Inverness as we start the defence of our trophy on Tuesday night. However, there's no easy first round tie for the holders with the Pars visiting. Adults: £15 Concessions: £10 Under 16s: £5. Tickets available here Tickets Information for season ticket holders adding the game to their account can be found here How to add to your season ticket Our last involvement in this competition saw us defeat Dumbarton in the final at Perth, a last minute Carl Tremarco goal enough to lift the trophy. It was Championship duty last weekend and we passed up a great opportunity to win all three points against 10 man Ayr United. A penalty amongst other great opportunities went astray and we had to settle for a share of the points with the Honest Men. Inverness looked a bit one paced against Ayr and struggled to make the most of the numerical advantage. At times it was difficult to tell that the visitors were down a man. Nobody took the game by the scruff of the neck and we ultimately paid for our lethargy. Plenty of effort, but not enough guile. The last time the Pars came North they ruined our chances of a play-off slot last season by scoring with seconds left to earn a 2-2 draw in a pulsating game. I fully expect this to be another tough game. Robbo may make some changes for this cup game having gone with the tried and tested over the last few games. We do look as though a bit of pace in the wide areas would be an asset and maybe Elbouzedi or Calder could be more use on the park than on the bench. Daniel Mackay looks certain to make a start in this one. Been a tough week for Liam Polworth with the penalty miss and a minority section of fans getting on his case. Fair play to Liam if he plays through this, but I wouldn't blame him if he were to sit this one out and take stock of everything. Local artist and Caley Jags fan Sophie Robb has sketched this brilliant image of Liam. Let's hope he can put all this behind him and move on with the Caley Jags. Sophie's work can be seen at the stadium, a massive mural on display taken from the IrnBru final against Dumbarton. There's only one Liam Polworth................ The Pars fared worse than us on Saturday as they were unexpectedly beaten 1-3 at East End Park by relegated Ross County. Louis Longridge scored the Pars goal, but County were well worth the three points. Dunfermline might be more interested in the League Cup next weekend and that could lead to both sides fielding one or two fringe players. This was the side that Dunfermline put out at the weekend Robinson; Williamson, Durnan, Ashcroft, Longridge, Craigen, Thomson, Vincent, Longridge, El Bakhtaoui, Hippolyte Subs: Higginbotham, Ryan, Connolly, Gill, Smith, Todd, McCann An excellent digital Preview from the official site can be seen Here
  23. Daniel's a record breaker. Congratulations to Daniel Mackay who became the youngest player to play a competitive game for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. He came on as a late substitute for Riccardo Calder and made an immediate impact. Not only did he replace Liam Polworth as the youngest ever player, he scored a debut goal to round off the game as Inverness beat Peterhead 3-0 to advance into the hat for the next round draw on Tuesday. Well done Daniel, a fantastic achievement. Owain Fon Williams was in goal, Raven and Tremarco started in defence with Donaldson and Chalmers as Gary Warren was out with a sore thumb. Charlie Trafford was suspended after his red card in the previous round. Riccardo Calder was given another opportunity to show if he has anything to offer after a lethargic showing last week. Rory McAllister was spearheading the Blue Toon attack. A crowd below the 1,000 were on hand to witness this encounter and Inverness couldn't have asked for a better start as Liam Polworth fired us ahead after just 90 seconds, drilling a low shot behind the keeper from distance, possibly aided by a deflection. Peterhead responded well though and Rory McAllister tried a spectacular overhead but it went just over and Jamie Stevenson had an effort that was close, but no cigar. Baird saw a shot tipped over after Calder slipped him through on goal. A minute later Fon Williams had to punch a 30 yard volley clear from Williamson. Willie Gibson was getting some joy on the flank and has put in a few decent crosses, but no takers, and McLean deflects a shot from Gibson just over the bar. Although the hosts held the advantage, it was difficult to tell which team were in the higher division. Half Time 1-0 The second half was just five minutes old when a tidy one-two with Polworth saw Riccardo Calder clip home to double the lead. Neat play and a confidence boosting goal for Calder and indeed the whole team. That second goal sapped some of the energy from the visitors who looked resigned to losing the tie although we made heavy weather of ensuring there would be no banana skin ending. The highlight of the game came a couple of minutes after 16 year old Daniel Mackay came on as a late substitute. He is the youngest player to play for the club and took that accolade away from Liam Polworth. His first few touches saw him break forward but he chose the wrong option and the chance for his debut goal disappeared. A lay off to Baird might have been a better option, but that will come with more game time. However, moments later his debut was complete when he nodded home to end the scoring and rubber stamp his debut with the third goal for the Caley Jags. Full Time 3-0 There was a bit of cage fighting in the home dugout after Polworth had been substituted. It appears that what can best be described as an angry exchange took place between coach Scott Kellacher and Polly. I'm sure the club will be taking some action against the pair as tempers seemed to run a touch high. Interesting to find out what sparked this confrontation, but it's not in the best interest of either party to be seen having powder puffs at five paces in full view of the manager, the press and 1,000 fans. I don't think Conor McGregor has much to worry about to be honest. Expect another board statement soon. Coll Donaldson justified his selection and put in a good shift. One particular tackle on McAllister as he bore down on goal crucial to the outcome at the time and is our MotM. So, into the next round we go, the draw being made on Tuesday lunchtime I believe. Thanks to Ian Broadfoot for the Daniel statistics. Date: 07/10/17 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 930 Referee: Alan Muir Inverness CT: 3 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, B.Mckay, Chalmers, Donaldson, Tremarco, Vigurs, Polworth (Cooper 86), Calder (D.Mackay 89), Bell (Oakley 76), Baird Subs (not used): Ridgers, Elsdon, Brown Scorers: Polworth (2), Calder (51), D Mackay (92) Booked: Chalmers (55), B.Mackay (58), Raven (86) Sent Off: none Peterhead: 0 Lineup: Fleming, Stevenson, J Brown, McCracken, Macilduf, Gibson, Ferry, S Brown (Lawrence 86), Leitch, McLean, (Smith 55) McAllister 6 (Adams 76) Subs (not used): Hobday, Robertson, Dikobo, Gabriel Scorers: none Booked: McAllister (58) Sent Off: none a
  24. Fizzy Pop Cup Inverness face a new challenge today in the Irn Bru Cup with Peterhead the visitors. It's a break from the league campaign with international games on this weekend, but lower league teams battle it out for glory in the Challenge Cup. We have only played Peterhead three times before in competitive games. Last time a 3-0 victory saw us progress in the League Cup thanks to a brace from Adam Rooney and one from Grant Munro. However, that was in a previous life back in August 2010. A lot has happened since then. The visitors sit fourth in League two at the moment having been relegated last season. They did claim a big scalp in the League Cup group stages though when they defeated Hearts 2-1 with two former Inverness players scoring the goals, Jason Brown and Rory McAllister. They had a good September winning three of their five competitive games although they lost 0-2 last time out to Berwick Rangers. We have had a disastrous month picking up only one point from Queen of the South in the league. We did oust Aberdeen u20's from this competition with a 4-2 win at Brechin. The only reason we managed a point was with an ultra defensive display at home to Queens as Robbo tried to stop the rot. It sort of succeeded as we drew 0-0 without managing a shot on target for the entire game, a damning statistic that has not best pleased the fans. This run of results shows that we are now second bottom of the Championship and likely to remain there unless something drastic happens. Let's not dwell on the season so far, it's been a shambles. On paper this should be a relatively comfortable game for Inverness. However, these games are not played on paper and I'm certain most fans will be dreading the return of a striker we discarded years ago. Rory McAllister has been somewhat prolific since leaving Inverness, albeit in lower leagues. How ironic would it be if he were to dump his former club out of this competition, especially at a time when we are crying out for a striker to put the ball in the back of the net. Rory took a fair old lambasting on here when he was with us, many not waiting to see if his potential would be fully released in the coming months. He seems to have done alright since leaving us, and as we come full cycle, we will find out who made the right decision. Jake Mulraney and Gary Warren will be out along with Seedorf, Elbouzedi and Aaron Doran. That brings me to the most famous headline to come out of Peterhead. Peter Reid fae Peterheid is deid......... volvo for sale tm4tj prediction:- Like most, I am also sh...... erm, concerned about the return of former players. We shut up shop at home to Queens last week, but surely this is an opportunity to have a go and see if we can get some confidence back. I would be concerned about our lack of teamwork. Other sides seem to be more streetwise than us at the moment and Peterhead will be no different. I believe this game could be a struggle for us given recent performances, I hope I'm wrong but this could go tits up. There is a detailed preview on the Official Site
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy