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Little Consolation Inverness will face Hamilton Accies in the Play-Off final after nervously scraping past part-time Montrose who were eventually reduced to ten men when Blair Lyons was sent off after an off the ball incident in the 84th minute involving Morgan Boyes. Inverness had dominated throughout, but failed to capitalise on their possession, and as per the entire season failed to create much of note. The first half was livlier than the first leg, but the same problems showed up our lack of quality. We started with no wingers and Billy Mckay as usual in a withdrawn role. It's not worked all season, so why should it suddenly work now. A woeful first half ended goalless and it was on the hour and out of the blue when Billy Mckay prodded in from three yards to score the only goal of the game following a corner. Cammy Harper had smacked the outside of the keepers right hand post as he cut in from the left prior to this but chances were at a premium. We had to rely on the ever alert Mark Ridgers to deny Ali Shrive's vicious shot from 15 yards to keep us ahead as Montrose were still in the tie after 75 minutes, but that was the only real effort of note from the visitors although Ridgers was quick off his line in the first half to snuff out a through ball. With Lyon's red card went any hope Montrose had of taking the game further, but fair play to them and their vocal following for making a fist of it against a rank rotten Inverness side. It's little consolation to know we are through to the final play-off games against Accies, as we have big problems to iron out if we are to retain our Championship status. We won the battle today, but the war still has a long way to go. It's Montrose that take all the plaudits, but it's Inverness that are still in the play-offs. Wednesday May 15th Championship play-off final, 1st leg Hamilton Accies v Inverness CT Live on BBC ALBA, kick-off 8.05pm Saturday May 18 Championship play-off final, 2nd leg Inverness CT v Hamilton Accies Live on BBC ALBA, kick-off 5.30pm Date: 11/05/2024 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2089 Referee: Alan Muir Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Duncan Ferguson Lineup: Ridgers; Carragher, Boyes, Savage, Duffy (Gilmour 76), Kerr, Anderson (Lawal 46), Harper, McAllister (Longstaff 47), B Mckay (Brooks 66), Alex Samuel (Pepple 75) Subs (not used): C Mackay; Ujdur, Devine, MacGregor Scorers: B Mckay (59) Booked: Pepple (90) Sent Off: none Montrose FC: 0 Manager: Stewart Petrie Lineup: Gill; Williamson (Brown 60), Quincy, Dillon, Steeves, Webster, Machado (Hester 61), Gardyne (Masson 68), Graham, Lyons, Callaghan (Shrive 68) Subs (not used): Mathews; Watson, Hermiston, Batchelor, Craig, Scorers: none Booked: Graham (88) Sent Off: Lyons (84) a

  Play-Off Second Leg   It's only Half-Time in the League 1/Championship semi-final play-offs. Both games are finely poised, Inverness v Morton scoreless and Accies v Alloa level at 2-2. Inverness had a shocker at Links Park on the artificial surface. However, the reality of the matter is we showed no urgency whatsoever and played second fiddle to Montrose throughout the game. Many fans have said this is the worst team they can remember in the clubs short history. No passion, no swashbuckle, nothing, just completely flat and zero dimensional. Only Lawal and Ridgers were given pass marks by the less than impressed Caley Jags support. As much as we have criticised the Caley Jags performance on Tuesday night, let's not lose sight of the fact that Montrose are a decent League 1 side with a good blend of experience and talented prospects. For our part, let's keep them as a good League 1 side and that means no room for faffing about. Time has run out now, there's no hiding places and no room for shirkers. Ditch the sideways passing or put goal posts in front of the Main Stand and tuck shops. Gardiner, Morrison and the rest of the suits. Are you listening to the fans, because nothing seems to have changed and the standard of football on display is driving people away from the Stadium. Here's a selection of comments from the forums on CTO, have a gander: An utterly shameful performance tonight. Mortifying to be in this position but to approach the game with such little intent or urgency is unforgivable and up there with one of the most insipid performances I can recall in such a crucial game. Genuinely one of the most depressing experiences in 30 years of watching ICT. I simply cannot see us staying up with this group of players and management. Just got home and realised that instead of travelling to Montrose and enduring that p1sh, I could’ve stayed at home and watched the Eurovision semi-final! Awful game.  Caley were outplayed and outfought all over the pitch.  As others have said, only Lawal gets pass marks - the only one to show a bit of urgency and desire. (perhaps Samuel, too, but he was just so isolated).  Lawal's run down the left with a great little turn gave us the only thing to cheer about, and then his shot off the bar, of course.  That was it.  Imagine if we had a former Scotland U21 midfielder who had played for the club on over 100 occasions, born and bred in Inverness and brought through our youth system. Imagine he’d been available since January. I doubt he’d be as good as the loanees though so no point imagining anything apart from life in League 1  Not really shocked by the result it’s the same old crap week in week out bar the odd lucky result .And by odd I mean ODD  Simply not good enough. Can’t believe a former (striker) manager plays a team the way he does! We are a disgrace to the jersey so far. Absolutely honking. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Latest Team News Not much has changed since Tuesday, but word has it that Danny Devine is a doubt. However, it's at the other end of the park where most of our troubles lie. Carragher and McAllister are available, Devine a doubt as suggested, and Charlie Gilmour training on grass. Think we all need some after Tuesday night...    Mark will be a vital player for us on Saturday.   Montrose have three strikers who have totalled over thirty goals between them, so danger all around the box. We can not afford to be complacent, and we need to show more urgency, passion and quality than we displayed at Links Park.