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  Maybe this Time   It seems like forever since Raith Rovers beat Inverness in a League Game. In fact the reality is almost longer than the legend. This Saturday Rovers get another chance to see if they can win all three points as we head to Stark's Park in a Championship encounter that is scheduled for a 3:00pm kick-off. We have an incredible near 23 year record to uphold. Can we continue or will depleted squads eventually take their toll? We missed out because of the weather last week in the Scottish Cup but Raith moved into the next round after beating Linlithgow Rose. in midweek. Mid table supremacy or staying clear of the relegation scrap is up for grabs: Bring it on! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus Info Queens Park Cup rescheduled Scottish Cup Draw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Venue H2H v Raith Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 20 13 5 2 38 15 +23 Away 16 9 4 3 32 19 +13 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 36 22 9 5 70 34 +36 In all competitions it's an astonishing record to be honest. Only five defeats in thirty-six games. The last League defeat was on 28th October 2000. Last League defeat at Stark's Park was two months previous in August 2000. It's fair to say that Raith held the upper hand back then, but ooft, since then it's been mostly one way traffic. Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Raith Rovers 1 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (H)   Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts   1. Queens Park 21 12 4 5 44 27 40 2. Ayr United 21 10 6 5 41 29 36 3. Dundee 20 10 5 5 33 25 35 4. Partick Thistle 21 10 3 8 42 36 33 5. Morton 20 8 6 6 28 22 30 6. Inverness CT 21 8 6 7 30 28 30 7. Raith Rovers 22 8 5 9 28 29 29 8. Cove Rangers 21 5 7 9 30 42 22 9. Arbroath 22 3 9 10 20 36 18 10. Hamilton Ac. 21 3 5 13 17 39 14 FRIDAY 27TH JANUARY (19:45) Cove R v Ayr Utd SATURDAY 28TH JANUARY (3:00) *Big game at Dens Park* Dundee v Queen's   Morton v Arbroath Partick v Accies Raith Rovers v Caley Jags   This Month Have we turned a corner or just steadied the ship? Two resounding wins scoring ten goals against Cove and Arbroath got us up and running in 2023. A home 0-0 draw against Queens Park followed but there was plenty to enthuse over in that game from both sides. The cup tie was postponed last week with the pitch still under the grip of winter. Nonetheless, a fairly productive start to the year with the prospect of more players returning from injury, so all is not lost yet. Raith have been busy. A 1-0 win over Accies was followed by a 1-1 draw with Dundee. There was the small matter of a Challenge cup win over Queens Park, albeit with much changed squads. A 2-2 draw at Cove thanks to a 92nd minute equaliser from Cove's Neill and a midweek Scottish Cup win at Linlithgow Rose has set them up nicely for this encounter. Raith are unbeaten in their last six Championship games since losing 2-0 to Ayr United at the beginning of December. Latest Team News We are slowly getting numbers back but have released George Oakley (who has subsequently joined Morton and has a tale to tell on another day) and Aly Riddle who had been involved with ICTFC since he was 12. Here's hoping the release of Oakley will signal the return of Austin Samuels or another couple of attacking options with Shane Sutherland, Tom Walsh and Roddy MacGregor still on the crocks list. Samuels, Allardice, Harper and Sutherland are allegedly getting closer to a welcome return. Defensively we are in a better place with Duffy, Devine and Delaney back in the squad. Scott Allardice and MacGregor would be the icing on the cake for this season with Robbie Deas still to come later. Here's Billy being a reluctant as ever to impart much info   Eck's Raith round-up:  Not much transfer activity at Stark's Park Out went defender Connor O'Riordan back to Crewe Alexandra after loan expired. Left winger Quin Coulson was transferred to Alloa and front man Kyle Connell returned to parent club Kilmarnock. Joining from Heart of Midlothian on a short loan until the end of the season is Central Midfield Player Scott McGill. 20 year old Scott has progressed through the Hearts youth system since the age of fourteen, and had previously worked under Manager Ian Murray while on a loan spell at Ardrieonians.   Scottish Cup tie information>>>    

Chalmers to the rescue as Raith see Red The scrap for play-off places intensified as Inverness produced a smash and grab raid at Stark's Park. Rovers had led 2-1 at the interval through Connolly and Poplatnik with Sutherland scoring between those goals. Kyle Benedictus saw red with twenty minutes remaining and it looked like the game was slipping away from Inverness as they entered the 90th minute. Step forward substitute Logan Chalmers who single handedly won the game for the visitors with two outstanding goals. Both strikes hit with power, accuracy and a deadly left foot from distance. Not bad for your first goals for the club. Raith ended the game in total disarray as Ben Williamson was also sent off. Partick were humped 4-0 by Accies and we jump above them to third but Killie and Arbroath power on at the top of the table with wins. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inverness were still without midfielders Scott Allardice and Roddy MacGregor although the club have stated that MacGregor could be back in full training soon. Inverness were unchanged from the side that beat Arbroath 3-0. Which meant that Cammy Mackay kept Mark Ridgers on the bench. Raith had Ethan Ross back in attack with Varian and Poplatnik and a strong bench although only seven on it. A beautiful Spring afternoon in Kirkaldy as the temperatures soared and greeted the teams as they took to the field. Inverness in their favoured pink strip started the day one point ahead of the dark blue Rovers. And it was Inverness that set the ball rolling at 3:00pm. The visitors were first to threaten inside a minute when Doran and Hardy combined inside the box before it appeared that Hardy's shot came back off the woodwork before bouncing to safety. Open start to the game from both sides who were on the front foot from the off. Raith opened the scoring after the first corner. It was cleared to outside the box but Aidan Connolly drove towards goal where it looked as though it squirmed under Cammy Mackay and into the net. Looks like a blunder from the keeper inside a busy box. Joe Hardy came close to an equaliser but Macdonald did well to save and then denied Sutherland on the follow up. Keeper Jamie MacDonald had to be replaced after an injury forced him out of the game in a clash with Doran. Robbie Thomson replaced him. Shane Sutherland tapped in after an Aaron Doran corner but the leveller was short lived as Matej Poplatnik put Raith back in front minutes later. Sloppy defending by Inverness once more. Half Time: 2-1 Rovers were all over us like a rash at the start of the second half as we struggled to get a hold of the ball. A couple of efforts fired over the visitors bar were warning enough and Austin Samuels came on for Joe Hardy ten minutes into the half. Our attempts at creating anything were becoming predictable and time after time we wasted balls forward which were mopped up easily by defenders or substitute keeper Robbie Thomson. So, long aimless ball after long aimless ball was proving to be a complete waste of time one hour into the game and it was becoming more difficult to see where a goal might come from. An opportunity did materialise from one of those dubious offside interplays but Mackay bounced the ball just past the post as he was flattened on the edge of the box. Cammy Mackay did well to turn a shot round the post for a corner as Rovers broke forward and they were reduced to ten men when Kyle Benedictus was sent off for a rash challenge on Kirk Broadfoot who reacted angrily and was yellow carded. A scramble in the Raith box failed to produce a goal as Rovers managed to clear their lines calmly. Austin Samuels shot over from the edge of the box as Inverness became more desperate in their efforts to level the game as we approached the eighty minute mark, unfortunately our final ball left a lot to be desired. Time after time the final ball would skip through for a goal kick and another wasted chance. It was a difficult watch to be honest, even against ten men. Out of the blue, Logan Chalmers scored a beauty after a corner found him outside the box some twenty five yards out on the left side. He looked up and sent a beauty dipping into the net, unbelievable strike. Even more unbelievable, Logan Chalmers scored another peach from nearly the same position. This time he arrowed a low strike into the bottom corner for another superb goal. A daisy cutter on an artificial pitch, that's a first. Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! Raith's Williamson then joined Benedictus for an early bath with seconds remaining. What a turnaround at the end as Raith finally lost their discipline but it took two spectacular goals from on loan striker Logan Chalmers to win the points when it looked like we were heading for defeat and a disappointing performance. It might be seen as papering over the cracks for now, but I'll take that over a disappointing defeat. Raith ended the game with nine men as Ben Williamson was sent off with the last puff of the whistle, their search for a win over Inverness heading towards 22 years and counting. MotM might well go to Chalmers for his two late strikes as prior to that we looked incapable of breaking down Rovers, even when they were reduced to ten men. Billy Dodds post match Match Reaction to follow... Scenes... Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Kilmarnock 30 17 5 8 41 21 56 2. Arbroath 30 14 12 4 41 22 54 3. Inverness CT 30 12 10 8 41 29 46 4. Partick Thistle 29 12 9 8 41 30 45 5. Raith Rovers 30 10 12 8 37 37 42 6. Morton 30 8 11 11 33 40 35 7. Hamilton Ac. 30 8 11 11 35 45 35 8. Ayr United 30 8 8 14 30 44 32 9. Q.O.S. 30 6 8 16 30 44 26 10. Dunfermline 29 4 14 11 27 44 26 *Dunfermline v Partick on Tuesday night* Next Saturday Arbroath v Raith Rovers Hamilton v Queens Inverness CT v Dunfermline Killie v Partick Morton v Ayr Utd Full Highlights from Raith TV John McGlynn speaking on Raith TV Date: 19/03/2022 Venue: Stark's Park, Kirkaldy Attendance: 1591 Referee: Colin Steven Raith Rovers: 2 Manager: John McGlynn Lineup: MacDonald (Thomson 24); Musonda, Berra (Tumilty 38), Benedictus, Mackie, Connolly, Williamson, Stanton, Varian, Poplatnik (Dick 73), Ross (Mathews 73) Subs (not used): Young, Arnott, Zanatta Scorers: Connolly (13), Poplatnik (30) Booked: Stanton (20), Williamson (56), Dick (90+3) Sent Off: Benedictus (71), Williamson (90+4) Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: C Mackay; Carson, Broadfoot, Devine (Harper 66) Deas, Hardy (Samuels 54), Welsh, McAlear, Doran (Chalmers 66), Sutherland (Walsh 77) Mckay Subs (not used): Ridgers; Hyde, Pearson, Duffy, Samuels Scorers: Sutherland (27), Chalmers (89, 90+2), McAlear (90+5) Booked: Welsh (70), Broadfoot (71), Samuels (76) Sent Off: none a

And it goes on... Plenty of endeavour in the first half at Starks Park but little quality in the final third resulted in a game void of goalmouth action over the first forty-five minutes for both sides. Biggest talking point was the sending off just before the break of Ross Mathews for what looked like a rash studs up challenge. Contentious maybe, but straight red dished out. After the break more space saw more chances created but it was Raith that broke forward and scored through Aidan Connolly. Inverness struggled to get back on level terms but eventually did ten minutes from the end when Sean Welsh drilled home from the edge of the box and that ended the scoring. Raith's quest for a win over Inverness goes into a 22nd year. Killie were the only winners in the Championship and closed the gap to three points but Inverness remain top. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rovers were looking for their first win over Inverness in 21 years whilst Inverness were looking to start the seond phase of fixtures on a high and maintain their five point lead at the top of the table. However, Rovers are the form team in the league at the moment and this could have been our most difficult game of the season so far. Wallace Duffy was in at right back and Michael Gardyne was fit enough to continue up front. Billy Mckay kept Manny Duku on the bench. A first half without opportunities changed dramatically when Mathews was red carded just before the interval, but it was tepid and goalless at the break. Half Time: 0-0 Just after the interval Mark Ridgers dived low to his right to push an effort by Tumilty round the post for a corner. It may have been going just wide but he took no chances and dealt well with the shot, and at the other end Shane Sutherland cut inside on the right and went equally close with a low curling left footer that was just wide of the far post with Macdonald at full stretch. Rovers opened the scoring after good work down the left before Aidan Connolly smashed the ball from Dario Zanatta high into the net from 12 yards. Sloppy marking from the defence but Connolly didn't care as he fired the ball into the top corner for a super finish. Jamie Macdonald pulled off a flying save to deny Billy Mckay as Inverness responded against the ten men and a Duku free kick forced the keeper to push the ball over the bar as the Inverness pressure mounted. Inverness equalised when Michael Gardyne burst into the box on the left side and cut the ball back to the edge of the area where Sean Welsh drilled a low shot into the bottom corner of the net. Dario Zanatta passed on a great opportunity to win all three points but curled his shot high over the bar and into the stand. Macdonald scooped up a late header as we looked to nab a late winner but it was too easy for the keeper. Full Time: 1-1 The game petered out thereafter and the points were shared. Another disappointing show against ten men for half the game, but the point was deserved and very welcome. Michael Gardyne was again prominent and created most of our openings with a nod to Sean Welsh for steadying himself before drilling home the equaliser. A useful point at the end of the day with Kilmarnock the only side to earn three points, so not too much damage done by dropping two points, but nonetheless disappointing considering the player advantage after the break plus two enforced changes due to injury. Highlights from Raith Rovers TV From BBC Sport Raith Rovers manager John McGlynn: "Ross Matthews has made an aggressive attempt to get to the ball in a game where there were a few challenges going around. "The referee was very quick to make that decision. I think it was a fair attempt and he got the ball, it was the follow through he caught the player." Inverness CT manager Billy Dodds: "We should do better when they go down to 10 but fair play to Raith, they kept at it. When we got the equaliser I fancied us to win but we ran out of time. "Before the game I'd probably have taken a point but once they went down to 10 I expected three." From CTO Robert: I’d have taken 1-1 before kick off and then when Raith took the lead. Credit the players for getting back into it and a draw was a fair result. It was quite a scrappy game, particularly the first half. Broadfoot was booked in only 50 seconds and the only chance I recall was a Welsh free kick that nearly went over the stand. Neither ‘keeper was tested. The pitch seemed slippery and was not helping with players losing their footing a few times, notably Mckay and MacGregor. So much for plastic surfaces! The sending off worried me as I thought it would galvanise Raith and, after we started the second half brightly, they got their goal from a cross from Zanatta. It was the only time he got the better of Duffy all game and the scorer got between our defenders to give Ridgers no chance. After that, I thought we would struggle to break them down, but we had our best spell and got a deserved equaliser when the ball fell to Welsh about 20 yards out and he finished well. Date: 23/10/2021 Venue: Starks Park, Kirkaldy Attendance: 1900 Referee: Colin Steven Raith Rovers: 1 Manager: John McGlynn Lineup: MacDonald; Tumilty, Berra, Benedictus (Lang 53) Dick, Connolly (Ross 78), Mathews, Zanatta, Spencer, Tait, Varian (Poplatnik 21) Subs (not used): Thomson; Riley-Snow, Mitchell, Young, Scorers: Connolly (62) Booked: Tait (45+1) Sent Off: Mathews (45+1) Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Billy Dodds Lineup: Ridgers; Duffy, Broadfoot, Devine, Deas, Gardyne, Welsh, Allardice (Doran 77), MacGregor, Sutherland (Duku 72) Mckay (Jamieson 82) Subs (not used): C Mackay; McAlear, Walsh, McDonald Scorers: Welsh (79) Booked: Broadfoot (2), Allardice (63), MacGregor (89) Sent Off: none a

Another top two battle   It's a biggy this weekend as we travel to Kirkaldy to take on second place Raith Rovers at Starks Park on Saturday. Standard 3:00pm kick-off in this one which could be a massive indicator as to the outcome of this campaign. John McGlynn has slowly assembled a squad very capable of challenging for the Championship title and I expect Raith to be in the mix come the end of the season. Raith are in fine form at the moment after a sluggish start to their season. Recent wins over Arbroath, Kilmarnock, Partick, Morton and Queen of the South have catapulted them into second place, five points behind Inverness. They are the form team over the last five games with four wins and a draw. OFFICIAL PREVIEW MATCH INFO RAITH MATCH INFO ARBROATH PPV RAITH TV £14 SUPPORTERS BUS LEAVES STADIUM 10:00   Venue - Head 2 Head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 17 13 2 2 36 13 +23 Away 13 7 3 3 26 16 +10 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 30 20 5 5 62 29 +33 First Competitive Meeting Sep 25th, 1999 League (H) 0 - 2 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Aug 7th, 2021 League (Championship) (H) 1 - 0 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 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) 4 - 0 (A) Biggest Victories Jan 12th, 2002 League (H) 5 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Aug 26th, 2000 League (A) 1 - 4 Highest Attendance Apr 3rd, 2010 League (H) 3,562 Highest Home Attendance Apr 3rd, 2010 League (H) 3,562     Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Inverness CT 9 7 1 1 12 4 8 22 2. Raith Rovers 9 5 2 2 16 11 5 17 3. Kilmarnock 9 5 2 2 11 6 5 17 4. Partick Thistle 9 5 0 4 23 14 9 15 5. Arbroath 9 4 3 2 17 8 9 15 6. Ayr United 9 3 2 4 9 13 -4 11 7. Queen of the South 9 3 0 6 10 14 -4 9 8. Hamilton Academical 9 2 2 5 9 21 -12 8 9. Morton 9 1 3 5 7 14 -7 6 10. Dunfermline 9 0 5 4 6 15 -9 5 We have a great record overall against Rovers with only five defeats from thirty games. Three of those have come at Starks Park, the most recent was...... erm, as Don McLean said, "A long long time ago, I can still remember how Raith beat us". It was back in the days when buffalo roamed the plains, Delerium were top of the Pops with Silence and flares were still in fashion. Raith won this encounter in Kirkaldy 1 - 4 when we were still finding our feet in the big boys leagues. Surprisingly that was their second last ever victory over the Caley Jags in all competitions over ninety minutes. The last defeat was in the same season almost 21 years ago to this October day. Mind you, they had some great players in their team back then. Other Fixtures all Saturday at 3:00pm  Arbroath v Ayr United Kilmarnock v Hamilton Academical Partick Thistle v Dunfermline Queen of the South v Greenock Morton Reminder, we play Arbroath at home on Tuesday 26th October in a full night of fixtures. Kick-Off 7:45pm Last time out Raith beat Arbroath 2-1 in a Championship game at Starks Park. Dylan Tait scored an early goal and they went two up just on the interval when Ross Mathews headed in. Arbroath notched a goal deep into stoppage time but that result was enough to put Rovers into second place in the table. Inverness edged out Morton 2-0 in the Highlands. Billy Mckay and Michael Gardyne scored either side of the break as we extended our lead at the top. It was a not overly convincing performance, but it was another three points in the bag. In the first meeting between the clubs this season, Inverness won thanks to a solitary goal from Roddy MacGregor in a tight affair in the Highlands. And what a goal it was. Boom! Latest Team News David Carson is possibly still absent after a family bereavement. Michael Gardyne was patched up to finish the game against Morton after getting a gash on his head. Manny Duku has still to get off the mark and might find it difficult to dislodge Billy Mckay from the strikers berth, but he will be keen to show his former club he has what it takes to make the grade. It's an artificial surface at Starks Park which might limit some of our options. We are thin at the back and Cammy Harper has a groin injury. James Keatings will not be in the Raith squad as he is on loan at Montrose. Dario Zanatta will be a threat and keeper Jamie MacDonald, Christophe Berra and Kyle Benedictus add plenty of experience to their defence.

McCann breaks his duck Inverness beat ten-man Raith Rovers thanks to a tidy second half goal from Dan Mackay who had controlled a kick out from Ridgers before lifting the ball over keeper MacDonald for the only goal of the game. We were never troubled for long spells but struggled to impose ourselves against the ten men after Iain Davidson was sent off after a midfield clash. A welcome three points and a first win under Neil McCann. After the goalless draw four days earlier, the two sides went toe to toe once more for the fourth time this season. The League Cup encounter ended 3-3 in November, eleven days later at Inverness ended 2-0 for the Caley Jags and Friday's game finished 0-0. Despite the league positions, there was little to choose between the sides at the Caledonian Stadium and both sides were looking for maximum points at different ends of the table. Inverness were somewhat down to the bare bones on Friday and were hoping to have a couple of their missing players back. McCann went with the same starting XI that played the whole game on Friday night and Miles Storey was fit enough to make the bench. John McGlynn had no such problems apart from Fernandy Mendy who is still away on African Nations duty. Ugwu again started up front and there were starts for Armstrong, and Mathews with Duku on the bench alongside Vaughan, Musonda and Tait. Raith set the ball rolling but it was Inverness that started the fastest. A wonderful Allardice header came back off the corner of bar and post from fully fifteen yards and from the resultant return ball into the box it was stabbed into the hands of Jamie MacDonald from four yards by a hesitant Shane Sutherland. Ten minutes in and Iain Davidson was given a straight red after a clash in the middle of the Raith half. That started a wee stushie and Davidson was red carded with Sean Welsh also booked. A great burst down the left by Dan Mackay after twenty minutes ended with keeper MacDonald throwing an arm out to keep the ball out at the expense of a fruitless corner. It was a much faster start by Inverness after we were slow out of the blocks on Friday night but with half an hour gone we were not making the extra man count. In fact we were more impressive when Raith had eleven on the park. A great ball forward found Todorov running into the box but the defender stood his ground to usher the ball clear. Ridgers did well to cut out a great ball in from the left and took a knock as the striker closed in. Some loose passing was restricting our forward play as Rovers dug in. A swift move cut Rovers open but Sutherland was crowded out in the six yard box. As the interval approached Raith were making their way down the touchline with a number of throw-ins as the game turned untidy but it remained goalless at the break. Half Time: 0-0 Macdonald was fortunate that Shane Sutherland was not sharp enough to take advantage of a spilled ball at the edge of the box as it bounced back into his hands off the big forward. Tumilty sent a rasping shot from distance that Ridgers tipped over comfortably. Less than five minutes after the restart the visitors took the lead after a long ball from keeper Ridgers went all the way to the edge of the Raith box where Dan Mackay did brilliantly to get clear of the defender before cheekily lifting the ball over the advancing Macdonald and into the empty net. Great assist from the keeper who brilliantly cut out the cross and sent the ball forward in the same movement. We could have doubled our lead but for a weak finish this time by Mackay as he burst into the left side of the box. From a deep corner, Benedictus lofted a header towards the top of the goal frame and Ridgers took no chances and tipped the ball behind for a corner. Better play from Rovers and their next corner saw a header bounce well wide. A free kick to the Caley Jags ended with a shot being charged down in a crowded defence and Inverness made their first change with Miles Storey replacing Shane Sutherland. Gullan dipped a free kick over with Ridgers watching closely. Rovers were pushing for an equaliser as Ridgers fluffed a punch clear for a corner. A tidy run on the left and cut back by Storey saw a first time effort from Sean Welsh curl just wide with MacDonald beaten. A Keatings free kick found Deas in space inside the box on the left but his clipped shot rolled across the face of the goal and out for a goal kick. Ridgers was forced into a good diving save as Vaughan shot from the edge of the box to remind Inverness how precarious a one goal lead can be with five minutes left on the clock. Full Time: 0-1 However, despite the usual late scares, the Raith ten man challenge petered out and Inverness claimed a valuable three points and manager Neil McCann his first win. What a crucial three points that could be and with Ayr beating Dundee it's getting very tight in the middle section of the table. Highlights from Raith TV Dan's the man First time winner with the Caley Jags... Date: 16/03/2021 Venue: Stark's Park, Kirkaldy Attendance: 0000 Referee: Colin Steven Raith Rovers: 0 Manager: John McGlynn Lineup: J MacDonald; Tumilty, Davidson, Benedictus, K MacDonald, Kennedy (Gullan 66), Armstrong (Musonda 19), Spencer (Vaughan 76), Mathews, Hendry, Ugwu Subs (not used): Thomson; Abraham, Tait, Duku Scorers: none Booked: Mathews (13), Spencer (41), Gullan (89) Sent Off: Armstrong (11) Inverness CT: 1 Manager: Neil McCann (temporary) Lineup: Ridgers; Carson, B Mckay, Devine, Deas, D Mackay, Welsh (Keatings 79 McHattie 91), Allardice, MacGregor, Sutherland (Storey 63), Todorov Subs (not used): C Mackay; Nicolson, Hyde, Duffy Scorers: D Mackay (50) Booked: Welsh (12), Allardice (69) Sent Off: a

It's only half time! The second phase of the double header is at Stark's Park Kirkaldy as Inverness head South on Tuesday night for a 7:00pm kick-off. Part one ended all square in an enthralling no scoring draw at the Caledonian Stadium last Friday night in front of the BBC cameras and a covid restricted crowd of 000. You can Stream this game live from RAITH TV FOR £12. Log in/register, pay then select game. Follow instructions from Raith TV. Friday's game saw Neil McCann struggle to get a squad together with injuries denying him three or four first choices. Regulars Cammy Harper, Aaron Doran, James Vincent and Miles Storey all missed out which left us down to the bare bones with three youngsters, the departing James Keatings, knackered Wallace Duffy and crocked Kev McHattie our only outfield choices. That'll be one of the reasons we made no subs in this game. Here's hoping we get a couple of our missing bodies back into contention for a start soon. Despite our skeleton squad, we warmed to the task midway through the first half and by the end of the game we gave as good as we got. It could have been a high scoring draw but for various reasons it ended 0-0, not for the want of trying from both sides. Closest to a goal for the hosts were captain Sean Welsh who headed onto the post and Roddy MacGregor who drove the ball into the ruck of bodies lying on the grass on the goal line. He should really have scored, after all it was only two yards out. Raith missed opportunities from Ugwu and Mendosa amongst others in a flying start and before the end both keepers made excellent saves. Overall a point each gives no complaints from me. Since then Neil McCann has added Billy Dodds to his coaching staff to help get the best out of the players at his disposal. Interesting, let's see how that goes. Read about it here Championship fixtures tonight: Dundee v Ayr United & Raith Rovers v Inverness CT, both 7:00pm Kick-Off. Rescheduled 2nd rd Scottish Cup Tie: Buckie Thistle v Inverness CT Tuesday 23rd March 8:00pm Kick-Off PPV £10 on BUCKIE TV Last updated: 13.03.2021 at 12:06 Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Hearts 20 14 3 3 48 21 45 2. Dunfermline 18 8 6 4 27 19 30 3. Raith Rovers 18 8 5 5 32 24 29 4. Dundee 18 7 6 5 33 32 27 5. Q.O.S. 20 8 3 9 32 40 27 6. Morton 20 5 7 8 17 25 22 7. Inverness CT 19 4 9 6 25 23 21 8. Ayr United 19 5 6 8 22 23 21 9. Arbroath 20 5 6 9 17 26 21 10. Alloa Athletic 20 4 5 11 24 44 17 Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Raith Rovers 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (H) 3 - 3 (A) 4 - 1 (H) 2 - 1 (H) 1 - 0 (H) 4 - 3 (H) 4 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) ***Latest Team News*** We were hit with some unannounced call-offs for last Friday's game as McCann was keeping his injury problems close to his chest. Missing for a couple of games now have been Miles Storey, Cameron Harper, James Vincent and the recently returned Aaron Doran. Wallace Duffy was given the night off as well and that all left us a bit thin on the ground. Kevin McHattie is clearly not fully fit and Lewis Toshney featured once on the bench but has since disappeared. OFFICIAL PREVIEW John McGlynn has a simpler task of naming his squad, in fact he has the luxury of picking and choosing who he plays and who goes on the bench and who to leave out altogether, whereas our hands are tied. Ugwu or Duku, .......... Here's a reminder of the teams from Friday night: ICT: Ridgers; B Mckay, Devine, Deas, Allardice, MacGregor, Carson, Allardice, D Mackay, Sutherland, Todorov Subs (not used): C Mackay; Hyde, Nicholson, Harkness, Duffy, Keatings, McHattie, Raith: J MacDonald; Tumilty, Benedictus, Hendry, K MacDonald, Kennedy, Tait, Musonda, Ugwu (Duku 85), King (Armstrong 66) Gullan (Mathews 66) Subs (not used): Thomson; Davidson, Abraham, Spencer The Wyness Shufflers have produced another gem...