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Jings, Inverness Squeeze Through This long overdue Scottish Cup encounter went ahead after a nine week delay and it was Inverness that squeezed into the next round after Daniel Mackay scored the winner with five minutes left. James Keatings got the opener in 35 seconds but 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 youthful Inverness side and a trip to Dingwall beckons. It could have been worse; just look at the result from Brora where Hearts were dumped out of the cup 2-1 at Dudgeon Park. Now that's a result and that's what the cup is all about. Memories are made of this! This was the first competitive meeting between these sides and it came at the end of a three month lay-off for Buckie Thistle due to the weather and coronavirus restrictions. Buckie's last competitive game was the 3-0 success over Albion Rovers on Boxing day in the first round of the Scottish Cup. Inverness were more prepared for this and were starting to put some decent results on the board with successive away wins at Starks Park and East End Park in the Championship. This game was twice frozen off before the Scottish Cup was put on hold. Unfortunately covid restrictions denied Buckie a night of drama at Victoria Park with no fans allowed in the ground. Live streaming was available from Buckie TV. Buckie's manager is former Caley Thistle midfielder Graeme Stewart who played under John Robertson back in 99/2003 making 38 appearances and scoring twice. His assistant is another former young Caley Jag, Lewis MacKinnon. Great incentive for these guys to put on a performance against their former employers. There were rare starts for a number of Caley Jags players with Cammy Mackay in goal, Harry Nicolson at right back and Ryan Fyffe in defence. Miles Storey also started after being a sub in the last couple on return from injury. Loan Ranger Arron Lyall went straight into the squad and was on the bench with Kane Davies and Ali Riddle. Buckie assistant Lewis MacKinnon was in the starting XI for the hosts. A cold blustery night in Buckie met the sides as Inverness kicked off and James Keatings had the ball into the net in 35 seconds. He turned on a ball around the penalty spot and curled it low into the keepers right. A loose pass out along the back offered a snippet of a chance for Buckie but the ball was stopped en route to goal and the chance lost. Big shout for a penalty after some lively forward play by Buckie with Sam Urquhart prominent down the left but referee Steven Reid was not interested. Jack Murray levelled the game deservedly after a corner went across the face of the box. Lewis MacKinnon retrieved it and returned it onto the head of big Jack who powered his header into the net. Sean Welsh restored the visitors advantage when he drove a powerful shot beyond the reach of keeper Bell from around twenty-five yards. Sam Urquhart was lively and Cammy Mackay was forced into action as he saved his twenty yard shot low down. Good response from Buckie around the half hour. A Keatings free kick was put into the net from close range but the whistle had gone for offside or an infringement. Sam Urquhart again caused problems down the left and his low cross was palmed away by Cammy Mackay but no takers for the loose ball that ran away from everyone. Big Jack was turning players inside out on the right wing like Ronaldo as we struggled to impose ourselves on proceedings. Play was a bit fragmented up to half time but no further scoring before the break. Half Time: 1-2 A quick start to the second half saw Miles Storey try to get a couple of crosses in from the left as we looked to get off to another flyer. However not enough interest shown inside the home box. The blustery conditions were making silky football impossible as most balls were being overhit. An untidy passage of play was interrupted when a deep cross was headed into the side net by Kevin Fraser at the back post. A warning for Inverness to up their game. Cameron Harper made his return from injury fifteen minutes into the second half, replacing Kevin McHattie who looked injured. More scrappy play was once more interrupted by a fierce shot from MacLauchlan that fizzed over the bar from the angle of the 18 yard box. It was the hosts that were looking more likely to score the next goal and from a corner, Cammy Mackay flapped at the ball before a defender hoofed it clear. Lewis MacKinnon went off injured and Inverness sent a couple of efforts well over the bar. A bit of a scramble in the visitors box resulted in a corner and an even bigger scramble before the whistle brought some respite to the defence. Storey broke into the box on the left but went wide and the keeper saved his stabbed effort well as Inverness pushed for the clincher and a free kick from the left was missed by everybody in the box when a touch would have resulted in a goal. Substitute Callum Murray equalised after some sloppy defending allowed Murray to burst into the box and finish well. However a couple of minutes later we went back in front with only five minutes left on the clock when Dan Mackay knocked a loose ball home from ten yards. Credit to Buckie and they went back up the park and a ball across the face of the goal saw no takers. Arron Lyall made his debut in injury time as the clock ran down and time just ran away from Buckie as Inverness edged a five goal cup-tie. Full Time 2-3 So it's Inverness that head to Dingwall in the next round after they were given a stern test by Buckie Thistle who will be delighted to be back on the park performing again. Well done to Buckie and Highland derby here we come! Sam Urquhart was my pick for MotM as he posed problems all night wide on the left. Jack Murray and Max Barry supported well, in fact considering the lack of game time recently, they were all brilliant. Good job by Spider who will be delighted by his teams performance on a difficult night for football. Here's Neil post match Date: 23/03/2021 Venue: Victoria Park, Buckie Attendance: 0000 Referee: Steven Reid Buckie Thistle: 2 Manager: Graeme Stewart Lineup: Bell, Munro, MacKinnon (Morrison 69), J Murray, McGlauchlan, Cowie, Pugh, Barry, Fraser, Urquhart, McLeod(C Murray 75) Subs (not used): Herbert; Wood, Goodall, Davidson, Scorers: J Murray (15), C Murray (84) Booked: Macleod (35) J Murray (90+1) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 3 Manager: Neil McCann (temporary) Lineup: C Mackay; Nicolson, Deas, McHattie (Harper 60), D Mackay (Lyall 90+2), Welsh, Allardice, MacGregor, Fyffe, Keatings (Sutherland 75), Storey Subs (not used): Ridgers; Riddle, Davies, Scorers: Keatings (35 secs), Welsh (27), D Mackay (86) Booked: MacGregor (83) Sent Off: none a

Here we go again The draw back in January meant that The Caley Jags would head to Victoria Park Buckie to take on olde Highland League adversaries Buckie Thistle in the second round of the William Hill Scottish Cup on Saturday January 9th, a draw predicted by one of our resident seers Gringo. Unfortunately the game would be covid restricted meaning that no fans would have been allowed into the ground to witness the first full competitive match between the sides. That game was scheduled to kick-off at 3:00pm on Saturday 9th January. However, winter intervened and froze the game off, and the next date of 12th January, and then lockdown scuppered the game for another couple of months. Fast forward to March 23rd and we're all set to go against Spider and his men fae Buckie. It's not the worst draw to be honest as we have a decent record of putting green and white hooped sides out of the Scottish Cup. A cold mad March night, potential banana skin fixture with the possibility of a scalp for the Highland League side. What's not to enjoy about the early rounds of the Scottish Cup. The prize for the winners, if you can call it that, is a visit to Dingwall to take on the Caley Jags reject XI complete with a Caley Jags Scottish Cup winning manager. Just let that sink in for a bit. Yes, it's coming up to a mere six years since James Vincent scored the winner at Hampden Park as Inverness Caledonian Thistle lifted the Scottish Cup. Where are these teams now I hear you ask? Well, we are in the Championship back where it all began against the likes of Arbroath and Falkirk are four points clear of Cove Rangers in League one. +++++++++++++++ Buckie Jags +++++++++++++++++ Streaming from Buckie TV £10 Official Preview +++++++++++++++ Caley Jags +++++++++++++++++ Graeme Stewart's Buckie Thistle made their way to the second round of the Cup after an excellent away win at Albion Rovers, beating the Cliftonhill side 3-0. Two goals from Andrew MacAskill, one direct from a corner kick, and a Scott Adams strike were enough to inflict a sixth defeat in seven games for Brian Reid's side. Buckie Boss Stewart had played under John Robertson for the Caley Jags from season 1999 to 2003 making 38 appearances, scoring twice. Buckie played a warm-up game at the weekend after three months of inactivity and went down 3-1 to fellow highland League side Brora Rangers. As Ziggy Stardust once said, it's a big ask for the Spider's from m'arse after such a long lay off. Former Inverness youngsters Kevin Fraser and Andrew MacAskill are at Buckie. Stewart's assistant manager Lewis MacKinnon is also on the books as a player, so great incentive for these guys to do well against their former club. ***Latest Team News*** Brad Mckay and our own braveheart David Carson are on Scottish Cup suspension and will miss this game. That's maybe not a bad thing given our hectic schedule recently where David Carson in particular has been in outstanding form with three MotM performances and his first goal for the club in almost fifty appearances. This should be an opportunity to offer some match time to our fringe players whilst still maintaining enough quality to be competitive and get us through to a derby in Dingwall. However Lewis Hyde and Shane Harkness are cup-tied. Miles Storey has started from the bench in the last two after returning from injury and his pace could cause problems for the ring rusty Buckie squad. Neil McCann has boosted his squad with a loan signing from Rangers. Seventeen year old youth player Arron Lyall has come in until the end of the season with our wide players struggling with injuries. So, once again the loan arranger has arranged a loan for a loan Ranger. He is available to go straight into the squad for the cup tie at Buckie. Spider will do well to put out a competitive squad after the long enforced lay-off. We have never played Buckie Thistle in a competitive game before but some of the pre-season games have been close. Our last game at Buckie was a 4-3 win for an Inverness XI on July 13th 2019. MacGregor, Nicolson, Morrison & Harkness scored for the young team in a 4-3 win at Buckie. Buckie Thistle 3 -V- 4 ICT FC XI @ Victoria Park, Buckie Highland League teams in action tonight Nairn County v Montrose Brora Rangers v Hearts Dumbarton v Huntly Formartine v Annan Athletic Keith v Clyde Plus Elgin City v Ayr United Peterhead v Stenny & Arbroath v Falkirk

Ball 8 v Ball 27 Coronavirus trumps all. All Scottish Cup games on hold from midnight 11/01/21 until February at the earliest. Reviewed on a rolling basis. Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC Game off Following a pitch inspection this morning at Victoria Park, today’s Scottish Cup Second Round tie against Buckie Thistle has been postponed. The match will now be played on Tuesday 12 January 2021, Victoria Park, 8.00pm kick-off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That draw means that The Caley Jags will head to Victoria Park Buckie to take on olde Highland League adversaries Buckie Thistle in the second round of the William Hill Scottish Cup on Saturday January 9th, a draw predicted by one of our resident seers Gringo. Unfortunately the game will be covid restricted meaning that no fans will be allowed into the ground to witness the first full competitive match between the sides. The game is scheduled to kick-off at 3:00pm. ***A pitch inspection is planned for Saturday morning after the recent cold spell has left a lot of pitches frozen,*** Buckie Cup snow.mp4 It's not the worst draw to be honest as we have a decent record of putting green and white hooped sides out of the Scottish Cup. A cold winters afternoon, potential banana skin fixture with the possibility of a scalp for the Highland League side. What's not to enjoy about the early rounds of the Scottish Cup. +++++++++++++++ Buckie Jags +++++++++++++++++ Streaming? (waiting for confirmation) Official Preview +++++++++++++++ Caley Jags +++++++++++++++++ Graeme Stewart's Buckie Thistle made their way to the second round of the Cup after an excellent away win at Albion Rovers, beating the Cliftonhill side 3-0. Two goals from Andrew MacAskill, one direct from a corner kick, and a Scott Adams strike were enough to inflict a sixth defeat in seven games for Brian Reid's side. Boss Stewart had played under John Robertson for the Caley Jags from season 1999 to 2003 making 38 appearances, scoring twice. Former Inverness youngsters Kevin Fraser and Andrew MacAskill are at Buckie along with keeper Martin MacKinnon who is on loan at present. Stewart's assistant manager Lewis MacKinnon is also on the books as a player, so great incentive for these guys to do well against their former club. John Robertson has lost the services of Kai Kennedy to covid. The exciting prospect has returned to parent club Rangers as he has signed a new contract and it is believed he will be loaned out to Raith Rovers. More detail can be found at ICTFC. It is believed "he found the pandemic restrictions and the fact he was so far away from his family particularly difficult and became increasingly, and understandably, homesick". Awwww, you OK hun? He will be a massive miss at the Caledonian Stadium for the rest of this season especially on top of the news that Aaron Doran will likely miss out for a couple of weeks after suffering concussion in the game against Dunfermline Athletic just before the bells. This should open the door for Daniel Mackay to return to the starting XI as a wide forward. Maybe we would have seen the likes of David Carson if he wasn't suspended, as his energy is missed in midfield and there's no guarantee that Sean Welsh will stay injury free for a run of games. Kevin McHattie is another we have yet to see re-appear after pre-season injury. ***Latest Team News from the ICT camp*** David Carson and Brad Mckay are suspended for this Cup game. Aaron Doran is out after suffering concussion against the Pars and Kevin McHattie and Lewis Toshney are at least a month away from making a comeback. I expect that will smooth the way for Wallace Duffy to return with possibly Daniel Mackay replacing Kennedy/Doran. Buckie keeper Martin MacKinnon is unavailable for selection despite Inverness being OK with him playing, but the rules will not be bent so it's down to third choice keeper, young Lee Herbert to tend the goals with second choice Danny Bell working offshore. Scottish Cup Flashback.... Some strike by Duthie. Boom!

Buckie Thistle -V- Inverness CT Victoria Park, Buckie 8:00pm Tuesday 12th January (game postponed from 9th January) Game now postponed due to Covid19 restrictions Scottish Cup Covid restrictions apply Buckie Cup snow.mp4