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I think it does the lads that came in a bit of an injustice to suggest they were "makeshift". We've not had a settled team all season and the entire squad has had to learn to cope with that. I think it's a credit to every member of the squad that Butcher can now rely on any of them to come in and get the job done (and to do so without changing the system too much)....it may actually prove to be a huge plus as we now chase a top 6 slot because we should have the confidence to be able to keep on changing and keep the opposition guessing week on week.

Not much I can add about todays game that hasn't been said already. I was worried at kick-off that there was no bounce on the ball and it was running at all on the surface of the pitch. I expected a messy game but ICT coped well and made the best of the conditions, whilst Hearts chased shadows and struggled to string two passes together. The only thing Hearts were good at was cynical and dirty play. Hayes was having the chit kicked out of him all over the park and the referee did nothing about it,,,yet Sutherland somehow managed to get a yellow for heading the ball when it was stuck in his face!!!

I have to admit that I had some concerns about Proctor being played in the middle, but he was pretty solid today. As was Williams, who didn't put a foot wrong all afternoon. Going back to the rough treatment Hayes was getting....it seemed to do the job that Foran had been asked to do on Wednesday night and get him fired up, because the more he got pummelled the more determined it made him and he ran Hearts ragged for most of the game...in fact, the only way the could cope with him was by fouling him.

Foran is going from strength to strength since being moved to the defensive midfield role and ran Hayes close for my MotM. Nick Ross continues to impress and his vision and ability to pick a killer pass will prove useful if Butcher decides to stick with giving him a start.

Shane Sutherland battled hard the whole match and deserved his goal...he could/should have had more. The one he did score felt like it happened in slow motion. Even before the ball was played in to him you could see it coming as he worked himself into space. Not the sweetest goal you'll ever see and watching the ball trickle over the line given how muddy the goal area was starting to get was a nervous moment.

Up front I think it's fair to say that the object was to cause confusion for Hearts....and it worked. Sutherland, Hayes, Tade, Tansey & Ross seemed to be working in rotation and none of them spent more than 5 minutes in any given position. Hearts back four were being pulled all over the place.

Not the prettiest game of football we've played this season, but we had a game plan that was well executed and effective.....bring on St Mirren!!!!

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speaking to a couple of hearts fans, they seem to think they should have had a pen when templeton went down, i couldn't see it properly from the north stand. anyone see it properly?

Had it been at the other end then I would have been looking for the penalty as well. Was suggested afterwards that Templeton slipped, but I'm pretty sure his leg was taken from under him. Will have to wait for the highlights to be sure.

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Fantastic performance from all out lads today. Great to see Shane get a start and mark it with a deserved goal (although I reserved celebrations until the ball actually crossed the line)

I would probably say the only thing to disappoint today was the weather. But that can't be helped.

Well Done lads - Here's to the same again next week when the Midden are in town

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They were all excellent today, although Ryan had little to do and Proctor seemed a bit annomynous to me.

It's going to be interesting to see how the votes go on the player of the season poll for todays game....

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To be fair on Hamill the ball hit his chest first and caught his arm as he went down. Similar to a Gillet handball claim against Motherwell last week

Maybe our luck with penalties is starting to change when you consider those that have gone against us already this season???

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Looked a certain slip to me, but would need to get a closer look.

There were three men of the match today and they all had there best ever game for ICT. Take a bow Richie Foran, Jonny Hayes and Greg Tansey. We were all over Hearts like a rash in the first half. Their only moment of note came when Hammil??? smacked the bar with a snapshot early on from thirty swirling wind assisted yards. That apart, they were less than useless and we should really have put three past them. In the second half the goal was coming from the restart and Shane powered a header through Kelo, but it was not in doubt as it rolled in. Unfortunately that woke Hearts from their slumber and as the wind pushed us back Hearts looked more threatening as the game wore on, however we looked more likely to increase our lead on the break. Shanes cross cum shot was centimetres away from going the right way when it smacked the post. Make no bones about it, this was a great win, a victory for determination and massive desire to win. Richie Foran was everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Jonny Hayes was ripping past the Hearts players at will, just goes to show what being grabbed by the throat can do for you. Greg Tansey was simply fantastic. To be honest nobody did anything wrong and Williams and Proctor were particularly classy and solid. Meekings I would prefer to start at right back every week; at least he can take a throw in. Can't think of any negatives really, great performance in extremely difficult conditions as Esson could barely get thirty yards with any kick out, but he was dependable when required. Ian Black showed what a ned he was with petty fouling and it is a wonder Hearts ended with 11 men.

Well done everyone, enjoyable game and great three points, more comfortable for the team than the fans probably. :banana: :banana: :banana:

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Great victory today ! It was tough but we charged through it to take the 3 points. I was impressed with Williams, great start to his caley thistle career and it was nice to see Josh and Shane back in the squad. Great performances from them each especially Shane with his goal. Now onto St mirren next week!

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Just thawing out now. What a magnificent team performance, can't fault anyone although a little baffled by the sponsors MOM. Have not been an admirer fo Greg Tansey to date, but what a shift he put in. His passing was superb and also his tackling today was immense, never put a foot wrong. As for Richie Foran, what an inspiration as a club captain, the man was outstanding.

Never mind looking at the teams below us after this performance, we should purely be concentrating on overtaking those above and aiming for our best ever league finishing position!!

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Great performance today! The first time this season you could not fault any of the team for effort and determination, a well deserved win. I would be happy to see the same lineup next week if they play like that. A good 8 days for the whole team well done to all. :clapping: :clapping:

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one of our better displays. thought willaims looked composed, tansey played his best game for club so far. foran was imense and hayes was unplayable.

who picks the mom at the stadium. shane sutherland tripped over the ball, overran it most of the day. even his headed goal trickled over the line. with the goal gaping he headed straight at kello.

every time he looses ball he jumps into the air. whats that all about. frustration he has messed up again ??

big surprise he started, but then we were missing several players.

mom - could not choose between hayes or foran

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The best performance we have had at home this season by far. Hearts showed very little for their recent form and we were considerably better for the majority of the game. Butcher wrang the changes but they were totally justified. Meekings and Gillet were immense, Williams slotted in well and had an accomplished first start. Agreed with whats been said, Tansey and Foran dominated the midfield today, tackled, grafted and created for the team. I was gutted when we lost Davis 2 weeks ago but i have to say he really wasnt missed today.

Was suprised to see Shane in the starting line up but thought he gave a solid shift, looked a little rusty but i hope he gets more games, imo he could become a great player for us if he was just given a longer run in the team and a goal today will go a long way to making his case.

Our back four deserve some credit, 2012 seems to have brought about a change of luck for us so far defensively. But despite it being a make shift defence today there was a real togetherness and unity that i havent really seen this season and the fact we have taken maximum points consecutively off 3rd and 4th in the SPL while also shutting them out can only emphasise the strides we are making as a team.

Josh Meekings for me seems to get better with every game he plays. He was up against tricky opposition today in Templeton and Skacel but neither of them got the full measure of him today and in the end i think were made to look rather average. I really hope Meekings manages to stay fit now. When he plays our defence is better, simple as that, he also has a willingness to get forward and good distribution of the ball. He may only be 19 but i think he could become an integral part of this ICT side.

Its been a good start to the New Year as im sure many hope and perdicted, i just hope it carries on. The more these results keep coming then it will be a case of looking up as opposed to looking down, keep up the good work lads.

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looked at the penalty claim a few times and from my angle templeton used a neat bit of skill to play the ball back but his feet gave way on the surface causing him to fall, there does not appear to be any contact from meekings.post-5083-0-55008000-1327184837_thumb.jppost-5083-0-64982500-1327184852_thumb.jppost-5083-0-80426300-1327184866_thumb.jppost-5083-0-83776300-1327184882_thumb.jp

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Templeton is a little cheat, he tryed it against us at Tynecastle and he tryed it today and fortunately for us on both occasions we had referees who were observant enough to notice. Very petty side to his game.

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I was very impressed with the new boy Williams - he looks a real good prospect for us and agree that Hayes and Foran both played very well but the whole team played like the old ICT with lots of spirit and fighting for every ball.

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Thought we were fantastic today in terrible condidtions, delighted with the win and the clean sheet. I would just like to say a massive thank you to Chairman Kenny Cameron, Vice Chairman Graham Bennett and the under 19 squad who along with the ground staff got the game on. Covers were purchased to protect the park but let me assure you it took a super human effort to take the water off the covers and remove them in time for the game to go ahead. Well done guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Guest Mahonio

one of our better displays. thought willaims looked composed, tansey played his best game for club so far. foran was imense and hayes was unplayable.

who picks the mom at the stadium. shane sutherland tripped over the ball, overran it most of the day. even his headed goal trickled over the line. with the goal gaping he headed straight at kello.

every time he looses ball he jumps into the air. whats that all about. frustration he has messed up again ??

big surprise he started, but then we were missing several players.

mom - could not choose between hayes or foran

Regarding bit in bold, todays man of the match was picked by my boss.

I was at this game and really enjoyed it :bouncyblue: . Hearts only had 1 real chance all match and that was early in 1st Half when they hit the crossbar, other than that, i can't think of any other clear cut chance they had.

From back to front, we were great, can't fault anybody today but i will say that Hayes played a blinder, he was running down the wing a lot and giving Hearts a torrid time or up until he got fouled when running down the wing.

Anyone else notice that one of our players got booked near full time despite doing nothing wrong? He went slid in to try and keep ball in and failed, Hearts guy picked ball up and then shoved the ICT lad when he was running back on to field, how the hell can that be yellow but not a shove?

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Was that not Shane. My impression of that was he 'interfered' with the Hearts player as he ran back onto the park and the Hearts player was going to possibly take a quick throw in??

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Hugely unexpected but also unexpected win yesterday. The conditions were abysmal for most of the game and I feared the worst when the announcer told people to hold on to their ticket stubs in case the game was called off!

Overall I was very disappointed with Hearts who offered very little in the final third of the pitch. The seemed reasonable enough at the back but how that team scored five goals last week is beyond me. In the first half we were able to limit them to a very tame effort from Templeton as well as that thunderous strike from Hammil which smashed off the crossbar. We on the other hand were creating a good number of chances which went begging thanks in part to poor finishing and solid keeping from Kello.

Hayes in particular was a menace as he tore the Hearts left side to pieces throughout the opening 20 minutes. Barr probably should have been sent off after rugby tackling Hayes, which resulted in a yellow card, then following it up with a scything tackle on the same player on the touchline which, for some reason, went unpunished. Foran, Hayes, Sutherland and Tade all threatened to open the scoring but Kello was equal to their efforts or they squirmed wide of target.

In the second half we found ourselves playing into the wind and I expected to see Hearts threaten more but whilst they enjoyed a wee bit more of the ball than they did in the first half we still created the better openings. Tansey and Hayes were the main creative forces for us and it was from a smart and direct run from Hayes that saw us opening the scoring. He drove right at the Hearts right back before standing a ball up into the box and Sutherland arrived to header down underneath the diving Kello. A fully deserved lead for ICT. The poor weather almost saw Kello caught out twice as cross cum hopeful shots looped over him and one, from Sutherland, struck the bar. The Hammil handball penalty appeal was an interesting one. At first he chests it back to Kello but then, as he falls over, the ball hits his arm. The referee needs to decide if, amongst other things, it was deliberate. It was a very difficult one to call but I was certainly appealing for it at the game.

Hearts best effort, up to this point, had come from an Ian Black free kick. As the majority of players headed towards the back post Black fired a shot in towards the near post nearly catching Esson off guard but he did well to hold on in difficult conditions. By this time Suso Santan had come on meaning Hearts had two very pacey wingers on either side but both Meekings and Gillet, the latter in particular, snuffed out the threat of the Hearts wide men. Skacel lashed a shot over the bar and there was the Templeton penalty shout which, from my view, looked like he had slipped before there was any contact from Meekings anyway, but ICT were able to hold on to grab the three points.

Looking at ICT specifically Hayes, Tansey and Gillet were absolutely outstanding. Hayes direct running caused Hearts problems all day as they didn't know how to stop him aside from employing Real Madrid style tactics to stop Messi i.e. kick the shit out of him. Tansey covered almost every inch of grass as he helped shield the defence and then was at the other end of the pitch helping to set up chances for his team mates. Gillet, having moved back to LB from CB, dealt well with the pacey and tricky Santana when he came on having previously nullified any Hearts attacks coming down his side. Foran again did well in his new midfield role and it was good to see Sutherland get a game although he took a wee while to come into things. The new lad Williams at the back was composed, solid in the tackle and distributed the ball well and Meekings continues to show excellent potential with another assured display. In fact, considering it was yet another back line for us they were remarkably solid throughout the game.

Overall a very impressive ICT performance coupled with a pretty poor Hearts display. Hopefully we can keep this run going against St. Mirren next week.

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