The Worst Cup Defeats

[RiG]

This is in terms of worst feeling after the game - not worst performance.

Obviously the game yesterday will crop up as some fans worst Cup game but are there any others that stick out in your mind? Not just the TSC but BCC and also the CIS.

One other one that hurt was the Challenge Cup final against Alloa. After scoring a hatrick during the game Paul Sheerin missed a crucial spot kick in the shoot out that eventually saw us crash to a defeat.

The TSC replay at Pittodrie was also a sore one with Leighton pulling off "that" save from Sheerin which would have taken us to extra time.

There was also the ET defeat to Livi a couple of seasons ago in the CIS (I think it was in ET anyway). I wasn't at that one but from what folk have told me it was a very harsh result to say the least.

[Yngwie]

Nothing compares  :007:

Not even Partick on penalties last season  :007:

[Charles Bannerman]

This really depends on how you define "worst".

Obviously no one is even going to consider yesterday as a "worst performance" in a cup tie?! I don't even have to make a case for that not being true.

On the other hand I'm sure a number of Caley Thistle fans will regard yesterday afternoon as the worst they've felt after their team losing a cup tie, or indeed any game. Barry Wilson certainly said it was "right up there" with going out to Partick on penalties last season.

Probably the worst actual performance I've ever seen in a Cup tie was the 1-0 defeat by Queens Park in the CIS, followed closely by Caley Thistle's first ever Scottish Cup tie, a 2-1 defeat by QoS at Telford St in 1994. It was at that point that two senior players first revealed to me that there was unhappiness in the dressing room with the then manager, and this was the beginning of the end for Sergei. One of these players is now doing that job himself and a great deal better!

In terms of disappointment, the replay at Pittodrie and the Challenge final v Alloa must indeed be up there, and also losing out to Partick in the quarter finals in 2002. There was also the 3-2 extra time defeat by Dundee United in 1998.

But just in case there's any ambiguity about RiG's original intention, what happened yesterday was that Caley Thistle for the third time this season gave a team with a heavy sprinkling of million pound a year players (NB - that's roughly ICT's total player budget!) a real close run for their money in Inverness, holding on to a 1-0 lead for 70 minutes until Celtic again did what they're renowned for - winning it at the absolute death.

That, however, won't make it any easier to take for a lot of Caley Thistle fans.

[clacher_holiday2]

at the moment yesterday was the worst

at the time i wouldve said the alloa game, i cant remember ever feeling worse than that after a game

[absent friend]

To back up the point above made by RIG and backed up by Charles, it was the most wonderful/nervy feeling for so much of the game. The pundits acknowledging our game plan was upsetting Celtic - in fact at one point a comment was made that 'Bayne is far too strong for Pressley to handle' - however that does not take away the horrible, horrible after taste of 'so near and yet so far'

This was compounded by having to share the 5.10 Aberdeen train home with a crowd of Celtic rowdies.

Cards on the table - I predicted a 3-1 defeat due to the gulf in league points we are away from Celtic, the calibre of player they have and the stage they play on(Europe) in comparison to us.

Misscall the manager??  He should get all the credit going for giving us 88 mins of belief - we were so, so close!!

[Scotty]

how far we have come ........

At the risk of being accused of having a 'small team mentality' I find it somewhat unbelievable (although understandable) that we are all so down talking about losing 1-2 to the league champions 'elect', a team full of multi million pound 'stars' where one player costs and is paid more than our entire squad and a team which held the mighty European giants AC Milan to a 0-0 draw in their last game.

It was very similar to the last time we played Celtic in the cup at the TCS, Celtic faced ICT sandwiched in between domestic games against Rangers and European games against Liverpool. ICT were the only one of these sides who managed to knock them off their game (and out of the cup). No matter how close we came we simply cannot win every time and sadly this is what happened yesterday. As a famous pundit once said "Its a funny old game ..." even when we are trying desperately to hold back the tears of disappointment.

However - don't get me wrong, I share the pain and feel just as downhearted as those who were actually there yesterday. I got up at 6:30AM and after being really peeved that the website was down, I scouted around the rest of the web and Canadian cable TV to try and find any method of watching or listening to the game. This of course met with no success (but thats another subject) so I was forced to use the BBC and SKY live (text) update services and just about woke up the whole neighbourhood when Graham Bayne scored. Without the benefit of TV pictures or audio I was also bemused at the substitutions but thought 'OK, CC and DP have a game plan'. As i was making a coffee just minutes before the end (in my nice ICT mug) I mumbled to myself that when i refreshed the BBC page it would probably show a late goal for Celtic as we seem prone to losing late goals and they have a habit of scoring them. Sure enough, when i got back in front of the PC, the next screen refresh confirmed my worst fears ... and a subsequent refresh left my weekend in tatters. I did not function well for the rest of the day yesterday and still find it hard to believe we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

From what I have read, it seems that the players gave their all - the scoreline up until the last few minutes seems to confirm this - but in the end, Celtic's 90 minute football was better than our 85 minute version. Mistakes were obviously made, and these mistakes were not only expensive emotionally (for players and fans alike) but also financially and I hope that lessons have and will be learned. I salute the team for the first 85 but please, please, please work on defending a lead in the last 5 as the game is not over until the final whistle blows. For all his faults, Craig Brewster did have us playing for the full 90 and we need to get back to that.

[CaleyD]

TCS nearly witnessed this grown man crying when the final whistle blew yesterday - so without a doubt it goes down as the worst I have ever felt at the end of ANY game.

[Kingsmills]

Certainly the most bitterly disappointed I've ever been at the end of a match in forty years or so of watching football.

[Harry Chibber]

absolutely devastated at the time but have come to terms with it now, the players did us proud yesterday I have had to endure a slagging from a rake of Celtic fans today but more than anything they admitted how unlucky we were.  It is almost as if we have earned respect from other teams for that performance and people are starting to take note that we can play good football and we are no longer a small club over achieving

[The Mantis]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww feckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

[chris123]

i think another reason this one hurts so bad is that we might never have a better chance of winning it

[TheresNoEsInBlack]

That was the worst I have ever felt after a game.  Losing 2 - 1 to a team like Celtic is never a disgrace but its just the manner in which we lost that hurts so much this time.  There was a fair bit of hype in the media before the game asking the question, "Could we really do it again?"  As a result that was in the back of everyone's minds as the game wore on and it only served to amplify the hurt of the final score because we believed, as all true ICT fans do.

We will have plenty chances to win the cup in future if we perform like that for the full 90+ minutes and I for one cannot wait to get behind the team and put right what went wrong on Sunday.

So I ask you folks.....

[move]

DO YOU BELIEVE?:021:

[/move]

[+Gringo]

Gutted, absoloutly fecking gutted, all that way to witness and experience such a low low moment.... :009:

[caley_donkey]

I think this has been the most gutted i've been in a long long time. It was a gutsy performance and I just hope the lads can bounce back from such a hurful defeat. We'll need to put this behind us. Let's all get behind them on Saturday and give them plenty of encouragement!

[The Mantis]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww feeeeeeeeeecccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkksssssssssaaaaaaaaaakkkkk

kkkkeeeeeeeeeeee

[true jaggy]

i feel so bad after sunday i dunno about anyone else but i was close to tears :009:.  one of the saddest things about it is that theres no much else to play for this season yeah top 6 if we put extremely good run together and the i wouldnt blame the players if they strugled to pick thmeselves up after that but it doesnt come close to being 5 minutes away from hampden with a really good chance at winning the scottish cup