Livi Scottish Cup

[tm4tj]

In the back door

 

We have arrived at the Tony Macaroni via default. We sort of came in by the tradesman's entrance after Queens Park were eliminated from the Scottish Cup for fielding an ineligible player. Step forward Euan Henderson who has now been inducted into the Caley Jags Scottish Cup Hall of Fame alongside some famous legends. Legends like Josh Meekings, James Vincent and Jamie MacDonald. Of course, all of this on the anniversary week of our Scottish Cup exploits in February 2008. Yes, that's the one that spawned the SuperCaleygoballisticCelticareatrocious headline that rocked the Scottish Football world back in the day.  Of course since then we now get to keep Celtic by virtue of putting them out of the Scottish Cup on three separate occasions (2000-2003-2015), but it was February 8th 2000 that set the ball rolling. Saturday's opponent are auld enemies Ferranti Thistle, or Meadowbank Thistle or as we now know them, Livingston. Our first fixture against them was the first time they used the name Livingston back in 1995. Many a tough encounter in the lower leagues over the years. Surprisingly our last two encounters were in the group stages of the League Cup and the Scottish Cup where Inverness prevailed in both fixtures.

Ahead of the game it was announced the Inverness had won two awards. One of these awards was fully merited, the other is the subject of much discussion and mirth from those that know. So we have the Manager of the Month in Billy Dodds and Player of the Month in Billy Mckay whose five goals in January included a hat-trick at Cove. He is now on 92 goals, only ten behind Sir Dennis Wyness. In fairness to Dodds, he had nothing to do with the voting. Congratulation to both recipients.

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Ticket Info & Supporters Bus

Championship Awards

Billy Mckay

Half Price Kit

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Over the years Inverness have edged these fixtures but there's not been much between the sides and Livi have now been able to sustain Premiership football since the start of season 2018-2019 and currently sit fourth in the table.

Venue H2H v Livingston

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	19	9	4	6	32	25	+7
Away	21	8	6	7	32	32	0
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	40	17	10	13	64	57	+7

Deja Vu: The last time we met Livingston in the Scottish Cup was also a 5th round tie, this one was in the Highlands on Feb8th2020. An even first half where both sides had efforts cleared from the goalmouth produced no goals with defences on top. The wind was causing as much havoc as the officials. Sean Welsh fired just wide at the start of the second half, but he made no mistake with a free kick on the hour to open the scoring. Plenty of huff and puff thereafter, but no further scoring and it's the Caley Jags that go into tomorrows draw for the next round.

Last 10 Competitive Meetings

2 - 1 (A)

1 - 0 (H)

1 - 0 (A)

1 - 1 (H)

0 - 0 (A)

1 - 3 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

1 - 0 (A)

1 - 2 (A)

3 - 0 (H)

First ever competitive meeting with Livingston ended in 0 - 3 defeat: Report by Ian Broadfoot: This was Livingston's first league game after their name change from Meadowbank Thistle and they dominated it with their pace and class. They took the lead in 3 minutes when Lee Baillie headed home a Young cross. Home keeper Mark McRitchie got down well in 10 minutes to smother a Young shot but in 32 minutes it was 2-0 when he palmed a McLeod corner into his own net. In 55 minutes it was 3-0 when Baillie headed home a Duthie free kick. Caley Thistle's best chance came in 67 minutes when Christie and Mitchell combined well to put Mitchell through with only Stoute to beat - he tried to flick the ball into the corner but hit the post. Mitchell's frustration showed 6 minutes from the end when he swore at a spectator within earshot of the stand-side linesman. The red card was inevitable.  
Caley Thistle were disappointed at the result but knew they had been outclassed. 

Biggest Victories

Jan 14th, 2006	League	(H)	3 - 0
Jan 22nd, 2005	League	(A)	4 - 1
Mar 18th, 2000	League	(H)	4 - 1

Heaviest Defeats

Aug 7th, 2004	League	(A)	0 - 3
Apr 3rd, 2001	League	(A)	1 - 4
Aug 12th, 1995	League	(H)	0 - 3

The last meeting between the sides was a League Cup group stage match at Livingston last July where Inverness won 2 - 1: Lions Tamed:

Livingston had the better of the opening exchanges and Nouble had the ball in the net but was flagged offside. Ridgers was the busier keeper early on but a swift counter attack saw Austin Samuels open the scoring after 37 minutes. Inverness held that advantage until the break. Daniel Mackay bundled in a second shortly after Max Stryjek was sent off for felling Austin Samuels in the box. Jason Holt pulled a goal back late on then proceeded to miss a penalty three minutes later as Inverness saw out the game to win 1-2 and go top of Group G.

Last Round:

Inverness sneaked through after losing 0-2 to Queens Park. Euan Henderson played and the rest is history. On the field Queens Park were superior to us but off the field they never did their homework and subsequently were removed from the event as Henderson was not signed prior to the original date of the postponed fixture.

Livingston eased through after coming from behind to beat Stenhousemuir 1-3. Nicky Jamieson headed Muir in front in the first half but three goals in seven minutes eased Livi into the next round. Scott Pittman and two from Steven Bradley clinched the tie in their favour to set up this game against Queens Park Inverness CT. Livi have only lost one of their last eight games whilst winning four and drawing three. The only defeat was at Parkhead on 1st February. Other than that, they are unbeaten since December 24th when Hibs beat them 4-0 at Easter Road so are on a good run at the moment.

Latest Team News

It's probably a game we could have done without, however, we are still in the Cup and will have to give it a go. Sean Welsh missed the Morton match and Max Ram has been out for a month. More importantly Austin Samuels, Roddy MacGregor, Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh have all been out for months and Robbie Deas has a broken leg to get get over. No quick fix unfortunately but on the bright side, Scott Allardice and Cammy Harper have now taken part in three games without any reaction....... hopefully. Ben Woods is a couple of weeks away with an ankle injury. Lewis Nicolson, Ethan Cairns and Robbie Thompson are cup tied for this match.

 

 

Livi used human battering ram Joel Nouble against Killie lately and he scored the opening goal in a 3-1 win. We had bother with him when he was on loan at Arbroath last season. However, he is just one of a number of powerful players at Livingston that has seen them climb to fourth in the Premiership table. Striker Bruce Anderson is another who seems to have developed well whilst at Livi and is top scorer this season with six goals. Midfielders Scott Pittman and former Ross County player Stephen Kelly make for a powerful engine room at the Tony Macaroni. Former Inverness player Andrew Shinnie could feature in the Lions squad on Saturday. Something that won't feature is VAR. Livi don't think it's worth the hassle of using it as it's not a requirement outside of televised games in the Premiership.

 

Hearts are the first club into the draw for the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup after a 0-2 win over a battling Hamilton Accies last night. Goals from Humphreys and Devlin secured the win. Media Luvvies Darvel can be seen on TV on Monday night against Falkirk.

 

Whilst we are on Cup duty this weekend, there are a couple of Championship games to keep an eye on.

SATURDAY 11TH FEBRUARY (3:00pm)

Morton v Queen's Park

SUNDAY 12TH FEBRUARY (2:00pm)

Dundee v Cove Rangers

 

 

[RednBlackComeback]

10.04 'inverness caley' . . . Dear god ! I'm sure even the caley fans on here would agree that's wrong on so many levels!! ffs !

[The Mantis]

I’m surprised that anybody still listens to Dodds’ ramblings.

[Robert]

I go by Tm4tj’s reports rather than Dodds’ videos!!

Anything could happen this afternoon. We could get thumped or we could cause a surprise and win.

I just hope we give a good account of ourselves, whatever the outcome.

It sounds like we may have a couple of our absentees returning to the bench, so hopefully that has a positive impact.

To those travelling, have a great day!

Edited February 11, 2023 by Robert

[The Mantis]

40 minutes ago, Robert said:

I go by Tm4tj’s reports rather than Dodds’ videos!!

Anything could happen this afternoon. We could get thumped or we could cause a surprise and win.

I just hope we give a good account of ourselves, whatever the outcome.

It sounds like we may have a couple of our absentees returning to the bench, so hopefully that has a positive impact.

To those travelling, have a great day!

Just over 200 tickets sold by the looks of things. Not one of our classic Cup awaydays but we’ll probably make more noise than Livi anyway.

[jed5697]

Good luck today and may the force be with you

[Yngwie]

Wish I was there but got a family event today.
 

Being in this round is a bonus, we’re getting a free hit with nothing to lose. We’re up against a superior side who are in great form so the chances are we will lose, but you know what, this is the Cup and we are ICT!

[CaleyCanary]

59 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

Wish I was there but got a family event today.
 

Being in this round is a bonus, we’re getting a free hit with nothing to lose. We’re up against a superior side who are in great form so the chances are we will lose, but you know what, this is the Cup and we are ICT!

Maybe so but we’re not the same ICT as once we were, sadly I don’t think that spirit is there at the moment.

[Satan]

Robbie Deas on the bench today.

[tm4tj]

[BobbyDazzler]

Brilliant to see Deas back in the squad. When are the club going to be honest about the Austin Samuels situation? Robbie Deas has recovered from a leg break quicker than AS made up injury

[Yngwie]

Pleasantly surprised to see Deas back in the squad so soon. We’ve really missed him.

[tm4tj]

Inverness had a surprise inclusion on the bench in the shape of Robbie Deas, who has been out since breaking a bone in his leg last October in a 1-1 draw with Raith Rovers. Other than that, no major changes.

Both keepers were tested early with Livingston's Stephen Kelly first to test Mark Ridgers as he shot from outside the box in the third minute. Nathan Shaw responded for the visitors a minute later with Shamal George denying him after his shot deflected off Billy Mckay. Ridgers did well to save a Stephen Bradley free kick at the expense of a corner. From that, Obileye met the ball at the back post but slams it wide. Bruce Anderson was replaced early by Cristian Montana after an injury to the striker in the 13th minute. Substitute Montana shot high and wide from the edge of the box after twenty minutes. He would shoot over again after half an hour as Livi began to boss the game with Inverness looking for the bell to get them to the interval level. Five minutes before the break Inverness survived a double spike when Obileye's header from Kelly's free-kick blocked on the line before he sent the rebound wide of the post. Close shave for the visitors and Obileye headed wide just before the whistle to keep it all square.

Half Time 0-0

[Robert]

1-0. Billy Mckay!!

Can we hold on?

[Caley Mad In Berks]

Really hope we can hang on.  What a boost to our season this could be!  Come on lads!

[+standbydave]

Let's do this lads !

[Robert]

Sean Welsh!!

2-0.

Come on guys!!

[CaleyCiuin]

Well, well , well

[Caley Mad In Berks]

Get in there, ya beauty!

[ICTPaisley]

I can sense a few raging at us winning today already

[Ronaldo]

Superb, keep going boys, could be a very interesting day!!

[ICTPaisley]

Here’s hoping Elgin can hold on. Nice wee quarter finals would be excellent v them.

[Robert]

Wow! Mckay again. 3 up. 

[Satan]

He scores when he wants.

[+standbydave]

3-0 Billy with another what a day