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Ayr United away March 4th


tm4tj

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On the Road Again

 

After a battling 1-1 draw at Dundee, we are off on our travels again, this time it's even further afield as we visit Somerset Park, an often fruitful venue over the years. On Saturday, it's a 3:00pm kick off as points become difficult to collect at both ends of the table. Inverness are still bottom of the recent form table with only 4 points from a possible 18. Ayr have faltered recently but have 8 points from their last 6 games. Talismanic striker Billy Mckay will return after being red carded at Hamilton a fortnight ago. Billy is still seven goals short of being level with Dennis Wyness as our all time record scorer. Reece McAlear is now at Somerset Park but Logan Chalmers' loan spell has ended and the experienced Michael Moffat is at Glenafton. 

Unfortunately events off the park are overtaking events on the park. See Club Statement below £££

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Match/Ticket/Supporters Bus info

Club Statement

Get Well Soon Cammy

Ticket Update v Killie

School strikes, We've got your back

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Get well soon Cammy

 

Venue H2H v Ayr United Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / -
Home 23 10 11 2 38 24 +14
Away 24 11 6 7 45 30 +15
Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 47 21 17 9 83 54 +29

Head to Heads v Ayr tend to favour Inverness over the years, but due to our decline in fortunes more recent results are more equal. 3 wins for ICT - 2 wins for Ayr and 5 draws over the last ten encounters. Ayr have become more difficult to beat over the last couple of years. They came up into the Championship in 2018 and we held the upper hand for the first couple of seasons but they are now capable of holding their own and under Lee Bullen are more difficult to prise points from these days. 

Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Ayr United
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2 - 2
(H)
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1 - 0
(A)
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2 - 2
(A)
loss.png
1 - 2
(H)
draw.png
2 - 2
(A)
win.png
1 - 0
(H)
draw.png
2 - 2
(H)
win.png
2 - 0
(A)
draw.png
1 - 1
(H)
loss.png
0 - 1
(A)

From CTO Last October 1 - 0 - Ayr Pressure Not Enough: Ayr started the day three points ahead of Inverness. They would end the day level. Plenty of pressure from the hosts in a dominant first half but the nearest they came to a goal was a Mark Mckenzie header that came off the bar and the same player missed from six yards after being set up by Dipo Akinyemi. Inverness would be relieved to get to the interval on level terms. Cammy Harper glanced in a header just after the break to open the scoring. That's how it ended after a difficult ninety minutes but it's three wins on the bounce on the road.

 

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FRIDAY 3RD MARCH 7:45pm

Hamilton v Arbroath 

 

SATURDAY 4TH MARCH 3:00pm

 Ayr United v Inverness CT

Cove R v Dundee

Partick v Rovers

Queen's v Morton

 

 

 

Last Time Out

Inverness, off the back of two miserable defeats against Hamilton, battled for a plucky 1-1 draw at Dundee. Fortunate as it was we showed a bit of fight. Dundee will feel aggrieved that they never took all three points having a goal disallowed for a dubious offside decision and hitting the woodwork twice. To rub salt in the wound, Harper's equaliser took a massive deflection to wrong foot the keeper and put the Dundee fans on the verge of tears. At least Billy Mckay should return after suspension.

Ayr United drew a blank last Friday at Stark's Park against Raith Rovers, with ICT's Scottish Cup hero Jamie MacDonald denying Ben Dempsey from the spot to ensure it remained goalless. They have been slipping up in recent weeks L L D. Their only win was a routine 5-0 thrashing of Cove Rangers at the end of January.

This season's encounters show that we won the first one at Ayr 1 - 0 and drew the reverse fixture in the Highlands 2 - 2 

Shaw shank redemption: Nathan Shaw earned Inverness an unlikely point as he scored his second of the game with three minutes left. That levelled the score after Dipo Akinyemi had put leaders Ayr United ahead with his 14th goal of the season less than ten minutes from the end. Shaw had given the hosts an early lead which they held until the 66th minute when Mark McKenzie bundled into the net from close range. This was a better point for Inverness who still had nine players missing although Danny Devine came into the back four before going off after being injured with fifteen minutes remaining.

Latest Team News

Billy Mckay returns after suspension. At least he should add some much needed potency to the attack. Still waiting for around five players returning from injury. Sutherland, Walsh, Woods, Ram and MacGregor. Samuels is now getting game time as is Allardice, Deas and Harper but all four are still building up to maximum efficiency after returning from longer term injury. Deas played in midweek in a young side at Forres to get some more minutes in his legs.

 

 

RIP Eric: It's at this point over the last couple of years I would insert a section written by fellow CTO member and friend ictewd. Eric, without prompting, would gather any updated information about our opponents and offer it to me for adding to the preview. Without fail, Eric would investigate and I would receive an eMail every Thursday ahead of the fixtures. He was also responsible for helping to get our site stats in order and was willing to do this throughout his illness borne with great dignity. I have known Eric for over fifty years and he was an unassuming guy but very intelligent and self motivated. He was the consummate professional in all he did and I/we will miss him greatly for his diligent professionalism as he carried out his many tasks on CTO. Sadly Eric passed away this week and I for one will miss his eMails and quiet sense of humour and the endless hours of brain crunching stats he input and more importantly, his friendship. I offer sincere condolences to his family and friends at this most difficult of times. RIP Eric Davidson 😪

This ones on me Eck

Ayr United have scooped up Chris Maguire an experienced attacking inside forward once of Aberdeen and Sheffield Wednesday. Dylan Watret has signed his first pro contract at Ayr and featured against Raith Rovers. Frankie Musonda returned to action in a reserve game against Hibs last week. Josh Mullin is now a permanent signing and former Inverness midfielder Reece McAlear has come in on loan from Tranmere Rovers. That's he of the thunderous goals from outside the box; beware!

Loan ended: Logan Chalmers, forward (Dundee United); Bradley Young, forward (Aston Villa).

Loan out: David Bangala, defender (Cove Rangers); Finn Ecrepont, defender (Stranraer); Michael Moffat, forward (Glenafton).

 

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16 minutes ago, Robert said:

Deas and Mckay in for Harper (not in squad: injured?) and Samuels.

Three in the middle, Welsh, Carson and Allardice?

4-3-3 away from home?

Add Shaw and Henderson wide to make 5  leaves Billy no mates up top.

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If the BBC are to be believed it is a 4 4 1 1 with Delaney in left midfield and Deas at left back. I suspect that is not how we’ve lined up.

Half time 1-1. Ayr led through Akinyemi with Welsh equalising. Ayr down to 10 after half an hour.

We’ve had 9 attempts to 4 by Ayr but possession pretty even. 

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Full time: Ayr 1-2 ICT.

Welsh and Henderson with the goals after we fell behind initially.

Up to 6th, 5 points off a play off place, although the two teams above us have a game in hand (against each other).

Could there be hope?

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20 minutes ago, een said:

Let's be pedantic !!

GOAL!!

1-2. Henderson

Please hold on to this Caley!

Mmmm, Caley??

Being pedantic, Caley Thistle. Lol!!

Listening to the report on Sportscene, the reporter felt the red card was harsh.

Great to have a win at last. Now let’s sort out our home form. 

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First Draft

Red Oh Daire

 

Three points would have been a welcome diversion from off-field issues for the Caley Jags. Inverness missed Cammy Harper from last week and Austin Samuels dropped to the bench as Billy Mckay returned from suspension. Frankie Musonda was on the Ayr bench and the 15 goal striker Dipo Akinyemi led their attack with Josh Mullin and Ben Dempsey backing him up. At the end of the day it was Inverness that picked up a valuable win to climb to 6th in the table.

First Half

Billy Mckay was keen to get going again after his suspension and he hit one from distance in the opening moments but it went over the bar and he followed that with another that went wide after seven minutes. Ten minutes in and Sam Ashford replaced the injured Josh Mullin and two minutes later Dipo Akinyemi scored his sixteenth of the season to put United ahead. The lead lasted just seven minutes when Sean Welsh scored after a Jay Henderson cross to level the game. Charlie Albiston was quick off his line to deny the eager Mckay as he honed in on goal and five minutes later he was close to getting on the end of a Shaw cut back after Albiston made a mess of a clearance. Before the half hour Daire O'Connor was sent off for a challenge on Wallace Duffy. Duffy shot over before Mckay had an effort deflected over the bar and Duffy headed the resultant corner over as well. Just on the break the keeper saved well from a Duffy shot into the top corner just after Paddy Reading went close at the other end.

Half Time: 1-1

Ayr began the second half on the front foot with McKenzie and Akinyemi shooting wide before Billy Mckay was blocked in the box at the other end and Scott Allardice fired one over. Ashford shot over on the hour after some good possession from the hosts and Duffy shot wide after finding himself in an advanced position again. More profligacy from the visitors as Henderson missed the top corner after a burst into the box. Welsh was blocked then had another effort deflected behind for a corner with twenty minutes left. The chances eventually paid off when Henderson connected with a Nathan Shaw cross at the back post to fire home. Mckay then shot wide after being played through ten minutes from the end. Inverness saw out the game to put themselves on the outer fringes of a play-off spot.

Full Time 1-2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Brilliant to get the win. 

I think we forget sometimes just how tight the championship is and while every win counts, a single loss can result in a tumble down the table. Personally I find the jeopardy element adds to the excitement, but I feel that some posters get too irate when we are on the losing end. There is a lot of worry off the pitch at the moment and I think that the team can benefit far more from positive comments than insults. I know I am a bit happy clappy but I think a bit of praise and confidence in our team can go a long way.

Hope todays win is the start of a good run. Well done boys.

 

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That was a really important win today.  As we move into the final round of matches, any lingering worries about the potential of relegation should be gone.  We sit on 36 points and even were we to lose our last 9 games, 2 of the bottom 3 would need to significantly up their points per game ratio to catch us and put us in to the relegation playoff spot.  The pressure is off us now.  We are not expected to win our bonus cup game on Friday and nor are we expected to reach the playoffs, although both are well within our capabilities.  Hopefully this will allow the team to play with a bit more freedom and produce the kind of football which the fans have only seen sporadically this season. Of course, the team needs to get the fans behind them with some good vocal support.  That has been in very short supply this season, so hopefully that will change on Friday. Kilmarnock are on a poor run of form just now and their priority must be Premiership survival.  It is a very winnable game with a trip to Hampden as the prize.  Our season could, all of a sudden get a whole lot better.

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6 hours ago, Robert said:

Deas and Mckay in for Harper (not in squad: injured?) and Samuels.

Three in the middle, Welsh, Carson and Allardice?

 

6 hours ago, Satan said:

4-3-3 away from home?

Add Shaw and Henderson wide to make 5  leaves Billy no mates up top.

We lined up with what looked like a 4-2-3-1. Ridgers - Delaney Deas Devine Duffy - Welsh Allardice - Henderson Carson Shaw - Mckay. Henderson started on the left after recently featuring on the right, Carson played as a 10 instead of Shaw who was shifted to the right flank whilst Duffy and Delany were the appointed full backs.

Pretty even opening to the game but we gifted Ayr the opener when Delaney failed to clear the ball and it was nabbed off him by O'Connor and he found Akinyemi free i the 6 yard area with a low cross and he easily beat Ridgers from close range. Fortunately we equalised relatively quickly as a Henderson free kick looked to be missed by the Ayr defence and the ball landed close to Welsh in the box and he spun on the spot and swept the ball into the net. The main talking point was the red card for O'Connor which Ayr are claiming was harsh but at the time I thought it was the right call. Initially I thought it was Welsh who challenged O'Connor but I see reports saying it was Duffy. Regardless, both players lunged in committed to the tackle but as O'Connor seemed to have his foot lifted slightly off the ground it meant he overshot the ball slightly and carried through into Duffy's shin which looked pretty bad. The red card was out in a couple of seconds and we had the advantage. Duffy should have put us ahead before the break when he had a free header in the box but he sent it wide of goal and he had another decent effort with a shot that was well saved by the Ayr keeper.

Second half was pretty open with both sides threatening. You'd have been hard pressed to tell which side had a man less at times as Ayr looked pretty threatening at various points without forcing Ridgers into many saves. Akinyemi was a handful for Deas and Devine who struggled to deal with him at times. McAlear and Ashford had decent changes that were either wide or over the bar. 

At times we played some nice football. Most of the threat seemed to come down the right especially after Henderson and Shaw rotated and, with the extra man, Duffy and Delaney started pushing further up the pitch to offer support. Ayr tended not to double up on the wide men so it meant that Henderson or Shaw had to beat one many and they had a chance to get a cross in. Henderson in particular was tormenting the Ayr defence and he had the best chance for us before we scored when he wriggled through a ruck of players at the edge of the box and lashed an effort over the bar. But he goal when Shaw beat his man on the left flank and sent a high ball across goal which Henderson collected at the back post and he managed to steer a shot past the keeper and defenders on the line.

Some solid performances from us to win that one today with Duffy, Carson and Henderson probably the pick of the bunch. Duffy was helped out by Mullin going off injured and also the fact that Ayr played a lot of the game a man down. Carson took a bit of time to adapt to the 10 position but he carried the ball forward well and could have had a goal himself had he been more selfish and taking a shot instead of passing to a team mate.

Despite their struggles Killie will be a different beast. Today was a good win and the best performance from the last 4 games I've seen but these are pretty low bars and we will need to improve again if we want to try and get through to the SF.

 

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Superb result and well earned 3 points. A bit of luck today but as we have seen anything that tips the balance in these tight games can go either way. It is important to keep the heid as the old saying goes. Keep calm and carry on 😂 also score goals. Have a right good go at Killie Friday and hopefully keep the cup run going. Killie havent won away in the league all season so dinnae gie them a sniff 🤣 Polworth might score an own goal for us just for the crack 😃 

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It would be nice for a change if we didn't keep conceding the first goal cheaply, then having to score twice to win, and as we are not very prolific in the goal scoring department, it takes a monumental effort to get any points at all. So thankfully we managed to take all three much needed points against Ayr. Sometimes you need a bit of luck to get anything out of the game, and Ayr going down to ten men was the bit of luck that has usually deserted us this season. 

We need to try and keep it tight on Friday, and cut out the errors at the back. If we can frustrate Kilmarnock, who aren't great on the road, and manage to get in front first, it could be another great Scottish Cup memory.

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