Win at county

[Mee]

O/T back - I've got the 3 tracks as wav files but they are all quite quiet! Will burn to a disc for you but I won't be there next week as I'm not doing home games while any of my money might go towards Mike Smiths wages! Watching on Satan's TV instead. Will see you at an away game at some point or will give a disc to Big **** to give to you.

[thejailender]

I see on the County forum one person reckons that the Highland derby will be back before too long.

I posted that, but if you read what was really written, I said County play during the season as they did today we should be all right, but if Caley play as they did then we could well see a return of the Highland derby the follwoing season.

By that I ment we are looking for promotion.  And if we play as we did then we have a good chance of it.  As for Caley I thought for the first 70 minutes you were awful - considering you are two divisions higher than us - you only had two or three shots on goal the whole first half.  I know pre-season games are meaningless in terms of results, but if you defend next week against Rangers as you did today in the first half, then you may need your second hand to county the Rangers goals !

As for the game it wasn;t the usual pre-season glorified training session, which I assume was of benifit to both clubs.

Same story from County though, wated chances and fell asleep for 10 minutes - happened every game last season !

[big man]

I thought for the first 70 minutes the midfield neither protected the back four or supported the front two.  We did look a lot better and had a better shape for the last 20.

I thought county played well, Golly looked good, I would hope that they are successful in the coming season, it is still an advantage to us to have two successful teams in the north.

[Guest PaulieBee]

Mrs PB and LG i'm sure can confirm Niculae was in the crowd  :015:.

It was good to say hello to Jailender as well.

Thought we were very lucky to come out of todays game with a result. The Zander substitution made a difference as we looked a much better side when he came on.

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

Does the Jailender not realise this was a friendly. This was about gentlemen being polite to one another. In battle there is a different spirit. Last year we let the mighty County hammer us in their show piece fixture and they went on to let us down and get relegated.

Did we complain or mock the Jailender when he claimed 'W'ere top and you're no!' ?  No, we were gracious and polite and not once did we as they slid ominously past us in the league  offend them. We stood and clapped after they beat us 5-1 at the City of Dreams Stadium home of so many former County players, then watched in pain as they slid down the table. Our agony was hard to bear. For a week after their relegation, Inverness was silent.

To insinuate that we will join them in the Third Division one day is below the belt. Apologise Jailender.

[forresdame]

Mrs PB and LG i'm sure can confirm Niculae was in the crowd  :015:.

:015: :015: :015: You could always post the evidence!

Thanks to LG & family and Mr & Mrs PB for making me so welcome.  See you all again soon!

[Guest LiviLion]

Does the Jailender not realise this was a friendly. This was about gentlemen being polite to one another.

He said it twice that it was a meaningless friendly

[Mee]

Are all Livi fans called LiviLion or is there only the one?  :015:

[thejailender]

Aye very good.

But you actually beat us last year in Inverness 3-0 was it not.. 

Yeah it was only a friendly, and as I say the result doesn't matter - although bragging rights are yours once again !  It's more of a chance to see how the new players are gelling, and how the team are performing.

I am sure if it had been a meaningful match, then yes there would have been fiercer tackles etc. but I would still imagine CC would not have been happy with Caley's first half performance today !

[CaleyJags07]

I see on the County forum one person reckons that the Highland derby will be back before too long.

I posted that, but if you read what was really written, I said County play during the season as they did today we should be all right, but if Caley play as they did then we could well see a return of the Highland derby the follwoing season.

By that I ment we are looking for promotion.  And if we play as we did then we have a good chance of it.  As for Caley I thought for the first 70 minutes you were awful - considering you are two divisions higher than us - you only had two or three shots on goal the whole first half.  I know pre-season games are meaningless in terms of results, but if you defend next week against Rangers as you did today in the first half, then you may need your second hand to county the Rangers goals !

As for the game it wasn;t the usual pre-season glorified training session, which I assume was of benifit to both clubs.

Same story from County though, wated chances and fell asleep for 10 minutes - happened every game last season !

Well considering we didn't have 3 main strikers in the squad (Bayne, Niculae, Mcdonald) it is hardly suprising that we didn't have too many shots on goal. Also, how can you possibly question Caley's defence. We didn't have Tokely due to injury and even without him I thought we played well enough. And if we were  so "awful" in the first 70 minutes then why didnt Ross County find the back of the net?? "Wasted chances"? I didn't see County exactly make too many threatining attacks but their goal was decent enough after we didnt properly deal with the pass through. Our 2 goals were good enough and if I were you jailender I would be more concerned with your own defence rather than ours. County's marking at the corners was dodgy to say the least. I agree that CC wouldn't have been too pleased with our first half performance as we are capable of better. Considering our record against Rangers last season I find it rather funny that you believe that Rangers will rule the game. Also, at least we are playing a team such as Rangers whereas you County Clowns are playing Ayr. Good luck in your bid to stay in the second division ye bunch of erses, no chance of any highland derby soon at all.

[tm4tj]

The County goal was actually diverted into the net by Grant Munro. The ball was screwing about three yards wide until it came off Munro's foot as he tried to block the shot. I was right in line with the striker and the goal post. At the end we should have maybe scored another couple of goals, but good saves and mediocre shooting kept the score close. Closest I remember County coming in the second half was from a scuffed left footed clearance from Fraser which only went about thirty yards and he looked a bit marooned when the ball was hit goalwards, but it screwed wide.

Zander is great to watch, he is the most exciting player in the ICT team, worth a longer run in some games. First half for us, Wyness had shot charged down by Bullock, Rory lashed the rebound over the gaping goal, not by much, but nonetheless still over the bar. Roy badly sclaffed a decent cutback from Rory, squidging the ball twenty yards wide from a decent position. County were decent enough for an hour, without really creating too many clear cut chances but the game really turned with the introduction of Zander, he stuck to the touchline and we started to pull County across the width of the pitch and for the first time we were able to penetrate their back four. We scored two, Caffs volley from an acute angle about one yard from the goal line and eight yards to the keepers left, but he flashed the ball high into the roof of the net to surprise everyone, including himself.....cracking goal. We did create another couple of decent late chances but no more scoring. Granties second goal came from a poor Rankin corner, which was back heeled at the near post into the penalty spot, knocked down and Grant lashed it high into the net from ten yards.

We probably just about deserved it for the late showing, but the first seventy minutes were a waste of time.

Just remembered, Rory hit a ferocious looking shot which beat the diving Bullock but crashed back off the top of the post for what would have been a great confidence booster for him and a spectacular goal for us to watch. We tend to now look at his weak points and forget the good things he does, in another move he drifted off the defenders shoulder, chested the ball forward and hit a shot which Bullock saved well, so all is not lost for Rory yet.

[CaleyJags07]

Yeah i agree the first 70 minutes were definately not the best football i've seen ICT play. Still though a fairly good performance after that.

[RednBlackComeback]

I wholeheartedly agree with jailender.......

I've never liked caley !!!! and their defence was always dodgy !!! :004: :blah01:

[alternative maryhill]

Surprised no-one has made more of the other substitutions - Zander was excellent, Black looked a class above as usual but I also thought Cowie made a huge difference when he came on. He was solid, used the ball well, got it out to the flanks far more than Hart or Mcbain (before he moved wide in the second) did, and also got forwrd well on occasion. About ten minutes from the end he made an excellent diagonal run to the edge of the box, took a long ball from Joinville beautifully and set up a decent chance for Garry Wood. This is the first time I've seen him play, but on today's evidence I think we could do worse than him and Black in the middle, with Rankin pushed wide. This would also give us a bit more height in midfield. Wood also looked a real prospect - matches Rory for size, made intelligent runs and in just two or three touches looked trickier than Rory with the ball at his feet. If Bayne doesn't make it next weekend then it might be worth pitching him in against the Huns: like Zander, he doesn't seem to lack confidence.

As for the rest? The regular defenders were fine - thought Caff did very well at right back - but am unsure about Joinville. He seemed to mistime an awful lot of headers, was a bit clumsy when tracking back and looked isolated - perhaps Granty should have talked him through the game more. He did show some nice touches in the second half and won a few more headers, but whether he is reliable enough as a defender in the SPL I just don't know. The midfield, allegedly our strongest area, was a big disappointment in the first half. Wilson and Rankin both looked tentative, didn't use the ball nearly as creatively or effectively as you would expect against a second division team and (although someone always says this at the start of every season and he proves them wrong) I thought Wilson looked off the pace. McBain in the first half seemed to be the holding midfielder more than Hart, and he didn't have any real presence. Hart ran about a lot but wasn't effective. There was no imagination and no penetration. And in the attack, Wyness was anonymous in the first half but came on to a game in the second with some lovely touches and good linking play, and Rory worked hard, had at least one excellent shot, but as we saw last season, did not seem to have the speed of thought or ability with the ball at his feet to trouble good defenders.

To sum up, on the basis of the first half I was really fearing for us next season, but by the end of the second, thanks to Sutherland, Cowie, Black and Wood, I was pretty excited.

[Guest TinCanFan]

Where abouts was Niculae?  I was looking out for him and Dean McDonald in the stand but didn't spot either of them.

[RiG]

He was in Romania making our new shirts. He took Dean with him to speed up the order.

[Guest TinCanFan]

He was in Romania making our new shirts. He took Dean with him to speed up the order.

:015: :015:

[RiG]

Erm, not sure what's so funny. That's exactly what is going on. Because Erras factories are based in Romania ICT have sent Niculae across there as our Romanian Agent to find out what's going on.