Kilmarnock 3-0 Caley Thistle, Out of the Cup
By: Ian Rose |
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Caley crashed out of the Scottish Cup today with a definitive 3-0 loss to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. There’s not a lot to say – We had chances throughout the match, especially in the early stages of the second half, and those chances went begging due to a combination of poor striking and very good goalkeeping from Killie’s Cammy Bell. He may not have the manliest of names, but keep an eye on that keeper. We missed Dougie Imrie, who started his first match for Hamilton Accies today, and Richie Foran and Adam Rooney just didn’t have the finishing class to get the job done. It was 2-0 at half, and Chick Young was calling it over already. It may be the first time he’s ever been right, and I was sad to be present for it.
Adding insult to injury was news that Ross County (spit) not only won and advanced to the last eight, but did so in record-setting dominating form, beating Stirling Albion 9-0 in Dingwall.
Not the best day to follow the Caley Jags … but we’re still third in the league, on decent form (this match excepted) and promotion is a tough climb, but not completely out of the realm of possibility. We have to laugh off this loss and quickly, because there are important league matches on the horizon. We’re away at Raith next weekend, then at home to Queen of the South the Saturday after. County and Dundee are going to be hard to catch, but if we are going to do it, we need to start beating the teams that are even with us, the Raiths and the Queens. We need to solidify our place in third before March, the month in which we face both Dundee and hated County. It can be done.
Mon the Caley.
Category: Postgame
Killie-Caley Sweet 16: Scottish Cup preview
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
Fresh from claiming an SPL scalp in the last round, Caley returns to face another of our old league-mates this weekend as our pursuit of the Scottish Cup continues. This time, we drew Kilmarnock, and aside from their recent 1-0 win over Celtic, Killie has been on suitably awful form. Granted, beating the Old Firm puts a certain spring in your step, but at this stage in the tournament, we couldn’t have done much better for a draw.
We go into the match unbeaten in 2010, with five goals scored and one conceded. Confidence is high in Inverness, and more notably, away from Inverness, since this year we appear to want to party like it’s 2005 and play much much better away from home than within the confines of Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.
We can’t take Killie lightly – Celtic could tell us that much – but we can’t give them too much respect either. We can beat this team. And considering how things looked to be going a few months ago, a berth in the final eight of the Scottish Cup would be sweet indeed.
Mon the Caley.
Category: Match PreviewCaley 2-1 Partick, and that’s us in Third!
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
As someone pointed out on the CaleyThistleOnline forums, it’s been a long time since we had a last-minute celebration. Isn’t that the truth? But despite conceding our first goal of 2010 and dropping behind at home to Partick Thistle today, Caley won the Battle of the Jaggies today in Inverness, 2-1, on a last-minute penalty from Adam Rooney.
It wasn’t smiles all game long, by any means. We went into the match with a lot of confidence at the back, after two consecutive clean sheets and with center back Naruis Bulvitis set to rejoin the squad, but the early running was all Partick, and when Mark Corcoran netted in the 16th, it looked like it might be a long day for the home side. There were groans across Caledonian Stadium at the thought of yet another home loss coming off of good road results. But Jonny Hayes, freshly inked into the official’s book, got himself on the scoreline as well, equalizing and giving us hope. Hope became real ambition when the scoreline from Dundee came through – County was beating the league leaders, 1-0, a result that could allow us a rare chance to make up ground.
The frustration wasn’t over for Caley, though. After some close chances and good pressure, we won a penalty, which Adam Rooney proceeded to miss. I for one saw my history with Rooney pass before my eyes, and there were more misses than otherwise, but that’s a discussion for another day. We kept the pressure on, and in the final minute, Rooney was brought down in the box for a second penalty try, and this one he buried.
County (spit) ended up holding on and beating Dundee, and the rest of the league sat idle, frozen solid along with the better half of the country. The combination of results leaves us in third in the league, four points behind County and ten behind still-runaway-favorites Dundee. Best not to think about all the games in hand – what’s that? Already forgotten. All in all, I’ve never been happier to see those damned Staggies at County win a match, and it’s great to have a late winner.
Mon the Caley!
Category: Postgame2010 is shaping up ok: Airdrie 0-1 Caley
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
It’s early, with today marking only our second match of the young year, but so far, so good for the Caley Thistle. After last week’s upset win over Motherwell in the Scottish Cup, it was back on the road and back to league matters today against last-place Airdrie United. I’d like to see us do better than a lean win over the bottom side in the league, but what matters is getting those points, and that’s what we came away with. The only goal came from Adam Rooney, from the penalty spot. Not exactly a convincing win, but a win nonetheless.
In a season that runs from September to May, the changing of the year from 2009 to 2010 doesn’t really mean all that much in footballing terms. There were no significant changes transfer-wise, but there was a long break, one that seems to have done the team, and specifically the defense, well. In two matches since our snow-induced winter break, we have two wins and zero goals conceded. Staying solid against Airdrie, a side which has netted only 19 goals in 20 matches this season, isn’t a huge accomplishment, but it’s a solid start back, and one to be positive about.
The rest of the league didn’t do us a whole lot of favors today. Dundee dropped points to Queen of the South, but remains 9 points alone in first spot, with Ross County (spit) moving into second today with their win over Ayr. Caley remains in fifth, 4 points behind County and 13 behind leaders Dundee. We have a chance to jump up at least one spot next weekend, when we host Partick Thistle in Inverness. Thistle sits only a point ahead of us in the current table, and with a win over them and a Queen of the South loss, we could sit in third, tantalizingly close to County by the end of the next round.
Let’s keep it tight at the back, and get into February without a goal conceded. Mon the Caley.
Category: PostgameCaley 2-0 Motherwell
By: Ian Rose | 2 Comments
We should get a month rest before all our games. Caley Thistle FINALLY got back to the business of playing football today, with a 4th round Scottish Cup match with the Steelmen of Motherwell. The same Motherwell that dumped us from the League Cup back in September with a 119th minute heartbreaker of a goal. On that day, one of their three goals was scored going the wrong way by our very own Nauris Bulvitis. Today, Caley got revenge and our Latvian defender got himself a measure of redemption.
After a start that saw Jonny Hayes brought off injured, it was none other than Bulvitis who took us ahead, getting his foot into a crowd in front of the Motherwell net and poking it home. As mediocre as this season has been, we’ve actually done a decent job of holding onto an early lead. Only twice all season in all competitions have we scored first and lost – once in the league to Partick Thistle away and once in the Challenge Cup final to Dundee, so a goal up at home was certainly a boost. Things were solidified when good old Dougie Imrie, who hasn’t netted since October 24th, put in a lovely strike from the right side. There were plenty of chances for a third before the 80th minute, when we seemed to sit back a bit and play for clearance. If Motherwell wasn’t so toothless on the day, it might have come back to bite us. That’s a lot of mouth metaphors – sorry. Anyway, we held on and walked off of the pitch at Caledonian Stadium 2-0 winners.
Thanks to Manuel Pascali’s single goal for Kilmarnock, they will be our next round opponents and not Falkirk, as I had hoped. Frankly, football-wise, either would be a good draw. The Motherwell team we handled well today just beat Killie 3-0 on the road, and they’ve been absolutely dire over the last few months. The last two teams they’d beaten before today were both St. Johnstone, and they sit only a point above the drop in the SPL. Still, facing the Falkirk side who relegated us on the last day of last season would have been sweet. We’ll see them again.
So on to league matters on the weekend. It’s a road game on Saturday at Airdrie United, who have been a strange side lately. Wins over league leaders Dundee and Queen of the South, and losses to Morton, County and, well, us. Who knows which Airdrie will show up on Saturday, but hopefully we’ll see something of the side for Caley who took the pitch today. If we’re to catch Dundee, we could certainly use the points.
Category: PostgameCup draw allows for a chance at relegation revenge
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
Being that we had a home Scottish Cup tie this weekend, and that our home happens to be in Inverness, it was naturally called for weather. But on Tuesday, weather permitting, we’ll be able to finally play our fourth-round match against Motherwell. As dangerous as it is for any team, and this team in particular, to look ahead, one possibility does have me a bit anxious.
The draw for the fifth round was made today, and this is what it meant for us:
Kilmarnock or Falkirk v. Inverness CT or Motherwell
What that means is that if we beat the Well, and Falkirk wins their tie (neither of which are in any way assured), we get a fifth-round cup tie with the team that relegated us on the final day of last season, sending us out of the SPL and into the First Division.
Motherwell is no rollover opponent, and given our home vs. road records, I might actually feel better about this if it was at Fir Park. But the chance to get Falkirk in a meaningful game again has got to be extra motivation.
To paraphrase Khan’s old Klingon proverb, revenge is a dish best served cold. And it’s very cold in Scotland.
Category: Match PreviewHappy Halloween: Caley 4-1 Morton
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
I apologize to both of my readers for the long hiatus from Caley Thistle Offside blogging. It’s been a busy time, but there was no way I was going to miss reporting on this. Caley Thistle, until today the only side in the First Division not to record a win at home, finally broke their Caledonian Stadium drought with a 4-1 romp over Greenock Morton. Adam Rooney, surprisingly, was the hero of the day, with a hat trick from the Irishman.
The result, along with some others in the league (notably Ross County -spit- losing to Queen of the South and Raith beating Partick, makes the First Division a very tight race. Caley sit in sixth, but only four points separate us from new league leaders Queen of the South and Dundee, tied on 23 points to our 19.
Today’s win makes it four unbeaten in the league, our last loss coming October 10th to QotS. In our last two matches, we’ve outscored our opponents 9-2. Granted, those opponents are among the worst in the league, Ayr and Morton, but we’ve had big problem in the past putting away the teams that we should beat, and with the league as close as it is, goal difference might very well make a difference, so two blowout wins in a row are meaningful. More important, though, is that we did it at home. Caledonian Stadium has been all too friendly to visiting teams this season, with Caley only taking two points from five matches before today. Meanwhile, we have remained undefeated this season on the road, with four wins and two draws from six matches. We are the best road team in the league.
That away record will be challenged in the next month, with road trips to three of the five teams ahead of us (Ross County, Dundee and Queen of the South), with one home game with Airdrie mixed in. We are in form, but it’s a hard road ahead. It’s going to be a very interesting November.
Mon the Caley.
Category: Caley Thistle Team NewsRedemption and a Cup Final: Caley 1-0 Ross County
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
Leave the scoreline and the competition aside – this is our biggest win in years. We came into this match on a 2-match losing skid, on terrible home form, and just a few weeks after losing to our biggest rival at home 3-1. We faced that same rival, Ross County (spit), today at Caledonian Stadium in a Challenge Cup semifinal, and came away 1-0 winners.
The reward for Robert Eagle’s 44th minute goal will be a trip to the Challenge Cup final on November 22nd, where we will face today’s other semifinal winner, Dundee. This is the third time we’ve reached the final of the lower-league-only competition, the others being a 4-4 loss on penalties to Alloa Athletic in 2000 and our 2-0 win over Airdrie United in 2004. For those who don’t follow the Caley closely (for shame), a win in November would be only the fourth national trophy in our history (the others being our previous Challenge Cup, the Third Division title in 1997, and the First Division in 2004 (it was a good year).
I don’t think I realized it before, but the only time we won the Challenge Cup, we also won the league. It may be an invented statistic with only one point, but it’s a hopeful one and I’ll take it.
A day for celebration in the Highlands, for all but our neighbors the County fans. Inverness Caley Thistle will play for a Cup. Mon the Caley.
Category: PostgameCounty Comes a Calling
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
Just a short update, as I’m a little under the weather and need to get myself to 100% for tomorrow. Tomorrow, after all, is a big big day for Caley Thistle. A cup semifinal at home is always a big day, but we’re hosting Ross County (spit), hated Highland Derby rivals, just a few weeks after they came to our house and did us damage, 3-1. Another such result will not stand. County is having a good start to the season, and nothing would do better to remedy that situation than throwing them the whole kilometer home with a loss, and putting ourselves in the Challenge Cup final.
On a personal note, tomorrow is a sort of meeting of the football worlds for me, as both the team of my heart (Caley Thistle) and the team of my locality (the Portland Timbers) are in semifinals at home. Though I admit without pause that I’d rather be at the match in Inverness than the one in Portland, I will cheer wholeheartedly for both. I’ve been a mostly good boy, football gods. Two finals would be much appreciated. Mon the Caley.
Category: Match PreviewValiant defeat still worth no points
By: Ian Rose | Add Comments
It’s been a rough week at the office for the Caley. On Tuesday, we went to Motherwell to face our first SPL opponent of the season, and were eliminated from our first competition, as we played competitively, but lost 3-2. Today, it was a home league match to Partick Thistle. Again, 3-2. Again, we weren’t the 3.
There are positives to take from both of these matches. The fact that we went to extra time with Motherwell shows that this squad can compete with the middle of the SPL table. Today’s match was 3-0 at halftime, and we fought back and owned the second half to make a game of it. But valiant losses are worth just as many points as cowardly ones, and the points we’re dropping are points we’ll miss. Our home form continues to be rubbish, and as long as we look forward to road trips more than home stands, we aren’t going to win this league.
There is, of course, another element to the recent league slip that bears mentioning. After last week’s results, Ross County (spit) was top of the league, bringing into our minds the worst possible scenario, that in the span of two seasons, we could go from one league above County to one below them. Dundee helped out a bit today with their 2-0 win over the Staggies, but since Raith lost, County remain top. This cannot stand.
I have been a bit slow on the Caley blogging lately, owing to many factors that I won’t bother mentioning. I’ll be better. Hopefully the team will give me more to write about than a series of almosts, but not quites.
Category: Postgame
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