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.

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.

The Jaggies went into the international break in a very mixed mood. On one hand, we had just lost a home Highland derby to Ross County (spit). On the other, we survived penalties against Partick to move on to the semifinals of the Challenge Cup, where we will get our revenge on County.

Today’s match was basically what it should have been – at least in terms of final scoreline – a comfortable victory. Morton is having a horrible season, with just three points so far and anchored at the bottom of the table. In fact, in a season where so many teams could win the First Division, Morton is one of the few that have distinguished themselves as absolutely not capable of that task. So, our 3-0 win is about as it should be. I’m happy, but really more I would have been disappointed with any less.

The striking thing about this match, and the point that gives me a bit of confidence, is that we improved as the match went on. Now, an argument could be made that what actually happened was Morton disintegrating and not us stepping up. But the point remains valid that we often play much better in the first half than the second, a source of constant frustration. Halftime is rarely our friend, and often seems to give great comfort to our enemies. In this match, it seemed like we were the side to make progress between the halves.

Now, the way we went into halftime certainly had a lot to do with it. After 45 minutes of the standard missed chances and wasted possession, Dani Sanchez netted with the last kick before the interval, sending us visitors into the locker room on the unique high of a last-gasp goal. Terry Butcher, to his credit, seemed to be able to maintain that feeling, and we came out in the second half still running on all cylinders. At the hour mark, Richie Foran made it two, a very significant goal considering his struggle for fitness and his potential importance to the Caley attack. Sanchez has had an impressive strike rate so far, but we know Foran can both create and score, and it’s great to have him on the board. David Proctor made it three late, and we were never really threatened with anything less than three points in the second half.

A good effort, a good result, and well dones all around. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Another road trip, and another expected win, comes next as we travel to face Airdrie United. Then we have two vital home matches, against Partick and Queen of the South, which will go a long way to resolving the early promotion favorites. It’s ironic that we are looking to our road matches to build confidence to go back home, but that’s the nature of Caley Thistle right now, and often in the past – we are traveling far better than we defend our own fortress.

And mixed in that schedule, of course, there’s also the small matter of a cup semifinal next month against County. Altogether, a pretty important month of football for the Caley, and one I am hugely looking forward to. Mon the Jags.

I’ll try to find it in me to do a better report later. Right now, there’s a fresh wound to tend. County bought heavily this summer, largely from us, and they showed today how they’ve changed and what they gained with those purchases. It was former Caley man Iain Vigurs who scored what would end up the match winner just after halftime.

You never like to lose, and there’s no loss that stings like a derby loss. It must be said that the match probably meant more to County, being the less successful of the two teams, as is often the case with rivalries. But this one hurts. In addition to the bruising our pride took, we dropped three points to Partick, who rocked lowly Morton 5-0, and one to Dundee, who drew on the road to Airdrie. Raith Rovers continue to perform very well against the top teams, and beat league leaders Dunfermline 2-0.

Off now to watch Man U and Arsenal, clearing the palate of the crap sandwich that was this match. More later. Mon the Caley.

Elsewhere in the competition, County barely managed an SPL scalp by beating Hamilton 2-1 at home. The Accies are looking in a bit of trouble, and I have a feeling that if we rise back up to the SPL, we may very well pass them headed down. Dundee beat Forfar 4-2, allowing me to once again enjoy saying the words “Forfar 2″. Killie beat up First Division bottom side Morton 3-1, and in the big First Division battle of the round, Queen of the South got a great road victory to knock out Partick 2-1. The blowout of the round (as if 4-0 isn’t enough) came from St. Johnstone, who ran roughshod over Arbroath 6-0. Milne and Deuchar each got two in that match, but more importantly to Caley fans, Filipe Morais netted one. There are always mixed feelings when a former teammate has success, but I like Morais a lot, and wish him well in every match he plays that is not against us.

This was our seventh competitive match of the season (3 league, 2 league cup, 2 challenge cup) and we are still undefeated so far this season, with 5 wins (if you include the penalty one, which I do) and 2 draws. This weekend is the one we really want, though, as Ross County make the exceedingly short trip to Caledonian Stadium for the renewal of the Highland Derby. More on that soon. Mon the Caley.

Dundee fans could be forgiven for being a bit out of breath the past two weeks. Last time around, they trailed twice to Raith and twice came back, earning a 2-2 draw. This time around, they led twice, and were twice equalized, for another 2-2. They certainly have an argument for the most exciting team to watch in the first division so far, but that’s not an altogether complimentary title. I’m sure they’d rather have Dunfermline’s relatively quiet six points (as we would) than the five they’ve earned with back and forth matches.

Dundee’s offense was all Gary Harkins, and the former Partick man opened the scoring on just nine minutes. It was Dani Sanchez who gave us our first equalizer in the 20th. Harkins took back the lead just nine minutes later, but Lee Cox hammered one in before the break to keep us even. It’s really looking like Lee Cox is a legitimate scoring threat from the wing, which is something we haven’t always had. With our front men (aside from Sanchez) seeming to need a trip to the target range, it’s important that the midfield can step up and score. The second half was the more exciting, but fruitless for both sides. Some of the best end to end football in Scotland this season was seen, but the nets remained unbulged, and 2-2 was our final.

The draw brings both Caley and Dundee to five points. Dunfermline took the league lead alone today, with a 2-0 over Airdrie (the result I predicted we’d have, and that we should have had, against them). Queen of the South and Raith did the Caley great favors by beating Ross County (spit) and Partick respectively, so we gained a valuable point on both our local enemies and one of our big rivals for promotion.

Next up – the first Highland Derby in years, as hated County comes to Caledonian Stadium. I’ll be talking about the matchup as the week goes on, but this one is about more than points and standings, as all derbies are. Good result today, and I’m happy with it, especially the stylish way we went about it. Mon the Caley.

Not much to say about the match itself. Stranraer technically had two shots on goal, but in reality only one real chance, which Ryan Esson handled. Caley got all three of our goals by halftime, then coasted a little and looked more like the Caley of the weekend, the Caley that couldn’t hit a barn door. It was really shameful finishing in the second half, and since we’ll likely face a First Division opponent in the next round, it won’t serve us.

There are eight clubs left in the Challenge Cup, and five are from the First Division. We have a 1/7 chance of drawing Ross County (spit), and a 4/7 chance of drawing one of our league-mates. Long story short, the cakewalk is probably over. The quarterfinals beckon, and we are three matches from a trophy. Mon the Caley.

The squad (w/subs):
Esson
Proctor (Duncan 55′), Bulvitis, Munro, Djebi-Zadi
Cox, Eagle (Ross 75′), Stratford, Foran (Rooney 70′)
Sanchez, Hayes

There’s not a whole lot to tell, unfortunately. It was a first half of half-chances and a few missed just wide or high. Richie Foran actually netted early, but it was called offside. The call was late, but seems to have been legitimate. Just before the half, Robert Eagle went close as well, and Proctor’s header forced a good save from the Ayr keeper. But in the second half, we looked frustrated. I was frustrated and I was just listening to the match, so I can only imagine the frustration of playing in it. There’s just no way around it – these are two points dropped.

The rest of the league
There are two ways to describe how we did today in the context of the rest of the league. The glass-half-full crowd would say that we didn’t lose much ground to any of our league rivals. Dundee, Raith, Queen of the South, Ross County (spit) and Partick Thistle all drew as well, so it was one point all around. Dunfermline was the only winner, and so we gave back two of the three points we gained on them last week. For the glass-half-empty people, it can be seen as an enormous opportunity missed. If just one of those chances could have been converted, that would have gained us two points on almost all of our real competition, and put us alone at the top of the table. We have a tough few matches coming up – away to Dundee and home to Ross County, plus a cup game on Tuesday, and that would have been a big help to have those points.

On the bright side, we still haven’t conceded a league goal in our first two matches, and we retain our +1 goal differential. If it’s true that defense wins championships, then we can take solace in having two clean sheets. But defense doesn’t win anything alone. Defense can only get you one point per match – you need an attack to grab the other two. We are understaffed in that department right now, with Imrie and Barrowman out, but Sanchez, Hayes, Rooney and Foran have to step up in the meantime. We need goals.

It’s not a loss, and we’re still tied for the league lead, so I’m not crying over this one, but when I look back on the season in May, if we aren’t holding a trophy and a ticket to the top flight, I’ll see this as a chance missed.

The Squad (with subs):
Esson
Proctor – Bulvitis – Munro – Djebi-Zadi
Cox – Eagle (Hayes 70′) – Stratford
Imrie (McBain 76′)
Sanchez – Rooney

The first half was all Caley Thistle, and we should have been ahead a few times. Adam Rooney has never been all that fancied by the Caley fans, and he hasn’t made himself any friends today, with a couple of missed sitters. The Irishman just has never been a great finisher to my mind. The best chance of the first half, though, came from Lionel Djebi-Zadi, beating the keeper but missing just wide. We looked to be consistently the better side right up until the halftime whistle.

As has far too often been the case, we lost a lot of steam during the halftime. We might want to take a cue from Hibernian and spend more of our halftime actively warming up. Not that Terry Butcher’s talk doesn’t have value, but I can’t help feeling we cool down a little too much in the interval. Dunfermline came out lively, creating chance after chance. I’d be lying if I said it was all our defensive prowess that stopped them, but their finishing was pretty poor. The Pars did hit the post once, a lucky break for Ryan Esson and the Caley.

With the clock ticking down, I began to resolve myself to a 0-0 finish. After all, a road match away to one of our promotion rivals wouldn’t be such a terrible match to draw. But considering our history at East End Park, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Then came Lee Cox. Lovely man. Right at the death, he got a wicked deflection and gave Dunfermline keep Greg Fleming no chance at all.

There was some luck, yes, but we should have gone ahead early anyway, if Adam Rooney could kick a ball straight, and I think the result is deserved.

There was a gray cloud behind the silver lining today, though, as a hard tackle took Dougie Imrie out of the match with a knock on his knee. He tried to come back on, but it wasn’t happening, and we’ll watch his knee closely this week. He would be a massive loss if this is a longer-term injury, but I do think he’ll be alright – hopefully a week off at most.

It’s three points, on the road to a top-half team, (not mention a clean sheet) and that’s good enough for me. I do hope we didn’t trade Dougie Imrie for it, but it’s a good start. More later this week. Mon the Caley.

Today in the League Cup, things were a bit different. Annan Athletic came to town for a first round matchup. Caley Thistle could have hardly asked for a better draw to start the competition – a home match with a bottom-tier side. But the question remained – would we play them, and beat them, like a team two divisions their better? Or would we play down to them again?

Terry Butcher started new keeper Kyle Allison in goal, with Ryan Esson watching from the bench, the League Cup fulfilling its usual role in the early rounds at least as a time to run out the backup keep. It was an attacking lineup, to my happy surprise, with Adam Rooney, Dani Sanchez and Dougie Imrie up front supported in the midfield by Cox, Eagle and Stratford, and anchored in the back by Bulvitis, Munro, Djebi-Zadi and of course, Ross Tokely.

It was a slow start, with a few decent chances from Rooney going just wide or high. Then a great service from Imrie found the Irishman’s head in the 21st and he buried it for 1-0. Still, we went into halftime up only that one precarious goal.

Luckily, the team in general and Dougie Imrie in particular were not at all happy with that. The unquestioned Man of the Match, Imrie set up promising new winger Robert Eagle about ten minutes after the break, then went and scored his own about halfway through the second. Imrie was an animal today, and really confirmed what he told the papers last week – he is committed to this team. Right before the death, Sanchez netted the final goal of the match in his first Caley appearance, giving us the 4-0.

Aside from the nervy start, it was a comfortable win, exactly what we needed and as I said before the match, exactly what we should have expected. The rest of the First Division, for the most part, performed just as well. County (spit) easily handled the same Montrose side that gave us such pains last week, 5-0. Dunfermline and Dundee won by the same scoreline, and new SPL side St. Johnstone did the same. From the “adding insult to injury” file, Livingston went down 3-0. If any side needed a second-round match to make some money, it was Livvie. I really feel for the fans there.

A great performance today from a fresh, young side not afraid to take what is theirs, and I couldn’t be happier. Great to see Eagle and Sanchez get on the board, and Imrie really showed what he could be for us this season. The new keeper wasn’t tested much, but performed the few times he had to. Overall, that’s a job well done.

Mon the Caley.

Other match reports: BBC, Official ICT site (ignore the 0-0 score – it’s wrong)