Caley Thistle share the SPFL Trust Trophy with Raith Rovers and will meet them in the quarter-finals thanks to a pulsating 4-2 comeback victory at League Two Elgin City.
Goals from on-loan Ross County defender Tom Grivosti and Brian Cameron had Gavin Price’s Black and Whites in dreamland before two quick-fire Billy Mckay goals late in the first half took the tie level.
Elgin repelled a strong ICT start to the second half to create a few chances of their own, but were undone by two further goals in four minutes as Mckay claimed his hat-trick and on-loan St Mirren starlet Lewis Jamieson finished the job.
Inverness first-team coach Barry Wilson predicts another top tie against Rovers, but insists they’ll switch their focus back to league business until the Championship rivals meet on November 30 at the Caledonian Stadium.
He said: “It will be a good game and one we’re looking forward to.
“We have plenty of important league games before that, so we will dust the squad down. We have one or two knocks that we will need to assess before Morton next week.”
Praise for hat-trick star Mckay
After losing their unbeaten league run to Hamilton, it was just the tonic for ICT to leave Borough Briggs with the victory in the north derby.
And Wilson praised Mckay, who scored two against Buckie Thistle in the last round, as the striker seeks to nudge Manny Duku and/or Shane Sutherland out of the team.
He added: “Billy has had to bide his time. He looked sharp and, if you get balls across the six-yard box, he will score.
“He’s done it again for us on Saturday and pulled us out of a hole, along with the rest of the team to be fair.”
Caley Thistle made 10 changes for the Buckie tie, but went with six for this one.
🗣️ ICTFC Coach Barry Wilson gives his thoughts following this afternoon's 4-2 win against Elgin City
Full Interview 👉https://t.co/aflzb09cF4 pic.twitter.com/DMRU3Q2qUe
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) October 9, 2021
That did include, however, ex-Elgin striker Shane Sutherland and defender Danny Devine returning to the fold as they probably would have in a league game.
ICT conceded two first half goals against Hamilton the week before and they were punished by slick Elgin, who led 2-0 by the 23rd minute.
The opener came when Staggies defender Grivosti rose to crash home a header from Archie MacPhee’s corner.
Inverness were wasteful in attack and Elgin were not as they doubled the lead when the excellent Conor O’Keefe, up front alone for City, broke free and lined up Cameron, who thumped an unstoppable shot beyond goalkeeper Cammy MacKay.
ICT had it all to do and the home crowd of more than 1300 were lapping it up.
However, two goals in under two minutes as half-time approached brought the Championship leaders level.
Firstly, from a Wallace Duffy pass, Mckay gathered the ball and struck it sweetly past keeper Thomas McHale, who had denied Jamieson earlier on.
Elgin had barely recovered by the time Mckay netted his second, this time from close range as he got to the ball first in a packed penalty box.
Second swift double downs City
City repelled an early second half charge from ICT to create chances of their own, with Macphee coming closest to restoring their advantage.
However, a surging run forward from Roddy MacGregor, who was fouled, led to Sutherland teeing up Mckay for his third goal as the Caley Jags took the lead.
Elgin were sunk four minutes later when Jamieson was sent through by Reece McAlear and he finished with style past McHale.
‘Opportunity missed’ for Elgin
Disappointed Elgin manager Price felt his players squandered the chance of causing an upset.
He said: “It was an opportunity missed. To go 2-0 ahead, you see the game plan is working and we had something to hold on to.
“Unfortunately, they scored two quickfire goals in each half. We have not regrouped after the first goal, we lost another soon after.
“We had a wee problem down that (left defensive) side for the last 10-15 minutes of the first half and we could not see that through. Had we made it to half-time, then it might have been a different story.”
Vital league matches lie in store for both this Saturday, with ICT aiming to stay top by beating Morton and Elgin keen to move up from seventh by winning at Albion Rovers.
ELGIN CITY (4-5-1): McHale 6, Spark 6, MacPhee 6 (Peters 84), McHardy 6, Grivosti 6, Mailer 6, Russell Dingwall 6, Cameron 7, O’Keefe 7 (Machado 59), MacEwan 6 (Allen 75), Tony Dingwall 6 (Lawrence 75). Subs not used: Hoban, Cooney, Sopel, Little.
CALEY THISTLE (4-3-1-2): MacKay 6, Duffy 6, Harper 5 (Allardice 60), Welsh 6, Deas 6, Devine 6 (Doran 75), Mckay 8, Sutherland 6 (Duku 75), MacGregor 6, Jamieson 6, MacAlear 5. Sub not used: Ridgers.
Man of the match: Billy Mckay.
Referee: Barry Cook.
Attendance: 1348.
