Max Anderson became Caley Thistle’s quickest-ever goalscorer but admitted he thought he’d missed the chance.
The 22-year-old, who is on loan from Premiership Dundee for the season, knocked home the opener in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Partick Thistle after just 21 seconds.
The midfielder got just enough of a connection on to Billy Mckay’s cross to take it past goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon to make it 1-0 from a slick move from kick-off.
It was the quickest competitive Inverness goal and overtakes the 35-second goal James Keatings scored against Buckie Thistle in the Scottish Cup in 2021.
Anxious wait for goal celebration
Jack McMillan’s 15th minute leveller earned a share of the spoils, but Anderson was delighted and relieved to have become an ICT record-breaker.
He said: “I didn’t even know I’d made history. I didn’t expect that.
“It took ages to go in the net, I was wondering if the keeper would get it.
“When it did go in, I could finally celebrate. It was the perfect start for us.
“I’ll say it was a clean hit – I will let everyone else decide what it was.”
⚡ Lightning fast start!
Our goal against Partick Thistle after just 21 seconds yesterday, making it the fastest competitive first team goal in the club's history! pic.twitter.com/jdHuXcOdAD
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) December 24, 2023
Anderson nearly bagged Firhill brace
It was Anderson’s second goal for Inverness, having opened the scoring in the recent 4-1 stroll against Queen’s Park at Hampden.
And he admits he was not far away from adding a second goal against Thistle to seal all three points as ICT remained in eighth position.
He said: “After Partick scored their goal, you know in games like that, you will have to take some pressure but we came out in the second half and we had more of the ball. We just needed that final touch to find the net.
“I almost got another one, I was really close. It landed on my left foot and I had a swing at it and it got through bodies and I hoped for the best.
“Luis Longstaff also had a chance to win it. He also went close and we had a few penalty claims but it never fell for us.”
The Manager shows his thanks to the travelling Caley Jag fans at the end of today’s game. A great effort in horrendous conditions across the country. pic.twitter.com/WiF8uvcdup
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) December 23, 2023
‘Exciting’ Championship – Anderson
All five Championship games last weekend ended in draws, so the table remained as it was.
Inverness are five points behind fourth-placed Dunfermline Athletic, but just three points in front of rock-bottom Queen’s Park and one point above Arbroath.
The once-capped Scotland under-21 player reckons the unpredictable nature of the second-tier makes it great to be involved in.
He said: “This league is so tight. That’s what makes it exciting for fans and players as well.
“You know ever game means something and you really need to win or get something out of it. We go into all our games, looking to win.”
ICT keen to get victory over Morton
And the next one they are looking to win is against ever-improving Morton at the Caledonian Stadium this Saturday.
Anderson is calling for a big improvement from their display when they lost out against the Ton 2-1 at Cappielow on December 12.
He said: “When we recently lost at Morton, I really felt like we were not ourselves that night.
“We were quite soft and we could have got our foot in the game a lot more.
“I do feel that this Saturday we can hopefully put that right.”
Anderson relaxed about new arrivals
Since arriving on loan from Dundee, Anderson has made 15 appearances for the Caley Jags.
Manager Duncan Ferguson is looking to add a few new faces in the January window and Anderson will welcome the battle for a jersey.
He said: “If the manager signs players in January, it is good to have that healthy competition.
“It means everyone is battling for places, so we will see what happens.”
