Morgan Boyes waited a year for a goal – then bagged two headers to send Caley Thistle back to winning ways.
The on-loan Livingston defender, who had not scored for Inverness since joining last summer, popped up with two second half goals to earn Duncan Ferguson’s ICT side a 3-1 Championship victory at fellow strugglers Ayr United on Saturday.
The result lifted Inverness into seventh spot following a five-match winless slump.
It is also the ideal preparation for the Caley Jags ahead of facing Dundee United at the Caledonian Stadium this Friday.
Centre-half Boyes, 22, who is on loan from top-flight Livi until the end of the season, last scored for the Lions in a 1-1 draw against Motherwell on January 2, 2023.
And after losing 2-0 at Airdrie on Tuesday, this was a much better start to this year for the Highlanders, who are now just six points from the top four, albeit still four points above Queen’s Park and Arbroath at the foot of the table.
Training work paid off with double
Boyes was delighted to have netted his first Inverness goals, adding to Billy Mckay’s first-half opener.
He said: “You’re happy with one on the day, then suddenly you score two, so you think ‘what’s going on here?'”
“I was just happy to get one, but the two was the cherry on the top.
“The gaffer likes to play football and I find myself in higher areas and I just connected. I saw the ball go out wide to Cammy.
“In training, we work on crossing and finishing, so in this game, it was set up perfectly. I peeled off the back, that’s what I hate strikers do to me, and it landed on my head.”
Praise for Harper, who lined up goals
Boyes, who has made 20 appearances for ICT since moving north, was quick to praise wide man Cammy Harper for supplying the crosses for his goals, one from the left, the other from a right-sided corner.
He said: “Cammy has got that standard of cross on him.
“I expect it to be a good delivery when I see the ball go out to him and I make my movement off that.
“He’s been brilliant for us this season and you can see from this result and how he’s played again.”
‘Performances and wins can follow’
Defeats against Morton and Arbroath were followed by draws against Partick Thistle and Morton before last Tuesday’s 2-0 loss at fourth-placed Airdrie.
Boyes is sure the squad will take heart from this win on their travels.
He said: “We stopped the rot by winning at Ayr and hopefully we can take the positives from this and carry them on for the foreseeable future.
“It’s positive in the changing room.
“It has been like that for a while, although the results have not been going right.
“It’s starting to come now with this win. We need to just tighten up on a few things, but hopefully the performances and wins can follow.”
— Morgan Boyes (@MorganBoyes1) January 6, 2024
‘Not a bad’ fixture for ICT on Friday
Friday’s visitors to the Highlands, Dundee United, crashed to a 3-2 home reversal against Morton at the weekend.
Having drawn away to United this season, Boyes is relishing this latest shot at the second-placed Tangerines on BBC Scotland’s live TV pick this week.
He added: “It’s not a bad one to play on a Friday night.
“We played well when we got a 1-1 draw at Tannadice in November. We showed what we were capable of.
“Dundee United lost on Saturday against Morton, so all going well if we bring that A game, we can hopefully get three points.”
