Billy Dodds begins new era at Inverness Caledonian Thistle with a victory over Peterhead in the Premier Sports Cup group stage
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Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 (Duku, Doran)
Peterhead 0
The Billy Dodds era got off to a winning start at Inverness Caledonian Thistle as they beat Peterhead in the Premier Sports Cup group stages.
It took a little while for them to get going in their first competitive outing of the season, but two goals early in the second half put the game to bed.
Manny Duku scored in his first competitive appearance for the club to continue his strong pre-season form, before Aaron Doran produced a fantastic strike to seal the points.
The sides appeared quite evenly matched through the early exchanges, with Peterhead's extra time on the pitch building up to the match making up for playing one tier below their hosts.
However, as the game wore on Inverness began to come into it more and more.
That translated into a number of efforts at goal, and really had they been at peak sharpness Inverness could have had a few goals by half time too.
The first big chance fell to Aaron Doran, who was one of the most active players on the pitch.
Manny Duku really created the opportunity, going past his man while bearing down on goal and then checking back to beat him again and open up a better shooting angle – only to see his effort blocked.
Shane Sutherland kept the move alive though, and his cross was aimed towards an unmarked Doran just yards out, but the Irishman could not quite connect for a tap in.
Doran came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half though, hitting the post from a well-worked corner routine.
Tom Walsh's delivery was aimed low towards the near post, and Caley Thistle's vice captain tried to flick it around the corner and in at the near post, only to be prevented by a combination of Peterhead goalkeeper Brett Long and the woodwork.
Sean Welsh will feel like he should have opened the scoring too, connecting with Doran's cross in acres of space in the middle, but heading over the bar.
Duku, who scored twice from the penalty spot in pre-season, will also feel like he could have broken the deadlock on multiple occasions at the end of the first half, but it remained goalless when the referee blew his whistle.
The summer arrival from Raith would not have to wait long after the restart to find the net though, clinically finishing five minutes into the second half to put the hosts in front.
Just a couple of minutes later, it was two thanks to a phenomenal strike from Doran.
Controlling the ball in the middle of the park, he set himself and picked out the top corner from 25 yards out to double the Caley Jags' advantage.
After that, substitutions began to disrupt the flow of the game. Already having made one at half time, Peterhead took their tally to four, and Inverness responded in kind soon after with two double changes, which included a club debut for Michael Gardyne.
Each side had half-chances, with Russell McLean heading too close to Mark Ridgers for the visitors and Shane Sutherland missing the target trying to lob Long, but the result was never really in doubt as Inverness put their first three points of the League Cup group stages on the board.
ICT: Ridgers, Harper, Welsh, Carson, Doran, Sutherland, Walsh, Broadfoot, Duku, McAlear, Fyffe.
Substitutes: MacKay, Duffy, Devine, Gardyne, MacGregor, Allardice, Nicolson, Hyde.
Peterhead: Long, Mulligan, Conroy, Jason Brown, McDonald, Ritchie, S Brown, Cook, Kesson, Jordon Brown, Lyle.
Substitutes: Wilson, Ferry, McLean, Cameron, Payne, Strachan, Mushanu.
