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Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Elgin City play out a score draw as Hester and Todorov find the scoresheet


By Andrew Henderson

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Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 (Todorov)

Elgin City 1 (Hester)

Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Elgin City played out a draw as each side continues to ramp up their preparations for the Betfred Cup group stage.

In-form striker Kane Hester had put the visitors ahead at the Caledonian Stadium, before Nikolay Todorov – who at that point was playing at centre back – levelled the scores from a corner kick.

Picture - Ken Macpherson, Inverness. Pre-Season Friendly. Elgin City(3) v Inverness CT(7). 26.09.20. ICT's Nickolay Todorov.
Picture - Ken Macpherson, Inverness. Pre-Season Friendly. Elgin City(3) v Inverness CT(7). 26.09.20. ICT's Nickolay Todorov.

Anyone hoping for a repeat of last weekend's goalfest between the sides at Borough Briggs would have been sorely disappointed by the lack of goalmouth action in the first half.

Caley Thistle were clearly struggling for sharpness, as even though they were attempting to play some nice football it was never long before moves broke down with a misplaced pass.

Elgin meanwhile looked most likely to threaten on the counter attack, as Inverness tried to go man-to-man at the back leaving them exposed if one of their defenders made a mistake.

For the most part though, both teams were limited to shooting from distance.

Aiden Sopel had the first attempt at goal in the match, leaving Lewis Toshney on the ground as he cut inside from the left, but he curled his shot high and wide.

It soon became apparent that it was not sloppy defending that allowed Sopel to run free though, as the injured Toshney had to be substituted, replaced Ryan Fyffe.

As may have been expected, it was the Championship outfit that saw more of the ball, but Elgin made it difficult for them to find space to carve open sights of goal.

Instead ICT went closest through the likes of James Keatings, who shifted the ball on to his stronger left foot on the edge of the box only to see his shot deflected behind for a corner in the 40th minute.

The match threatened to open up on the brink of half time, when Brian Cameron had to stretch slightly to connect with a shot that still forced Mark Ridgers to dive low to his right to stop.

Ridgers then needed quick reactions to prevent Fyffe scoring an own-goal, just before referee Billy Baxter brought the first half to a close.

Inverness moved their players around at half time, with Shane Sutherland replacing Cameron Harper meaning Robbie Deas switched to left back, and Nikolay Todorov moved all the way back to the heart of defence.

It almost looked like an inspired move when Sutherland connected with a volley on the edge of the box six minutes after coming on, but Thomas McHale was there to parry his effort away.

Close was not enough though as instead it was Elgin who took the lead in the 53rd minute.

Kane Hester has been in brilliant form in pre-season, scoring for fun, and he was the man to net again after smashing a cut-back into Ridgers' top corner, putting the visitors 1–0 ahead.

Sopel again showed that he could be a threat, drifting in from the left flank to bear down on goal, only to drag his shot wide from 20 yards.

Deas did have the ball in the net for Caley Thistle after heading it into the far corner, but he was so far offside that there was not even an attempt to celebrate.

The hosts did get back on level terms from a set piece in the 68th minute, as James Keatings' corner to the edge of the six-yard box was not dealt with at all, and Todorov pounced to hammer home.

It should have been no more than a momentary respite, as almost immediately from the restart Elgin found space going forward and Hester's ball across the face of goal was blazed over by Cameron.

There was another injury concern for the hosts as Keatings was forced off with just over 10 minutes left on the clock.

Inverness still posed a threat as they looked for a winner though, and Sutherland was denied by McHale in the 85th minute after a great touch to take the ball under control gave him the space to turn and shoot on the corner of the six-yard box.

As the 90 minutes approached, Elgin showed that they were still looking for a victory themselves as Russell Dingwall's goal-bound effort was only kept out by a fingertip save from Ridgers, but neither side could find a final breakthrough and the match ended up as a draw.

ICT: 1. Mark Ridgers, 4. Sean Welsh, 5. Lewis Toshney (Fyffe 9 (McKay 75)), 6. Danny Devine, 7. James Keatings, 9. Miles Storey, 12. Roddy MacGregor (MacKay 63), 16. Cameron Harper (Sutherland 45), 17. Nikolay Todorov, 18. Scott Allardice, 24. Robbie Deas.

Substitutes: 23. Cammy Mackay, 2. Brad McKay, 11. Shane Sutherland, 15. Daniel MacKay, 19. Ryan Fyffe, 21. Lewis Hyde, 22. Shane Harkness, 25. Harry Nicolson, 26. Kane Davies, 27. Robbie Thompson.

Elgin City: 1. Thomas McHale, 2. David Wilson, 3. Euan Spark, 4. Matthew Cooper, 5. Stephen Bronsky, 6. Rory MacEwan (Mailer 63), 7. Russell Dingwall, 8. Brian Cameron, 9. Kane Hester, 10. Smart Osadolor (Macbeath 63), 11. Aiden Sopel (O'Keefe 63).

Substitutes: 21. Oliver Kelly, 12. Angus Mailer, 14. Josh Peters, 15. Conor O'Keefe, 16. Joel MacBeath, 17. Owen Loveland, 18. Trialist

Referee: Billy Baxter


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