Clachnacuddin 0
Caledonian thistle from Inverness 5
Scorers – ICT: Duku (3) Doran (51) Walsh (57) Cairns (78) Sutherland (82)
Caley Thistle started his preseason with a comfortable win over Clachnacuddin in the Inverness derby.
Manny Duku’s third-minute penalty followed by second-half goals from Aaron Doran, Tom Walsh, Ethan Cairns and Shane Sutherland was enough to secure victory at Grant Street Park.
Clach broke the deadlock after three minutes when midfielder Reece McAlear, on loan from Norwich City, was brought into the box by Ally Gillies to concede a penalty.
Duku was right 12 yards to shoot the ball past David Aitchison in the lower left corner of the net.
Inverness could have doubled their advantage midway through the first half when Michael Gardyne teamed up well with Duku with a one-two through the defense and the winger’s strike hit the post.
The Lilywhites responded when Liam Taylor connected with a cross from the right wing and was unchallenged in the box, but pulled his effort off the right post.
McAlear continued to dominate the midfield and sent a perfectly timed pass to Duku with only the keeper to beat, but Aitchison did well to block.
Gillies had a great opportunity to level play early in the second half with a free kick just outside the box.
His low training wrapped around the defensive wall and forced a good save from Cammy Mackay.
But Inverness doubled their advantage six minutes into the second half when Doran landed a thunderous shot from the edge of the box straight into the net.
Minutes later, Walsh also scored an impressive 18-yard effort.
Inverness made it 4-0 with 12 minutes remaining as Cairns latched onto a left wing cross and shot into the net from close range.
Sutherland scored five minutes later when he broke through the heart of Clach’s defense and his shot entered the net from the left post.