DEFENSIVE DISPLAY MERITS A MENTION

I have supported Caley Thistle since their formation and have been lucky enough to witness most of the great moments in their history.

If I have learned anything about this club since 1994, it’s that they rarely do things the easy way.

Even when they have achieved great things, they have put their fans through the mill.

That’s not a complaint, just the way I see it, but I think few seasoned ICT fans would disagree with me.

So, while I was delighted that Inverness came away from Firhill on Tuesday with a narrow win, I felt sure that if they were to progress to face Arbroath in the semis it would be far from straightforward in Friday night’s return leg.

However, at half-time things were looking pretty good.

Inverness had extended their aggregate lead through a great Austin Samuels strike but the Partick players in their dressing room must have been wondering how they had not scored as they had carved out some fine chances as well.

You felt we were one goal away from making the tie safe. It nearly came when a Kirk Broadfoot header was superbly saved by Jamie Sneddon.

The Partick keeper kept his team in the game at that point.

It was end-to-end stuff and you could tell on the pitch and in the stands that this game mattered.

No more goals did come, despite a lot of effort from both sides, and it is Caley Thistle who progress.

I was impressed with the Inverness defence. They had a lot of work to do but did it calmly and effectively. So, maybe not all the twists and turns I was expecting. Perhaps that will come against Arbroath.