Tale of three penalties as ICT held to draw

ICT 2 (McKay, Welsh)

Alloa 2 (Oakley OG, Flannigan)

Three penalties and a red card meant that Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Alloa Athletic served up an entertaining spectacle, but the shares would be spoiled at the Caledonian Stadium.

The game burst into life from the first minute, with both teams looking to break the deadlock early on.

Caley Thistle went in front after 10 minutes. Liam Polworth’s corner found the run of Brad McKay, who nodded past Neil Parry from close range to make it 1-0.

It was another set piece that drew Alloa level before half time. Iain Flannigan’s free kick from the left finds Andy Graham, whose header hit George Oakley and went into the ICT net.

Upon the restart Zdravko Karadachki was booked for a foul on Oakley just outside the Alloa box, and he committed another foul inside the box when the ball was played in to give away a penalty.

Referee Barry Cook showed Karadachki a second yellow card, reducing the visitors to 10 men, and Sean Welsh stepped up to the mark to score his first goal for Inverness and put ICT in front again.

Coll Donaldson had a chance to put the result beyond doubt when Ricky Calder was taken down inside the box by Adam Brown, but the defender hit the crossbar with his effort.

A third penalty in the match – this time when Alloa’s Jake Hastie outpaced Shaun Rooney and was brought to the floor – evened up the scores once more in the 87 minute, Flannigan being the man who tucked away.

The 10 men of Alloa could then have won it right at the death when Zanatta found space on the edge of the ICT box, but instead of squaring to Liam Burt who was unmarked he shot straight at Mark Ridgers.