Ole!

Inverness hosted Spanish visitors Real Vallodolid in a goalless friendly at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in front of around 1000 fans.  There were some interested spectators in the main stand, with Neil Lennon and Peter Houston taking in the action as ICT continues to prepare for the SPL.  County manager Derek Adams was also an interested spectator as both teams cancelled each other out.

Manager spotting was as much fun as the football on display as the slick Spaniards were tamed by the more robust Scottish endeavour.  Valladolid had enough players travelling with them to allow for two different teams to take to the park, in what Butcher described as a stern test of his players fitness due to the fresh legs at half time.

Inverness are still without the much needed pair of Richie Foran and Jonny Hayes, with Munro and Innes also missing out due to injuries.  Jonny Tuffey made his home debut and David Proctor returned to defence alongside captain for the night Ross Tokely.  The full back slots were new boys Kevin McCann with Kenny Gillet making his debut.  Russell Duncan and Lee Cox were the midfield muggers and Nick Ross and Gil Blumanshtein were the wide suppliers for a lone Adam Rooney with Eric Odhiambo backing him up in a sort of 4-2-3-1.

The first half came and went with the Spaniards slick passing and movement in stark contrast to the locals’ hustle and bustle interspersed with the long ball for Rooney to scamper after.  Real’s diminutive number 21 was a bag of tricks as he teased our left side on a number of occasions but neither keeper was involved in the game other than Tuffey who dealt expertly with numerous back-passes.  Real had one attempt which might have been better, but the ball was ballooned over from the edge of the box.  The best we had to offer was a shot from Ross which he drove into the turf and the keeper picked up the ball comfortably.

Half time 0-0

Valladolid changed their entire side for the second half as Inverness changed their announcer.  ICT started in busier fashion and we soon had the first piece of noteworthy action, a Lee Cox strike from 25 yards was arrowing towards the top corner but the spare keeper made an acrobatic TV save to pluck the ball out of harms way.  The game settled down again, more slick passing from the visitors, more robust tackles from the hosts.  They were getting some joy down the left flank where Gillet sometimes strayed but the final ball was mopped up by Rossco & Co.

A good shout for a penalty was waived away by the referee as the winger appeared to be caught by the defenders foot, but to the annoyance of the Spanish bench nothing was given.  The only other moment of near magic came at the other end when Rooney held the ball up on the right edge of the box and as he wheeled round he hit a dipping volley which cleared the bar by a couple of feet.  Valladolid’s reply was a late header which went well over.

Full time 0-0.

Top marks for Inverness goes to the outstanding Ross Tokely.  He was literally head and shoulders above everyone else.  He would make a decent centre half.  The versatile Proctor looked good alongside him.  McCann will endear himself to the home fans if he keeps up this level, very tidy and Gillet, although out of position a few times put in a decent shift for his first game.  The two midfielders never shirked a tackle, but the two wide boys will need to up their game.  This left Rooney with little or no service.  Eric Odhiambo was close to MoM and showed a clean pair of heels as he looked our most likely player to unlock the Real defence.  Good effort from him and he was unfortunate not to wriggle his way through a few times.  Oh, nearly forgot Tuffey, but in all honesty he could have sat in the stand alongside Lennon as he had nothing to do thanks to a shot shy Valladolid.

Next up this weekend are the Belgian side Royal Antwerp FC and an equally tough examination will be on the cards for Butcher’s boys.