This was a game that always promised something more direct than the oh so pretty stuff served up by Valladolid.

Given that ICT had coped well enough with that, it would be interesting to see what RAFC would do to test us. The sides were as expected, with the bonus of Richie Foran on the bench for the first time this pre-season. Still no sign of Jonny Hayes though, and Munro and Innes out with McCann and Gillet starting.

The first half began with a concerted effort from ICT with good possession culminating in a good chance for Rooney. After a while, Antwerp came more into things, with their no. 10, Oris breenging about effectively. The no. 4, Bart van Zundert caught the eye, but maybe that was his yellow boots. Boots or no, he could tackle. There was enough of a hint from ICT of good things to come this year ; some of Blumenshtein's first touches were bloomin excellent, the passing was crisp and tackles were snappy. Gillet again showed enough to suggest that he might be a bright light this year. Nick Ross had our best opportunities to open the scoring. He decided to bring the ball under control from a deep cross and the chance was lost as the defenders closed him down swiftly, and another good chance from a McCann cross before the interval saw him place a header just over the bar, but 0-0 was a fair reflection of the pre-pie & bovril (if you could hack the queues) action.

HT 0-0

Antwerp's manager ( an excellent tm4tj impersonator) must have said some harsh things in Flemish at half time, because Antwerp flew out of the traps after the break and should have had a penalty after 50 minutes for a stonewall hand ball. Pressure was increasing, however and after 58 minutes that man Oris rose unchallenged at a corner and buries a sweet header. 1-0.

After that, Inverness woke up, and pressed more but it was difficult to see where a goal was coming from to get us back into the game. Enter Richie Foran. A 69 minute sub for Adam Rooney, three touches (one of them a penalty kick earned by himself) and the score was 1-1. He's not match sharp though. Roy McBain then when overstretching, somehow manged to spoon a ball from 10 yards with the keeper on his backside, and Shane Sutherland nearly belted a great shot from 20 yards but a winner eluded both sides. Just as well really, because an honourable draw suited everyone and was, in the end, just about right.

FT 1-1

My man of the match award would be shared amongst the 200 or so away fans, who seemed to have as good a day out as we had a few times last year (I'm thinking Ayr here) by constantly creating a racket in perfect english throughout. They made the game in many ways by creating their own good time atmosphere, and It turns out that their club was founded by english students at University in Antwerp, so they sing all their songs in english. You can't beat that kind of history. It was a pleasure to host them, and I for one would relish a return fixture in Antwerp. Nice conga lads.

This report was compiled by davie

Full-time score: ICT 1 (Foran 70 mins) - Royal Antwerp 1 (Oris 59 mins)

No official crowd figures available, guesstimate 1,000 approx

ICT Team

Esson

McCann, Tokely, Proctor, Gillet

Cox, Duncan

Sanchez, Blumenshtein, Ross

Rooney

Subs: Tuffey, Odhiambo for Sanchez (54 mins), Foran for Rooney (69 mins), Munro, McBain for Duncan (73 mins), Morrison for Ross (85 mins), Sutherland for Blumenshtein (63 mins)