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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)

How is your Flemish? Not too bad I hope, because Saturday sees the visit of the second continental side in quick succession to these shores – Royal Antwerp. A different kettle of fish from Valladolid, we might get more this time than two sides passing each other to death. To me, Belgium means chocolate, beer (I’ll have a Leffe or a Duval) cycling (Eddy Merckx) and Plastic Bertrand (remember him?). Their Dutch neighbours have nicked all the publicity in recent years, but a bit of digging reveals a footie tradition every bit as grand. Royal Antwerp are the grand old lady of Belgian football, 130 years old and counting. They have a history of acrimonious de-merger, arguments over ground ownership and an uncanny ability to punch above their weight and then self destruct. Split personality sound familiar? Prolonged therapy from IHE is called for, but without them we wouldn’t have their offspring - the marvellously monikered Germinal Beerschott. In more recent times, the team from the Bouilstadion have gained some impressive mates, in the shape of Man United. United keep lending them youngsters like John O’Shea and Jonny Evans every year, and let’s face it those are the kind of mates you keep in with. The website claims another four are arriving, but they are bringing a side to TCS that appears short on named loanees, thank goodness. They still won their last friendly against K. Wijnegem V.C. 7-0 though, and Stavros Glouftsis and Kevin Oris both scored hat tricks so we can expect goals from them. They do, however, complain of injuries and a leaky defence, and with TB hinting that a strong line up might contain Foran and/or Hayes (maybe) we might also expect goals from us. A good open game looks possible. RAFC fans are legendary, and known to turn up in numbers, so a large highland welcome is in order. So order “In Bruges” or “Man bites Dog”from the video shop; watch, giggle and quaff a Leffe or a Primus and raise a glass in welcome to the Reds of Royal Antwerp. This preview comes to you from CTO’s intrepid cycling reporter davie, who forgot to mention the Stella.

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.

Amistoso: Fecha:03 - Agosto – 2010 Hora:20:45 h. Estadio:Tulloch Stadium Capacidad:7.753 localidades. Inverness will step up their preparations for their assault on the SPL this week with two games against European clubs. Normally at this time of the year, us Jocks look out the factor 35 and head off to Spanish destinations for our annual holidays, but in a role reversal we will welcome Real Valladolid CF to the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in what should be an entertaining encounter. Valladolid is a historic city in North Central Spain with a population around 320,000. The Pucela were founded in 1928. Their ground is the Nuevo Jose Zorrilla which has a capacity of 26,512. They will ply their trade in the second tier of Spanish football this season, having suffered relegation. They finished third bottom in La Liga last season and lost out by one point to Malaga, having lost 16 and won 7 of their 38 games. Valladolid will start their league campaign with a home game against Villareal B on 29th August. The Blanquivioleta should present Inverness with a thorough examination of their fitness as a dozen Juanjo’s will be out to impress the locals with typical Spanish flair. Football in Spain has never been healthier with the new World Champions also the holders of the European Championship trophy. Valladolid’s goalkeeper is just back from World Cup duty. Justo Villar played in all Paraguay’s matches conceding only two goals. A good summer for him, as he captained them to the quarter finals and saved a Xabi Alonso penalty. As always, relegation has a downside, and Keko and Diego Costa has returned to Atletico Madrid. Borja will be at Getafe, and the Del Horno loan period has ended. On the flip side, there are new arrivals, Brazilian Guilherme is on a one year loan from Almeria, Jorge Alonso arrives from Hercules, Javi Guerra from Levante via Mallorca, Marc Valiente from Sevilla. So like Inverness, the rebuilding has begun and plenty of new faces at Valladolid looking to impress the management. Inverness will be without a few regulars for this friendly. New captain Richie Foran is just returning to training and last years captain Grant Munro suffered a nasty gash on his foot against Queens Park last weekend which required four stitches. Jonny Hayes is in the same boat as Foran and new signing Chris Innes has tweaked his groin, although this is more a precautionary measure than anything else. So, who will play? Likely candidates will include summer signings Gil Blumenshtein and Frenchman Kenny Gillet. Nick Ross has also impressed in pre-season and should get a run out at some point along with Shane Sutherland. Jonny Tuffey could make his home debut and look for Kevin McCann to continue at right back. Eric Odhiambo will relish this one and our own Spaniard Dani Sanchez will feel right at home amongst the Valladolid players. Tonight's visitors will be the first foreign team at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium and I would hope a decent crowd will welcome them to Inverness in what should be £10 well spent for an adult or £5 concession. The second European game will be next Saturday when we take on Royal Antwerp at 3:00pm. These games are like buses, none for ages, then two come along at the same time.