Caley Thistle boss Duncan Ferguson slammed the “incredible” penalty decision which led to to his side slipping to a 1-0 League One defeat at Annan Athletic.
Just after the break, referee Alex Shepherd stunned Inverness – and many of the players and fans – by pointing to the spot after what he felt was a foul on an Annan player.
Tommy Goss scored the penalty to send the Galabankies top of the division after the opening two games, leaving ICT ninth on one point.
This was the second time in four weeks Goss had netted the winner against Caley Thistle, having scored the only goal when the teams met in the Premier Sports Cup.
Inverness were bolstered by the Saturday morning signings of versatile defender Wallace Duffy and keeper Musa Dibaga.
‘Nobody was shouting for a penalty’
However, at full-time the feeling was a sheer frustration at being denied the chance of a result.
Ferguson, who had not seen footage of the penalty incident, said: “People will say ‘this is just a manager saying things after a defeat’. But this was another incredible decision against us. It was a great clearance from Wallace and I think the referee was getting bored and decided to give a penalty.
“Nobody was shouting for it and we thought the decision was going in our favour. That was the story of the game. No one knew what the referee saw.
“Since I have come to the club we’ve had big decisions go against us. And here, the referee turned the game in their favour.
“Don’t get me wrong. Annan were better than us in the first half. They created more chances and we were poor.
“It was a poor decision for the penalty and the second half and then we’ve been unable to – once again – put the ball in the net. We had clear-cut chances with Danny Devine and Keith Bray.”
Striker search needs to step up – boss
The Inverness manager was grateful prospective new owner Ketan Makwan funded the deals to bring in Duffy and Dibaga – but stressed he needs more firepower, too.
Ferguson added: “We’re delighted to get Wallace and Musa in. Wallace looked just a wee bit leggy, but he’s not played for a few months. He’s trained with us for a couple of weeks, but he’s had no games at all. He played well, but then tired and was on a yellow card.
“In terms of recruitment, we’re miles behind other teams. This should have been done three months ago. We’re now chasing players who are out of contract. We never had any funds until we got the green light from the (prospective) new owner a few days ago.
“We’ve a young squad and we’re trying to get a striker in. Everybody is chasing strikers, because they can make a difference, as we saw today.
“We need to bolster our attacking line. We have good players up front, but they need a bit of help. Hopefully we can find someone, albeit it late in the day. We’re looking at other positions as well.”
Annan sharp – led by player/manager
From last week’s season-opening 1-1 draw at Dumbarton, Duffy, whose previous four-year spell at ICT ran out in June after their relegation, replaced Keith Bray in right midfield in the sole change.
Annan came into this one fresh from a rousing 3-1 win at Cove Rangers.
ICT’s on-loan Dundee United keeper Jack Newman was called into action in the 10th minute as he got down smartly to push away a header from Aidan Smith.
Annan continued to do most of the pressing, with Inverness having to be well organised and on their toes.
On 31 minutes, Smith broke on the attack and, after a lucky break of the ball, unleashed a low shot wide of the right post. The home crowd were expecting a goal. Inverness were relieved it wasn’t.
ICT were searching for a way through, but an offside decision or a stray pass at times was keeping them at bay as far as the hosts were concerned.
Home player-boss Wullie Gibson, on the left flank, really was leading by example for Annan, giving Jake Davidson and Duffy a torrid time.
Penalty agony as Annan take lead
Five minutes into the second half, from a corner, Annan were awarded the all-important penalty, although there was lots of confusion as to why.
Shepherd pointed to the spot, seemingly having spotted a foul on Goss.
The decision was hotly-disputed by Inverness, but Goss slammed his right-footed penalty past Newman.
Caley Thistle were a whisker away from levelling with 15 minutes to go, but Charlie Gilmour saw his shot from a corner superbly saved by Smith before Devine’s header crashed off the crossbar amid a frantic scramble.
The final chance came for ICT when Davidson swept a cross into the box and substitute Bray sliced a shot off target.
ICT are back at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday to take on Montrose, while Annan are in derby action in Dumfries against Queen of the South.
Player ratings
ANNAN ATHLETIC (4-2-3-1): Smith 6, Gibson 7, Kilbsy 6, Tommy Muir 6 (Quitongo 70), Ryan Muir 7 McGowan 6, Dixon 6 (Kyle Fleming 89), Todd 6, Zaid 6 (Barnes 78), Aidan Smith 7, Goss 6 (Stevenson 89).
Subs not used: Greg Fleming (GK), Maxwell, Quigg.
CALEY THISTLE| (4-4-2): Newman 6, Flynn Duffy 6 (Strachan 83), Savage 6, Devine 6, Davidson 6, Longstaff 6, Gilmour 6, Mackinnon 6 (Bray 74), Wallace Duffy 6 (Thompson 83), Billy Mckay 6 (Ferguson 74), Brooks 5 (Calum MacLeod 46).
Subs not used: Dibaga (GK), Calum Mackay, Keogh, Walker.
Referee: Alex Shepherd.
Attendance: 386.
Man of the match: Aidan Smith.
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