Caley Thistle full-back Keith Bray is now top of the League One club’s scoring charts – and he’s confident even more will follow.
The 18-year-old, who hails from the Lewis village of Tong, scored the opener in Saturday’s 2-1 win at Alloa Athletic, making it three goals in three games and five overall.
That takes him one goal ahead of midfielder Charlie Gilmour as ICT’s top finisher in 2024-25.
Cameron O’Donnell cancelled out Bray’s first-half header 40 seconds after the break, but on-loan Aberdeen teenager Alfie Stewart sealed the victory for Scott Kellacher’s side.
It means Inverness, who were docked 15 points for entering administration in October, are now just two points behind eighth-placed Annan Athletic, who fought back for a 2-2 draw against Montrose.
Adding those 15 points on to ICT’s tally would move them level with leaders Arbroath, albeit the Angus side have played two games fewer.
It was a result which swatted the Wasps out of the top four and down to sixth spot.
Alfie Stewart’s ‘perfect ball’ for goal
Bray is delighted to play his part. not just defensively, but in opponents’ boxes when he can and praised his team-mates for their deliveries.
He said: “My goals are coming from set-plays. If we get corners, I just try to get into those positions. Now that’s happening more often, we can be more confident we can score from more corners and free-kicks.
“Alfie (Stewart’s) ball in for my goal was second to none. It was the perfect ball for me to get on the end of at the back post.
“Paul Allan has been showing the same threat with his balls in from the left side, they’ve been really good.
“It’s been good to get a few goals and hopefully that will continue. although the most important thing was to help the team get three points.
“If we don’t win a game, we need to make sure we win the next one. We’re never settling for draws.
“We could have easily have settled for a 1-1 draw at Alloa at the weekend, but we’re always looking to win.
“A point is not going to be enough in the position we’re in. We’re going for three points in every single game.”
ICTFC fans ‘have been brilliant’
The victory at the Indodrill came on the back of three away games within seven days, totalling more than 1,200-miles.
They won 3-0 at relegation rivals Annan last week before being edged out in a 3-2 thriller at Queen of the South on Tuesday.
Bray explained the players recognised the special effort of their fans who are digging deep and clocking up massive miles to support them.
He said: “That was the third away game of the week and our fans have turned out in their numbers to these away grounds, especially last Tuesday at Dumfries – that was unreal.
“They got home the same time as we did, around 3.30am on Wednesday. Not many clubs can say they have fans like ours. They have been brilliant.”
Putting up a battle to stay in division
While the club seeks a buyer to secure its future financially, the players are delivering big results.
Since Kellacher replaced Duncan Ferguson as manager in October, they have won seven, drawn once and lost four in the league.
If they defeat third-placed Queen of the South at the Caledonian Stadium this Saturday, and Annan fail to beat Kelty Hearts, ICT will trade places with the Galabankies.
Given they were rock bottom when administration kicked in, the players are showing little signs of feeling the heat.
Bray added: “You could easily overthink what’s happening overall with the club.
“We know what we’ve got in the group. We’re confident we can put up a real good battle to stay in this division.
“Saturday will be another tough one. Queen of the South are a good side, but we’re strong at home, like they are, hopefully we can get the win this time (after losing 3-2 at Palmerston last week).”
Looking at the way they handled the Alloa game, Bray felt it was the latest example of their strong mentality, as they coped with the Wasps levelling the match.
He said: “I felt we were worthy winners. It was a huge result – given the week we had.
“In terms of travel, as the gaffer said, it must have been one of the hardest weeks this club has had.
“It was important for us to go to Alloa and come away with three points.
“We started well and it was good to get a reasonably early goal. I thought we dominated the first half after that. We were playing nice football and created more chances.
“At the start of the second half, we had a blip when we conceded a goal, which was not ideal, but we responded brilliantly and it shows the character we’ve got in that changing room.
“It doesn’t matter what age we are, we’re all showing great character and came up with the winning goal from Alfie Stewart at the end.”
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