Gretna0–5Inverness CT

A long journey but an emphatic win for Caley Thistle in this first ever meeting with Gretna. The home side are now full time and with many close season signings they were seen as difficult opponents. The visitors dominated the early period but Gretna had a chance in 20 minutes when a Matt Henney shot was deflected for a corner. Caley Thistle went ahead two minutes later when David Bingham scored his debut competitive goal with a neat 20 yard chip over ‘keeper David Mathieson who was off his line. Any hopes Gretna had of a revival disappeared early in the second half when Caley Thistle scored two goals in a minute. Steve Hislop had already hit the post just after the break and he made it 2-0 in 54 minutes – a pass-back from David Holdsworth was intended for Mathieson but the ‘keeper failed to collect and Hislop stepped in to score into the empty net. Straight from the kick-off Paul Ritchie headed home a Roy McBain corner for number three. On the hour mark Richie Hart took a Ritchie pass and scored from close range then he scored his second in 81 minutes after a through ball from David Bingham. Gretna had created a good chance just before the fifth goal but Mark Brown saved bravely at the feet of Wayne Gordon.