Partick Thistle 2-0 Inverness CT

Chris Erskine gave Partick Thistle a first half lead

Partick Thistle began the new league season in positive fashion, spoiling Richie Foran's first Premiership match in charge of Caley Thistle.

Chris Erskine, back at Thistle for a third spell, underlined his status as a fans' favourite with the opening goal, curling the ball past goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams.

David Amoo poked the ball over the line to double the home side's advantage.

Foran's side were unable to fashion any genuine goalscoring opportunities.

Their lack of cutting edge would have disappointed their manager, having scored 12 goals in their previous two matches in the League Cup,

Tomas Cerny in the home goal was entirely untroubled over the course of the 90 minutes and though Thistle created few chances of their own, they were sufficiently clinical to punish their opponents.

Erskine's first-half strike was the solitary moment of class in a disappointing opening period.

Callum Booth drove forward, slipped the ball to Steven Lawless who managed to feed Erskine despite a heavy first touch.

Erskine's own first touch allowed him to fire past the diving Fon Williams from just inside the box - the ball arrowing inside the far post for a third goal of the young season for the midfielder.

Caley Thistle looked a better side after the break but found themselves further behind as they failed to clear from a Sean Welsh set-piece.

Abdul Osman headed across goal, Liam Lindsay also got his head to the ball and with the visiting defence struggling to clear the danger, Amoo pounced to stab into the net from close range.

Lawless went close with a fierce drive and Kris Doolan had a late strike pushed away by Fon Williams as the home side looked to add to their lead.

Though they were unable to do that, they came under little pressure at the other end to comfortably see out the victory.

Partick's David Amoo (left) celebrates having put his side 2-0 in front

Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Richie Foran: "It's only early. You don't become a bad team overnight. We're going to stay positive.

"I thought we had poor imagination in the final third. With the quality that we have up there I expect a little bit more but we didn't get enough help around Scott Boden.

"(It's a) disappointing result but I can't be too hard on the lads. They've been magnificent since I've come in.

"I think we're in for a good season. We've got the quality. We just need to work on a few bits and pieces."

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald: "I don't think there was a lot in the half until Chris (scored) - it was probably our first good bit of play and Chris had a great finish.

"I thought it was a bit cagey. We looked a bit nervous to be honest but the goal settled us down and we started to play a bit.

"There was one bit of magic from Chris - he's capable of that, we know that and we need to make sure we use him in the right way. He'd only trained a couple of days this week and that's why we took him off as soon as we could."