Two first-half goals were enough to keep Inverness top of the Scottish Premiership with a comfortable home success against Motherwell.
Richie Foran's early header and Billy McKay's third goal in as many games nine minutes from the interval moved Caley Thistle two points clear of second-placed St Johnstone.
The hosts were unchanged from the team that triumphed 1-0 at Dundee United last weekend.
Carl Tremarco missed out due to suspension after being sent off for the under-20s in midweek, while Marley Watkins (ankle) and Curtis Allen (knee) were still sidelined. Motherwell, who were without Adam Cummins due to a back problem, brought in Bob McHugh and Paul Lawson at the expense of Zaine Francis Angol and Henri Anier following the 3-1 loss to Aberdeen last time out.
Inverness were looking to maintain their perfect start to the new campaign and it took them only four minutes to get off and running.
Graeme Shinnie's free-kick towards the far post found Foran throwing his head towards the ball and sending a lovely effort from eight yards beyond exposed Motherwell goalkeeper Lee Hollis.
Moments later James Vincent almost doubled the home side's lead, but a timely deflection off Stephen McManus diverted the shot narrowly over the crossbar following good work by Aaron Doran.
Motherwell had made a lacklustre start yet they almost levelled when Iain Vigurs set up Keith Lasley, but the visiting captain's fierce drive from 12 yards was turned away by Inverness goalkeeper Dean Brill at his near post.
Inverness were dominating proceedings however and it took a last-ditch block by Shaun Hutchinson to prevent McKay from creating a clear goalscoring chance after being set up by Doran.
Doran was having an outstanding game and it was his incisive pass that was chased down behind the Well rearguard by David Raven, who found McKay to convert from close range in the 36th minute.
It could have got even better for Inverness as the interval approached, but Vincent was inches away from scoring with a spectacular volley from the edge of the area as he latched on to McKay's flick.
In a bid to try and salvage something from the game, Motherwell boss Stuart McCall sent on Stuart Carswell and Anier at the start of the second half for Lawson and McHugh.
The change seemed to have the desired effect as James McFadden's surge into the penalty area saw him stand up a cross to the back post that Anier connected with, but Raven was well positioned to make the block.
Motherwell then spurned a great chance to halve the deficit as Brill misjudged Vigurs' corner, yet Hutchinson could not quite keep his header on target as it landed on the roof of the net.
The Steelmen were showing more as an attacking force and looked to have strong claims for a penalty as Raven caught Vigurs from behind, but referee Iain Brines was not interested and waved away the visitors' protests.
Doran was denied by Hollis as the game entered its final 10 minutes and from the resultant corner Foran prodded an effort narrowly wide at the back post.
But the hard work had been done by Inverness in the opening half as they eased past Motherwell to keep up their 100 per cent opening to the campaign.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article