SEVEN days; seven goals; 338 miles; debuts for two teenagers; Alloa's goal of the season so far; a worldie past Jamie MacDonald; and a last gasp equaliser.

Two eventful trips to the Highlands, then, with distinctly different post-match emotions as Peter Grant's men recovered from their Challenge Cup exit to secure a much merited point to laugh in the face of their increasingly thin squad and last week's 3-0 reverse.

Not that it looked likely when Inverness finally broke down Alloa's stubborn second half resistance to take the lead with less than ten minutes remaining.

But, dejection turned to joy when Alan Trouten popped up at the back post and it was to cries of "there's only Peter Grant" from the 50 Wee County travelling fans that the jubilant Wasps left the field.

Grant more than earned their affection as his brave selection - even if his hand was somewhat forced - paid off with a display full of everything he demands of his team; Barcelona on the ball and Atletico Madrid off it, as the soundbite goes.

No one could have mistaken the Highland rainfall for the Catalan sunshine but Alloa's opener was the sort of flowing move Messi and co. would have been proud of.

After they withstood a period of Inverness pressure, Robbie Deas continued his recent ascent by showing composure beyond his years to get himself out of a hole near his own corner flag and play the ball to Adam Brown.

He caressed it across the turf to the rampaging Scott Taggart, who then linked up with Kevin O'Hara, and his clever thinking sent Liam Buchanan into acres of space. A neat one-two with Kevin Cawley later and the veteran was curling the ball into the corner.

So, they looked like Barcelona on the ball, but were the Wasps able to live up to Diego Simeone's side off it? That early strike had certainly awoken the Highlanders and Miles Storey seemed on a one mission to level the scoring.

The former Aberdeen player drove past Jon Robertson and put it on a plate for the onrushing Roddy MacGregor only for Jamie MacDonald to somehow claw the ball off the line and away to deny Inverness an instant retort. Jan Oblak heroics? Tick.

As expected, the hosts dominated much of the ball and Alloa were increasingly retreating towards their backline in two banks of five with even Buchanan digging in for the cause. A well marshalled defensive line? Tick.

Aaron Doran stung MacDonald's palms with an ambitious drive and the keeper later plucked a Jordan White header from the air but at arms length is where Inverness remained.

It might not quite by the Nou Camp but the more ponderous the Wasps forced the hosts to be the louder the jeers became.

In the rare moments Alloa escaped their own half, the superb Buchanan threatened to make it two. He led the line intelligently before curling an effort agonisingly over the bar and forcing Mark Ridgers into a rather unconvincing stop in the second half.

It was always going to take something special from the hosts to unlock the Alloa defence and Carl Tremarco's equaliser was the kind of goal you wake up at night thinking about. When Steven Hetherington cleared off the line, it seemed the Wasps had managed to repel the Inverness advance only for the left back to kiss the postage stamp from the tightest of angles.

Whereas they could do nothing about Tremarco's strike, Inverness' second left a lot more to be desired in their defending. White is hardly a small man but he ghosted in between Andy Graham and Deas to power the ball beyond MacDonald.

You could count on one hand the number of people who believed Alloa were going to get something out of the game at that point. But, then Brown harried a defender to win a throw-in, found the head of Graham with it, and Trouten popped up to score.

A result built on dogged defending, skill, and resilience? Tick, tick, tick.