Austin Samuels scored a brace as Inverness eased past Cove Rangers 4-1 to move up to second in the cinch Championship.

Samuels handed the hosts an early lead as he slotted Aaron Doran’s assist into the bottom corner after six minutes.

Caley pressed as they looked to double their score, with Billy Mckay seeing a shot saved by Kyle Gourlay while Doran came close approaching the hour mark.

The Irishman made no mistake moments later as he fired Daniel MacKay’s cross home for his first goal of the season in his 12th campaign with Inverness.

Cove pulled one back through Robbie Leitch just after the break as he picked out the bottom-right corner with his third goal of the season.

But the home side hit back to restore their two-goal lead with 15 minutes remaining as Mckay picked out Samuels in the box to complete his brace and summer signing Nathan Shaw added the gloss at the death.