There was one change to the Saints lineup, with Alan Reid surprisingly replacing Garry Brady, who dropped down to the bench. Alex Burke made it into the 16 after some good reserve form, replacing Mark Corcoran.
With the wind and rain swirling around Love Street - and the floodlights needed for the first time on a Saturday this season - the game got underway and Saints were under pressure straight away when Graham Bayne chased onto a long ball and then made contact with Tony Bullock when the Saints keeper tried to save it. The ball broke loose, but a free kick was awarded.
Saints looked dreadful at the back and there seemed to be no communication between Bullock and his defence, something captain Kevin McGowne made quite clear to the Englishman after the umpteenth long ball threatened to cause trouble.
For all the panic at the back, Saints had some chances of their own. John Sutton had a shot blocked before Simon Lappin curled a free kick just wide. Andy Millen then had the chance to put Saints in front after a good cut back, but sclaffed the ball wide from close range.
However, it was at the other end where all the problems were occuring. In between clobbering folk, Bayne flashed a shot just wide before Barry Wilson was unlucky to see an effort past the post.
Just over ten minutes before the break, Caley Thistle took the lead and no one could say it wasn't coming. Hugh Murray lost possession in midfield and Caley attacked down their right. The cross should have been cleared, but he duffed it and the ball broke to the unmarked Craig Dargo, who fired home off the post. Oh dear.
Considering we hadn't scored against the Highland side at Love Street since December 2003 - we've played them in Paisley three times since then - this was not good. Neither was the fact Bayne was avoiding a booking despite committing several fouls, despite the fact he'd received a warning from the referee!
Saints appeared early for the second half and immediately seemed to have a bit more intent about them. They started looking a lot more solid all over the pitch and were beginning to win balls.
The referee - whose name I forget but it's not someone well known - also remembered what his job was and started dishing out some yellow cards, with Bayne finally being booked before being joined by John Rankin, among others.
What really turned things around for Saints was the appearance of Stewart Kean and Burke just before the hour mark, replacing Billy Mehmet and Alan Reid. Their work rate was superb and Saints suddenly started looking a lot more lively up front. It took just six minutes for the change to pay off.
A Lappin free kick was headed behind by Ross Tokely (who was receiving his usual level of abuse). The same player took the corner and - as Kean ran forward to draw a player out - Sutton rose brilliantly to head it past Mark Brown. Game on, and when the hell did we last score a normal goal from a corner?
Saints had chances to win the game, with both David van Zanten and Richard Brittain going close. However, Caley Thistle are deadly away from home, late on and on the break and proceeded to cause Saints quite a few problems of their own at the back. Manager Charlie Christie wisely took Bayne off before he was sent off and his replacement - Rory McAllister - continued where his clogging team mate had left off by headbutting someone in the closing minutes. Apparently this is only a yellow card offence now!
Overall then, a fair result after our poor start the match. Despite our form against Caley, we're now unbeaten in four league games against them.
Next up: Motherwell at Fir Park, who drew at Ibrox today. Oh dear. Still, could be worse, you could be a Hearts fan. Or player...