Inverness captain Sean Welsh felt Caley Thistle only showed their attacking class once they fell a goal behind to 10-man Raith Rovers.
With the Kirkcaldy side having midfielder Ross Matthews sent off on the stroke of half-time with the scores at 0-0, the Championship leaders would have been expecting to grab control of the contest.
79' | 1-1
GOOOOOOOOALLLLLL! SEAN WELSH MAKES IT 1-1 pic.twitter.com/NG5aUSyiZc
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) October 23, 2021
However, two walls of four and a lone striker made it tough for ICT and a sweeping attack led to Aidan Connolly scoring for Rovers in this second against first encounter.
Caley Thistle never gave up the ghost and Welsh fired home a leveller with 11 minutes left to ensure they finished the weekend three points clear of Kilmarnock.
Rovers’ goal got us going – Welsh
The forthright skipper was happy to hit back for the point, but felt it could have been a more fruitful afternoon in Fife.
He said: “We deserved the draw in the end, but we made it difficult for ourselves. To go 1-0 down against 10 men, you’re up against it when they sit in, but we got the point.
“It was disappointing because we played a large part of the game against 10 men. We should have really been taking the game to them more to try and get the three points, but we have to be happy with the point in the end.
“I thought their goal kick-started us. We didn’t do enough before they scored to get ahead ourselves.
“We got a chance right after their goal when Billy (Mckay) had a header. From that point, we applied a good bit of pressure and thankfully we got our goal and we pushed for a winner.
“But we shouldn’t be waiting for other teams to kick-start us. We should be at it from the start. We had one or two half chances, so we need to tidy up our play and be more decisive and cut teams open when we have time on the ball, especially being a man up.”
Ridgers’ advice worked for Welsh
Welsh’s strike, which stemmed from Michael Gardyne’s cross, was his second goal of the season, having already bagged one against Queen of the South.
He revealed that words of advice from ICT goalkeeper Mark Ridgers proved true by the nature of his goal.
He added: “I thought it was going in. I took a good touch, to be fair, and I dragged it. Those are the ones that go in – that’s what Ridgers was telling me.
“He says I always hit the ball too true and that sometimes you need to drag the ball, sclaff it to go in the corner. Thankfully I did that.
“I got a bit of time when the ball broke to me at the edge of the box and the first touch set it up for myself.”
Target is sixth successive home win
It’s now on to Tuesday and the visit of Dick Campbell’s Arbroath and Welsh is fired up as they target a sixth successive home victory.
He said: “You just have to concentrate on the game in front of you. There are no easy games in this league and Raith Rovers is one of the hardest places to come.
87' | 1-1
Attendance: 1,900
Thanks to #CaleyAway for your great support this afternoon!
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) October 23, 2021
“It was a good point in the end and we look forward to Tuesday and try to get a positive result.
“We know what Arbroath bring. They are a good side, they always are. But we are at home and we have to be ready for that and aim to take the three points.”
