In-form Caley Thistle recorded their fifth successive win with a 2-0 victory against Hamilton Accies at New Douglas Park.
A Grant Gillespie own goal after 52 minutes and a Nick Ross strike 14 minutes from time were enough for Inverness to close the gap on second place Aberdeen to a point.
The Accies charged a mere 10p entry for the match in honour of former manager Alex Neil and departing assistant Frankie McAvoy, which helped produce a very healthy turnout.
Martin Canning, who was officially unveiled as Hamilton’s new player-manager on Friday, returned to the starting line-up for the hosts, who were thumped 5-0 by Partick Thistle midweek with Michael Devlin dropping out.
David Raven and Greg Tansey returned to the Caley Thistle side after missing Tuesday’s 2-0 win against St Johnstone because of suspension with Aaron Doran and Marley Watkins making way.
Caley Thistle looked uncomfortable on the artificial surface in the early stages with Dougie Imrie denied by Dean Brill and Jesus Garcia Tena curling a free kick over as the hosts signalled their intent.
The visitors were camped in their own half for much of the opening exchanges but Greg Tansey managed to draw a smart stop from Michael McGovern on one rare foray forward.
It was turning into a fairly drab affair for those watching, although Tony Andreu provided a rare moment of excitement with a dipping volley from 30 yards that almost caught out Brill.
Caley Thistle should have been ahead within 50 seconds of the restart when an errant clearance from Canning fell perfectly for Mckay but the Inverness forward was superbly denied by McGovern when he looked certain to score from 10 yards out.
But the visitors did make the breakthrough after 52 minutes when Mckay played in Graeme Shinnie whose shot cannoned off McGovern and rebounded off the unfortunate Gillespie and into his own net.
John Hughes’ men almost doubled their advantage soon after but McGovern showed great reflexes to keep out Josh Meekings’ header from Tansey’s corner.
Accies were throwing more men forward as the game wore on in search of an equaliser and Garcia Tena went close with a header from an Ali Crawford corner.
Inverness had their chances to put the result beyond doubt but McGovern was proving a difficult obstacle to overcome, making an excellent stop to prevent Mckay volleying home at the back post.
But the visitors made sure of the points with a well worked move which culminated in Mckay playing in Draper who laid the ball into the path of Ross who showed terrific composure to slot home.
There were still 14 minutes to go but the goal prompted a mass exodus from the home stands who couldn’t bear to watch anymore.
The match ended on a sour note for Caley Thistle when goalkeeper Brill had to be replaced by Ryan Esson after landing awkwardly while gathering a Crawford cross.