Caley Thistle boss Billy Dodds was delighted with his players’ efforts after their 2-0 win over Raith Rovers.
A second-half penalty from Scott Allardice and a goal in the dying minutes from substitute Billy McKay secured a second league win for Caley Thistle.
The 2-0 win moves Inverness up to fifth in the Championship, as they now have eight points from their first six games.
There had been little to split the two sides in terms of chances over the piece, but Raith dominated possession, which forced Caley Thistle to find a way to grind out the win.
Dodds was proud of his side’s battling performance at Stark’s Park, as he highlighted their response to recent results and their long list of injures.
The Caley Jags came into the game against Raith off the back of three consecutive defeats across all competitions, including a 4-0 loss to Motherwell in the cup.
Dodds said: “We had to dig in and work hard. We knew Raith would come at us – and fair play, they never gave up. Ian Murray has a team that keeps trying and trying.
“It’s been a long hard week in terms of the physical effort that we put into the Motherwell game – it was incredible. I think we showed that fitness standard today.
“We just kept going at – we’ve got a small squad right now – so I couldn’t be more proud. I said to the boys ‘how good is that?’ that they’re able to find that energy.
“Everybody player their part – there were a couple of special performances – but, my word, did they dig in, because Raith put us under pressure.
“They’ve got a well earned extra day off (on Monday) because we’ve had a lot of games in a short space of time.”
Players stepping up when it counts
While he was delighted with the entire team’s performance, the Caley Jags boss had extra praise for two of his players post-match.
He was happy for Daniel Mackay, who won Caley Thistle’s penalty and assisted the second goal, and Cameron Harper, who played out of his usual position.
Dodds added: “Daniel is a really important player. He is so quick on the first 5 to 10 yards – it’s scary. It’s hard for defenders, and he worked his socks off.
“He worked tirelessly to get back on the park and showed his strengths going forward, and then got the penalty and set up the goal.
“We’re short on players so I just fancied Cameron today to play as part of the midfield. He’s got a great left foot and has the attributes to be a left midfielder.
“It’s good to be versatile – especially when we’ve got injuries.”
Second-half penalty tees up Caley Thistle win
Raith looked more threatening in the first-half, as Jamie Gullan attempted to lob Mark Ridgers in the Caley goal, before the Highland shotstopper had to pull off a fingertip save to deny Dylan Easton’s curling effort.
There were glimpses from Dodds’ side in front of goal, as Mackay, Zak Delaney and Steven Boyd all had attempts, but none of those efforts really troubled Raith’s goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald.
Easton threatened to put his side ahead early on in the second half, but not long after Caley Thistle were awarded a penalty after Ross Millen took down Mackay, who did well to force the challenge.
Allardice stepped up for the penalty and hit it straight down the middle to give Caley Thistle the lead in the 58th minute, but Raith continued to pile on the pressure with Easton testing Ridgers yet again.
And by the 90th minute it looked set that all three points were heading up to Inverness, but second-half substitute McKay made sure of that as he scored his 84th goal for the club, as he tucked away Mackay’s cross to make it 2-0 at Stark’s Park.
RAITH ROVERS (4-2-3-1) – MacDonald 5, Dick 6, Millen 5 (Brad Spencer 81), Nolan 6 (Ethan Ross 73), Connolly 6, Gullan 6 (Connor McBride 28), O’Riordan 6, Stanton 7, Connell 6, Brown 6, Easton 7. Subs not used Robbie Thomson, Aaron Arnott, Quinn Coulson, Adam Masson.
CALEY THISTLE (4-2-3-1) – Ridgers 6, Duffy 6, Harper 6, Deas 6, Devine 6, Carson 5, Oakley 6 (McKay 71), Mackay 7 (Nathan Shaw 90), Allardice 7, Delaney 6, Boyd 6 (Lewis Hyde 86). Subs not used Cameron Mackay, Calum Mackay.
Referee – Don Robertson
Attendance – 1,745
Man of the match – Daniel Mackay
