Caley Thistle boss Duncan Ferguson admits losing 2-1 to Raith Rovers came in a cruel fashion – as his unbeaten start in the hot seat came to an end.
Billy Mckay’s second half goal put ICT ahead, but it followed a controversial moment when Lewis Vaughan’s strike, which seemed to cross the line, was not given early on.
Vaughan’s late goal and a Jamie Gullan stoppage-time penalty sealed a dramatic comeback victory for Raith, moving them to within one point of Championship leaders Dundee United, whose game at Morton was frozen off.
It was a first defeat in eight outings in all competitions under Ferguson – and also Raith’s first league win at the Caledonian Stadium since 2000, spanning 19 fixtures.
‘Second goal would have been crucial’
The Inverness manager felt the match could have been out of reach had they managed to net again after Billy Mckay opened the scoring.
He said: “It was a cruel way to lose it.
“In the first half, we never got started to be honest.
“We rode our luck going in 0-0 at half-time. I was really happy, considering how we’d played.
“In the second half, we did much better and managed to get our noses in front.
“We missed a couple of good chances, hit the bar and had a counter-attacking opportunity.
“A second goal would have been crucial for us.
“We’re happy with the performance in the second half. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t see out the second half.
“A wee bit of panic set in and we couldn’t clear our lines, particularly for the penalty award. We had four or five opportunities to get rid of the ball, but never.”
‘If you can’t win it, don’t lose’
Ferguson was frustrated his men could not hang on for a share of the spoils.
He said: “We always said it would come at some point, but it’s just a shame the way it happened.
“We’re going into the last five minutes 1-0 up and we’ve got three points.
“If you can’t win it, don’t lose it.
“When they scored the first goal, we thought we could squeeze out a draw – we’d be happy with that.
“Unfortunately, they threw the ball in the box regularly and we just couldn’t see it through.”
These were two of the division’s form sides going head-on, with ICT not having lost since Dundee United snatched a 1-0 win on September 23.
The previous weekend, Rovers’ late 1-0 home victory over ICT was the last game in charge for Billy Dodds. That result was the first league win for Raith against Caley Jags in 23 years.
A 1-0 defeat at Airdrie followed, but they have not lost since, with their run stretching to nine games in all competitions.
Injury troubles were badly hitting the Fifers’ squad. They only had five substitutes available for their 3-0 derby win in the Scottish Cup against Dunfermline Athletic last week. They had the same numbers on the bench again and made three changes to their starting 11.
After making seven changes for the 2-0 Scottish Cup win against Lowland League Cowdenbeath, ICT were back to their a more usual starting 11 this time.
Early ‘goal’ not given to Raith Rovers
Inverness were let off the hook on 10 minutes when it appeared as if Vaughan had diverted a corner over the goal-line, but despite the protests, referee Duncan Williams waved play on.
Raith started on the front foot and were asking most of the early questions.
They continued to have the bulk of the pressure, winning several corners, but ICT were standing strong.
On 34 minutes, there were appeals for a spot-kick when Raith’s Dylan Easton went down under a challenge from Nikola Ujdur, but again nothing was given.
Five minutes before the break, a smart shot from 30 yards from Vaughan was not far over the crossbar, with Mark Ridgers diving to cover.
Caley Thistle were much livelier at the start of the second half, pinning Raith back, yet had to be ever-alert to the swift attack from their opponents.
Billy Mckay’s third goal in four games
After soaking up more pressure, ICT took the lead when their two main strikers linked up.
Midfielder Charlie Gilmour picked out Wotherspoon on the right and his pin-point delivery was headed home from close-range by Billy Mckay.
Three goals in four games for Mckay makes it six goals overall this season.
Aidan Connolly almost levelled moments later when he drove an effort over the crossbar, which was a great opportunity squandered.
Double drama as Rovers net victory
However, Raith snatched a deserved leveller when Vaughan lashed a deflected low shot out of Ridgers’ reach into the net after Josh Mullin teed up him.
There was pain in the end for ICT when Longstaff tripped Sam Stanton in the box and a penalty was awarded.
Gullan, whose goal sunk Caley Thistle in September, smashed his spot-kick past Ridgers to seal the points.
Inverness are off to Hampden on Saturday to tackle Queen’s Park as they seek to respond to this first setback under the boss.
CALEY THISTLE (3-4-2-1): Ridgers 6, Duffy 6, Ujdur 7, Devine 6 (Longstaff 63), Boyes 7, Shaw 6, Anderson 6, Gilmour 7, Harper 6, Wotherspoon 6 (Welsh 79), Billy Mckay 7 (Sheridan 79).
Subs not used: Cammy MacKay (GK), Welsh, Delaney, Davidson, Lodovica, Brooks, Thompson.
RAITH ROVERS (3-5-2): Dabrowski 6, Corr 6, Dick 6, O’Reilly 6, Stanton 6, Connolly 6 (Smith 73), Byrne 7, Mullin 6, Easton 7, Vaughan 8 (Hannah 90), Hamilton 6 (Gullan 73).
Subs not used: Thomson (GK), McGill, Masson.
Referee: Duncan Williams.
Attendance: 2143.
Star Man: Lewis Vaughan.
