Highland maintained their National League 1 title challenge with a hard earned 18-10 win at Ayr.
The victory ensured Highland extracted full revenge for their 13-12 reverse at home to Saturday’s opponents who only managed to put points on the board in the final 10 minutes.
Davie Carson, the Canal Park head coach declared himself delighted with the win.
He said: “This was a huge win for us. We pretty well controlled the game right until the last few minutes, even then we were never in danger of losing.
“We are learning all the time about closing games out but we are in a strong position going into the last two games against Kelso at home and Heriots away before the break.”
The Inverness side led 12-0 at half time, playing a disciplined game which had the game wrapped up despite some desperate attempts by Ayr to breakdown the stuffy Highland defence.
Key figures in the first half performance were front rowers Steve Murray and veteran Kevin Brown.
The two Highland tries were attributed to scrum half Hugo Crush and centre Andrui Moriroki, one of which was converted by stand off Benn Morris In the second half Morris kicked two penalties to keep the visitors in the ascendancy.
Even a late rally could not dent Highland confidence, despite conceding two late, unconverted tries.
The win takes the Canal Park side into sixth place, but poised to take any advantage coming their way from the vital two weeks ahead, as only six points separate second and seventh place.