Caley give killer show for fans
John Robertson applauded super-slick Caley Thistle after they put on a show for 300 returning supporters starved of action for eight months.
Finishes from James Keatings and Scott Allardice, one in each half, was enough to inflict a first league defeat on Raith Rovers and end their superb six-game unbeaten run.
But it could have been a lot worse for the Kirkcaldy men, knocked off top spot by Dunfermline on Friday night, had keeper Jamie Macdonald not made some excellent saves.
Robertson, also savouring a first clean sheet in the league, said: “The players trained incredibly well all week on what we had to do today against Raith because they’re a really good side.
“The football they play is a credit to their manager and I hope John Mcglynn is back soon from illness.
“It was a tough match and we had to be on guard at all times because they’re so quick and fluent.
“It was an outstanding performance today and we thoroughly merited three points.
“And the added bonus is that we had 300 fans in to witness it as well.
“Some of the stuff we played was absolutely brilliant.”
The hosts deserved their 1-0 first-half lead through James Keatings, but were left kicking themselves after Miles Storey twice hit the top of the bar.
But midfielder Scott Allardice’s low finish midway through the second half proved a killer blow.
The Kirkcaldy men knew victory in Inverness would lift them back above their Fife rivals and they started well enough.
But after eight minutes Storey collected a stray ball 25 yards out, surged into space and unleashed a strike that rattled the top of the bar.
After 19 minutes, the hosts grasped the lead. Again, Storey’s determined running was at the heart of it, with the Englishman’s run and diagonal pass finding James Keatings at the edge of the box for a right-foot strike into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
Caley Thistle could have doubled the lead just before the half-hour, with Storey again striking the top of the bar from eight yards.
Early in the second half, keeper Jamie Macdonald kept the away side in it, until the 68th minute.
Shane Sutherland played Ibrox loanee Kennedy wide left with a superbly-flighted cross. Raith couldn’t clear and Storey left it for Scott Allardice to drill in a 12-yard finish low past keeper Macdonald.
Sub Daniel Mackay might have killed it with three minutes left but shot straight at the keeper.
Raith assistant manager Paul
Smith admitted: “We have had a fantastic start to the season which we’ve had great plaudits for, but today we weren’t quite at it.
“We got our just rewards in the end – Inverness deserved to win.”
ICT:
(4-2-3-1) Ridgers 7; Mckay 7, Devine 7, Deas 7, Harper 7; Allardice 7, Macgregor 7; Sutherland 7, Keatings 7 (Mackay 81, 3), Kennedy 7 (Doran 87, 2); Storey 8 (Welsh 81, 3). Unused – Mackay, Vincent, Nicolson, Todorov
RAITH:
(4-1-4-1) Macdonald 8; Tumilty 7, Musonda 6, Benedictus 6, Macdonald 6; Hendry 6; Armstrong 7, Matthews 7, Tait 7 (Spencer 75, 3), Ross 5 (Lokotsch 55, 5); Duku 5. Unused – Thomson, Mendy, Ugwe, Arnott, Coulson