Caley climb to second with win over 10-man Wasps
ALLOA ATHLETIC 0 INVERNESS ct 2
Taggart (og, 38), Doran (45)
Thistle boss John Robertson was delighted with the his side’s victory, saying: “It was a great game to watch, fast and flowing. Our first goal was a fluke but our second goal was outstanding.”
“Alloa are a great side and both sides went out to play an open game.
“We need to find ways to win games and if we can, we will see where that takes us.
“There are still a lot of games to be played.”
Inverness started the stronger side and soon had the home side pinned back in their third of the pitch.
Rooney created a great chance when he ran at the home defence, beat two defenders and fired a cross towards goal. Doran, at the back post, was a yard short to connect and the ball went wide.
Alloa responded quickly and O’Hara took on the Thistle defence, then fired over a great cross to Trouten, but he pushed the ball wide and missed the home side’s best chance of the first half.
Alloa took heart from their play and the home fans and players had loud appeals for a penalty kick waved away by referee Greg Aitken when Trouten appeared to have been impeded inside the box.
Inverness slowly took control of the match and had a golden opportunity to open the scoring when outstanding play between Dorran and Storey led to a cross to Donaldson who, from close range, blasted the ball over the bar.
The home side was dealt a blow when, from a Donaldson cross from the right, the ball was headed past home keeper MacDonald by home defender Taggart to give the visitors the lead through an own goal.
Thistle took heart from their stroke of good luck and they scored a second when Storey crossed the ball to White, who headed down into the path of Doran, and he fired an unstoppable shot past MacDonald.
Alloa fought back from their disappointment of losing two goals against the run of play, but were unable to cause Caley problems.
Although they had the visitor’s defence under pressure, they just could not get a goal.
The home side were dealt another blow on the hour following a heavy tackle by Liam Dick on James Keatings. Referee Greg Aiken immediately showed a red card to Dick.
Thistle settled down and defended well against the 10 men and denied the home side any opportunity to pull anything back.
Thistle deservedly held out to take all three points, and Wasps boss Peter Grant said he was disappointed with the result but pleased with the performance of his side.
“Today I thought Alloa were outstanding and all credit to them for their effort and commitment,” he said.
“We were unfortunate to lose the first goal through a mistake and then they got another goal at a bad time for us.
“Some decisions went against us and, had we scored with the penalty kick that we deserved, we would have put Thistle under pressure.
“Although it was a good game to watch but we need to stop losing poor goals.”