It’s a Fife double for ICT as Carson angles a victory
A late strike from midfielder David Carson gave Inverness a welcome victory over Dunfermline to take the Highlanders to within touching distance of the playoff zone.
Intermin manager Neil McCann was lavish in his praise for his players, who have travelled to Fife twice over the course of the past five days to record back-to-back wins over both the Pars and Raith Rovers.
“Once again, it will be a nice trip back up the road,” said a happy McCann afterwards.
“The players are delighted and I’m so proud of them.
“They’ve played seven games in a month and they’re out on their feet in the dressing-room without much left in the tank, but I don’t think anyone can say we didn’t deserve to win.
“It was an unbelievable goal from David Carson, who was magnificent. All round, we looked a proper unit.”
With both sides having displayed form of late which could be described at best as inconsistent, either of the protagonists would have regarded victory in this contest as being especially desirable.
However, there was little on show in the initial stages, which provided an indication of any pressing signs of urgency.
Dunfermline’s Fraser Murray did send in a half-hearted attempt after some early sparring, his rather tame shot being held by Mark Ridgers.
At the other end, Caley midfielder Daniel MacKay almost broke the deadlock, his forceful low effort eluding Pars keeper Owain Fon Williams before being blocked on the line by Aaron Comrie.
With either side electing to operate with a solo striker, it quickly became apparent that goals were unlikely to be in abundance, although Dunfermline’s isolated frontman Craig Wighton did have the ball in the net after 20 minutes, but was offside.
As Inverness striker Nikolay Todorov had found himself adequately policed by the Pars centre-back pairing of Paul Watson and Euan Murray, it was becoming clear that any goal threat from the visitors would likely emanate from midfield, and so it proved as half-time approached with Fon Williams being brought into action with a regulation save from a Sean Welsh free-kick, followed by an excellent block from the impressive MacKay.
Although Todorov had been largely anonymous prior to the interval, the Bulgarian striker finally broke free of his markers early in the second half, spotting Fon Williams off his line before attempting an audacious 25-yard lob which sailed over the Welshman’s head before landing on the top of the net.
The hosts finally generated some attacking momentum as the second half progressed, but some excellent goalkeeping from Ridgers, who saved well from both Stephen Whittaker and Scott Banks, kept it level.
But Carson broke clear at the other end, collecting a pass from Scott Allardice on 81 minutes and dispatching a cute angular shot past Fon Williams to win the game for Caley.
“I don’t think we deserved to lose,” said a disappointed Pars boss Stevie Crawford.
“There wasn’t much between the teams. You can sense I’m unhappy. I’m not going to hang anyone out to dry, but collectively we didn’t do enough to win the game.”