Jags refuse to yield

player who deserved pass marks for his first-half display and he went close to an undeserved equaliser just before the break with a left- foot drive from the edge of the area which was clawed away by Dean Brill for a fruitless corner.

The home supporters booed their side off the park at the break but not before they were howling for a penalty when Gardyne tumbled in the area under pressure from David Raven but referee Steven McLean waved play on.

The hosts were much improved in the second period, although they could not have been much worse. Rabiu Ibrahim was introduced for the ineffective William Gros and the former Celtic player added fresh impetus as Killie equalised six minutes after the restart.

Killie had another penalty appeal ignored when Jeroen Tesselaar’s shot appeared to hit Warren’s arm before they restored parity in fortuitous circumstances.

Graeme Shinnie outpaced Kilmarnock midfielder Barry Nicholson to reach Ibrahim’s scuffed through ball but the attempted clearance cannoned off Nicholson’s shin and the ball flew beyond Brill and into the net. The visitors responded immediately. The Killie defence had clearly not been briefed on McKay ’ s goalscoring prowess as they afforded him the freedom of Ayrshire to waltz on to Meekings’s hopeful punt up the park before coolly lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Craig Samson.

From that moment on it was a backs to the wall for Inverness as they held onto a precious three points.

The defence performed excellently to withstand the Killie onslaught with Warren making two key blocks to deny Kris Boyd a late leveller.

Caley Thistle against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday

Billy McKay takes the plaudits after his winner