Killie fans turn up the heat on boss after loss
KILMARNOCK’S fans called for manager Allan Johnston to go during and after this defeat, as his players surrendered a lead to 10-man Inverness, who moved into third place with this thoroughly merited victory.
The Ayrshire club have now won just two of their last 12 matches — losing nine of them — and the pressure on Johnston to turn things around is growing.
He has been linked with a move to bring Kris Boyd back from Rangers and that would not be a surprise: of their three strikers, Lee Miller has yet to open his account, Josh Magennis last found the net on October 18 and Robbie Muirhead hasn’t scored since September 13.
Magennis was guilty of a glaring miss which proved to be the pivotal moment of the game and the few fans who remained at Rugby Park until the end stayed only to jeer their players off the pitch.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, given the freezing conditions, this affair took a while to warm up. Ten minutes had passed before Greg Tansey almost caught out Craig Samson with a cross-shot from 30 yards which the goalkeeper turned over the bar.
Inverness were dictating the tempo of the proceedings and, just four minutes later, Mark Connolly slid in to make a goal-saving block as Billy McKay shot from the corner of the six-yard box.
David Raven escaped with a yellow card for a shocking tackle on Kilmarnock midfielder Craig Slater in the 17th minute and Miller’s reaction to the challenge on his team-mate was so vociferous that it resulted in him finding his way into the referee’s notebook.
Alexei Eremenko then unleashed a dipping shot from 25 yards which looked like a goal until it skimmed the head of Josh Meekings and was deflected over.
Kilmarnock finally managed to gain a foothold in the game and Ross Draper was deservedly booked for a foul on Magennis as the Northern Irishman burst past him.
Within two minutes of the restart, Inverness found themselves a goal down and a man short.
Magennis had taken a poor first touch after being sent clear by Rory McKenzie’s through ball and he may not have been able to salvage the situation.
Raven, though, could not pull out of his attempted tackle and sent the striker sprawling. Referee Don Robertson immediately pointed to the spot and penalised Raven further, with the defender receiving a straight red card.
There was then a delay while Eremenko and Magennis argued over who should take the award. The Finn walked away, seemingly conceding that responsibility before Johnston over-ruled them both.
Eremenko then stepped up to drill the ball behind Dean Brill, low to his right.
Immediately afterwards, a short corner from Eremenko to McKenzie saw the latter fire in a shot which Brill could only parry. The loose ball fell kindly for Magennis seven yards out but, with the goal gaping, he powered his header over the bar.
Inverness soon made them pay for that miss by drawing level in spectacular style. Draper’s punt forward was expertly controlled by McKay, who lobbed the ball over Lee Ashcroft before firing past Samson.
Kilmarnock responded with a low cross from Magennis which Miller managed to knock inches wide from point-blank range.
The decision to replace the influential Eremenko with Chris Johnston for the final 20 minutes provoked widespread disgust from the home support, whose fraying nerves were not helped by another long-distance effort from Tansey which Samson just managed to push away.
However, the warning went unheeded and some truly dreadful defending gifted Inverness a second goal eight minutes from the end.
First of all, Mark O’Hara allowed himself to be dispossessed by McKay just inside the Inverness half.
The striker spun away and made a beeline for goal before supplying Nick Ross to his left. When the return pass was made, Ashcroft appeared to tackle team-mate Chris Chantler, leaving McKay free to drive home from 15 yards.