Lafferty in for the kill
KYLE LAFFERTY scored the first goal of his second stint at Kilmarnock to steer the Rugby Park side into pole position in the race to catch Arbroath at the top of the Championship.
The Northern Irishman, making his second appearance after re-joining the club, made a decisive impact with a tap-in after just nine minutes.
It proved to be the only goal of the game and set-up an enticing top-of-the-table TV showdown at Gayfield on Friday night, with Killie now just a point behind Dick Campbell’s league leaders.
Home boss Derek McInnes declared: ‘The main priority was to win the game and the players showed real resolve.
‘I don’t think Zach (Hemming) has had a real save to make but we should have picked Inverness off. We look like we are not used to winning at home.’
It took Killie fewer than 10 minutes to take the lead and Lafferty made no mistake in stabbing home from six yards after wonderful work from
Daniel MacKay who fired a cross in from the right wing.
Stand-in Killie captain Rory McKenzie found himself through on goal but his effort flew just over the crossbar.
Tom Walsh nearly brought the Highlanders level just before the half-hour mark but his swirling effort from the left wing was well saved by Hemming.
Kilmarnock were wasteful in the second half but the visitors struggled to threaten.
Inverness boss Billy Dodds said: ‘In the first half, two or three of our players didn’t believe.
‘We gave the ball away and we can’t adjust and we end up picking it out of our net. I said they needed to stand up and be men.’