Inverness CT vs Kilmarnock. Scottish Premiership.
Tulloch Caledonian StadiumAttendance2,228.
Sunday 24 April 2016 21:45, UK
Inverness CT ensured there would be no nervy finish to the season for them with a 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership.
The victory all but secured top-flight safety for the Highlanders, who claimed the points after going behind to a Kallum Higginbotham goal just before the interval.
The hosts hit back after Killie goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald was dismissed on 53 minutes for denying Ross Draper a goalscoring opportunity, Greg Tansey levelling from the resulting spot-kick.
Draper and Danny Williams then both struck in a three-minute spell to seal the victory and leave Kilmarnock in the thick of relegation trouble.
Inverness carved out the first real opening after half-an-hour when Miles Storey ran at the heart of the Killie defence into the penalty area, where Williams stepped on to the ball and curled a shot towards the far corner which was pushed behind by MacDonald.
From the resulting corner the ball dropped at the feet of Gary Warren and he scooped a net-bound effort towards the corner, but Julien Faubert got up to head the ball clear.
The home side came close with another corner three minutes later as Danny Devine flicked the ball towards the back post where Draper hooked the ball past MacDonald and against the outside of the upright.
But Kilmarnock took the lead on 44 minutes as Greg Kiltie laid off a pass to Higginbotham and he stepped inside Tansey to curl the ball inside the far post from 16 yards
Five minutes after the break, Rory McKenzie took a quick throw-in to Faubert and he delivered a superb cross into the box for Kris Boyd to send his diving header just over the target from six yards.
Inverness were gifted a route back into the match when Draper (53) latched on to a sloppy pass back from Conrad Balatoni and nicked the ball round MacDonald, who was committed to the challenge and brought the midfielder down.
MacDonald was dismissed by referee John Beaton, and two minutes later Tansey blasted the resulting penalty past the diving Conor Brennan, who got his fingers to the ball but was beaten by the pace.
Tansey then tested Brennan with a powerful strike from 25 yards, which the 'keeper held, and within minutes Draper's shot hit grounded Kilmarnock defender Miles Addison and spun off the outside of the post.
At the other end of the pitch Boyd placed a free-kick from 30 yards around the Thistle wall only to be denied by the post, and the ball spun off the onrushing McKenzie and flew wide of the target.
Josh Meekings then headed the ball wide from five yards with the goal at his mercy after Storey delivered a superb cross to the back post.
Inverness took the lead on 73 minutes when Warren flicked on yet another corner and Draper hooked the ball past both Brennan and Boyd from inside the six-yard box.
Storey was again involved in the third goal when he created a yard of space just inside the penalty area and threaded a pass to Williams, who held off a defender to slot the ball past the advancing Brennan.
Faubert almost snatched a goal for Killie with 10 minutes remaining as Inverness failed to clear his corner, and his return delivery to the back of the six-yard boss smacked off the bar, before Boyd crashed a shot over seconds later.
But the visitors were second best for most of the match and could well be involved in a play-off with Championship opponents at the end of the campaign.
