McKay fires Caley to victory
Billy McKay netted his seventh goal of the season to send Inverness into the League Cup quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over Dundee.
McKay had already threatened with a shot over the bar before giving Caley Thistle a ninth-minute lead at Dens Park as they bounced back from their first defeat of the season against Aberdeen.
The visitors worked the ball well down the left side and Richie Foran gave himself a shooting chance following a one-two with Nick Ross.
The captain sliced his shot but the ball fell kindly for McKay eight yards out and the Northern Ireland international reacted quickly to knock the ball home.
Both Ross and McKay hit the frame of the goal but Dundee improved considerably after the halfway stage.
However, Caley Thistle goalkeeper Dean Brill saved well from Craig Beattie and Peter MacDonald before making an excellent 89th-minute stop from Ryan Conroy to send the Scottish Premiership leaders through.
Inverness, who had Danny Devine in for the injured Gary Warren, kept pushing forward after the opener and McKay saw a shot deflected over before Ross blazed over from 18 yards.
Terry Butcher's side, who were one of last season's beaten semi-finalists, came close to a second in the 20th minute when Foran sent Ross down the inside right channel with the outside of his boot. The wide player held off a challenge and stabbed the ball past Kyle Letheren but saw it bounce off the post.
Jim McAlister and Beattie had shots deflected wide as Dundee tried to force their way back into the game but Inverness were closing them down quickly and continued to possess a goal threat when they went forward.
Dundee forced Brill into his first save with the last kick of the first half when the ball fell for Beattie 16 yards out following a quick break. The former Celtic striker drilled a left-footed shot from 16 yards, which Brill stopped with an excellent diving save.
McKay came closer three minutes after the break with a brilliant piece of skill when he hooked Foran's cross over his head from 15 yards only to see it loop off the bar.
MacDonald soon saw a powerful shot pushed over by Brill before curling a 25-yard free-kick just wide.
Dundee continued to pin Inverness back but they struggled to break down a resilient defence which has now kept five clean sheets in eight games this season and Ross came close with a late curler.
And Brill secured the victory when he dived low to his left to keep out Conroy's shot after a MacDonald backheel had set up a chance just inside the box.
Source: PA
