Derby delight for Inverness
A double from Aaron Doran and a Billy McKay strike was enough to see Inverness return to the winning trail after a polished performance against Ross County in this Highland derby at Global Energy Stadium.
Doran opened the scoring with a low drive in the first half and he made it 2-0 just before the hour mark with another crisp shot.
Jackson Irvine pulled a goal back when he netted following a Martin Woods corner a minute later but there was no way back for County when McKay netted again after 73 minutes to seal a 3-1 win for the visitors.
Inverness were the first to threaten in the third minute when Carl Tremarco got the better of County defender Richard Brittain on the left and his ball to the near post was helped into the side-netting by McKay.
A minute later Marley Watkins drove forward and his pass to Doran was swept across the face of goal, before Woods curled a free-kick into the box but at the other end but Dean Brill gathered at the second attempt.
The visitors looked the more dangerous early on and McKay pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the area in the 12th minute - but his turn and shot flew wide of Tony Reguero's left hand post.
A long ball from Josh Meekings found McKay in the area but the Caley player failed to get his shot away under pressure from Scott Boyd.
After a short spell of pressure from the home side the visitors took the lead when Watkins and McKay combined to set up Doran for a fine finish from the edge of the area in the 27th minute which flashed into the net.
County made an early change when they Liam Boyce replaced Yoann Arquin in the 32nd minute. The substitute was soon in action and Caley central defender Gary Warren had to be alert to turn a Boyce cutback behind for a corner.
Boyce was soon in action again when he linked up with Brittain in the 37th minute - but the move ended with a shot from the County captain which was deflected behind for a corner.
The home side were more in the match but in a breakaway move Doran set up McKay with a chance - but his snapshot was well saved by Reguero.
County made another change before the break with Jackson Irvine replacing Terry Dunfield.
However, the visitors doubled their lead in the 58th minute when the County defence failed to clear a Greg Tansey corner and Doran lashed the ball home from the edge of the 18-yard box.
County almost pulled a goal back seconds later when an Irvine shot came back off the inside of the post with Brill beaten - but from Woods' corner Irvine powered the ball home from 10 yards.
However, the game looked to be out of County's reach in the 73rd minute when a Tansey free-kick wide on the left was knocked back across goal by Warren and McKay was there to slip the ball past Reguero from close range.
The visitors saw the match out comfortably after that to end their losing run in style.
Source: PA
