A hat-trick from Liam Boyce secured a 3-2 victory for Ross County in a thrilling Highland derby encounter against Caley Thistle.
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Boyce had put the Staggies two goals to the good in the first-half at Caledonian Stadium, before Andrew Davies’ controversial own goal on the stroke of half-time gave home side a lifeline.
Boyce notched his third goal just two minutes after the break to reinstate the two-goal cushion, with Ross Draper’s stunning goal for Caley Jags not enough to avoid their first league derby defeat against the Staggies since January 2014.
Both sides were looking to bounce back from opening day defeats, with Inverness’ misery compounded by a 1-0 defeat against Alloa Athletic in the last-16 of the Betfred Cup on Tuesday, and Richie Foran drafted in midfielder Ross Draper in place of Jake Mulraney.
County made three changes from the side that was defeated 3-1 by Dundee on the opening day of the season, with Erik Cikos, Richard Foster and Craig Curran returning in place of Brian Graham, Alex Schalk and Kenny van der Weg.
County looked sharp from the offset, and opened the scoring after just seven minutes, with Curran crossing from the left for strike partner Boyce to nod home his first goal of the season from close-range.
County should have added a second goal on 18 minutes when Inverness goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams advanced outside his box but dropped the ball, with referee Andrew Dallas opting to play advantage rather than award the free-kick, only for Martin Woods to blaze his shot over.
Inverness were dealt a blow midway through the half when defender Kevin McNaughton limped off with a leg injury following a challenge from Curran, and while the hosts were down to 10 men the Staggies took advantage, with Boyce showing superb control to take down Foster’s diagonal ball before rifling low past Fon Williams.
County looked firmly in control but Inverness managed to pull a goal back in highly controversial circumstances on the stroke of half-time. A long ball by Draper released Scott Boden, with referee Dallas initially appearing to deem the attacker offside after blowing his whistle. Boden’s touch spun off County defender Davies and into the net however, with the referee subsequently allowing the goal to stand after seeing no offside flag from his linesman.
County added a third goal just two minutes after the break, with Boyce grabbing his hat-trick when he nodded home Christopher Routis’ deep free-kick, reinstating their two-goal cushion.
Inverness struck back however, with midfielder Draper narrowing the deficit once again with a sublime volleyed effort from the edge of the box, to set up a tense finish.
Caley Jags threw everything at their rivals, with Iain Vigurs seeing his flick cleared off the line by Cikos, before substitute Jake Mulraney struck a shot just over, but there was to be no way through for the hosts.