Caley Thistle missed the opportunity to cut the gap on Championship leaders Dundee United after falling to a 1-0 defeat to Arbroath.
Luke Donnelly’s early second half goal was the difference between the sides on an off-colour afternoon for John Robertson’s men, who had an excellent display from goalkeeper Mark Ridgers to thank for not going down more heavily.
The result, which is Caley Jags’ second loss to the Red Lichties this season, saw Inverness miss out on the chance to narrow United’s 14-point gap at the top after Robbie Neilson’s men drew 1-1 with city rivals Dundee.
Inverness were unchanged from the side which ran out comfortable 2-0 winners against Dunfermline the previous weekend.
It was a first half of precious few goalscoring openings, with Jordan White going closest for the home side on 29 minutes with a low drive which goalkeeper Derek Gaston unconvincingly turned wide.
Arbroath had a great chance to open the scoring four minutes before the break, with Mark Ridgers forced to thwart Bobby Linn’s effort when the attacker went clean through on goal.
The visitors took the lead just two minutes into the second half however, with the ball breaking for Linn wide on the left to send a low cutback across goal, setting up Donnelly to tap past Ridgers from point-blank range.
The goal was a boost for the Red Lichties, with midfielder Mark Whatley going close with an angled effort which drifted wide moments later.
Inverness were becoming frustrated in their attempts to claw back into the game, with Shaun Rooney flagged offside when he nodded across goal for Miles Storey to tap into the net.
It was Ridgers at the other end who had Inverness twice had to thank for denying Arbroath a clinching second, blocking David Gold’s low effort with his legs before showing an excellent reflex save to tip Greig Spence’s header over the bar.