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Caley Thistle thrilled by comeback victory, while Cove Rangers rue defensive frailties

Inverness' 2-1 win bolstered their bid for the play-offs, but the Balmoral Stadium side still face an uphill task in bottom spot.

Billy Mckay's penalty drew Inverness level before they went on to win 2-1 at Cove Rangers. Images: Craig Brown/SNS Group
Billy Mckay's penalty drew Inverness level before they went on to win 2-1 at Cove Rangers. Images: Craig Brown/SNS Group

Barry Wilson insists Caley Thistle are determined to keep on winning – as maximum points might be required to take them into the promotion play-offs.

The Inverness first-team coach hailed Saturday’s 2-1 Championship victory at Cove Rangers, which was earned by a Billy Mckay penalty and Cammy Harper winner after Cove’s Iain Vigurs had opened the scoring against his old club.

Ahead of Tuesday’s trip to ninth-placed Hamilton, Inverness are now level with fourth-placed Ayr United and just one point behind Partick Thistle, who sit third.

Cove remain in bottom place, but are just two points behind Hamilton with three games still to play.

Five successive league victories, and seven wins from eight games overall, has in-form Inverness chasing their chance at promotion with three games to go.

ICT ‘amazed’ by early offside goal call

Wilson explained the set-back after not taking an early lead due to an offside call rocked Caley Thistle a little, but he was full of praise after the players refused to accept defeat in Aberdeen.

He said: “You can put a lot of this result down to character shown. We got over the disappointment of the early (Billy Mckay) goal being chopped off.

Billy Mckay scored the Inverness equaliser, but was denied an early goal when the offside flag went up.

“When people see that again, they will be amazed. It was about how late the decision was. Everyone was walking back up the park for the restart and the linesman put his flag up.

“That affected us a little bit.

“Then, away from home, we lose the first goal in the second half and it’s massive to turn that around. It’s quite rare and it took character from the players.

“They realise what’s on the line. We can’t slip up and have to keep winning.

“We know we have Ayr at home on the last day of the season. We’d love to be in a position of comfort before then, but it looks as if it will go all the way.

“We have to keep ourselves in there and if that game is the match to win for the play-off, we will take that.

“Like last season, we’ve hit form at the right time and taking momentum into the play-offs is huge. Obviously, we have still got to get into the play-offs.

“It’s one thing having momentum – we have to keep that going. With half an hour to go against Cove, a win was looking unlikely, so we’re delighted to get three points.

“The boys were tired. We have flogged the same horses (due to injuries) for quite a while. The boys out there done it and we move on to Hamilton on Tuesday.”

Wilson – Players keeping dream alive

ICT, who face Falkirk in the Scottish Cup semis on April 29, were given a second chance in the competition when Queen’s Park, who beat them, were expelled for fielding an ineligible player in January’s tie.

That boost was followed by cup wins against Premiership sides Livingston and Kilmarnock to line up their Hampden clash with Falkirk, with Celtic or Rangers awaiting the winner in the final.

Wilson reckons the boost of the cup reprieve has been the catalyst for the dramatic turnaround in Caley Thistle’s season.

He added: “It’s unbelievable the position we’re in. A couple of hours after losing to Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup, we were out of the cup and the league wasn’t looking good.

“All of a sudden, we got that Scottish Cup reprieve and that’s galvanised the whole place and making the most of it to reach the semi-final and the league run has got us back into a position where it could be an excellent season. All credit to the players.”

Weak goals disappoint Paul Hartley

Manager Paul Hartley felt his battling Cove team were on course for full points on Saturday, but they fell short defensively, which cost them the game.

Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley.

He said: “It was disappointing. I thought for 65-70 minutes, we were okay and we scored a really good goal, but we didn’t defend our box properly and gave away a sloppy, needless, penalty because you’re not in a good position… you don’t know where anyone is.

“With the second goal, we had to react better, coming out to press the ball and they just walked past to score.

“So defensively it was two really poor goals to concede.

“I thought we had good organisation and shape. We scored a cracking goal and you have to manage the game from there.”

Cove now travel to Arbroath on Saturday before taking on leaders Dundee at Dens on April 28.

They trail ninth-placed Hamilton by two points and are six points now behind weekend hosts Arbroath.

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