Caley Thistle suffered late agony as Dundee United struck in the dying stages again to claim victory at Caledonian Stadium.
It was a far from thrilling encounter which neither side truly deserved to win, however Tony Watt’s late winner secured the win for Jim Goodwin’s men.
Both previous meetings between the sides had been evenly-contested encounters, with Chris Mochrie netting an injury-time winner on United’s last visit to the Highlands in September, with the two sides sharing a 1-1 draw at Tannadice in November.
This proved to be much of the same, with both teams largely cancelling each other out throughout a night in which a breakthrough looked increasingly unlikely until Watt struck three minutes from time to leave Caley Jags with a feeling of deja vu against their Tayside opponents.
Duncan Ferguson handed a debut to new signing James Carragher, who took his place on the right-hand side of a back three. He took the place of Wallace Duffy, while departed skipper Sean Welsh was replaced by Luis Longstaff.
Welsh is one of several players to have left the Highlanders in recent days, along with Zak Delaney, Lewis Hyde and youngster Harry Hennem.
There was also no place for David Wotherspoon who was still sidelined with a hamstring injury. It was the final match he was contracted for, with the attacker expected to complete a move to the Tannadice club next week.
United knew a victory would return them to the Championship summit, although Raith Rovers have the opportunity to reclaim top spot by defeating Queen’s Park on Saturday.
It was a far from entertaining opening to the match, with virtually no goalmouth action of note. United had the first half-chance on 20 minutes but Kai Fotheringham’s tame effort was blocked long before it reached Mark Ridgers’ goal.
Inverness were looking to build from the backline and a fine move led to a chance on 24 minutes when Billy Mckay exchanged passes with David Carson before launching a shot, which was deflected behind by Kevin Holt.
Caley Thistle almost took the lead shortly afterwards when Cameron Harper’s corner was met by a bullet header from Danny Devine – who was denied a goal to mark his 200th Inverness appearance by a goal-line clearance from Ross County loanee Jordan Tillson.
United had a faint appeal for a penalty midway through the first half when Tony Watt went to ground as he looked to beat Harper to the ball, but there was not enough in it to draw the attention of referee Alan Muir.
Inverness continued to look threatening with Longstaff swivelling inside the box before seeing a shot deflected into the hands of Jack Walton.
Mckay was back in the thick of the action after the ball fell to him in the box following Carson’s delivery, with a deflection off Liam Grimshaw taking the ball into the arms of Walton.
There had been a distinct lack of goalscoring opportunities but Caley Jags would have been relatively content with the way the first half had panned out given they had shown the more menacing attacking play.
United’s first meaningful attempt came on 50 minutes, when a deep cross by Grimshaw found the head of Watt, but the United skipper could not keep his effort down.
Inverness quickly got on the front foot with Walton forced to make a scrambled save to deny Max Anderson following Carson’s cross, while Charlie Gilmour sent a follow up strike over from the edge of the box.
Ridgers was called into action for the first time on 73 minutes when a Watt through ball released Archie Meekison, whose initial touch took the ball off the heel of Carson before it sat up again for the United substitute, whose powerful drive was well gathered by the Inverness goalkeeper.
Ferguson looked to his bench for the first time with 11 minutes remaining, with Adam Brooks given an opportunity in place of Mckay.
It looked like the game was destined for a draw until the 87th minute, when Glenn Middleton’s low delivery was tucked home by Watt at the far post.
Ferguson threw on Cillian Sheridan and Aaron Doran in an effort to respond, with Inverness infuriated when the ball struck Grimshaw’s arm from a Harper free-kick deep into stoppage time.
Player Ratings
CALEY THISTLE (3-4-2-1): Ridgers 6; Carragher 6 (Sheridan 89), Devine 7, Boyes 6; Carson 7, Anderson 6, Gilmour 6, Harper 6; Longstaff 6 (Doran 90) Shaw 6; Mckay 6 (Brooks 79).
Subs not used: Mackay, Duffy, MacGregor, Davidson, Thompson, Ujdur.
DUNDEE UNITED (4-4-2): Walton 6; Grimshaw 6, Graham 6, Holt 6, McMann 6; Fotheringham 6, Mochrie 6, Tillson 6 (Glass 89), Middleton 5; Greive 6 (Meekison 69), Watt 6.
Subs not used: Newman, Denham, Freeman, Duffy, MacLeod, Cudjoe, Petrie.
Referee: Alan Muir
Attendance: 2,662
Star Man: Danny Devine
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