An Alfie Bavidge goal gave Caley Thistle a 1-0 victory at Kelty Hearts as they continued their impressive bid to dodge the relegation play-off spot.
Scott Kellacher’s men went into the clash looking to bounce back from a heavy defeat at Arbroath in their previous game a fortnight earlier.
And, after shaking off some early rustiness, they produced the desired response against a Kelty side who have lost all three of their matches under new boss Charlie Mulgrew.
Kellacher, though pleased with the result, wasn’t looking too far ahead and said: “It was night and day between the first half and the second half. You can see with us not having a game last week that it took us a while to get going.
“I thought they probably had a wee bit more of the first half in all fairness – we never really got going.
“We got them in and said to them ‘to go and work hard.’
“I will never question these boys’ ability – they’re good footballers, there’s no doubt about that. We just needed to go out and work hard and everything else would just sort of flow.
“I’ll give them their due – they’ve gone out and worked ever so hard and you can see the tide turning even within the first five minutes.
“I thought we looked a completely different team the second half. We got into our stride and I think probably over the piece we deserved the win.
“It wasn’t a nice game of football – the conditions, the astro was really dry and the wind didn’t help so we tried to play the conditions as best we could.
“It’s a massive win for us – absolutely massive.
“We’ve been looking up since the position we’ve been put in (points deduction due to administration) but there’s a drive about these boys as I’ve said it all along.”
After a cagey opening from both sides it was the Caley Jags who sprang to life when a Luis Longstaff cross found Paul Allan whose effort was brilliantly kept out by Ruairidh Adams.
Coming close to going a goal down sparked Kelty into life with Lewis Moore cutting in and spearing a shot towards the bottom corner only for Musa Dibaga to get down well to deny.
Caley Jags upped the ante after the break
A positive start to the second half saw Bavidge run at his man before unleashing a good strike which flashed just past the post.
With Caley Thistle pushing for the opener Callum Flatman put his body on the line to deny Billy McKay following a great cut-back from Keith Bray.
From the resulting block Charlie Gilmour unleashed a fierce effort from the edge of the area but it skimmed past the post.
In the 73rd minute Inverness got their goal as a superb McKay chip found Gilmour who played the ball across the face of goal to give Bavidge the easiest of tap-ins.
The visitors survived a scare in stoppage time when Luke McCarvel fired an effort goal-wards but there was relief for Inverness when the effort drifted just wide of the post.
Bavidge praised for contribution
Kellacher reserved a word for match-winner Bavidge, adding: “He’s great – he’s just got that natural ability of being at the right place at the right time. He did great for the goal.”
Caley Jags are now just two points behind third bottom Annan Athletic with a game in hand and will be looking to continue their ascent of the table in the final 11 matches of the campaign.
Kellacher, though, cautioned: “I’m not one of these guys that will get carried away – I keep my feet firmly on the ground and I’ll keep their feet firmly on the ground and we will just focus on the next game now.”
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