Aaron Muirhead’s two penalties put Falkirk on their way to a 3-1 victory over 10-man Caley Thistle at the Falkirk Stadium.
Muirhead dispatched his first spot-kick just after the break when Caley Jags had already seen Jake Mulraney sent off.
His second came with 25 minutes to go and despite Daniel MacKay’s consolation, Andrew Nelson popped up with a late third as Falkirk went on to record their first league win over Caley Thistle this season.
Inverness made two changes from the side that drew 2-2 with Dundee in last weekend’s Scottish Cup fourth round tie. Iain Vigurs was suspended and Aaron Doran dropped to the bench with the game played on an artificial surface.
Collin Seedorf and Mulraney came into the team and Charlie Trafford was passed fit after dealing with a concussion and flu during the week. John Robertson named three 16-year-old’s on the bench – Cameron Harper, Jack Brown and MacKay – with Liam Polworth also banned.
Falkirk were unchanged from the 1-0 win over Livingston in midweek.
The first opportunity of the afternoon came for the depleted visitors, with Brad McKay’s raking ball making its way to Joe Chalmers. After he bundled his way past two navy blue shirts, his well-struck effort was parried clear by Robbie Thomson.
Inverness were busy, harrying Falkirk into mistakes and getting shots away at Thomson’s goal. Chalmers’ under-hit corner made its way to George Oakley on 17 minutes and with four goals in his last six outings, he will have been disappointed to scuff his shot straight at the Falkirk goalkeeper.
Paul Hartley’s side had largely been restricted to wasteful crosses but their first meaningful piece of inter-play between Louis Longridge and Craig Sibbald on 28 minutes saw the latter draw a smart stop out of Mark Ridgers.
A whipped effort from Mulraney had Thomson back-pedalling nervously but the Irishman made the headlines for all the wrong reasons before the break. He clattered Longridge twice in a minute – earning a booking for the first one – with the home fans clamouring for a quick dismissal.
They got their wish though as less than 60 seconds later, when he needlessly pushed over Andrew Nelson and was duly dismissed by Euan Anderson, before booting a water bottle away as he walked off.
Caley Jags’ misery was compounded when Muirhead gave Falkirk the lead from the spot three minutes into the second half, after Chalmers tripped Longridge in the area.
Muirhead was on target again from the spot on 65 minutes when Seedorf lunged in on Tommy Robson but Inverness gave themselves some hope when the two 16-year-old’s combined.
Brown’s ball over the top found MacKay and he cut back inside before whipping the ball past Thomson.
But Nelson’s close-range finish with four minutes left made sure of the points.