Cameron Harper double seals win for Inverness Caley Thistle in city of discovery as Dundee end Scottish Championship contest with 10 men
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Dundee 2 (Sweeney, Grayson)
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 (Harper x2, Mckay)
Two goals from Cameron Harper helped Inverness Caledonian Thistle seal an important win away at Dundee.
The Caley Jags' hosts took the lead through captain Ryan Sweeney in the first half, only for Harper – playing in the middle of the park – to equalise in style.
Billy Mckay then put Inverness in front from the penalty spot, only for Joe Grayson to bring the scores level once again in the second half.
Harper, though, would step up once again when his side needed something special, scoring a third to claim the win against a Dundee side who finished with 10 men after Sweeney was shown a second yellow card.
Caley Thistle came under pressure in the opening minutes as they struggled to deal with Dundee's set-pieces.
Billy Mckay was needed to block Zach Robinson's header at one corner on the line, with the home players desperately appealing for a combination of a goal and handball only to be waved away by the referee.
Dundee would not have to wait long to take the lead though, as another corner saw a handful of players between both teams rise to try and win it, with it being Ryan Sweeney's header that took multiple deflections on its way over the line.
Inverness quickly responded though, as a corner of their own was not properly cleared and fell to Cameron Harper, who picked out the top corner from the edge of the box.
At the other end again, Mark Ridgers needed to react quickly to prevent Lee Ashcroft restoring Dundee's lead, but from there the game became quite scrappy.
Caley Thistle did suffer a blow when Austin Samuels, just back in the team after coming back from injury ahead of schedule, was forced off as half time approached.
There would be another twist before the interval, though, as Harper burst through the home defence and managed to get to the ball before being clipped by Dee goalkeeper Harrison Sharp inside his own box, giving ICT the chance to take the lead going into half time.
Mckay stepped up to take the spot kick, and managed to convert with a little help from the inside of the post after sending Sharp the wrong way.
Inverness tried to extend their lead straight from the second half kick off, bringing the ball into the final third.
Steven Boyd volleyed a cross back into the middle where Aaron Doran and Daniel MacKay each tried to stab the ball over the line, only for Sharp to pounce on it at a crucial moment.
Shortly before the hour mark, Dundee made them pay for not converting when they got back on level terms.
Again it centred around a corner kick, which McMullan took but was not properly cleared. Inverness failed to pick him up though, so when the ball was played back in from the other side McMullan had free reign to latch on to it and fire towards goal – where Joe Grayson got the final touch.
Dundee sustained plenty of pressure on the Inverness goal after that, but could not find another way through despite keeping Ridgers busy.
So it was that with around five minutes left on the clock, Inverness had the chance to regain the lead – and they took it.
A rare spell of possession saw them go back and forth on the pitch a few times, before finally working it out to Dan MacKay on the left who slipped a pass inside to Harper.
With no lack of confidence in trying his luck after his earlier goal, the full back-turned central midfielder took aim once again to pick out the bottom corner.
That left the crowd at Dens Park deflated, and things went from bad to worse for the hosts when Dundee skipper Sweeney was shown a second yellow, forcing them to finish the match with 10 men.
With the numerical advantage on the pitch and on the scoreboard, Inverness were able to see the game out and take all three points back to the Highlands.
Dundee: Sharp, Marshall, French, Sweeney, McGhee, Ashcroft, Mulligan (McGinn 70), Robinson (Rudden 70), McMullan, Williamson (McGowan 56), Grayson.
Subs not used: Legzdins, Kerr, Sheridan, Anderson, Cameron, Strachan.
Caley Thistle: Ridgers, Harper, Deas, Devine, Carson, Mckay (Oakley 74), D MacKay (Hyde 86), Allardice, Delaney, Samuels (Doran 39), Boyd.
Subs not used: Mackay, Ram, Shaw, C MacKay.
Referee: Peter Stewart
Attendance: 4396 (196 away)
