Inverness Caledonian Thistle beat Greenock Morton and go five points clear at the top as Kilmarnock draw at Dunfermline Athletic
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Scottish Championship
Caley Thistle 2
Greenock Morton 0
Scorers: Mckay (19) Gardyne (49)
Inverness Caledonian Thistle have gone five points clear at the top of the Championship after defeating Greenock Morton at the Caledonian Stadium.
Kilmarnock were held 2–2 at Dunfermline Athletic to put daylight between Inverness and the rest of the chasing pack in the league.
Billy Mckay and Michael Gardyne scored either side of half time to keep all three points at the Caledonian Stadium.
Greenock Morton started confidently and almost took the lead in spectacular fashion after eight minutes when Tom Allan spotted goalkeeper Mark Ridgers off his line and unleashed a powerful shot from the left wing 30 yards out which went inches over the bar.
Ridgers then nearly gifted Morton the lead when a poor clearance from his box was pounced on by Jimmy Knowles 25 yards from goal.
He charged into the box where his shot was blocked and the ball fell to Gavin Reilly whose shot was only denied finding the net by a sliding challenge from Danny Devine.
Inverness broke the deadlock in the 19th minute with goalkeeper Ridgers launching a route one punt up the field which caught the Morton defence unaware.
Mckay beat the offside trap and collected the ball 25 yards from goal and charged into the box, keeping his composure to fire a low drive past the advancing Jack Hamilton into the bottom right corner of the net.
It was the veteran striker’s first league goal of the season and added to the five he has scored in the Trust Trophy against Buckie Thistle and Elgin City.
Mckay went close to getting his second minutes later when he connected with a cross from former Ross County teammate Michael Gardyne at the edge of the box and fired a low drive inches past the left post.
Morton could have pulled one back before half time when Knowles broke through the Inverness defence with only Ridgers to beat, but fired his shot well wide of the post.
The restart was delayed for 10 minutes after Michael Gardyne and Cameron Blues suffered a head collision on the stroke of half time but both players were able to return for the second half after they were assessed by medical staff.
Four minutes after the break Inverness doubled their advantage as Roddy MacGregor did the hard work charging into the box and passed to Billy Mckay whose shot was blocked and the ball ricocheted kindly to Michael Gardyne who fired into the net from eight yards out.
On loan Norwich City midfielder Reece McAlear could have made it 3–0 minutes later when the Motherwell teenager saw his free kick from 25 yards out head towards the top right corner but was well saved by Hamilton.
Inverness had other chances to extend their lead but were never in danger of conceding their victory.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle (4-2-3-1): Ridgers (6), Welsh (7), Deas (6), Devine (7), Gardyne (7), Mckay (8), Sutherland (6) (Duku 57, 6 ), MacGregor (7), Broadfoot (6), Allardice (5), McAlear (6) (Doran 62).
Subs (Unused) Mackay, Duffy, Walsh, McDonald.
Morton (3-4-1-2): Hamilton (6) Strapp (5), McEntee (5), Jacobs (6), Oliver (6), Blues (6), Knowles (5) (Muirhead 62, 5), Reilly (5) (Lyon 69, 6), Oksanen (7), Allan (6) (Russell 45, 6), Lithgow (6).
Subs (Unused) Ledger, McLean, McGrattan, King.
Referee: Mike Roncone
