Three things to take away from Inverness Caley Thistle's 2-1 win over Cove Rangers in the Scottish Championship
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While Inverness Caledonian Thistle's trip to Cove Rangers will not go down as a classic, it did serve up a valuable three points for Billy Dodds' side.
Two disallowed goals for offside in the opening five minutes meant that Inverness had to be patient for their rewards, and with the points crucial for both teams it became a scrappy affair at times in the first half.
However, a free kick from former Caley Thistle man Iain Vigurs put Cove ahead, and helped inject some life into proceedings.
Aaron Doran's introduction helped to change the game in ICT's favour, as he would win a penalty that Billy Mckay converted to level the scores.
Doran then turned provider for Cameron Harper, who scored a rare right-footed goal to ensure the points would be heading back to the Highlands.
That don't im-press me much
Watch any game of football on TV nowadays, and there will be some talk of pressing.
Organised teams have a set system of how they approach matches without the ball, and the best teams are usually high-intensity, high-pressing sides.
That's what made the first half in particular so odd at Balmoral Stadium – there was next to none of that on show.
I can't remember the last time I watched a game where players had so much time on the ball in the middle of the park.
You can put that down to nerves I'd guess, with the three points being vital to both teams' prospects by the end of the season.
However, it made for a strange battle. ICT seemed to have by far the more mobile players in the key areas, but they did not make that count.
Coach Barry Wilson's thoughts: "We had the disappointment of the early goal – which when people see it again, they will be amazed. Everyone was back up the park for the kick off and the linesman puts his flag up.
"That was disappointing, and I think you could see that affected us a wee bit. Coming away from home and losing the first goal in the second half, it's massive to turn that around, because it's quite rare.
"It's the character of the players, and they realised what's on the line. They knew we couldn't slip up, and fortunately we turned it around."
Deas-y does it
Looking at the starting line-up for Caley Thistle, the most notable omission was Robbie Deas dropping to the substitutes' bench.
After returning from his broken leg, the defender has been a fixture in the team – so seeing him taken out of the starting 11 was some cause for concern.
Thankfully for Inverness, they had the experience of Danny Devine to call on in his place, and for the most part ICT were not particularly troubled at the back against Cove.
Supporters should not worry too much about Deas' prospects of featuring going forward, either, as he came off the bench in the second half – with it later being confirmed he was just being rested amidst a hectic run of games.
Barry Wilson's thoughts: "Deasy has still been struggling since his leg break – just with aches and pains.
"We've had a lot of games, and we have another one on Astroturf on Tuesday night, so we're spinning played a little bit.
"We thought we could give Deasy a wee rest today, and hopefully he'll be fine for Tuesday night. It was just precautionary."
Two out of three ain't bad
Victory at the Balmoral Stadium helped Caley Thistle close the gap.
Had results gone another way, Inverness could already be sitting in the Championship's top four, but a draw between Partick Thistle and Ayr United was not a bad outcome either.
Now, both are eminently catchable, and while there is little practical different in terms of the play-offs between finishing third or fourth, every team Inverness could overtake provides them with an extra buffer – and some extra cash in their coffers.
A late goal for Dundee against Morton also keeps the Greenock side a little further at bay, and with the form book well and truly in ICT's favour they should fancy their chances of extending their campaign at this point.
Of course, that's easier said than done, and the Caley Jags will still have to perform over the next few weeks to make it a reality, but where plenty of fans were down in the dumps about the 2022/23 season not too long ago, now they should be full of belief.
Aaron Doran's thoughts: "We're in great form, so we know that if we keep picking up wins we'll have a lot to look forward to over the rest of the season.
"We'll just take one game at a time. If we keep notching up wins, we'll get to where we want to be and it will have us in good form going into the semi final.
"It doesn't really matter about performances now. Today wasn't the best performance or the best game, but we got there in the end, and that's what we need to keep doing to keep going and keep believing."
