Date	Friday, 04 April 2014
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	4,453
Referee	Calum Murray
Comments	Match Report Report by Andrew Southwick for the BBC. Ross County 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 Billy McKay settled a fiercely contested Highland derby with a late winner as Inverness pushed Ross County closer to the relegation play-offs. Aaron Doran hit a stunning opener just before half-time, however Filip Kiss's deflected shot from close range cancelled it out. Both sides had penalty shouts turned down, while Yann Songo'o also had a goal ruled out for the Dingwall side. The winner came when Doran found McKay, who scored at the second attempt. It gave Inverness their second victory in Dingwall inside six weeks, and moves John Hughes' men within two points of fourth-placed Dundee United as the Scottish Premiership reaches the split. For County, the defeat means they have won just once in their last seven and leaves them just three points ahead of 11th-placed St Mirren as they bid to avoid the end of season relegation play-off. Under the Friday night floodlights the game took a while to ignite, with both sides creating half-chances without looking like opening the scoring. Marley Watkins headed weakly at goalkeeper Mark Brown before, at the other end, efforts from Richard Brittain and Melvin De Leeuw went wide for County. McKay then broke through and drilled in a low shot which Brown managed to get his boot to in order to deflect wide. The derby began to heat up and Graham Carey beat Graeme Shinnie on the right to fire on a dangerous ball which Dean Brill had to tip over the bar. As play switched from end-to-end, Watkins and Doran had goal-bound shots blocked and then County thought they had taken the lead. Yoann Arquin rose highest to head Graham Carey's free-kick towards goal and Songo'o got the last touch to divert the ball into the net. However, the on-loan Blackburn Rovers defender was in an offside position and the assistant referee's flag cut short the celebrations. Shinnie's left-foot shot brought out the best in Brown but the goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Doran's goal on the stroke of half-time. The goalkeeper initially pulled off a great save to stop Greg Tansey's free-kick but McKay poked the rebound away to Doran outside the box and the winger thundered a breathtaking effort high into the net from the left-hand side. County had been playing an unfamiliar diamond formation in the first 45 minutes, but after the break they reverted back to a more familiar set-up, and it paid instant dividends. Their goal may not have had the same panache as Inverness's, but it was just as important. Arquin swiped fresh air with an overhead kick, then Songo'o missed the follow up, but Kiss fired in the loose ball at the back post, with the shot taking a wicked deflection off Carl Tremarco on its way into the net. Inverness responded almost immediately when David Raven found a yard of space on De Leeuw and tried to lob Brown, but the goalkeeper managed to nudge it over. Kiss almost went from hero to villain when he bundled over Watkins inside the box. Fortunately for the Slovak, the referee waved away the penalty claims. There was confusion at the other end when County felt they should have been awarded a penalty. Shinnie's high boot caught the head of Kiss in the area but Inverness were originally awarded a free-kick before the assistant referee intervened. Shinnie was then yellow carded but, instead of being awarded a penalty, County were given a free-kick. Shinnie and Tansey put efforts past Brown's right-hand post and Boyd could maybe have done better when Carey's free-kick found him in the middle. The game was there to be won and it was McKay with his 22nd goal of the season who put the visitors back in front, pouncing on Doran's chip forward and volleying in at the second attempt. McKay was unlucky not to make it three late on with a delightful chip that bounced off the bar. Ross County fail to get big decisions in games because they are "a small club from the Highlands," according to manager Derek Adams. Speaking after the Highland derby defeat, Adams believed his side should have had a penalty. "Decisions have been going against us a number of times this season," he told BBC Scotland. "If the other clubs are getting bigger supports and are able to influence things then that's what happens." County, who fell behind to Aaron Doran's goal, equalised through Filip Kiss's deflected effort. The hosts appealed in vain for a penalty when Graham Shinnie appeared to kick Kiss in the face with an attempted clearance. And County also believed Inverness defender Carl Tremarco should have received a red for a challenge on Kiss. Adams said: "I thought that Tremarco should've been sent off. It was a poor tackle and he wasn't in control of his body; he was over the top on Filip Kiss. "And Filip goes into the box and I think it's Shinnie who connects with his head. We get a foul but it's inside the box. It [should be] a penalty kick. The assistant referee is right there as well as the referee. "We didn't play well enough in spells tonight but we didn't deserve to lose the game. We got ourselves back to 1-1 and thinking that we could maybe score the second goal. But, in saying that, Billy McKay's been able to get that second goal. "Decisions have been going against us a number of times this season. You look at the one against Aberdeen when Arquin goes into the back; look at the one that Kris Boyd scores [for Kilmarnock] and look at some of the sendings off we've had, it's been disappointing. "We're a small club from the Highlands and don't have the fan-base of other clubs. "They get on top of things and make arguments, it's just the way it goes. We didn't really trouble Inverness enough; we had two strikers up front and didn't really cause them enough trouble. "In the second half we changed it a wee bit and got the goal. We looked more solid - with the wingers on the side - but in the end we've probably got to do more to win it." Regarding their bid to avoid the relegation play-off, Adams said: "It's very tight. We've got five games to go now and we have to pick up a number of points. That's the same with all the teams in the bottom half of the table."
Ross County
Manager	Derek Adams
Starting 11	1: Mark Brown, 2: Erik Cikos, 5: Scott Boyd, 7: Filip Kiss 1, 8: Richard Brittain, 11: Melvin De Leeuw, 12: Michael Tidser 1, 23: Graham Carey, 26: Evangelos Oikonomou, 27: Yoann Arquin, 28: Yann Songo'o
Bench	42: Sean McCarthy, 3: Benjamin Gordon, 10: Rocco Quinn, 15: Gary Glen, 21: Brian McLean, 22: Steven Saunders, 25: Jordan Slew
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Manager	John Hughes
Starting 11	Dean Brill, David Raven, Gary Warren, Josh Meekings, Carl Tremarco 1, Greg Tansey, Graeme Shinnie 1, James Vincent, Marley Watkins 1, Aaron Doran 1, Billy McKay 1
Bench	Ryan Esson, Nick Ross, Danny Williams, Liam Polworth, Ryan Christie, Adam Evans