Date	Saturday, 19 March 2016
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Ross County 0:3 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	5,912
Referee	Bobby Madden
Comments	Match Report Report by Martin Dowden for the BBC. Ross County 0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 A clinical Inverness Caley Thistle spoiled Ross County's celebrations with a fifth straight derby win at Dingwall. Goals from Liam Polworth and Ross Draper in the space of five minutes put Caley 2-0 ahead at half-time. A fabulous Miles Storey volley early in the second half sealed a first win in eight games and lifted Thistle to within four points of County in sixth. County, who were due to parade the League Cup around Dingwall afterwards, spurned a handful of chances. It was a horrible end to a fabulous week for the hosts, who had recovered from their Hampden heroics to salvage a point at St Johnstone on Wednesday. But this proved a match too far after a hectic recent schedule in front of a crowd of just under 6,000. Alex Schalk, who scored the winner against Hibs at Hampden, nearly gave Ross the perfect start, but his diving header from Richard Foster's cross was well saved by Owain Fon Williams. Andrew Davies, who directed a header wide, Jackson Irvine - flicking the ball past Fon Williams but clipping the outside of the post - and Liam Boyce with a header all missed further chances for County. Storey and Carl Tremarco, with a thunderous volley that cracked off the bar, might have scored for Caley before they broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute. Marcus Fraser lost possession with County lacking numbers at the back and Storey broke away, found Polworth on the edge of the box and he confidently picked his spot across Woods. They swiftly doubled their lead when Draper capitalised on space in the area and coolly slotted past the onrushing Woods. Thistle have struggled for goals of late, but three minutes after the resumption, Storey fired a stunning dipping volley past Woods from the edge of the area to send the visiting fans wild. Caley were then able to try and pick off their hosts and Josh Meekings came close to connecting at the back post. Polworth also clipped the bar from distance as a well-executed tactical plan brought a comfortable win. Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager John Hughes was delighted his side got back to winning ways against Ross County and boosted their top-six hopes. Caley Thistle's 3-0 win over the Scottish League Cup winners gave them their third Highland derby win of the season. Liam Polworth, Ross Draper and Miles Storey were on target for the visitors. "I think we deserved it," Hughes told BBC Scotland. "We got stronger as the game went on." Victory took Inverness eight points clear of Kilmarnock in the relegation play-off spot and within four points of County, who drop to sixth. "We want to look up the way," Hughes said. "I felt we scored some good goals, probably the third one by Miles Storey being the best of them. To score the third one so early in the second half, that really settled us. "We knew what Ross County have been through - to win a cup, the emotions and where it takes you mentally and physically. "It was all about us in terms of trying to get back to winning ways after our disappointment on Wednesday [losing to Hibs in a Scottish Cup replay] and hopefully in trying to get the points to get us up the league and in that top six. "A wee bit of luck went our way. It settled us down and I'm absolutely delighted for the supporters that we won the match. "I've seen us play better. But, on a tricky pitch, I felt we controlled the game and all credit it to them." Ross County manager Jim McIntyre bemoaned the hosts' profligacy in front of goal. "The story of the game was about taking your chances," he said. "We've had four fantastic chances before Inverness have had any of their own. When you come into a derby, you've got to take them and it turned out to be crucial. You've got to give them credit because they punished our mistakes and we didn't punish them. "Going in at 2-0 down you know the next goal is crucial and it's a horrible mistake from the referee not to see Miles Storey's double-handball to control the ball. He's brought both his arms in. The referee's got to get that one right, I was disappointed with that, and it's taken the wind right out our sails." County won their first major trophy with victory over Hibernian at Hampden last week and followed that up with a midweek league draw with St Johnstone. And with Saints and Motherwell both winning on Saturday, the Dingwall side have dropped two places. "After the third goal, they bossed it," added McIntyre. "We were very deflated and we need to show a wee bit more than that - it was a derby. "Having said that, the boys have been brilliant. It was a real sore one, but win our last two games [before the split] and we know we'll be in the top six." After the match Ross County held an open-top bus parade with the League Cup. "It's going to sting for a few days, but we knew we would have to delay our celebrations for a week," added McIntyre. "It's important we get on that bus and we celebrate with the fans. It's the biggest moment in the club's history and it's important we celebrate it."
Ross County
Manager	Jim McIntyre
Starting 11	21: Gary Woods, 2: Marcus Fraser 1, 7: Michael Gardyne, 8: Ian McShane, 10: Liam Boyce 1, 12: Richard Foster 1, 15: Andrew Davies, 18: Stewart Murdoch, 23: Alex Schalk, 36: Jackson Irvine, 43: Paul Quinn
Bench	13: Christopher Konopka, 6: Christopher Robertson, 17: Jonathan Franks, 19: Tony Dingwall, 24: Raffaele De Vita, 25: David Goodwillie, 44: Christopher McLaughlin
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Manager	John Hughes
Starting 11	Owain Fon Williams, Carl Tremarco, Gary Warren, Josh Meekings, Danny Devine, Ross Draper 1, Greg Tansey, Iain Vigurs 1, Liam Polworth 1, Liam Hughes, Miles Storey 1
Bench	Ryan Esson, Ryan Williams, Richie Foran, Jordan Roberts, Nathaniel Wedderburn, Lewis Horner, Danny Williams