Date	Sunday, 19 May 2013
Competition	Scottish Premier League
Fixture/Score	Ross County 1:0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Venue	Global Energy Stadium at Victoria Park
Attendance	6,002
Referee	Euan Norris
Comments	Match Report Report by Kenny Crawford for the BBC. Scottish Premier League Top Six Ross County 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0 Ross County beat Inverness CT for the first time since 2009, which helped edge their Highland rivals out of a Europa League spot for season 2013/14. Canadian defender Andre Hainault put the hosts in front with a fine 10-yard volley just before half-time. Billy McKay's opportunistic flick from David Raven's shot almost pegged back County, who had Iain Vigurs hit the post from a free-kick near the end. St Johnstone leapfrogged Caley Thistle into third by beating Motherwell. Despite having held second or third place in the Scottish Premier League for much of the season, Caley Thistle's loss in Dingwall means that they finish fourth, two points behind the Perth side. No maiden journey into European football now awaits Terry Butcher's men. Fifth-placed County have only lost two of their last 15 matches at Victoria Park and they will be delighted to get their first Highland derby win in eight attempts. A calf injury to Michael Fraser meant goalkeeper Paul Gallacher made his Ross County debut and he comfortably dealt with Charlie Taylor's bobbling shot from distance in the opening exchanges. But some would argue the former Dunfermline stopper should have been picking the ball out of the net when Caley Thistle defender Danny Devine stretched to turn Aaron Doran's corner wide of the post from six yards. At the other end, Sproule, so often clinical for the hosts this season, side-footed over the crossbar from eight yards after Evangelos Ikonomou's low centre from the left-hand side. County's Mihael Kovacevic took matters into his own hands as he darted from deep to toe-poke a 20-yard effort into the arms of visiting goalkeeper Antonio Reguero. And, minutes later, the hosts' German striker, Steffen Wohlfarth, had Kilmarnock-bound Reguero scrambling across his goal-mouth with a speculative volley that skidded wide. Butcher altered his midfield by replacing Conor Pepper with Nick Ross, but County's attacking continued as midfielder Stuart Kettlewell's 25-yard strike curled inches wide. And, with half-time approaching, Derek Adams' side got the breakthrough from an unlikely source. It was centre-back Hainault whose terrific volley lashed into the back of the net after a headed clearance from Paul Lawson's cross had fallen to the Canadian. After the break, Caley Thistle's Aaron Doran tested Gallacher from distance, but County's impressive forward play resumed. Sproule's dangerous cross from the right was followed by another from the left by Ikonomou that Wohlfarth nearly turned into the goal. However, the visitors' equaliser almost arrived in strange fashion when striker McKay stuck a leg out to divert Raven's long-range strike narrowly past the upright. End-to-end football ensued as Doran shot high for Inverness before County's Lawson had two efforts well blocked by the Inverness rear-guard. Marauding running down the left by Ikonomou troubled Inverness all afternoon and it won the hosts a free-kick from which Vigurs hit the post. Reguero also denied Vigurs at the death to prevent County doubling their lead. Manager Derek Adams took great satisfaction from Ross County's first derby victory of the season. Andre Hainault's first-half volley denied local rivals Inverness the win they needed to secure a European place. "Under the circumstances, there's no better way to win a derby match," Adams told BBC Scotland. "They were playing to get into Europe today. "They obviously feel they've had a tremendous season Inverness, but Ross County have had a better season." The result secured County a fifth-place finish in their debut season in the Scottish Premier League, one point behind Terry Butcher's men. "We've come from the First Division," continued Adams. "We thoroughly dominated the match and obviously the beach balls are burst today. "We played ever so well. Stuart Kettlewell was magnificent for us today. I gave him a role of marking Andrew Shinnie and he performed very well at that. "We had other top performers defensively, we were sound, but offensively we could have done a lot more. "We probably could have done a wee bit better, but to win a derby match - the last game of the SPL season - is a great occasion for this football club." Adams was frustrated his side could not win the game by more goals and acknowledged a need to bring in another goal-scorer over the summer. "Without a doubt we need to find that player that's going to score us 15-20 goals a season," he added. "They're difficult to come by, but we'll try and do that over the summer. "We've got a tremendous platform to build on. Players will move on, new players will come in, it's just what happens at Ross County Football Club."
Ross County
Manager	Derek Adams
Starting 11	0: Paul Gallacher, 5: Scott Boyd 1, 7: Stuart Kettlewell 1, 8: Paul Lawson, 11: Iain Vigurs, 13: Andre Hainault 1, 15: Steffen Wohifarth, 16: Ivan Sproule, 18: Evangelos Oikonomou, 22: Mihael Kovacevic, 29: Mark Fotheringham
Bench	28: Sean McCarthy, 4: Grant Munro, 14: Martin Scott, 20: Gary Glen, 21: Alex Cooper, 23: Archie Macphee, 27: Adam Porritt
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Manager	Terry Butcher
Starting 11	Antonio Reguero, David Raven 1, Graeme Shinnie 1, Chris Hogg, Josh Meekings 1, Danny Devine, Charlie Taylor, Andrew Shinnie 1, Connor Pepper, Billy McKay, Aaron Doran
Bench	Ryan Esson, Nick Ross, Martin Laing, Liam Polworth, Ryan Christie, Shane Sutherland, Calum Ferguson