Ten-man Caley Jags net seventh place in SPL

Russell Duncan after his red card against St Mirren, knowing his Caley Thistle career has ended on a sour note after more than 10 years at the club.

ADAM Rooney stepped off the bench and netted 10-man Caley Thistle a 1-0 Clydesdale Bank SPL win against visitors St Mirren on Saturday.

Those three points secured Terry Butcher’s Highlanders seventh spot with two games to go, but did no favours to the Saints, whose lead over Hamilton at the foot of the table was sliced to just three points.

It was a day to forget, however, for Russell Duncan. Told last week that he won’t be getting a new contract, he was sent off in the second half for lashing out at Lee Mair.

Just three days after their stunning 3-2 win against Celtic, Butcher made sweeping changes, six in fact to freshen up the line-up.

Captain Richie Foran returned from suspension, with Nick Ross dropping to the bench.

Goalkeeper Johnny Tuffey made a rare appearance in the Inverness CT nets, with Ryan Esson sitting this one out and on-loan Burnley striker started in place of Rooney.

The other changes were Duncan in for Lee Cox, Eric Odhiambo in for Shane Sutherland and Gavin Morrison for Chris Innes.

After the midweek drama, the first half on Saturday was as poor as fans in Inverness have seen, with both teams failing to create much in front of goal.

The hosts almost broke the deadlock, however, when Aaron Doran fed the ball to Foran and his shot was blocked by St Mirren goalkeeper Paul Gallacher.

The only other chances of note were a shot from Buddies’ Michael Higdon which was saved and a header from Eric Odhiambo, which flashed wide from a Kenny Gillet cross.

The game had more pace to it in the second half, Higdon connected with a cross from Steven Thomson, but Tuffey was equal to it as the Saints, who knew Accies were beating Hibs, pushed forward.

Butcher came down from the stand, not looking happy and he brought Rooney on for MacDonald on 53 minutes.

The Dubliner threatened almost instantly and his spectacular shot, which stemmed from a Ross Tokely cross, crashed off the crossbar.

Rooney then flashed a header wide before, at the other end, Higdon curled a free-kick around the post.

Paul McGowan saw Tuffey block his 12-yard shot and Higdon knocked the follow-up wide.

With 19 minutes left, Duncan went down in the box under a challenge from Mair. No penalty was awarded by referee Bobby Madden and Duncan raised his arms to the Saints player.

After consulting with his assistant, Duncan was shown the red card. Understandably, he was choked with emotion as he left the pitch, knowing that was surely his last time as a Caley Jags player.

Rooney then smashed a shot off the crossbar again when he latched on to a pass from Ross and then penalty appeals were waved away when the ball seemed to strike the hand of Saints’ Patrick Cregg.

Incredibly, Rooney hit the post when he was set up by Doran then Criag Dargo’s shot was held by Tuffey.

Rooney was not to be denied again though as he was teed up by Foran and he knocked a fine shot into the roof of the net to seal a valuable three points for his team, taking his tally to 20 goals for the season.

The curtain falls on ICT’s home campaign on Wednesday night when HIbs come calling, while St Mirren seek the win at Aberdeen 24 hours before that to finally kill off Accies’ stunning revival.

Inverness CT: Tuffey, Tokely, Duff, Odhiambo (Cox 75), Duncan, Foran, Munro, Morrison (Ross 64), Gillet, MacDonald (Rooney 53), Doran. Subs not used: Esson (GK), Innes, Sutherland, Sanchez.

St Mirren: Gallacher, Barron, Mair, Thomson, Dargo, Higdon, Goodwin (Cregg 40), McGregor, McAusland, McGowan, McLean (Mooy 75). Subs not used: Samson (GK), Potter, Van Zanten, Wardlaw, McKernon.

Attendance: 3,446.

Referee: Bobby Madden.