TERRY Butcher admitted Inverness were fortunate to be awarded a controversial goal which has given their Premier League survival hopes a major boost. And the Caley Thistle manager was honest enough to express sympathy for St Mirren counterpart Gus
MacPherson, whose side have been dragged even further into a relegation dogfight.
Grant Munro's early opener was given by the assistant referee despite doubts over whether it had crossed the line following Jack Ross's efforts to make a goal-line clearance.
St Mirren then hit back through Jim Hamilton but Ross Tokely claimed the decisive goal late on which keeps Inverness four points clear of bottom side Falkirk and leaves Saints second bottom, three ahead of Falkirk.
Asked if there was some luck involved in the opening goal, Butcher said: "I haven't seen it and I don't particularly want to see it. All I saw was the linesman running back and I thought, 'That's good enough for me.' I don't think the referee could see it but the linesman running back indicates the linesman thinks it's a goal.
"I can feel for Gus because we had an offside goal at Falkirk allowed to stand in our 4-0 defeat. Perhaps we were fortunate at the end of the day but we scored two goals from set-pieces and we have worked on them this week."
MacPherson was unhappy with the decision but even more upset about the efforts of his players. He said: "It was clearly not over the line – the pictures have shown that Jack's standing foot is on the line so it's not over the line. But we are certainly not going to make excuses about the performance. It was nowhere near the standards we have set. It's probably the poorest we have played for a long time."
With bottom side Falkirk earning a surprise win over Motherwell, victory in this clash was crucial for both sides.
Saints drafted John Potter, Hamilton and Garry Brady into their starting line-up following last week's Homecoming Scottish Cup defeat against Rangers. They were also boosted by the news that Hugh Murray and Scott Cuthbert had been passed fit after both were rated doubtful with groin problems. Butcher opted to swap goalkeepers, with Ryan Esson dropped to the bench in favour of Michael Fraser being given a rare outing for the Highlanders.
Inverness's Richie Foran had the ball in the back of the net but only after bundling the ball out of Mark Howard's grasp and the header was disallowed for the foul on the Saints keeper. With just 12 minutes gone, Inverness had the net bulging again and this time the goal stood.
Ian Black delivered the corner into the box for Munro, pictured, to send a stooping header over the line despite the best efforts of Ross to clear.
Inverness could have doubled their advantage after the restart with Dougie Imrie sending a swerving effort just high and wide of the target. He then had another go moments later, this time dispatching a powerful effort from inside the box which dipped just over the crossbar.
Saints threw themselves a lifeline when Hamilton met Mehmet's cross before finishing from close range with 20 minutes to go – and seconds before being replaced by Sean Burns.
But it was the 312 Inverness fans who had made the long trip from the Highlands who were celebrating again when Tokely restored their lead after 83 minutes. He initially tried to set up Adam Rooney but his effort was blocked by Howard. The ball broke to Tokely and this time the goalkeeper had no chance with the left-footed half-volley.
Black then came to the rescue to hook a Cuthbert effort off the line as Inverness held on to secure a massive victory in their fight for SPL survival.
The full article contains 668 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
