DOUGIE Imrie was relieved to end a three-month Premier League goal drought as he set Inverness on the road to a 2-1 victory at Kilmarnock.
The midfielder had an eventful afternoon at Rugby Park, crashing home the early opener off the underside of the bar, but then conceding an 89th-minute penalty as an energised home side pressed desperately for an equaliser in a thrilling finish.
Me
hdi Taouil blasted the spot kick well over the bar, allowing the Highlanders to collect their fourth away win of the season which moves them up two places to eighth in the league table.
Imrie said: "I was glad to get another goal as it's been a while since I last scored, and it set us up for a good victory.
"We could have killed the game off before Kilmarnock got back into it – they put us under a lot of pressure in the last 10 or 15 minutes and we were fortunate that they missed the penalty.
"To lose it at the end after playing so well in the first half would have been a killer, but it was good that it didn't happen and we got the three points we deserved.
"Away from home we seem to be picking up points, and hopefully it's something we can sort at home too, because if we could have picked up more points there, you never know where we could have been in the league."
Imrie gave Inverness the lead when Don Cowie's deep cross reached him rushing in at the back post and his shot crashed into the net via a deflection and the underside of the crossbar.
Cowie was also the architect of Inverness's second before half-time, with Garry Wood somehow beating Kilmarnock goalkeeper Alan Combe to the cross and the ball bouncing over the line. However, Willie Gibson set up an exciting finish when he drilled a shot beyond Ryan Esson after a neat exchange of passes with David Fernandez on 84 minutes.
Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies explained the superstitious reason why Taouil had stepped up for the crucial late penalty instead of Jamie Hamill, who scored from the spot at home to Dundee United in the previous week's 2-0 victory.
Jefferies said: "Mehdi is our penalty taker, and has taken two for us before and scored.
"Last week I was surprised that Jamie took it, but the explanation was that Mehdi has been told from a young age that whenever he's the one who's fouled, he never takes them.
"Jamie would probably have wanted to take it again this time but Mehdi is the penalty taker and when he grabbed the ball, there was nothing to suggest he was going to miss; he normally places them but this time chose to go for power and whipped it over the bar.
"It's probably cost us a point but we're in it together – there will be nobody hurting more than him as he's a winner, but we'll pick him up and make sure he's confident enough to take the next one."
