St Johnstone secured a narrow victory over 10-man Inverness at McDiarmid Park thanks to Brian Graham’s second-half penalty.
The victory means Saints are now a magnificent seven games unbeaten.
It was very much a first 45 to forget with both sides struggling for fluidity with a resultant lack of clear-cut chances.
However, it was the home side who came closest to scoring as the half ended. Dave Mackay had a shot cleared off the line by Graeme Shinnie and then Michael O’Halloran was denied when he was through on goal by ICT keeper Dean Brill.
If the first 45 was a tepid affair, the second certainly heated up to boiling point.
Saints took the lead in the 63rd minute after Brill was adjudged to have brought down Graham inside his area as he dived at the striker’s feet. The Inverness players complained long and hard that the decision was incorrect but referee Brian Colvin waved their appeals away and Graham stepped up to fire the spot-kick high into the net.
Four minutes later, ICT’s Ross Draper was shown a straight red after crashing into Simon Lappin.
Caley then came close to equalising when David Raven’s angled shot clipped off Saints keeper Alan Mannus’s far post.
However, St Johnstone held on to take all three points.
See Monday’s Courier for full report, reaction and analysis.