Dundee United confirmed they will finish second in the Championship with this victory over Inverness in the Highlands.
The Tangerines took the lead through Pavol Safranko in the first half with Paul McMullan adding a second after the interval.
Overall, it was a comfortable win for United as they look to continue building momentum for the promotion play-offs.
Tannadice boss Robbie Neilson made two changes from the team that beat Ayr last Friday with Safranko and Nicky Clark coming into the starting line-up with Callum Booth dropping to the bench while Osman Sow was missing from the squad altogether.
The first half chance of the game came in the 10th minute when Inverness’s Tom Walsh tried his luck with an overhead kick that was easily gathered by United keeper Benjamin Siegrist.
The goalie then had to make a much tougher stop from the same Caley player as he hit a thunderous 30-yarder with Siegrist acrobatically tipping the ball over for a corner.
However, it was the Tangerines who took the lead in the 27th minute – and what a goal it was.
Nicky Clark headed towards Peter Pawlett who back-heeled the ball into the path of Safranko with the big striker hitting an unstoppable volley from 18 yards past home keeper Cammy Mackay.
Shortly after, United came close to extending their lead when Ian Harkes sent a corner in from the right with Paul Watson rising highest to send a header crashing down off the crossbar with a defender then having to clear the ball off his own line.
In the 34th minute, Caley’s Joe Chalmers hit an angled drive from the right with Siegrist having to look lively to make a block at the near post.
However, Neilson’s men headed in at half-time still in front.
And that advantage doubled just four minutes after the restart. McMullan burst into the home box with the Caley defence looking for a hand-ball decision but none was forthcoming from referee Greg Aitken and the United player carried on with his run before coolly slotting past Mackay from a tight angle.
Jamie Robson then tried his luck with a fierce drive from the corner of Caley box which was beaten away for a corner by Mackay.
The same United player then looked certain to score when the ball fell kindly into his path but his shot was blocked on the line by Shaun Rooney.
The Tangerines had a big scare in the 82nd minute when home sub Anthony McDonald embarked on a great run into the United box before hitting a low shot that rolled just inches wide of Siegrist’s left-hand post.
Deep in stoppage time, a bad day for Inverness became worse when Brad McKay was sent off after picking up a second booking.
