THIS was far from a faultless performance from Inverness Caledonian Thistle but the perfect hat-trick from Iain Vigurs ensured it was the best of nights for new manager Richie Foran and his team.
Following the disappointment of Saturday's penalty-kicks defeat to Dundee United, the Highlanders boosted their hopes of qualification for the next round of the Betfred Cup with a victory that ended up being far more comfortable than it ever promised to be.
Vigurs earned Inverness the breakthrough against the run of the play in the 16th minute but Dunfermline ensured the lead would last just 12 minutes as skipper Andy Geggan equalised with his fourth goal of the competition, an incredible statistic for a midfielder.
However, a stunning Vigurs free-kick restored Caley Thistle's advantage four minutes from the interval and eight minutes after it Billy King doubled the Highlanders' lead. Vigurs completed a night to remember for himself with still 25 minutes remaining and Carl Tremarco rounded off an impressive win.
Clearly intent on knocking their Premiership visitors off their stride, Dunfermline ensured time on the ball was at a premium for the Highlanders right from the first whistle but they could not maintain the pace or the intensity.
Though they seemed capable of causing problems in attack, it was a mistake at the other end of the pitch that allowed Inverness to take the lead and defensive frailties proved their undoing.
Ben Richards-Everton began the problems with a back pass that carried far too much pace. Goalkeeper David Hutton's poor clearance did not help the issue and Vigurs brilliantly curled into the empty net with his right foot from 40 yards out.
Dunfermline had been building an impressive head of steam and after a momentary dip in energy they drew level in the 28th minute.
Recent signing Kallum Higginbotham was the creative spark, curling in a wicked cross from the right flank that Geggan attacked to head into the roof of the net from six yards out.
Jake Mulraney, the former QPR winger, was the most likely source of opportunities for Inverness and the Irishman's blistering pace caught out the Pars throughout. When Lewis Spence illegally interrupted, Vigurs curled a sublime free-kick in off the underside of the crossbar with his left boot.
Dunfermline began the second-half well enough but they found themselves further behind in the 54th minute when King's drive from the left edge of the box looped up and over Hutton with the aid of a huge deflection off Ryan Williamson.
When Vigurs nodded in the fourth in the 66th minute, it was clear there would be no way back for the Fifers and Tremarco's 89th-minute header, when a Greg Tansey free-kick rebounded from the post, iced the Inverness cake.
Dunfermline: Hutton; Williamson, Ashcroft, Richards-Everton, Talbot; McCabe, Spence, Geggan, Cardle; Higginbotham (McMullan 73), Moffat (Smith 78). Subs not used: Gill, Martin, Paton,Thomas.
Inverness: Mackay; Raven, Warren, McNaughton, Tremarco; Mulraney (Draper 59), Polworth, Tansey, King; Vigurs (Sutherland 85), Boden (Fisher 81). Subs not used: Fon-Williams, Brown, Horner.
Referee: C. Allan.
Attendance: 2580.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here