THE rewards might have been shared, but the result left the managers with very different feelings.

While Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s Richie Foran was pleased, Derek McInnes was rather more troubled, which may explain why it took him until 50 minutes after the final whistle to appear in the media room.

We can assume much of that time was spent trying to explain to his players where they went wrong in the preceding 90 minutes.

Foran’s bullishness was underlined by his post-match comment that “Aberdeen were there for the taking”, while his counterpart sought answers to the questions surrounding his side’s constant failure to convert a plethora of chances when they dominate games, as they did yesterday.

As McInnes watched Iain Vigurs’s stunning strike 22 minutes from the end cancel out Niall McGinn’s opener, he must have wondered what plan B he could possibly turn to.

Caley Thistle, meanwhile, lifted themselves off the bottom of the Premiership table and above Partick Thistle, reward for their doggedness and workmanlike performance, with Foran praising their “magnificent defending”.

“They were there for the taking but we were bang average in the final third, and that’s an aspect of our game we’ll work on this week,” he added. “Before the game you would have taken a point, but we should have sensed Aberdeen were there for the taking.

“Maybe I’ll think differently on Monday, but we created chances and there was a lot of space, so we should have capitalised on those opportunities. We were not switched-on enough to take them.”

That Aberdeen managed only one point from nine in their last three league fixtures with Inverness did not sit well with the Pittodrie players, and there was an acute enthusiasm to put matters right yesterday.

Brad McKay, the former Hearts defender released by St Johnstone at the end of last month, was handed his Caley Thistle debut at right-back and produced an excellent display.

The Reds’ brisk start was no less than normal; aggressive, energetic and ebullient. Caley Thistle would have expected that and knew they needed to be stoic in the face of the high volume of attacks, which they were.

“I think they struggled to keep us at bay,” McInnes said. “We are kicking ourselves over the goal we lost because there were two or three opportunities for us to clear the ball before Vigurs’ goal. He’ll score nine times out of 10 in such circumstances but after his goal we weren’t convincing at 1-1.

“We have dropped points in two home games, against Hearts and today, and that’s why we’ve had a slower start than normal.

“From the outset you would be thinking we should be four points further on, but you need to bring performances to do that. We have to turn those draws into wins.”

McInnes refused to be down, saying a looming busy period gave his side “a lot to look forward to”.

It was Polworth’s volley at the back post in the 14th minute, one that cracked off the crossbar, that shook the home defence and set alarm bells off. It became pretty much the pattern for the game – as it is most weeks at Pittodrie: The Dons having vast amounts of possession and the opposition seeking a chink in their sometimes questionable defence.

McGinn’s goal, a swerving strike from outside the area, seven minutes into the second phase, was not without controversy.

With the Caley Thistle players having exhausted their protests that Wes Burns had fouled Polworth in the build-up to the goal, referee Crawford Allan was then called upon by the fourth official, Kevin Graham, to douse the heat emanating from Brian Rice, the visitors’ assistant manager.

Five minutes later, Adam Rooney would have doubled the Dons’ lead with a well-placed shot from 18 yards had it not been for the acrobatics of Owain Fon Williams, the Inverness goalkeeper, who touched the effort past.

It took another stunning stop by the Wales international to deny the Irishman from 22 yards moments later, before Vigurs’s eye-catching 23-yard strike left Dons keeper Joe Lewis flapping at fresh air as it crashed against the underside of the bar before nestling in the back of the home net; shining a light on a defence unable to clear potential danger.

Gary Warren’s stoppage-time goal-line clearance from Jayden Stockley’s effort allowed Inverness to breathe easily as the clocked ticked down, when they knew they were leaving with a point.