Dundee were left frustrated as Inverness struck late on through Billy McKay for a share of the spoils in a hard-fought Clydesdale Bank Premier League match at Dens Park.
The home side's new interim manager John Brown was all set to celebrate his second win at the helm in the space of just a few days thanks to John Baird's excellent first-half opener but Caley Thistle hit back through McKay's 82nd-minute header.
With just nine games now left, the Dark Blues remain 14 points behind second-bottom St Mirren but have showed again they are not about to give up the fight for survival yet.
It was the Highlanders who created the first clear-cut scoring opportunity.
Aaron Doran found some space wide on the left which allowed him to swing over a cross for McKay, whose back-post header flew wide of the target.
But in the 12th minute the fired-up hosts took the lead in some style.
Recalled Ryan Conroy laid the ball off to Baird who looked up and wasted no time in sending an unstoppable 20-yard shot low into Ryan Esson's left-hand corner.
It was Baird's third goal in as many SPL games as he continues his resurgence under Brown.
However, they had to rely on goalkeeper Rab Douglas to stay in front as he smartly parried Graeme Shinnie's left-foot effort before Brian Easton swept the rebound clear to breathe a sigh of relief.
They suffered another scare in the 20 minute when Graeme Shinnie's corner was met by Gary Warren, whose header looked goal-bound.
But Dundee defender Gary Irvine managed to nod his effort off the bar before Iain Davidson headed the danger clear.
Easton became the first player to be booked after 24 minutes for hauling down Doran as he broke clear on the counter-attack.
Then, in the 27 minute, Birmingham-target Andrew Shinnie rattled the woodwork with stunning strike out of nowhere.
Shinnie picked up possession 25 yards from goal and had only one thing on his mind as he left fly only to see his shot come crashing back off the bar with Douglas beaten.
But in the 32nd minute Dundee had a golden opportunity to increase their lead.
Nicky Riley's cross was inch-perfect for Baird who made contact from close-range but Caley Thistle keeper Ryan Esson came flying out to thwart him.
Dundee began brightly after the interval with Conroy's corner being head flicked on at the near post by Iain Davidson, forcing Esson to tip over the bar.
Midway through the second-half, Riley threatened to race clear down the right only to be hauled down by Graeme Shinnie who was booked for his troubles.
At the other end, Douglas dived low to his left to push away Owain Tudor Jones' shot in the 75th minute.
Inverness pushed for an equaliser towards the end and just as Dundee looked like holding out, the visitors struck.
Graeme Shinnie's cross reached the far post where McKay rose to head home unchallenged from close range.
It was a sore one to take for Dundee but probably no less then the Highland outfit deserved.
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 hereComments are closed on this article