IN the moments which followed his second goal yesterday, Billy Mckay was passed between team-mates all eager to embrace their leading scorer.

It is a wonder that any of them was willing to let go.

As the lone striker in this Inverness Caledonian Thistle side and a habitual scorer in the SPFL Premiership, Mckay is used to being marked closely - just not by his own team-mates.

The Northern Irishman may find life in the Highlands a little more claustrophobic in the next few weeks as players and officials at Inverness attempt to convince him to sign a new contract and extend his stay at the club beyond the end of the season.

The striker is in the final six months of his deal and has still to give any indication that he will extend it, the likelihood now being that he will be gone in May, perhaps to England.

He may yet leave behind a legacy, with his two goals at Kilmarnock cancelling out a penalty from Alexei Eremenko to take Inverness into third place in the league table and bolster the club's ambition of playing in Europe.

"Natural goalscorers are gold dust. I've worked with a few before and Billy has got that ability," said Inverness manager John Hughes.

Inverness had to weather frustration and stormy conditions before claiming a third successive win, a foul wind and stinging rain battering Rugby Park midway through the first half as though the preceding minutes had displeased the gods. The initial exchanges perturbed Kilmarnock fans too, a support whose patience has eroded badly during a run of just two wins in 12 matches.

Their ire was given focus during the first half as Lee Miller swung a boot at fresh air on the edge of the penalty area and then failed to get the ball out of his feet after burrowing behind the Inverness defence, while Eremenko delivered a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar.

"We lacked a bit of composure in front of goal at times," said Kilmarnock manager Allan Johnston, who was barracked by supporters continuously once his side fell behind.

Such chances can still be enough to warm expectant supporters, but a more heated incident came when Inverness right-back David Raven caught Craig Slater on the thigh as the young Kilmarnock midfielder intercepted a loose ball. The hot air the challenge incurred from the stands was rivalled by Miller, who was punished for dissent and booked alongside Raven.

Miller was not the only one to take the Inverness defender's name in vain inside Rugby Park. The Highland side fell behind just two minutes into the second half and a moment after Raven slid in on Magennis, conceding a penalty and receiving a straight red card. Eremenko converted from 12 yards.

Kilmarnock tried to make good on their momentum; Magennis nodded over from six yards following his side's next attack and Miller also poked the ball inches past a post. If scoring is an art then these efforts amounted to the rough sketches of an amateur.

The masterpiece was instead left to Mckay. His goals have been the currency with which Inverness have earned their recent success and his first strike yesterday confirmed just how costly a loss he will be. Mckay broke into the box when Chris Chantler missed a clearance and flicked the ball over Lee Ashcroft before placing a shot calmly into the net.

The striker then raised his side into third place in the table, steering in the winner with eight minutes left. "We will shut him in a dark room and try to make him sign a contract," added Hughes. It may still not be enough.