THERE was enough excitement in the final few minutes of this less than impressive game to send the crowd home either happy or dejected, depending on the colours you were wearing.

When Barry Wilson lifted the gloom of what was heading for a goalless tie with a strike inside the penalty area, just as the Inverness Caley Thistle players were thinking about what to dine on at Ross Tokely's testimonial dinner that evening, there were cries of disbelief in both camps.

With two minutes of additional time having come and gone in a match that was largely forgettable, the Inverness veteran bore down on the Dundee United defence for a final throw of the dice.

His first shot was brilliantly saved by Derek Stillie, the United goalkeeper, only for the ball to fall to Graham Bayne and then to Markus Paatelainen on the left. He returned it to Wilson who did the unthinkable and scored to seal the points and lift Caley above United in the table and now chasing Kilmarnock, six points ahead of them, for a top six finish.

Wilson last night admitted he and his team-mates had still not fully recovered from last week's cup defeat by Celtic who beat them with two late goals. "We have lost so many times through last minute goals," he said, "so it was fitting this time we should score one.

"We dug in and the sending off of Grant Munro moments earlier meant we had to re-focus our energies and do that wee bit more for the team and it paid off. As I was going in on goal I was praying I wouldn't take cramp. When the ball was played over the top I wanted to be positive and make sure I got a shot away.

"I thought I'd scored but Stillie made a great save. But when Markus showed good composure with his lay-off to me, I just had enough energy to shoot. I was done in and when I asked the ref how long there was to go and he told me that was it, he became my new best mate."

It was Munro's 200th game for the club and the red card for an unfathomably high challenge on Barry Robson brought no protests. But he would hardly have reached the dressing room before Wilson produced his stunning winner, at last giving a muted home crowd something to shout about. Their apathy, however, brought criticism from the Inverness manager Charlie Christie.

"I am disappointed in the home support sometimes when they are harassing the players or not giving them their full backing," he said.

"Just compare wage bills; they have a man (Eddie Thompson) who has invested millions of pounds of his own money and for us to be above them in the league speaks volumes. I am delighted for the players because they deserved that win. We need a lift in games at nil nil.

"It's all very well supporting your team when you are 2-0 or 3-0 up, that's easy. It's when it's 0-0 and you've come off the back of a real kick in the teeth with the defeat against Celtic, that's when you need a lift. We need a noisier home support."

In truth, this was a game that stuttered as both sides huffed and puffed without much to get excited about.

United's formation was intriguing as they sought flexibility from their line-up in an effort to break down the Inverness defence while containing the threat from their strikers, Graham Bayne and Rory McAllister. Robson and Noel Hunt took up positions as wide midfielders when the home side had the ball, then joined Jon Daly in attack when they had possession.

There was the usual enthusiasm from Robson, perhaps fuelled by a return to the ground where he made his name before joining United, and when he unleashed a low drive from the edge of the area, Michael Fraser, the Caley goalkeeper, had to be sharp to touch the ball round the post.

The story of the second half was that the quality of play failed to improve and, while Collin Samuel was introduced into the United attack in place of David Robertson for the second 45 minutes, he joined the lengthy list of players who could not impose their authority on matters.

Indeed, when he found himself unmarked in the penalty box in the 70th minute with time to pick his spot as Christian Kalvenes' cross came in, Samuel chose to place it beyond Fraser's right-hand post. But the goalkeeper had to be at his best three minutes from the end, however, to divert a mean Robson drive round the post as the visitors mounted another of their many attacks.

Craig Levein, the United manager, spoke last night of his team's naivete in those closing stages and few would disagree with his assertion that that was their fatal flaw.