35 mins
Inverness midfielder Nick Ross went close to opening
the scoring with a thunderbolt on the quarter-hour
mark. His rasping 25-yard shot went just wide of the
target after he was found by captain Richie Foran. Inverness had started brightly as they hunted for
their first home goal of the season. Ross fired inches over after latching onto a
Foran header from Aaron Doran's corner. Tade forced the first save from Cameron Bell when
he met a long ball from Ross Tokely but the
Frenchman's shot lacked conviction. Zdenek Kroca was the first to threaten for the
visitors when he headed over a corner from Shiels. Tade's first goal for Caley Thistle put the hosts
in front. The forward, who signed as a free agent after
playing for Raith Rovers last season, put the
Highlanders ahead with a powerful header from six
yards. The Frenchman evaded his marker to connect with a
pinpoint cross from Foran - who was making his 100th
appearance for the club. The visitors responded superbly with the
equaliser from Northern Ireland international
Shiels, who curled a low effort beyond a diving
Esson from 25 yards after he was found in space by
Liam Kelly. Kelly appeared to have been hit by an object
thrown from the home fans while celebrating the
goal. Rory McKeown might have put the visitors in front
but his rising 30-yard strike from a short James
Dayton free-kick was just off target. Hutchinson forced an acrobatic save from Esson
after Dayton played him through, with Inverness
struggling moments before the interval. Tade's looping header might have restored the
lead for Inverness within a minute of the restart
but he directed it inches wide after being picked
out by Shinnie's cross. Doran dragged a long low shot wide before putting
a free-kick on target as the home side showed their
attacking intent. Kilmarnock captain Manuel Pascali connected with
a Shiels cross but headed wide as the game developed
into an end-to-end affair. Hutchinson's low free-kick from the edge of the
area was saved well by Esson on the hour mark. Seconds later the Kilmarnock forward beat Esson
but was denied by the post after defender Chris Hogg
had been caught in possession on the edge of the
box. Foran squandered a great chance to put Caley
Thistle in front when he sent a diving header wide
after being found unmarked by Doran eight yards out. Under-strength Inverness suffered a double injury
blow in the closing stages with Foran and Doran both
going off for treatment. But with two minutes to go Shinnie lifted the
gloom with the winner. The full-back's shot from 10 yards found the
bottom corner after he was picked out by Ross.
Kilmarnock
made three changes, with Ryan O'Leary and Paul
Heffernan injured and Gary Harkins starting on the
bench, as defenders James Fowler and Zdenek Kroca
and striker Ben Hutchinson started the game.
