JOHN McGLYNN admits Raith Rovers were left devastated as a late goal continued their 21-year jinx against Caley Thistle.
The Kirkcaldy boss saw Reece McAlear strike brilliantly four minutes from time to wipe out an equally stunning Ehan Ross opener for the visitors in the first half.
Raith had been well worth their half-time lead, but found the Highlanders in determined mood as they pressed for a second half leveller.
McAlear’s finish closed the gap on beaten leaders Arbroath to two points with a game in hand for Billy Dodds’ team, while Rovers sit fourth three points off title pace.
The draw means 20 league games have passed since Raith last triumphed over Inverness in October 2000.
McGlynn admitted; “It’s gutting for the lads to not go away from here with a win.
“We put in so much effort and were 1-0 up for so long.
“The game had two great goals, real individual goals – unstoppable ones.
“We played very well, we created chances and were maybe a bit shy to shoot in the first half.
“Inverness had a lot of the ball in the second half but we defended well and it took a worldie to beat Jamie MacDonald.
“We were disappointed to lose Ethan Ross because they couldn’t handle him.
“So it’s disappointing to only get a point but we will take the positives.
“I’m pleased with the chances we created, we made plenty of them and the performance was good.”
While Caley Thistle have now only managed three wins from last 14 games, their never-say-die traits were again to the fore.
After a tight start, Raith produced a stunning opener after 23 minutes.
Former Aberdeen attacker Ross spun away niftily from Wallace Duffy in the middle of the home half, drove on into space and then curled a superbly controlled 25-yard strike high beyond the reach of Ridgers into the top left corner.
With the hosts looking short on ideas, Raith pushed for a second before the break.
After 36 minutes, it took a tremendous save down low by Ridgers to push away a powerful low Ross Matthews attempt from inside his post.
A couple of minutes later, Matthewsd had another strike blocked and Ross stuck the rebound a foot wide of the target.
A double half-time substitution from home manager Billy Dodds told of his frustration at a lame first half display.
The hosts began to push steadily for a reply, but Raith remained dangerous on the counter.
Substitute Manny Duku knocked a couple of chances wide, but the hosts kept fighting.
The reward came with four minutes left as the hosts grabbed a leveller that had seemed increasingly unlikely.
From a Sean Welsh pass, Norwich loanee Reece McAlear was granted far too much space before cracking a fantastic 25-yard finish low across the keeper into the corner of the net.
In a frantic finish, Ridgers denied Raith sub Aaron Arnott in the dying seconds after Gullan fed him into the area and moments later, Jamie MacDonald denied home striker Mckay at the other end.
Home manager Dodds admitted: “The opening goal gave Raith a real boost in confidence. You can see they have good ball players and they were the better team in the first half.
“They passed the ball about and they believed.
“We needed to do something to change it and that’s what I did. I changed formation, which I don’t like doing.
“It was the right thing to do, to go to a straight match-up and see who had the better team and who wanted it more.
That’s what happened. We could have won it or lost it in the end.
“We needed to get players up the pitch because we’re not at our best when we try to sit off the game.
“When we get players in people’s faces we’re a good team. We did that in the second half and deserved the point in the end.”
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