Porter hat trick delivers three points

First goal

We'll deal with the negative first, namely the defence being an absolute shambles. Teams don't even need to reach a good position to threaten us - Inverness scarcely did - but we still managed to lose two goals from nowhere. Lapses in concentration at the end of each half allowed Tokely to bundle home following a Smith error and Rooney scored a penalty rebound to give us an anxious injury time.

But on the ball we were massively improved. There was movement and passing along the ground and while we scored three simple goals we could easily have had a handful more. Porter nodded home the first from an in-swinging Hammell cross and a smart turn gave him a a chance to double the lead which was saved.

Phil remembered

Clarkson fired just wide after a great run but Porter got the second we deserved with another header, this time from Quinn's assist. We were cruising at this point but Tokely's header, a tap in after Smith got lost under a corner, gave us concerns.

A muddle in the defence presented Inverness with a chance they failed to get on target after the break before we resumed control. Clarkson inexplicably headed over when a goal looked certain and other chances were blocked or snuffed out. Inverness were huffing and puffing and we buried them, or so we thought, when Porter completed a superb hat-trick with a close range header from Hammell's free kick.

Hammell flashed a great shot into the side netting as we looked for a fourth but once more we shot ourselves in the foot. We failed to clear the ball in the box and Rooney won a penalty which he converted, eventually. We had a huge scare with an injury time scramble but held on for the points.

The return of Craigan and, in particular, Clarkson was a huge boost while the use of Klimpl as an anchor strengthened the midfield. Hughes' passing was off but he did show signs of last season - he ran everywhere and showed for the ball constantly. Porter was the star though and while the cynical may think it might be related to his move to Forest falling apart, he led the line superbly and rediscovered his scoring touch.

We will still struggle to beat St Mirren next week given our defence but we did take a huge win today and with a confidence boost behind us we might fancy our chances of a point as Scottish football says farewell to Love Street.