Dufftown suffered their first defeat in five matches after going down 3-2 to Inverness City at the Northern Meeting Park.

Co-managers Willie Duncan and Rab Mulheron made one change to the side that drew last time out against New Elgin, Kevin Smith coming in to replace the injured Gary Sutherland.

Dufftown created the first chance of the match after 7 minutes.  Alan Shearer broke into the Inverness box before squaring the ball to Mark Sanderson who blasted the ball harmlessly wide when some composure would have allowed him to test the Inverness goalkeeper.

Inverness then began to control the match but some wayward shooting ensured that Dufftown 'keeper Martin Taylor was not tested.

After 28 minutes Inverness almost opened the scoring.  Midfielder Ross Thomson found striker Bruce McCraw with a fine pass but McCraw's effort was well dealt with by Dufftown 'keeper Taylor.

Despite Inverness dominating possession Dufftown were looking dangerous when they got on the ball.  After 39 minutes Mark Taylor, Adam Irvine and Gary Spence all linked up well and when Taylor shot towards goal it deflected off of an Inverness defender and looped just over home 'keeper Ian Young's crossbar and behind for a corner.

Dufftown then opened the scoring after 43 minutes.  A mistake in the Inverness defence allowed Stuart Allan to knock the ball across the Inverness penalty area into the path of Alan Shearer who delightfully chipped the ball over Inverness 'keeper Young and into the net.

Just two minutes later and Dufftown were to be denied a penalty.  A great run from goalscorer Shearer saw him burst into the Inverness penalty area, his pass found Mark Sanderson who appeared to be clearly fouled by an Inverness defender - referee Gavin Dearie decided that Sanderson had dived however and showed the striker a yellow card.

Into the second half and Dufftown could have doubled their lead on a couple of occasions during the opening 15 minutes.  Mark Sanderson again seemed to lack composure when presented with a good chance and then Alan Shearer stumbled and the chance was lost just as he looked set to have an effort on goal.

The game was to erupt after 60 minutes.  Inverness midfielder Gary Miller launched into a late tackle on Adam Irvine which incensed the Dufftown bench.  With the referee waving play on Dufftown co-manager Willie Duncan launched a tirade of abuse in the direction of the referee and when play was halted he was promptly sent to the stand by referee Dearie.

Just two minutes later and another great chance for Dufftown.  A fine pass from Alan Shearer once again found Mark Sanderson, his first time effort flew well over the crossbar though and the chance had gone.

Inverness were to equalise after 73 minutes mainly due to some woeful defending from Dufftown. As the ball was swung into the Dufftown penalty area, Bruce McCraw was in complete isolation and had plenty of time to bury his header beyond 'keeper Taylor.

Four minutes later and the home side were to take the lead.  A free kick was swung into the Dufftown box from substitute Kevin Fraser and the dangerous McCraw nodded the ball across goal to Daniel Murdoch who had the simplest of tasks of nodding the ball home from close range.

Dufftown then equalised with just 10 minutes remaining.  Again Alan Shearer and Mark Sanderson linked up well, Shearer's effort at goal hitting the post before rebounding to defender Ian Cameron who scored for the second successive match.

Just a minute later and Inverness were to grab the winning goal in controversial fashion.  A long through ball found the dangerous Steven Sanderson and when Dufftown's Stuart Lamberton challenged him, he went down in rather theatrical fashion.  Referee Dearie decided that the challenge did merit a penalty however and up stepped Bruce McCraw to bury the ball beyond Martin Taylor.

The final whistle was then blown a short while later and while Dufftown may feel aggrieved at some aspects of the refereeing performance they will also know that their defending at times left a lot to be desired.