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Highlights: Inverness CT v Motherwell
Bob Malcolm's free-kick and Chris Porter's well-worked goal saw Motherwell take all three points at a wet and windy Caledonian Stadium.
Adam Rooney had given the home side the lead two minutes into the second half with a composed run and finish.
Chris Porter equalised when he linked up well with John Sutton on 69 minutes.
Mark McGhee's side took all three points back to Fir Park thanks to a beautiful, curling free-kick from Bob Malcolm with 83 minutes gone.
Motherwell enjoyed good possession but did not trouble the Inverness defence, the wet pitch at the Caledonian Stadium making for a difficult passing surface.
Dougie Imrie was full of running in the early stages and he raced down the line before threading an excellent ball into the box that Smith gathered with Rooney and Garry Wood nearby.
Wood should have done better after 18 minutes when a clever ball by Cowie gave the youngster a chance but he allowed the ball to slip under his foot and away to safety.
Imrie then shot a free-kick wide and over on 21 minutes after Black was fouled by Mark Reynolds on the edge of the penalty box.
There were plenty of long-range efforts and head tennis from both sides as they struggled to make any impact in the wind.
Good defending from Motherwell captain Keith Lasley prevented Rooney getting a shot in at goal as the home side began to take advantage of the strong wind at their backs.
Russell Duncan almost nodded past his own keeper early in the second half when he tried to clear a dangerous free-kick from Steven Hammell but the Caley midfielder was fortunate to see his header go behind.
From the resulting corner, it was Inverness who burst forward on the counter attack. Rooney seized on some hesitancy in the Motherwell defence before beating two men and slotting the ball past the advancing Smith with only two minutes of the half gone.
Malcolm picked up the first yellow card of the day for a late tackle on Rooney. Cowie and Black combined to set up Grant Munro but Hammell made a desperate tackle to prevent the Caley skipper scoring.
Inverness were to rue that miss as Motherwell went up the other end and equalised. Chris Porter played a neat one-two with John Sutton before shooting past Fraser.
Then on 83 minutes Bob Malcolm made the most of a free kick, firing past the Inverness keeper to seal the win for Motherwell.
Inverness manager Craig Brewster:
"Disappointing. We've lost the last two games in the last 15 minutes of the second half and I tried to make sure that wasn't going to happen today.
"We were pretty comfortable then Wood bursts through, beats the offside trap, runs into Adam Rooney and within 20 seconds it's one each. That was frustrating.
"I was never really comfortable with Porter and Sutton up front. I thought that they bullied us a wee bit.
"I don't know where the ref got the free kick from but it was a wonderfully executed one from Bob Malcolm. We tried hard but it wasn't to be."
Motherwell manager Mark McGhee:
"I thought that we had no chance of getting back into the game. I thought that one goal would win the game and was worried that was the case.
"Either team could have won it. We've trained in pretty inclement weather all week when a forfeit for missing the target was to take off an item of clothing. So a few of them were down to their T-shirts and vests. It tends to focus the mind.
"The substitutions changed the tempo of the game for us and Chris Porter's goal was a terrific finish. Plus it was a marvellous free-kick from Bob Malcolm.
"We don't have any fear of coming up here and it was the same today."
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