Bottom club Dunfermline recorded their first away win of the season by beating Inverness to move only six points behind St Mirren in the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

Markus Paatelainen gave Inverness a first-half lead but Dunfermline roared back into contention quickly after the break thanks to Stephen Glass's well-placed volley.

Jim McIntyre then turned in a deflected cross from Jim O'Brien - who also created the equaliser - while Glass completed the scoring with a penalty before Tam McManus was sent-off in injury time after clashing with Ian Black.

Richard Hastings's cross created an opening for Inverness after just two minutes, but despite having two attempts at getting a shot on goal, Gary McSwegan failed to make a good connection with the ball and the chance was gone.

Dunfermline did not offer much of a threat in attack early on, although Stuart McCaffrey was called into making a sliding block in order to prevent a shot from Adam Hammill troubling Caley Thistle goalkeeper Mike Fraser.

In the 17th minute, Phil McGuire was cautioned for a cynical trip on Graham Bayne and three minutes later the Inverness striker should have done far better when presented with a great opportunity to break the deadlock.

Barry Wilson's free-kick was deflected into the path of Bayne by the Dunfermline wall, but the former Ross County player's lunging attempt drew an easy save from Dorus de Vries.

However, the home side soon took the lead when following an almighty goalmouth scramble in the Pars' penalty area, Paatelainen coolly lashed the ball into the net from 12 yards.

With nine minutes remaining before the break, Inverness took a less glamorous root towards goal, when McCaffrey's long clearance was taken down 20 yards out by Black whose half-volley was saved by de Vries.

The Dutch keeper had to make another important save in the 43rd minute to stop Wilson's errant cross from arcing underneath the crossbar, but was able to acrobatically push the ball over.

However, despite struggling in attack throughout a poor opening period, Dunfermline created a terrific equalising goal inside three minutes of the restart.

O'Brien was the architect in clipping a delightful pass into the path of Glass and the former Aberdeen midfielder provided a wonderful finish by volleying the ball powerfully past a helpless Fraser.

The Pars took huge confidence from restoring parity and on the hour mark another cross from the right by O'Brien led to the visitors taking the lead.

Inverness were undone by a deflection on O'Brien's delivery and as the ball spun past a clutch of defenders, McIntyre was on hand to supply the simplest of finishes.

With 13 minutes left a neat pass from Bayne set Paatelainen free in the Dunfermline 18-yard box and de Vries had to look lively in order to tip a left-footed shot from the Finn over the crossbar.

That save was immediately rewarded by the keeper's team-mates a minute later though, as the Pars raced up the pitch to score a third goal.

Black halted a run from Hammill by tripping the Dunfermline midfielder just inside the home side's penalty area and Glass managed to beat Fraser from the spot.

The game ended on a sour note when McManus was dismissed, but the Pars held on to record their first league win since defeating Dundee United in November.

Teams:

Inverness CT Fraser, Tokely, Dods, McCaffrey, Hastings,Wilson, Black, Duncan (Rankin 64), Paatelainen, Bayne,McSwegan (Dargo 63).

Subs Not Used: Ridgers, Hart, Morgan, Sutherland, McAllister.

Booked: Tokely.

Goals: Paatelainen 23.

Dunfermline De Vries, Ross, Wilson (Harris 80), McGuire,Scott Morrison, O'Brien, Mason, Glass, Hammill (Muirhead 86),McManus, McIntyre.

Subs Not Used: McKenzie, McCunnie, Owen Morrison, Crawford,

Hamilton.

Sent Off: McManus (90).

Booked: McGuire, McManus, Scott Morrison.

Goals: Glass 48, McIntyre 61, Glass 79 pen.

Att: 4,447

Ref: Christopher Boyle (Scotland).