Marius Niculae hit his fourth double of the season as Inverness clinched a comprehensive victory over lowly Gretna in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

The Highland club opened the scoring in the 34th minute when Russell Duncan set up Niculae who scored with a low shot from 30 yards.

John Rankin then converted a penalty after Niculae had been fouled by Chris Innes, while three minutes before the break the Romanian found the net again through a downward volley following Ross Tokely's cushioned header.

Inverness created the first chances of the game when Ian Black drew a good save from Tony Caig through a well-hit 25-yard drive, while an opportunistic volley from Wyness was also stopped by the Gretna goalkeeper.

Gretna's attacking efforts were not helped by Henry Makinwa repeatedly drifting into offside positions, although the striker was able to call Michael Fraser into action via a low shot that was comfortably gathered.

In the 23rd minute the visitors survived a real scare when Tokely's header from Rankin's corner caused all sorts of problems inside the Gretna penalty area and eventually a powerful close-range shot from David Proctor was somehow deflected over.

Gretna showed some improvement in launching a brief flurry forward midway through the opening period, but their final product lacked conviction with shots from Makinwa and Jenkins off-target.

The game was crying out for a spark of imagination and finally two Caley Thistle players injected some class into what had been a tepid encounter.

Duncan surged forward on a purposeful run which started in his own half and when he turned a pass inside to the feet of Niculae, the Romanian clinically dispatched his long-range drive past Caig.

Inverness pushed on following that breakthrough and Gretna gifted the hosts a second goal when Innes needlessly hauled down Niculae in the 18-yard box, with a clumsy challenge allowing Rankin to coolly score from the spot.

Gretna's self-destruction was then completed as they gave Tokely far too much space to knock down a corner from Cowie and Niculae struck again.

Following the restart Niculae was clearly desperate to score a third goal, but his drive in the 47th minute was smartly saved by Caig.

Shortly afterwards Gretna almost profited from some clumsy play by Fraser, who was caught badly out of position when Kenny Deuchar squared the ball inside to Gavin Skelton.

For a moment it looked as if the midfielder would be able to stab a shot into the net, only for Grant Munro to make a crucial block.

At the other end of the pitch a great shot from Duncan produced an even better stop by Caig.

However, the Gretna goalkeeper was left a mere spectator when Richard Hastings found Dennis Wyness with an accurate cross from the left wing and the forward sent a glancing header just wide.

Inverness remained in complete control of the game and Rankin's drive was deflected wide, before Caig brilliantly pushed a header from substitute Markus Paatelainen over his own bar.

Gretna did threaten again, but Fabian Yantorno was thwarted by Fraser as Inverness resumed their quest to score the 1,000th competitive goal since their inception in 1994.

However, the closest they came was when Proctor volleyed against a post with nine minutes remaining, leaving the Highlanders to try to reach that landmark against Hibs in the Scottish Cup next weekend.

Teams:

Inverness CT Fraser, Tokely, Proctor, Munro, Hastings (McBain 75), Cowie (Paatelainen 66), Black, Duncan, Rankin, Niculae (Bayne 77), Wyness.

Subs Not Used: Malkowski, Vigurs, Gillespie, Duff.

Goals: Niculae 34, Rankin 40 pen, Niculae 43.

Gretna Caig, Barr, Collin, Innes, Horwood, Jenkins (Osman 51), Yantorno, Murray, Skelton, Deuchar, Makinwa (McGill 88).

Subs Not Used: Fleming, Canning, Grady, Deverdics, McLaren.

Att: 3,919

Ref: D McDonald (Scotland).