Inverness Caley Thistle seal safe passage into Scottish Cup final as Billy Mckay and Daniel MacKay put Falkirk to the sword
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Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 (Mckay x2, MacKay)
Falkirk 0
Inverness Caledonian Thistle have reached the Scottish Cup final after a comfortable 3-0 win over Falkirk at Hampden Park.
Billy Mckay's penalty gave the Caley Jags an early advantage over their League One opponents, before namesake Daniel made it two before half time.
The Northern Ireland international striker then put the result beyond doubt around 10 minutes after the restart, ensuring Inverness would do something they have only accomplished once before – contest the Scottish Cup final.
Both teams barely had time to settle into the occasion before Caley Thistle won a penalty.
Leon McCann was judged to have hand-balled by the Video Assistant Referee as he deflected Jay Henderson's cross from the right flank.
Billy Mckay stepped up, and his experience proved valuable in the moment as he sent Brian Kinnear the wrong way to move one goal closer to ICT's all-time scoring record – but more importantly in the moment give Inverness a valuable advantage as early as six minutes in.
Much as that should have calmed any nerves, there was nearly a calamitous moment for Mark Ridgers shortly afterwards.
He came out to try and clear away a ball that Rumarn Burrell was chasing down alongside Danny Devine, and the Caley Jags stopped completely mis-kicked the ball straight to Callumn Morrison.
The Falkirk number seven had an open goal to aim at, admittedly from a way out, and his low, curling effort clipped the far post before Inverness were able to clear.
John McGlynn's men continued to press, and just after the half-hour mark a link-up between Burrell and Kai Kennedy, then follow up efforts from Maksym Kucheriavyi, forced multiple blocks out of the Inverness backline.
However, Inverness would double their lead in the 33rd minute.
Again, Henderson was involved, delivering a picture perfect cross from a deep position on the right wing to pick out Daniel MacKay, who headed into the bottom corner.
Devine picked up the first booking of the match on the brink of half time, before Wallace Duffy nearly caught Kinnear out with what appeared to be a cross that almost snuck in at the back post.]
Early in the second half, former ICT defender Coll Donaldson found himself unmarked at a corner, but he did not connect sweetly with his attempted volley that went wide.
Falkirk tried to keep the pressure up with a series of corners, but once again it was Inverness who would add to the scoreline.
MacKay, who had earlier benefited from an inch-perfect cross himself, sent one in towards Mckay peeling away at the back post, and the prolific striker volleyed past Kinnear to bring up his 100th goal for the club – moving one away from the all-time record, and leaving very little doubt who would be advancing to the final on June 3.
Still, Falkirk had to gamble, making a triple substitution that included on-loan Ross County forward Matthew Wright coming on.
Caley Thistle very nearly made it four, though, when Nathan Shaw's shot from the edge of the box was deflected past Kinnear, but only on to the woodwork.
They remained their own worst enemy, though, with Deas selling Ridgers short with a back pass that allowed Gary Oliver to nip in and round the goalkeeper.
His multiple attempts to find the net, though, were blocked by Deas and Devine, as well as one final attempt to set Wright up for a tap in.
Immediately afterwards at the other end, Shaw was then denied by the post again, this time off his own back without the help of a defender's touch.
As the clock ticked down, the match situation seemed to sink in for both sides, knowing that as contest the tie was essentially over.
One final block from Deas inside his own penalty area in stoppage time was enough, then, for Caley Thistle to see the game out – keeping a clean sheet at Hampden for the first time ever.
More importantly, though, they now officially have a Scottish Cup final to look forward to, and they will be keenly watching tomorrow's semi final between Rangers and Celtic to discover who they will be facing.
Caley Thistle: Ridgers, Duffy, Harper, Welsh, Deas, Devine, Mckay, D MacKay, Allardice, J Henderson, Shaw.
Subs: Mackay, Doran, MacGregor, Ram, Hyde, Delaney, Samuels, Woods, Boyd.
Falkirk: Kinnear, Williamson, McGinn, L Henderson, Donaldson, Morrison, McCann, Burrell, McKay, Kucheriavyi, Kennedy.
Subs: Morrison, Nesbitt, McGuffie, Yeats, Wright, Oliver, Lawal, Mackie, Watson.
Referee: Nick Walsh
