Caley Thistle supporters will be in for a treat if their Scottish Cup semi-final appearance next month is half as dramatic as the last time the club reached the final four.
Back in 2015, John Hughes’ team were massive underdogs going into a clash against Celtic with a place in the final on the line.
The club was flying high in the league and ultimately finished third in the 2014-15 Scottish Premiership but Celtic were the runaway league leaders and having already won the League Cup, they were expected to complete the treble.
A peach of a free kick from Virgil Van Dijk set the Bhoys on their way in the first half but the match turned on its head when Celtic were denied a second when Leigh Griffiths goal-bound header was blocked by the arm of Josh Meekings.
Referee Steven McLean and the byline linesman – who was no more than five yards away – failed to spot the infringement and Inverness survived what should have been a red card and penalty which would have likely killed off their cup hopes.
Instead, they stayed in it and Celtic keeper Craig Gordon was red-carded midway through the second half when he hauled down Marley Watkins inside the box.
Greg Tansey dispatched the resulting penalty and all of a sudden, Caley Thistle were looking the more likely.
No one was able to make the breakthrough in 90 minutes, prompting one of the most memorable extra time periods in the club’s history.
Eddie Ofere put Inverness in front on 96 minutes with a smart finish from a Watkins knock-down but John Guidetti equalised on 103 minutes with a long-range free kick that really should have been kept out by Ryan Esson.
Just as it was looking like the lottery of penalties would be needed, a pretty passing play between Nick Ross, Watkins and Ofere sent Graeme Shinnie away down the left.
He squared the ball across goal and David Raven tapped in only his second goal for the club, causing the thousands of Caley Thistle fans inside Hampden and the club’s Twitter account to go into meltdown.
HE NEVER BLOODY SCORES!!!!
— Official ICTFC (@ICTFC) April 19, 2015
They held out for the remaining few minutes and having acquired a taste for a late goal, repeated the trick in the final against Falkirk a month later when James Vincent clinched the club’s first-ever Scottish Cup triumph.
With either Hearts or Partick Thistle standing in the way of a second-ever appearance in the final, a similarly dramatic afternoon wouldn’t go amiss.
How about it, class of 2019?
