Ten-man Caley Thistle are through to their fifth Challenge Cup final after a 2-1 win over Rangers colts.
Dapo Mebude put the visitors in front early but the tie was levelled by James Keatings, who was later to be harshly dismissed.
It came down to Miles Storey to score the decisive goal and give Inverness the chance to regain the competition they won in 2018.
They will face Raith Rovers in the final, to be played on the weekend of March 28 and 29.
The Caley Jags made two changes from the 1-0 win over Livingston, with Lewis Toshney and James Vincent in for Brad Mckay and Sean Welsh.
It took less than six minutes for Rangers to take the lead, with Mebude finishing on the turn after ball ricocheted off Kevin McHattie into his path.
Jake Hastie, one of two over-age players in the Rangers side, took aim from distance and Josh McPake had Mark Ridgers scrambling across goal to see his shot wide.
The Scottish Championship side offered little to trouble Andy Firth in the away goal. David Carson and Miles Storey had sights of goal but dragged them wide, as Inverness toiled in the horrendous conditions.
Rangers ought to have been two up on 31 minutes, with Kai Kennedy’s right-wing cross turned on to the bar by Mebude from six yards. With the ball dropping to an unmarked Hastie from the rebound, he scuffed his shot into the ground and Caley Thistle were able to clear.
Keatings dragged Inverness level just before half-time with a well-taken strike from the edge of the box. Miles Storey stood a cross up to the back post where Jordan White headed it down, with Keatings’ strike taking a deflection off Rhys Breen on its way into the net.
Ridgers got down well to smother Ciaran Dickson’s low attempt at the start of the second half while at the opposite end, Firth blocked Carl Tremarco’s goal-bound shot after positive work by Tom Walsh.
Keatings’ afternoon took a turn for the worse on 57 minutes, when he was given a second yellow card for diving by referee Greg Aitken. However, it appeared that Dickson caught the first-half substitute before he went down.
There was further controversy when the match officials chalked off a potential second goal for the home side, with Walsh ruled offside after clipping Ridgers’ long clearance past Firth.
The 10 men got their breakthrough in the final 20 minutes after Firth repelled an effort from James Vincent, with Storey lashing the ball back into the corner.
Rangers made John Robertson’s side sweat on their lead, with the impressive Kennedy clipping the bar with a free-kick after Toshney crudely upended Nathan Young-Coombes.
But their late pressure was not enough to draw level as Inverness held on to their lead and return to the final.
