Caley Thistle defender Danny Devine is daring to dream of Scottish Cup glory once more after helping the Highlanders defeat Falkirk in the semi-finals.
A Billy Mckay penalty, a header from Daniel MacKay, then another Billy Mckay goal rounded off a fine display in Saturday’s 3-0 win for Billy Dodds’ aces against the Bairns.
Experienced stopper Devine, 30, lifted the famous old trophy in 2015, along with Aaron Doran, and they are the remaining duo still playing in the first-team, along with back-up keeper Cammy MacKay, who was on the bench that May day eight years ago.
Back then, under John Hughes, ICT were a top-table team, but now, as a Championship side, they will face Celtic on June 3 at Hampden.
💬 Head Coach Billy Dodds spoke to @ViaplaySportsUK following today’s 3-0 win against Falkirk in the Scottish Cup Semi Final
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) April 29, 2023
Inverness were handed a reprieve in this season’s Scottish Cup when Queen’s Park were expelled for fielding an ineligible player in their 2-0 win at the Caledonian Stadium in January.
‘Hopefully we can go all the way’
ICT went back into the cup at Queen’s expense and made it pay by knocking out Premiership opponents Livingston and Kilmarnock.
On Saturday, their win over League One opponents Falkirk extended their unbeaten run to eight games.
If they defeat Ayr United on Friday in their final Championship game of the season they will also be in the play-offs.
Devine admits reaching the final having lost to Queen’s Park that night makes it quite an amazing turnaround in fortunes.
He said: “Hopefully it’s written in the stars for us. It’s a funny one. Even after being reinstated, we never expected to be here, so we’ve absolutely grabbed the second chance. Hopefully we can go all the way.
“Listen, Queen’s Park deserved to win that night. We had a bit of luck and got back in, but we’ve not had it easy. We’ve beaten Premiership sides and now Falkirk, who are a decent team. We are buzzing.
“Any final you reach is a massive achievement. We are down a division now and I don’t think anyone saw it coming mid-season, but cup runs are always a bonus, and we are absolutely delighted.”
Medal should go to club secretary
Club secretary Fiona McWilliams picked up on Queen’s Park’s mistake when they played Hearts loanee Euan Henderson in the fourth round tie.
And Devine said, should they go on and win the cup, she should be honoured too.
He said: “Fi has been brilliant this year and has looked after the boys all season. She spotted the error Queen’s Park made and that gave us the second chance.
“Absolutely she deserves a medal!”
Inverness hit back from injury crisis
Devine was also happy to praise head coach Billy Dodds for leading the team into a second Scottish Cup final.
It has been a season of injuries cutting deep into the player pool, yet they are one win away from a stunning success as well as plotting a late promotion push.
The centre-half said: “The manager has had a lot to deal with. It’s well documented the injuries we’ve had. He knows the group he has.
“We are all in it together, stick by each other and we keep plugging away. That’s what has got us here.”
ICT handled the favourites’ tag well
Devine knows the Caley Jags are now massive underdogs to beat treble-chasing Celtic after wearing the favourites’ tags against Falkirk, who had chances too.
However, he praised the team for coping with what John McGlynn’s Bairns threw at them, with a gutsy and sharp display.
He added: “Against Falkirk the pressure was all on us. We’re the higher division team and Falkirk fancied their chances. But we handled it brilliantly and to see the game out 3-0 was massive.
“Falkirk are quite a possession-based team and had quite a bit of the ball in the first half, but we were clinical, had some great balls into the box and some great finishing, so I’m absolutely delighted to get to another final.
“Falkirk have some good players and at times we had to throw our bodies on the line and defend.
“We did that and thankfully we kept the ball out the net and it was a good victory in the end.”
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