Caley Thistle’s defence of the Scottish Cup was brought to an end by Championship side Hibernian this evening, with a late rally not enough to prevent Inverness falling to defeat, in a result that leaves their campaign in a precarious position.
Hibs forward Anthony Stokes came up with the goods for his side, with his first-half double proving enough for the Championship outfit to progress, with Iain Vigurs’ goal not enough for Caley Jags.
Inverness’ options have been severely limited in recent weeks, but the return of a quartet of experienced campaigners gave their side a far more solid look.
The main talking point was the return of captain Richie Foran to the starting line-up for the first time in nearly two years, following successive knee and calf injuries.
Defender Josh Meekings has also been sidelined with a knee problem but he also made his first appearance in more than three months. Gary Warren and Carl Tremarco returned from suspension, however midfielder Greg Tansey was banned, with Danny Williams, Liam Polworth and Jordan Roberts dropping to the bench.
Inverness got on the front foot early on, and threatened within the opening two minutes when Lewis Horner lashed over from the edge of the box.
Hibs began to impose themselves on the game though, with Stokes and leading scorer Cummings both dragging efforts wide of target in the opening 15 minutes, before Liam Fontaine headed over from a Liam Henderson free-kick.
Caley Jags’ front pairing of Foran and Liam Hughes looked keen for the contest, but the hosts struggled to create openings, as has been the case on numerous occasions this season.
The lack of a killer instinct came back to bite the hosts, when the Championship side took the lead on 36 minutes. Keatings squeezed the ball into the box from wide on the left, with the ball falling kindly for Stokes, who had sufficient time to take the ball down before rifling low past Owain Fon Williams from 12 yards.
Irishman Stokes has come in for criticism for his lack of return since joining on loan from Celtic in January, but just five minutes after opening the scoring he showed sharp reactions to double the lead.
It was harsh on goalkeeper Fon Williams, who made an excellent save to beat away Cummings’ low strike, but the Welshman was powerless to prevent Stokes following up from close-range.
It left Inverness with a mammoth task ahead of them in the second-half, and sensing their defence of the competition was wearing thin they were sharp off the blocks after the break, with Warren heading over from a corner before Tremarco scrambled wide from close-range following Meekings’ delivery from the right flank.
Vigurs’ powerful free-kick forced a fine beaten save by Hibs goalkeeper Mark Oxley, who had been seldom tested in the game. Hughes shook things up by making an offensive double substitution just after the hour mark, bringing on Danny Williams and Miles Storey in place of Horner and Nat Wedderburn.
Time was running out for the home side though, as Hibs looked in the mood to kill off the game once and for all however, and with the game stretched they looked to exploit the space that opened up for them. The influential Stokes firstly tested Fon Williams with a low drilled strike from the edge of the box, before setting up John McGinn to run at goal, only for him to be thwarted by the Inverness custodian at his near post.
Meekings and Hughes struck efforts wide, but Inverness pulled one back on 77 minutes when Foran’s header set up Vigurs to ram home from five yards.
The goal gave Inverness belief, and they should have levelled shortly afterwards when Foran’s cross was hacked over from point-blank range by Hughes. He collided with the head of goalkeeper Oxley in doing so, whose impaired vision thereafter delayed the game on three occasions to the serious frustration of the home support, with seven minutes of time added on but – even with the extra seven minutes – Caley Thistle were unable to find an equaliser and the cup holders were knocked out of this year’s competition.
