Inverness CT vs Celtic match report: David Raven lives the dream to wreck Celtic treble bid

Inverness CT 3 Celtic 2

David Raven (GETTY IMAGES)

An emotional David Raven reflected on a “dream come true” after his late winner sent Inverness into their first Scottish Cup final at the expense of favourites Celtic.

Defender Raven slotted home the deciding goal three minutes from the end of extra time as Caley stunned 10-man Celtic to set up a final showdown against Falkirk. The 30-year-old Raven, who has scored only a handful of goals in his career, struggled to describe how he felt following a match which he admitted could have gone either way.

He said: “I don’t know really, a bit emotional to be honest, got tears in my eyes. I thought it was just our day and to score the winning goal today is a dream come true. In a cup semi-final against Celtic, I can’t believe it.

“It was topsy-turvy and it could have gone either way.”

Celtic took an 18th-minute lead through Virgil van Dijk’s brilliant free-kick and had claims for a clear penalty turned down just before half-time when the ball struck Josh Meekings’ hand a yard from goal. That was a key incident, as was the penalty that was awarded to Inverness which saw Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon sent off for bringing down Marley Watkins.

Greg Tansey slotted home the penalty in the 58th minute to make it 1-1 and Raven would end up settling the match after Edward Ofere and John Guidetti had made it 2-2 in extra time.

Inverness manager John Hughes said: “The sending-off changed the game in our favour but, as I said before the game, what these boys have done since I came to the club, they deserve that today.”

On their final opponents, Hughes said: “A small club, Falkirk, have had some wonderful times there and it’ll be a right good cup final.”

Celtic manager Ronny Deila pointed the finger at official Alan Muir for missing the Meekings handball.

A penalty then could have doubled Celtic’s lead and reduced Inverness to 10 men, and Deila claimed the game would have “finished”. But referee Steven McLean and his additional assistant Muir, stationed behind the goal, missed it.

Deila said: “I don’t think I have to say much. I think everybody saw what happened. Maybe we need seven referees, one on each post.

“Their one task is to look at what is happening in the six-yard box and on the goal line. You can’t blame the main referee for that. This mistake was very hard to take.

“It’s a hard blow for the boys and for us. We’re very disappointed. We had control 11 versus 11 and we should have killed the game off.”

Deila had no complaints about Gordon’s dismissal, adding: “That was OK. I think the rule is very hard, but that’s nothing to do with the ref.”

While Celtic’s hopes of a clean sweep of domestic trophies are over, Deila is looking for the Scottish Premiership leaders to keep on course for the title against Dundee at Dens Park on Wednesday.

He added: “It’s a tough world and that’s why it’s so hard to get a treble. It’s small details that can make you fail and today it was a small detail.

“We have to get that behind us as quickly as possible and focus on Wednesday Good teams bounce back quickly.

“I’ve had disappointing moments before. It’s how you handle it and what you learn from it that’s important.”