 Official programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 2014–15 Scottish Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 30 May 2015 | ||||||
| Venue | Hampden Park,Glasgow | ||||||
| Referee | Willie Collum | ||||||
| Attendance | 37,149 | ||||||
←2014 2016 → | |||||||
The2015 Scottish Cup Final was the 130th final of theScottish Cup, the most prestigious knockoutfootball competition in Scotland. The match took place atHampden Park on 30 May 2015 and was contested byFalkirk andInverness Caledonian Thistle. Ten-man Inverness won the final 2–1 thanks to a lateJames Vincent goal.[1]
Inverness subsequently entered the2015–16 UEFA Europa League in theSecond qualifying round. As Inverness also finished 3rd in the2014–15 Scottish Premiership, this enabledSt Johnstone to claim the final2015–16 UEFA Europa League slot (in previous years this place would have gone to Falkirk as runners-up, as it had in2009, but the rules were changed from 2015 onwards).[2]
This was Falkirk's fifth Scottish Cup Final, having previously won twice (1913 againstRaith Rovers and1957 againstKilmarnock) and lost twice (1997 against Kilmarnock and2009 againstRangers).[3] It was Inverness' first appearance in the final,[4] their best performances being reaching the semi-final in2003 and2004, losing toDundee andDunfermline Athletic respectively.[5][6][7]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Fourth round | Cowdenbeath | 1–0 |
| Fifth round | Brechin City | 2–1 |
| Quarter-final | Queen of the South | 1–0 |
| Semi-final | Hibernian | 1–0 |
Falkirk, of theScottish Championship, entered the competition in the Fourth Round. They began their campaign againstCowdenbeath at theFalkirk Stadium.Craig Sibbald scored the goal that sealed the Bairns' passage into the next round.[8] They then took onBrechin City, winning 2–1 courtesy of goals fromDavid McCracken andDavid Smith.[9]
In the quarter-final Falkirk were drawn againstQueen of the South. Craig Sibbald's goal sealed a 1–0 victory.[10] In the semi-final atHampden Park on 18 April, Falkirk facedHibernian. A late header from Sibbald sent Falkirk to their first Scottish Cup final since2009.[11]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Fourth round | St Mirren | 1–1 |
| Fourth Round Replay | 4–0 | |
| Fifth round | Partick Thistle | 2–1 |
| Quarter-final | Raith Rovers | 1–0 |
| Semi-final | Celtic | 3–2 (a.e.t.) |
Inverness, of theScottish Premiership also entered the competition in the Fourth Round, coming from a goal down away atSt Mirren to earn a replay which was comfortably won 4–0.[12] In the Fifth Round,Caley eased their way past another Premiership side inPartick Thistle atFirhill, winning 2–1 to earn a berth in the quarter-finals.[13] On this occasion they were given a home tie against Championship clubRaith Rovers, who were dispatched by a single goal at theCaledonian Stadium.[14]
This set up a semi-final with favouritesCeltic atHampden Park. Despite going into the tie as underdogs and falling behind to an early strike byVirgil van Dijk, Inverness stunned theHoops by winning 3–2 after extra-time courtesy of a lateDavid Raven goal to book their place in the final for the first time.[4]
The match was shown live onBBC Scotland and onSky Sports.[15]
Inverness took the lead in the 38th minute whenMarley Watkins ran onto anAaron Doran pass to round goalkeeperJamie MacDonald and slot low into the net.Carl Tremarco was sent off for Inverness in the 75th minute for bringing downBlair Alston as the last man. Falkirk leveled the game with ten minutes to go whenPeter Grant headed to the net at the back post after a free-kick byBlair Alston on the left of the penalty area. With four minutes to go Inverness got the winning goal whenJames Vincent finished from six yards out after the goalkeeper had parried out a low shot from Watkins.
          Inverness CT |   Falkirk |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Match rules
