Inverness Caledonian Thistle lived up to their impressive Tennent's Scottish
Cup reputation by dumping Bank of Scotland Premier League side Motherwell out of
the competition.
The Bell's First Division side booked their place in the semi-final thanks to
a single Barry Wilson goal after just 11 minutes at Fir Park to stun their
hosts.
Inverness may have been the only First Division side still in the competition
but there is no way Motherwell manager Terry Butcher would have underestimated
the threat of the Highland club.
They had already shown they were more than capable of taking on teams at the
highest level and winning when they defeated Celtic in the Scottish Cup four
years ago and they were only denied a place in last year's final by a single
Dundee goal.
But Motherwell also have a good record in the competition - also reaching last
year's semi-finals - and this was a hard-fought match right from the outset.
Motherwell had the best of the early chances when Scott McDonald and Stephen
Craigan had decent chances to find the back of the net but it was Inverness who
took the lead in stunning style after just 11 minutes.
Wilson collected collected the ball in midfield before sending a
perfectly-placed 35-yard volley sailing over goalkeeper Gordon Marshall into the
back of the net.
Motherwell had a decent chance to draw level again when Derek Adams flighted a
long ball into the path of Lasley but before he could pull the trigger, Darran
Thomson had intercepted to clear for a corner.
It was Motherwell who started the second half the stronger team. McDonald
tried to pick out David Clarkson in the box for the header but Inverness
defender Stuart McCaffrey was first to the ball to make the clearance and ease
the pressure.
Motherwell manager Terry Butcher made a double substitution just before the
hour mark when Shaun Fagan and Clarkson made way for Phil O'Donnell and Kenny
Wright as the home side tried to haul themselves back into the game.
But it was Inverness who almost found the back of the net again when Liam
Keogh found Paul Ritchie in plenty of space only for the Caley striker to fire
well wide of the post.
Wilson could have grabbed his second goal of the day with 15 minutes to go
when he took the ball past two Well defenders only to send his shot just over
the crossbar and squander a great chance to all but secure Caley Thistle's place
in the last four of the competition.
Motherwell continued to battle on and they could have snatched a late leveller
when Burns met Wright's cross only to see his glancing header fall just wide of
the post but it was not enough to ensure their name would be in the hat for
tomorrow's draw.
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