Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 - 0 Hibernian: Inverness finish in style

Scorers: Inverness CT - Tansey (62), Hayes (pen 71)

Bookings: Hibernian - Francomb, Stephens

Attendance: 4,457

How could the comparatively meagre target of tenth place in the SPL ignite passions, even with places still up for grabs at that Hampden Park showpiece?

Pat Fenlon’s greatly-revamped side gave him few selection headaches for the Hearts match as dead ball finishes from Greg Tansey and Jonny Hayes consigned them to a very poor 11th-place finish.

George Francomb, the on-loan 20-year-old from Norwich City, was one with a shout at forwarding his case as Fenlon understandably made eight changes.

He summed up the pre and post-match mood in the Hibs camp: “Everyone wanted to impress, but this game had an end-of-season feel after putting the relegation issue to bed but there were places to play for,” Francomb said.

“Everyone was trying really hard to get in that team but it wasn’t a great performance.

“There is obviously a huge amount of hype about next weekend but we’re off to Dublin tomorrow for a few days to get away from it all. We’ll concentrate and get a bit of team morale building. We can’t wait.

“After the Dunfermline result, the excitement started kicking in and tomorrow it will really start to build.”

The first all-Edinburgh meeting in the national showpiece since 1896 was always going to overshadow the tussle at the Caledonian Stadium.

Only Garry O’Connor, Matt Doherty and Tom Soares were retained from the side that emphatically sank Dunfermline to the First Division on Monday night.

Young goalkeeper Paul Grant was given the nod for his competitive debut.

For Inverness, the final flourish in a frustrating campaign at least secured an extra £80,000 in income from their tenth-place finish.

Andrew Shinnie, starting his second match since returning from long-term injury, stubbed an early free-kick opportunity harmlessly into Hibs’ wall.

Nothing could disguise the low-key feel to the occasion, although Hibs almost mustered something of worth after 19 minutes when Ivan Sproule collected a slack Kenny Gillet pass in midfield. Sproule accelerated down the left and his flighted ball was making for the prowling O’Connor, only for Tokely to step in with a timely intervention.

Hibs finally threatened again after 34 minutes. The ball broke to Francomb outside the area and he connected superbly with a low-strike that Ryan Esson dived to tip wide.

Hayes and the two Shinnie brothers were doing their best to inject something meaningful.

Graeme Shinnie’s forays on the left were promising while brother Andrew wasn’t scared to try and dig where others hesitated. One of his efforts after 37 minutes dipped just over the bar from outside the box.

Cup final plans were to the fore at the break as Fenlon hauled off O’Connor in a straight swap for Leigh Griffiths. The game was soon sinking into torpor, though, with neither team able to muster anything coherent.

When Frenchman Gillet cracked a long-range shot over the bar just before the hour it spoke more of frustration than anything else.

Finally, though, came a moment to light up the occasion.

Hibs defender David Stephens barged into Hayes outside the box. Greg Tansey lined up the free-kick some 25 yards out and swirled a tremendous dead ball strike inside the left-hand post for his fourth goal of the season.

Hibs were on the rack for a spell thereafter and succumbed again after 71 minutes.

Billy McKay’s cross from the right found substitute Shane Sutherland rising in the six-yard box with Hibees’ defender Doherty, who was adjudged to have struck the ball with a hand.

Jonny Hayes stepped up to stroke away the penalty kick with ease.

Both sides fought on determinedly to the end but both will be looking for better in the future.

Caley Thistle manager Terry Butcher allowed himself to express some satisfaction at the end.

“We’re obviously delighted to finally beat Hibs as we hadn’t done so previously this season,” Butcher said.

“It was a good goal from Greg Tansey – and it’s probably won him a move somewhere else! He’s a fantastic player and he has got better and better as the season has gone on.

“We’ve got better and better as the campaign has gone on and we’re disappointed the season is over because we’re getting our injured players back and we have a good shape about us.

“But it does set us up well for next year.”