RYAN CHRISTIE was only four years old when his dad Charlie and Inverness Caledonian Thistle made headlines around the football world.

Junior was present when the Highlanders beat Celtic on a cold February night in 2000 and while understandably there isn't too much about the 3-1 win he can remember, he still knows every pass, every foul and probably can recite the commentary by memory.

Now a fine player in his own right, the 20-year-old has been forced, his own words, by the old man many, many times to relive what up until Sunday was the club's finest hour and a half.

Dad, who has served Inverness in so many capacities, was man of the match 15 years ago and while the man who actually started his playing career at Celtic is known as the modest type, a bit of showing off seems not to be beyond him.

And now there is another family member who has his own highlights package to boast about. This time, however, it will be on DVD not VHS.

First of all there is Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final win over Celtic, a feat that would be eclipsed if Inverness go on to beat Falkirk in the Final. Even the boys of 2000 would not be able to compete with that.

Christie said: "I had a quick word with my dad after the game finished. I think he's delighted. Not just for me, but for everyone at the club.

"My dad is always going on about what happened that night at Parkhead and I have something to come back to him now. I was four then. I don't remember much about it. I do remember travelling down on the Saturday when the original game was called off.

"Yeah, I have been forced to watch it. We have about five tapes of the game. At least I have one now to show myself. I can force him to watch."

Christie, the senior one, has claimed not have opened his man of the match champagne from 15 years ago and will only allow himself and others a sip if, or perhaps that should be when, his boy gains a Scotland cap.

But surely that cork will be popped if the Cup heads back north next month.

Christie said: "I don't know if he would let me have a drink (if they win the Cup). My dad didn't get the chance to go all the way, so getting to the Cup Final is superb."

There was not a single Inverness player who didn't mention their manager, John Hughes, when asked to put into words what has happened at that club in recent times.

He may play the joker and sometimes overdo the big daft laddie from Leith shtick, however, the other Yogi Hughes is a deep thinker about his football. His teams plays the right way and the players in the Highland capital have bought into it.

Christie said: "The manager has been superb ever since he's come in. Since Christmas time last season he's worked with me and protected me at times. I was just delighted to have started and to have stayed on for the full game on Sunday.

"I have learned so much from him and Russell Latapy. He played in a position I like to play, so it he's been great with me.

"We have worked hard from the first day the gaffer walked in. The way he wants to play, that style has been implemented throughout the season."

Inverness will be heavy favourites going into the Final against Falkirk. Both sides rode their luck in their respective semi-finals wins, but both will go to Hampden next month feeling they can achieve something pretty special.

Christie said: "I think Sunday will go down in history for us. The Final now has a different spin on it because we go into it the favourites. So we need to make sure we turn up and are definitely on our game."

There was one negative, however. Defender Gary Warren will miss the Final after picking up a booking for a pull on James Forrest. For him to miss a cup final over a month away because of a nothing yellow card is, quite frankly, a ridiculous rule that no sane person could agree with.

And to make matters worse, he missed the League Cup Final last year as well.

Warren admitted: "I'm gutted again. It's just one of those things I guess. It's disappointing but you just have to get on with it. Someone else will come in, step in and do just as good a job.

"When you come into a game you always think about it and wonder what if but if you start allowing it to play on your mind, then you're going to pull out of tackles but that's not my nature. I can't pull out of tackles and I can't hold back.

"That's probably a downside of my game I guess but that's just the way football works out."

Warren said it was "ridiculous" that two bookings in the competition had ruled him out. It was hard to disagree.

But he won't be doing what is now known as a 'John Terry' and appear at full-time if his side win with the full kit on.

Warren said: "That's not me at all, no chance. I'll be in the background somewhere, in the stands."