A PLACE in history beckons for either side in the William Hill Scottish Cup final this afternoon.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle will look to win the first major piece of silverware in their 21-year existence, while Falkirk will try to become only the second team outside of the top division to lift the famous old trophy. Here we set the scene.
PIVOTAL PLAYERS
Josh Meekings will be available to start in goal for Inverness.......ha, a lame joke to kick things off. Meekings, of course, inadvertently became the central figure in his side's semi-final win over Celtic when he handled Leigh Griffiths' goalbound header only for all the match officials to miss it. A subsequent ban was also thrown out. His availability, in his more favoured defensive role presumably, will be key, with his usual centre half partner, Gary Warren, suspended.
There will be an expectation on Ryan Christie, the recently-anointed SFWA young player of the year, to create in midfield, and the pace and power of Edward Ofere to give the Falkirk defence problems both in the air and on the ground.
Peter Houston, the Falkirk manager, has remained coy about whether he will hand Rory Loy a starting place. The forward has not played since breaking his leg in the quarter-final against Queen of the South but had scored 12 goals prior to his enforced absence. With John Baird cup-tied, Houston may be tempted to play Loy from the start in what will be his final Falkirk game before a summer move to Dundee. Craig Sibbald, still just 20, will look to score his third Hampden goal from midfield.
KEY CLASH
If Falkirk are to lift the cup for the first time since 1957, they will need to find a way to shackle Ofere who has been in a rich vein of goalscoring form with five from his last seven matches. It is a responsibility likely to be handed to David McCracken, Falkirk's experienced captain.
TACTICAL BATTLE
The onus will be on Inverness, as the top-tier team, to take the game to Falkirk, dominating possession and getting their full-backs high up the pitch. Manager John Hughes tends to favour a 4-2-3-1 system but has dabbled with a 4-4-2 in the past and may be tempted to play Marley Watkins alongside Ofere in attack. Falkirk will probably be content to play largely on the counter, while making full use of any threatening dead-ball situations.
PREDICTION
Inverness 2 Falkirk 1
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