Ross County vs Celtic. Premier Sports Cup Group E.
Hampden ParkAttendance22,130.
Monday 1 February 2016 07:33, UK
Ross County torpedoed Celtic's treble hopes with a stirring 3-1 victory at a rainswept Hampden, taking full advantage of a nightmare afternoon for Efe Ambrose.
The Nigeria international was ordered off after just 13 minutes to present Martin Woods with the chance to equalise Gary Mackay-Steven's first-minute opener.
Resilient County went on to strike twice in 15 minutes after half-time through Paul Quinn and Alex Schalk to book their ticket to their first ever League Cup final on March 13, when they will face Hibernian.
With just 26 seconds on the clock, Leigh Griffiths was sent scuttling clear with the County defence all at sea, and he selflessly squared the ball for Mackay-Steven to fire into an unguarded net.
County were reeling and Griffiths would have been in again but for a heavy touch, and Ambrose's header was then hacked off the line by Ricky Foster.
Schalk forced Craig Gordon into a good save as County found their legs before the game turned with Ambrose shown a straight red card as he clipped Schalk who had got in behind; Woods (15) sent Gordon the wrong way from the penalty spot to level it up.
Caution appeared to be the watchword for County, who seemed happy to bide their time, while Celtic - who introduced Erik Sviatchenko for his debut at the expense of Callum McGregor - continued to enjoy their fair share of play - and chances.
Stuart Armstrong curled a drive inches over the crossbar, Scott Fox did well to paw away Mikel Lustig's flick header while a deflected cross fell kindly for Griffiths, but he mis-kicked.
Gordon was happy to bat away Woods' swerving 25-yard drive but it was a rare moment of anxiety for the Celtic 'keeper before the break.
However, Gordon was appealing in vain for obstruction when Andrew Davies stretched to head a corner back across goal for Quinn (48) who could not miss from six yards.
Schalk (63) kept his composure to find the roof of the net having been played in by the excellent Jackson Irvine as County's patient approach reaped further dividends.
Tiring Celtic continued to probe and they sensed fresh hope 13 minutes from time when Brian Graham was penalised for handball but Fox guessed right and blocked Griffiths' drilled penalty with his legs.
With that went the holders' hopes and it needed a decent stop from Gordon to prevent Irvine increasing their embarrassment.
The Highlanders will be hoping to go one better than in their only previous appearance in a national final; they lost out to Dundee United in the Scottish Cup final in 2010 - having beaten Celtic in the semi-final also on that occasion.
