Danny Devine thought Kyogo was resting in the Hampden sun for the majority of his 59 minutes cup final action. But it was the Inverness defender caught napping for a split second by a classic Furuhashi run that proved key as Celtic made the breakthrough and left Inverness in the shade.
The Highlanders had kept the Hoops’ star man quiet for the opening 37 minutes with a stifling game plan that was being deployed to perfection.
But when the Japanese ace turned it on for one devastating front post run Billy Dodds’ side had no answer. To be fair better teams and players have failed to handle Kyogo’s lightning quick movement in the box these past two years.
It didn’t help that Caley Thistle had to wait four weeks without a competitive game to face the best team in Scotland. They were far from caught cold though as Daniel MacKay’s 84th minute header halved the deficit and gave the 6500 fans in the blue and red corner hope of a second Hampden fairytale in eight years.