Inverness CT 1-0 Partick Thistle (agg 3-1): Billy Dodds' side set up play-off with Arbroath
- Published
Watch: Samuels strikes to extend Inverness advantage
Inverness will play Arbroath in the Scottish Premiership play-off semi-final after completing an aggregate win against Partick Thistle.
Having won Tuesday's first leg 2-1, the Highlanders extended their advantage through Austin Samuels' fierce strike.
Brian Graham almost levelled on the night with a volley against the bar and a header that was superbly saved.
Kirk Broadfoot came close to netting Inverness' fourth goal in the tie when his second-half header was kept out.
Billy Dodds' side will host Arbroath in Tuesday's first leg, with the return at Gayfield next Friday. Both matches will be broadcast live on BBC Scotland, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.
Though the hosts had threatened through Logan Chalmers and Robbie Deas, their opening goal came during Partick's best spell of the first half.
Robbie Crawford was unable to direct Scott Tiffoney's cross on target, Graham flashed a shot wide and Tiffoney was also off target.
Inverness scored with the same combination that gave them their winner at Firhill, Shane Sutherland providing the pass and Samuels the finish.
But the visitors could have cancelled that strike out with Graham's acrobatic volley rattling the frame of the goal and the striker then denied by goalkeeper Mark Ridgers' sharp reflexes.
Partick could not maintain that intensity in the second half and Broadfoot's header forced a brilliant block by Jamie Sneddon, who later denied Sutherland.
Inverness CT manager Billy Dodds: "It's a brilliant result. I'm so happy for the boys. I can't say I enjoyed the game, we weren't at our best. We're through and that's all that matters. It's a tremendous result to go through and have a crack at Arbroath. We deserved to go through over the piece."
Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall: "The three goals we lost over the tie all came from our errors. We made five or six really decent opportunities. There's a reset now because we know we've got a nucleus of a team good enough to challenge to win this league. I'd wish Inverness good luck in the semi-final."