Ross County's goalkeeper Michael McGovern tries to save a header from Celtic's Marc-Antoine Fortune during their Scottish Cup semi-final soccer match at Hampden Park stadium in Glasgow, Scotland April 10, 2010.DAVID MOIR/Reuters
Celtic is set to finish the season without a trophy after a surprising 2-0 loss to second-tier club Ross County in the Scottish Cup semifinals on Saturday.
Second-half goals from Steven Craig and Martin Scott at Hampden Park clinched the victory for the team from Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands, which has a population of 5,000.
"To come to Hampden and beat one of the Old Firm 2-0 - it's the stuff dreams are made of," Craig said. "It's not just individuals, the team was brilliant, soaked up the pressure. We are a good, young team. A lot of boys in the squad have good ability, we had no fear coming here today."
In its first ever Scottish Cup final, Division One club Ross County will play the winner of Sunday's semifinal between Raith Rovers and Dundee United.
Celtic is also virtually out of contention in the Scottish Premier League as the Glasgow side is 13 points behind leader Rangers.
Celtic must avoid losing against Motherwell in the league on Tuesday to prevent Rangers winning the title the following day by beating Dundee United.
Losing to County will harm interim Celtic manager Neil Lennon's hopes of being appointed on a permanent basis at the end of the season.
"Lenny did everything right, the players didn't do it right on the pitch - we cannot blame him," defender Andreas Hinkel said. "It was more than disappointing. It was horrendous. It was one of the worst feelings I have. You cannot explain it. We didn't deserve to win, we were not good enough."
Craig scored in the 55th minute, pouncing on a loose header near the halfway line and outpacing three defenders before firing beyond goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska from 15 yards.
Scott sealed County's place in the final in the 88th minute after volleying home Andrew Barrowman's cross from close range