Inverness Caledonian Thistle needed a late goal from James Vincent to clinch a 2-1 win in the Scottish Cup final over Falkirk at Hampden Park, despite being reduced to 10 men in the second half.

Graeme Shinnie came close to opening the scoring inside the opening 10 minutes for Inverness, who he is leaving at the end of the season, but his cross failed to find Marley Watkins.

Shinnie was on the charge again midway through the first half, threading the ball through to Carl Tremarco, but his ball into the box failed to find any of his teammates.

Falkirk's first real chance of the afternoon came just moments later as Will Vaulks tried his luck with a potent effort from 25 yards out, but he could not force a stop from Ryan Esson.

Caley broke the deadlock shortly before half time when Aaron Doran cut the ball back for Watkins, leaving the striker to round Jamie MacDonald before slotting into the bottom corner.

Falkirk saw plenty of the ball at the start of the second period as they tried to find a way back into the game, but Blair Alston could only fire high.

The Scottish Championship side continued to do the majority of the attacking in the second half, with Vaulks unleashing a number of shots, but he was unable to level the scores.

Falkirk's chances were boosted with 15 minutes remaining when their opponents were reduced to 10 men for a rash challenge on Alston.

The second-tier side made the most of their opportunity, with a free kick from Alston a few minutes later setting up Peter Grant to head the ball into the back of the net.

Inverness quickly regained their composure though, forcing a parry from MacDonald on the counter-attack, but he could only punch the ball into the path of Vincent, leaving the midfielder to thump the ball home.

It is the first time in the club's 21-year history that they have won the competition.