A valiant Kilmarnock left Hampden empty-handed after a battling performance with Celtic in the Viaplay Cup semi-final.
Daizen Maeda and a late Giorgos Giakoumakis strike sent Ange Postecoglou's side into the final, but it was an effort the Ayrshire side could be proud of.
At 1-0 in stoppage-time referee Willie Collum waved away strong penalty appeals from Killie when Giakoumakis appeared to bundle down Joe Wright.
Over 7000 Killie fans cheered on their heroes in blue and white, and it could have been a day to remember with a number of chances and a fantastic Joe Hart performance.
Rory McKenzie had the Killie fans off their seats after just six minutes as he burst forward and fired a low shot towards goal from outside the area, but Hart got down well to tip the effort wide of the post.
Maeda broke into the box after 10 minutes and looked sure to fire a shot away, but Ash Taylor jockeyed well to guide it out for a corner.
Celtic got themselves in front in the 18th minute as a Lafferty clearance smashed off Maeda and ended up in the top corner leaving Sam Walker helpless.
Lafferty won the ball on the halfway line on the half hour mark and he spotted Hart off his line, he audaciously attempted to beat him from there, but the effort went well wide and over.
And edgy first half played out evenly with both teams creating half chances, but nothing concrete.
Reo Hatate had the ball in the net in the 49th minute, but the linesman and VAR both agreed he was offside.
Hatate had another chance five minutes later as he fired a shot towards goal from 20 yards out, but Wright got himself in the way to block it out for a corner.
On the hour mark Maeda doubled his money with a fine finish... or so he thought, but the effort was ruled out again by VAR for offside by the tightest of margins.
Killie were inches away from nabbing an equaliser in the 67th minute when Kyle Vassell's deflected shot was almost turned in by Dan Armstrong, but it went narrowly wide.
Substitute Christian Doidge almost turned an effort home for Killie after 76 minutes, but Hart was alert again as he palmed it to safety.
Aaron Mooy turned well to fire away a curling shot in the 83rd minute, however Walker got down well to turn it round the post.
Liel Abada fired a header off from 10 yards out, and the Celtic end erupted thinking it had doubled their lead, but to their dismay it fizzed narrowly wide of the post.
Killie thought they'd have the perfect chance with strong penalty appeals in stoppage-time when Wright went down, but Willie Collum waved away any protests.
The result was sealed in the 95th minute when Giakoumakis tapped home a rebound to send Celtic into the final.
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here
