Inverness star Reece McAlear stunned St Johnstone with a late double to leave Saints sweating over their Premiership safety.
The two clubs now go into Monday’s McDiarmid Park second leg knowing that the winner takes all in the fight to play in next season’s top-flight.
The Perth side had looked home and hosed after a convincing first half had put them 2-0 up thanks to goals from Shaun Rooney and Melker Hallberg.
The Highlanders had been well off it but came alive with two goals in seven, second half minutes from on-loan Norwich midfielder McAlear to leave Callum Davidson’s side completely stunned.
The second goal was a wonder free-kick and left Saints swaying on the ropes.
Inverness will certainly take the biggest shot in the arm as they look to return to the Premier League for the first time in five years.
Saints now have home advantage to try and extend their 13 year run in the top tier while Inverness are looking to make history by becoming the first team to come through three play-off rounds to win promotion to the Premiership.
They had seen off Partick Thistle and Arbroath and were now looking to literally take out the Premiership side. They are now just one game away.
Caley Thistle were down in numbers with Wallace Duffy and Danny Devine suspended and Shane Sutherland, Roddy MacGregor and Tom Walsh injured. Assistant manager Scott Kellacher was also banned because he accepted a suspension for his outburst after the penalty win over Arbroath on Friday.
St Johnstone won both domestic cups last season but now this was part of a double that they hoped would safeguard their top-flight status. Davidson brought in the majority of his main players who he had rested in the final dead rubber at Hibs.
Saints made the trip up the A9 but they started as if they were the home side. Rooney was a constant menace charging up the right and his early cross had Mark Ridgers’ scrambling as it sailed just over.
He then turned creator when he found Glenn Middleton who skipped past his marker and cracked in a shot that Ridgers had to tip over. Saints weren’t afraid to pepper the Caley Thistle goal with Murray Davidson and Melker Hallberg letting fly.
The red and white shirted side spent most of the first half on the offence and Caley Thistle struggled to get out with no out ball, meaning it came straight back on to their backline.
Billy Dodds was certainly limited in options but his team hardly made a dent on Saints. It looked like the rigours of the previous games had left the tank empty, while the decision to play captain Sean Welsh in defence took a big bit from the middle of the park.
It was no surprise to see the visitors take the lead in the 18th minute.
Hallberg got a lucky break when Lewis Hyde’s tackle on James Brown broke his way. He swung in a cross for Rooney to get above Cameron Harper to fire a header in, with Ridgers got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out.
Saints doubled their lead six minutes later and at that point it looked a bridge too far for Inverness, at that point. Hendry cut inside from the right and fired in a shot that Ridgers saved.
Glenn Middleton won a challenge with David Carson and allowed Hallberg to stab the ball in. Dodds didn’t have much to play with but sent on Logan Chalmers and Austin Samuels for Aaron Doran and Joe Hardy.
Fair play to him he knew the game was up if they continued like they had. He went to a flat back four and pushed Welsh on one. Inverness looked more like the team who had finished third in the Championship although St Johnstone continued to look the more threatening.
Hendry had a shot that Ridgers half-stopped and then had to push over the bar. Saints had a number of chances but too often made the wrong decisions and that proved costly.
The Highlanders did look like their old selves. They got a goal back that put this tie back in the melting pot, although there looked to be more than a suspicion of offside and Jamie McCart went down with a head knock. Samuels looked to be off but he cut inside and put in a low cross that Reece McAlear slotted high past Zander Clark in the 73rd minute.
It was game on, when Billy McKay was fouled by Murray Davidson. Reece McAlear stepped up and levelled the tie with an unstoppable free kick, from more than 25 yards, right into Clark’s top right hand corner with 10 minutes on the clock.
Inverness knew this game was there for the taking. Samuels put in a low cross and Liam Gordon managed to scramble it behind in front of Mckay. That was to leave this game on a knife edge.
