Davie Cowie battled his way forward in the 30th minute to briefly relieve the pressure but Barrowman was soon in the action again. He saw a header caught by Gray and was then tackled by Lamb, the ball going out for a corner.
Barrowman was not to be denied and when Ross picked him out with a cross from the right he volleyed it past Gray.
Half time 0 – 1
Craig Shearer and McKiddie joined the Academy midfield for the second half and within a couple of minutes Shearer headed inches wide at the back post from Gary Manson's free kick on the right. Manson then sent a free kick in from the left but MacLeod's header was held by keeper Kyle Allison.
There was delight for the Academy supporters in the 58th minute. Manson played the ball over the Inverness defence to Weir who held it up on the 18 yard line. He then drove it low into a crowded box and McKiddie seized on a rebound to push the ball low past Allison.
The joy was short lived. Jamie Duff had taken a knock trying to prevent the goal and was replaced by Daniel Park who within four minutes fired the ball in low from the Caley right across the face of goal and it crept in at the back post.
Academy battled bravely for another equaliser. Taking a pass from Martin Gunn, Richard Macadie poked the ball ahead between Weir and Allison but the Inverness keeper won the race and kicked it into touch. Receiving the ball from a Manson free kick Macadie shot too high. Another Manson free kick was scrambled away. A slick passing move took the ball into the box but there were too many blue shirts. Weir bustled past a couple of defenders but could not keep the ball in play.
Right to the end Academy were still in with a chance but this was killed stone dead when Park spotted a slack pass and ran into the box to steer the ball past Gray from 15 yards.
Inverness go on to meet Nairn, 2-1 winners over Rothes the previous night. For Academy the game goes into the history books as a ninth semi final defeat in the competition.
Full time 1 – 3
Wick Academy bosses Ian Munro and Richard Hughes have seen their team win 22 games since losing the semi final in Inverness on the same date last year. They would so dearly have loved Wednesday's game to be win 23 but it was not to be. "Yes, obviously we are disappointed ", said Hughes, "They put us under a lot of pressure in the first half but we knew that was likely to happen. They had full time first team players so they wanted to pressure us into making mistakes. 1-0 down we made a couple of changes at half time and I thought we played very well for the next 15 minutes. We were very much in the game and got it back to 1-1 but then gave a goal away almost immediately. We were still in the game and had a couple of chances but another mistake cost us a killer goal right at the end. Overall we are not too disheartened – we put up a good performance against a team of real quality".
Maurice Malpas, ICT assistant manager said " I thought it was a very competitive game. We played very well and our passing was good. Wick defended well and their keeper was outstanding. In the second half Wick deserved their goal but fortunately we then went straight back up the park and scored. That put a dent in their confidence. Overall we are pleased with the result in what was a very difficult game".
Sponsors Man of the match Andrew MacLeod
Pictured receiving his award from Megan Waring and Chloe Dunnet on behalf of match sponsor Wick Fire Service
