Josh Meekings wins Scottish Cup Final ban appeal

Josh Meekings can now look forward to playing in Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s first ever Scottish Cup Final after having a one-game ban overturned on appeal.

The 22-year-old old, who hails from Cavendish and went to Samuel Ward Academy in Haverhill, was given a retrospective one-game ban by the Scottish FA for committing a handball during Thistle’s 3-2 semi-final win over Celtic on Sunday that prevented a goalscoring opportunity.

Celtic were 1-0 up at the time that Meekings handled Leigh Griffiths’ header and had he been dismissed and the penalty awarded the Glasgow side would have been firm favourites to go on and win the match.

Inverness appealed the decision to ban Meekings and the case was then dismissed by a Scottish FA appeals panel yesterday (Thursday).

Commenting on Twitter after the appeal hearing, a relieved Meekings said: “I have seen the support from various clubs fans and I’m very thankful.

“I can look forward to the final now, and get ready for Saturday!”

The incident has been the biggest talking point in Scottish football in the past few days and attracted a massive amount of comment on social media.