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First half strikes by Marley Watkins and Greg Tansey earned Inverness a Scottish Cup quarter-final spot.

Watkins opened the scoring with a drive across goal after outstripping the Partick Thistle defence.

The home back line was suspect once more when they gave up possession to Tansey and he superbly jinked into the box and fired low into the corner.

The hosts made a game of it after substitute Lyle Taylor cracked a drive home but Inverness held firm.

Watkins alerted the home side to his threat early on when he sprinted clean through on goalkeeper Paul Gallacher, only to see his shot well saved.

The Firhill men contributed to the loss of the opener with a slack ball into a central area that Abdul Osman failed to gather. Watkins raced away from a sluggish defence, picked his spot and calmly slotted into far corner to put the visitors ahead.

Minutes later Watkins was clean through again after James Vincent released the striker with a superb pass, but composure evaded the Caley Thistle man this time and he sent his effort wide.

Shambolic defending seemed the order of the day for the hosts in the first half and Stephen O'Donnell was at it again it with a woeful piece of play.

He dithered in a central area and lost possession, allowing Tansey to dance around defenders before firing powerfully home.

Partick offered very little in the opening half but the introduction of recently-recruited Taylor transformed their performance.

He gathered inside the box, out-muscled a defender and powered a drive high past keeper Ryan Esson to reduce the deficit.

The hosts remained on the front foot and nearly snatched a last minute equaliser when Danny Seabourne rose superbly to nod towards goal, only for Esson to tip the ball away.

Partick's fans will be cheered by a vastly improved second half performance but it is Inverness who go into Monday's quarter-final draw.