Inverness Caley Thistle's 2015 Scottish Cup winning hero James Vincent hopes to see 2023 squad follow in his footsteps against Celtic
James Vincent knows exactly what it is like to be the hero for ICT in a Scottish Cup final.
The 33-year-old came on to score the winner against Falkirk in 2015, following up on a saved effort by Marley Watkins to tap in.
To this day he gets messages and reminders of that moment, and he has increasingly come to appreciate what that goal meant to everyone involved.
"It's the highlight of my career," Vincent reasoned.
"I still get excited when it's brought up – even more so as time goes on. My celebrations were actually quite subdued, and I probably didn't understand how big it was for the club.
"It created so many memories for people, and seeing all the messages over the years you start to understand how good it was.
"It had a real impact on the city and the fans, and that was all down to how good and successful that group was. It means more to me now that I've realised how much it meant to people."
While Vincent stole the headlines, he was particularly pleased for his good friends in the squad who also played their part.
"My roommate, Marley, scored a goal," he recalled.
"Aaron Doran is one of our best mates, and he set one up as well.
"I was happy for the good people in and around the group. You could be sat next to anyone and you would have got on.
"The journey back up the A9 is a memory that will live forever. It was chaos, but everyone was in high spirits because it was just good friends celebrating with each other, which is rare.
"We were all social with each other, and that helped the celebrations hit another level.
"You always want good people to succeed, and I see the manager John Hughes as one of them too. Looking back, he helped us all get that style of play, so I have really fond memories of it all really."
Ahead of this year's final, Vincent had hoped to travel up to Hampden but work commitments mean he will have to make do with watching on TV.
Although the Caley Jags are big underdogs, though, he would like to see ICT have a go at attacking Celtic.
"I suppose that was our mindset going into the semi final in 2015," he added.
"Celtic had some superstars in that group, so I think the only way you can deal with that is to have a bit of a go and attack them, and see where that takes you.
"You can find yourselves sitting back and being defensive against a team like Celtic, but you can lose the game in 10 minutes by doing that.
"You need to put a bit of a marker down to let them know 'we're here, and we're giving it our best'. Then professional sport is what it is, and as players and fans you can accept that."