Thrust into the court of public opinion at 22, Josh Meekings had to dip away from the spotlight’s glare.
The incident is well-known: Hampden Park, April 19 2015, a handball from Leigh Griffiths’ header not seen by referee Steven McLean.
Meekings, in the aftermath, became a scapegoat, a pariah, a target for abuse. Those around him, friends, family and team-mates, sheltered him where possible from the vitriol to which he was exposed.
“You see things on Twitter where people are getting abuse,” Meekings said. “They just seem to be able to say what they want to people because they’ve not got an identity on there. They’re able to do that without any backlash.
“At the time I was getting some mad messages. That was probably the most difficult part; it’s come from a game of football and I’m getting death threats. I’m 22, having the best season of my career and then you get that after it.
“You’re still growing as a footballer. You’re trying to enjoy it. I knew what had happened in the game – I got away with it and to this day, it wasn’t intentional. But afterwards was just mad. The experienced players got in around me and helped massively. The manager said he was backing me the whole way.
“I either took down my account or deleted the app on my phone. I thought I’d go away from it and wait until it was cleared. But every year I’ll get something. It will probably go down in history as a moment that’ll be remembered, especially for Celtic fans.
“They have a big fanbase and I understand it. I would be the exact same if it went against me. I was just thankful it was shot down and I was able to play in the final.”
Now 27, Meekings is able to look back on it with a greater degree of clarity and reflection. It put him in a near-identical situation to the one he had faced the year before, with a red card in the League Cup semi-final against Hearts later overturned, allowing him to play in the final.
This one, however, was a retrospective dismissal, which cast a shadow over Inverness getting to a Scottish Cup final. Their diligent legal work ensured a wrong was righted in front of the Scottish FA panel.
“I went down to Hampden and it got shot down straight away. I sat in front of three members of the SFA and they ended up saying ‘if we do this, it’ll open up a can of worms for every football match that has ever gone on’.
“You can’t go handing out bans afterwards – it’s not one that’s aggressive, it’s not off-the-ball. You can say it’s cheating and people will always say it. I have to bite my tongue when people say it. I know I got away with it and I should have been sent off.”
This was all before the final, the biggest game of his career. Once again he would be partnered with Danny Devine, with Gary Warren suspended for the second final in a row, a situation Meekings still feels sorry about.
Marley Watkins’ goal had given Inverness an advantage and until Carl Tremarco’s sending off, they had been largely in control. But with that red card and Peter Grant’s leveller, momentum threatened to swing the cup out of their reach.
“I don’t think we were at our best. Nobody took anything away from them. It didn’t quite go to plan with what happened but that’s part of the rollercoaster of being in the cup. We ended up with the biggest up.
“When Carl got sent off, I thought ‘let’s just stick together’. But then the equaliser goes in; ‘come on, not now’. But Marley was electric so you knew if there was half a chance for a counter-attack, he’s so quick that he’s going to get you up the park.
“What a feeling when Vinny (Vincent) steps up at the end. I can remember it clear as anything; it’s probably the quickest I’ve ever run in a game and that’s for a celebration.”
Sure enough, the 22-year-old who had weathered slings and arrows in the weeks leading up to this moment, stood atop Mount Florida, trophy in hand.
“I tried to take it in. Had it been now, I probably would have more. I look back and think I did understand it – I was straight over to my mum and dad at the end. To think where I’d come from, moving away from home at 18, four years in the Highlands to achieve that after going there with them fighting relegation, was unbelievable.
“I felt it for my parents, for how much they had given me the last 22 years, travelling around the country for football. It felt like I had given something back to them, which was nice. I know they wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”