Cammy Harper never considered how special scoring his winner for Caley Thistle at Hampden on Saturday – until his aunt sent him a text at full-time.
The 22-year-old crashed home an unstoppable first half free-kick to earn his home-town team a massively important 1-0 victory against relegation rivals Queen’s Park at the national stadium.
It hauled Duncan Ferguson’s Highlanders out of the relegation drop-zone, leaving the sinking Spiders two points poorer than them in ninth spot on a weekend where basement side Arbroath were demoted after a 5-0 defeat at Ayr United.
More ‘positive’ times at Hampden
Harper, who was part of the ICT team which reached last season’s Scottish Cup final against Celtic (losing 3-1), and helped beat Queen’s 4-1 at Hampden in December, admitted he didn’t consider the surroundings at the time.
He said: “I never thought about it until my Aunt Caroline texted me afterwards. She was at the game, and she was buzzing to see me score at Hampden.
“Wallace Duffy and I were speaking about it in the changing room on Saturday. We’ve had positive times at Hampden on our visits.
“We always seem to be in that (away) changing room when we win, so keep us in there if we play Queen’s Park away again.
“I am just buzzing for the boys because we know how much it means and we care a lot, so we’re delighted.”
Harper eager to hit the net more
It was only Harper’s second goal of the season and he concedes he should really hit the net more often.
He said: “I should probably score more, but I am just delighted to have got the win – it was massive.
“It was well documented how big a win would be for us.
“It was huge for us to get out of the relegation play-off position. We were delighted.”
25' | 0-1
GOALLLLLLLLL! WHAT A FREE-KICK FROM CAMERON HARPER! pic.twitter.com/u2SmWu4k9i
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) April 13, 2024
Successive victories stat is ‘shocking’
After beating Arbroath 2-1 at home the week before, the Hampden victory marked the first time this term they had won two successive league matches.
The 22-year-old explained that’s a statistic which underlines how tough a campaign it has been.
He added: “Every game is like a final for us right now. The gaffer said that before the game at the weekend.
“For that to be the first time we’ve had back-to-back wins this season is shocking. In my professional career, I don’t remember us ever going too long without two wins.
“My dad texted me to say we had to win back-to-back at some point, so luckily we did that on Saturday.”
Key to maintain Caley Thistle’s momentum
Harper knows, however, that they have to build upon that when they host second-placed Raith Rovers on Friday.
The Fifers trail leaders Dundee United by six points with just three games left, so a defeat for Rovers would all but seal the Championship for the Tangerines.
Harper expects their opponents to come at them, but stressed that ICT must keep the heat on their own rivals, Queen’s Park and Morton, with the Ton now just three points in front of them.
He said: “We are two points clear of Queen’s Park and that was massive psychologically to get the win to move above them.
“However, there are still three games to go.
“We need to keep this momentum going. We’ve hit form right now.
“Anything can happen in these last three games. Strange things happen in football.
“It looks like Dundee United will get over the line to win the league, but Raith will still come up to win and we will have to win. We need to at least take something from the game.”