George Oakley is out to make cup memories of his own with Caley Thistle after being a spectator for too many big moments.
His late equaliser sealed a Scottish Cup fourth round replay for Caley Jags against Dundee in a 2-2 draw on Saturday, with Oakley revelling in the romanticism of cup football.
Oakley was an unused substitute in AFC Wimbledon’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup three years ago, with a Steven Gerrard brace depriving them of a shock result.
A broken leg forced him to miss out a League 2 play-off final win over Plymouth Argyle at Wembley in May 2016 and now he feels the onus is on him to start being part of those famous occasions.
Oakley said: “I’m here to make my own memories with Caley Thistle. I want to help them any way I can. We believed in ourselves – people thought we’re coming here as a Championship side against a Premiership one. We didn’t think of it like that, we thought of ourselves as equals because we’re fighting to get into the Premiership. We started poorly but we’ve built up our form now.
“I’ve come up here to play and prove myself. I’m getting a run of games and scoring goals. We want to keep going together as a team and get to where we want to get.
“Cups are good because of days like Saturday. Our fans made the most noise out there and these are what you become a footballer for. You can’t beat them. I’m here to play football and give the fans what they want; score goals and give them enjoyment. If you’re all as one – club, fans, players, management – you can do anything. Having the fans behind you pushes you on and nothing can hurt you.”
Oakley pounced with three minutes to go to steer the ball into the top corner, securing Inverness a replay in the Highland capital on January 30. Aaron Doran had put them in front before A-Jay Leitch-Smith and Mark O’Hara put Dundee in front.
It is the first cup momento for Oakley as a Caley Jag, adding to the memorabilia he collected from that Liverpool tie.
He said: “I got Kolo Toure and Fabio Borini’s shirts – just by being cheeky. I was ready to go on then Gerrard scored to make it 2-1, so the gaffer put a central midfielder on. I’ve got my jerseys framed up at home. I was only 19 at the time and it’s just a good memory for me. The other run we went on we got beat by Sutton when they had Arsenal in the next round. I’m a Chelsea supporter, so I would have loved to play Arsenal.”
