THE Scottish Cup doesn't have a sponsor but maybe Guinness should be considering signing up. After all, Queen of the South proved that the best things in life are worth waiting for.
It's 58 years since the Dumfries side last made it into a Scottish Cup semi-final but having made it to Hampden they made the most of the opportunity. It was John Stewart, a player binned by Jimmy Calderwood last season, who scored the winner. And fo
r him, revenge was a dish best served cold.
As he took to the pitch as a 42nd minute substitute for Stephen Dobbie, who succumbed to a knee knock, the youngster was met with a barrage of 'Who are you? Who are you?' from the Aberdeen support. By the end of the match, they were left wishing he was still anonymous.
"I would like to tell you what some of them were shouting when I was warming up but you wouldn't be able to print it," he said. "But I did want to prove people wrong. I do have a lot of respect for Jimmy Calderwood and Jimmy Nicholl and I think they are great managers and I loved their training but it's always nice to score against your old club. And it's not for me to worry about the Aberdeen fans, as long as our fans enjoyed it, that's the main thing.
"I had four years at Aberdeen and I enjoyed every minute of it but there were obviously reasons why Jimmy Calderwood moved me on and that's up to him. I already said that I don't think I got a fair chance when I was there but that was Jimmy Calderwood's decision."
On loan from Falkirk, having already tried his hand at St Johnstone this term, he admitted that it was the unlikeliest of his recent employers who have now claimed a place in the season's showcase finale on May 24.
"You couldn't make it up. You couldn't have written that script. This is my third club this season and if I was ever expecting to get to a Scottish Cup final I wouldn't have thought it would have been with Queen of the South. It was brilliant, just a great feeling, to score the winner. We started brightly and got the first goal but credit to Aberdeen who came back at us every time. It was unfortunate that Dobbs got injured but it was just good to get on and get a run at Hampden."
The striker was also involved in his side's second goal, supplying the cross into the area for Paul Burns to net. It allowed the underdogs to re-establish the lead and sparked a ridiculous 12 minutes of madness in which the remaining five goals were scored, with the teams going tit for tat.
"I'm just relieved. Relieved that our back four were just slightly better than their back four," said Steve Tosh, summing things up perfectly. "It's brilliant... Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup final... we are over the moon.
"I don't know if they kept coming back or whether we kept letting them back in it. Our back lot might have been a bit disappointed but at the end of the 90 minutes, it doesn't matter how many goals were scored so long as we won.
"I kinda knew that we were going to get chance after chance and I think everybody in that ground kinda knew that we would get chance after chance and I think that's what will disappoint Jimmy very much. For a First Division side to score four goals against them in a semi-final, I doubt he will be too happy."
Rather than bask in the fact the victory came against his former side, Tosh said he had some sympathy for the Aberdeen support. He sat amongst them the night they conceded four to lose the CIS Cup semi-final at Tynecastle earlier this term and knows they will be hurting.
"This is extra special for me because it means I'm in a Scottish Cup final and extra special due to the fact that I turn 35 in two weeks and my legs are still going but I'm not saying this softly, I feel for the Aberdeen punters because they follow them through thick and thin and that's now two semi-finals they have lost and without being disrespectful to the players, the fans have probably been let down this season."
Inconsistency has certainly be an unwanted aspect of their campaign, with form deserting them at key moments. "We are all disappointed and it's another great opportunity missed," acknowledged defender Alan Maybury. "We lost in the last semi-final as well and now in this one as well. We keep getting so far and for whatever reason we can't take the final step. We wanted to play in a cup final but we just haven't done enough."
It's not often a player can come to Hampden, score two goals and leave feeling humiliated. But Andrew Considine managed it yesterday. Twice he got his team back into the game with headers but was still obviously culpable when Sean O'Connor made it 3-2 in the 55th minute and was part of a defence which looked shambolic for a desperate spell in the second half.
"I never thought I could score two goals at Hampden and not consider this a day to remember. Hopefully I will get back up the road and someone will have taped it so I can watch my two goals again... but I think I'll fast forward the rest."
Aberdeen fans would love to be able to do that with the entire season. Queen of the South, on the other hand, will be hoping to save yesterday on freeze frame.
GREAT CUP SHOCKS1967 BERWICK 1 RANGERS 0 – Scottish Cup first round
Rangers' defeat by the Wee Gers still stands at the pinnacle of Scottish Cup shocks. Sammy Reid scored the only goal of the game to leave the Light Blues rocked to the core.
1987 RANGERS 0 HAMILTON 1 – Scottish Cup third round
Graeme Souness had started his re-building at Ibrox but the foundations were shaken thoroughly on January 31 1987 when a goal by Adrian Sprott gave Hamilton a famous win.
1995 STENHOUSEMUIR 2 ABERDEEN 0 – Scottish Cup fourth round
An all-ticket crowd of 3,800 at Ochilview Park saw Tommy Steele score twice to earn victory.
1997 CELTIC 0 FALKIRK 1 – Scottish Cup semi-final replay
Striker Paul McGrillen scored the only goal in the 19th minute to send the Division One side through to the final against Kilmarnock.
2000 CELTIC 1 INVERNESS CT 3 – Scottish Cup third round
Mark Burchill cancelled out Barry Wilson's opener for Caley, but Lubomir Moravcik's own goal past Jonathan Gould gave the visitors a half-time lead. Paul Sheerin completed the scoring – and ultimately ended John Barnes' managerial career – from the penalty spot.
2003 INVERNESS CT 1 CELTIC 0 – Scottish Cup quarter-final
Hoops manager Martin O'Neill made eight changes to the side which beat Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield to reach the UEFA Cup semi-final, and Dennis Wyness' goal left him to rue the decision.
2006 CLYDE 2 CELTIC 1 – Scottish Cup third round
One of Celtic's most humiliating defeats against a side who were only assembled by manager Graham Roberts after summer trials. Craig Bryson and Eddie Malone scored in the first half as Clyde dominated, with Maciej Zurawski grabbing a consolation.
The full article contains 1259 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
