Jackson Irvine is not someone who gets too flustered by anything. Laid-back is his default setting.
So when the matter of a cup final comes around, as it did during his time with Ross County five years ago, it was easy for him to treat it like any other game.
“Sometimes the night before these big games, the excitement takes over and you don’t really feel nervous,” said the midfielder. “My family was over from Australia at the time and I got to spend a day with them before we travelled.
“There was a bit of hype and a buzz in the air around the squad, but it wasn’t too unusual in terms of preparation.”
The Staggies had already shocked Celtic to make the final, winning 3-1 over Ronny Deila’s Hoops in the January of 2016. Jim McIntyre had an ace up his sleeve that day and tried another trick in the deck for Hibernian.
“It was all normal apart from the day before really, where the manager told us we were going to play a back three,” said Irvine. “We had not done that in 18 months really. We were a 4-4-2 team – that was our formation. We used to change every now and then to play Celtic but all of a sudden, the day before the game we were going to play that way. Thankfully it paid off.
“The best thing is to treat it as any other game. Because we were so relaxed, that definitely worked in our favour. If you put too much emphasis on the occasion, you start to play that rather than the game itself.”
Irvine announced himself into the game by splitting Hibs’ midfield diamond, featuring John McGinn and Liam Henderson, to dart on to a loose ball. He released Michael Gardyne, himself straddling the boundaries of offside, who bundled his way through the defence to slide County into the lead.
Liam Fontaine, himself a future Staggie, dragged Hibernian back into the game before half-time with a well-taken finish. It came at the worst possible time for County.
“When you lose a goal on the stroke of half-time, you feel like you’re going in a little bit deflated,” said Irvine. “It was just about keeping doing the right things, be aware of their major threats. I thought we managed it pretty well – we didn’t let them get on top straight away.
“Thankfully we managed to hang in there during a difficult period in the game. Woodsy made a few good saves but they were the kind of chances where you’d be disappointed if they went in.”
Inevitably as the minutes on the clock dwindled down, minds drifted towards the possibility of extra-time. County had to withstand periods of pressure from the Championship side but had held firm.
“In the back of your head – you don’t mean to make the decision but it happens naturally. ‘Don’t blow up physically as you’re going to have to go for another half-hour’.
“We always said, during those periods of the game, how important it was to get the first pass away. If you keep clearing it, the ball keeps coming back on top of you.”
Having played a key part in the first goal, Irvine was at the start of the game’s decisive move, feeding the ball to County striker Brian Graham.
“The ball went up in the air, I managed to bring it down and get the first pass away to Brian, who played it out wide. It was probably the first clean break we’d had. It was then about the quality of the cross and the runs everyone made.
“As soon as the ball left Midge’s foot, it has a right chance of either going in the net or someone having a tap-in. It dropped nicely for Alex and from there, it’s carnage. You can’t beat a last-minute winner.”
Last-minute goals in cup finals are arguably football’s pinnacle moment. Everything encapsulated in one single movement of a football crossing a white line.
“You feel like all the grind, all the hard times you’ve gone through to get there – these are the moments that make you appreciate it. When you see the faces out there and how much it means to everybody – it still ranks right at the top of the list of the best moments of my career. There’s not many better feelings than winning those kinds of games.”
The Staggies also defied expectations to finish in the top six that season, with Irvine’s performances earning him a move to English League One side Burton Albion.
An impressive campaign with the Brewers brought interest from Hull City and a chance to try his hand at Championship football. His time with Hull turned sour towards the end, however, with relegation and the expiration of his contract leaving him without a club.
After a fallow six-month period out of the game, Irvine made his return to Scottish football in January, ironically with Hibernian.
The subject of his man-of-the-match performance at Hampden may have come up once or twice.
“A couple of people mentioned it to me – I maintain that if we hadn’t beaten Hibs in the League Cup final then they wouldn’t have won the Scottish Cup, which for them was obviously was the bigger trophy,” added Irvine in jest.
“If there’s any consolation for the club, we maybe gave them the edge to go and win the big one.”