Josh Ginnelly's memory of his greatest final experience has been clouded by a bottle of beer.
Not because he drank too much of the stuff to celebrate.
But the winger was struck on the head by a full bottle of the stuff thrown from high up in the Wembley stands as Tranmere Rovers defeated Boreham Wood in the 2018 National League play-off final.
Hearts ace Ginnelly was forced to go off after just 34 minutes suffering dizzy spells in the aftermath of that ugly incident.
But it still couldn’t take the fizz out of a huge day as Micky Mellon’s Tranmere went on to win 2-1 and end their three-year exile from the English Football League.
Ginnelly admits it was a crazy 90 minutes all round after his side fought back from having a man red carded less than a minute in.
Now, as he prepares for his second Scottish Cup final with Hearts against Rangers tomorrow, the 25-year-old is desperate to create more wild memories and for all the right reasons.
Ginnelly was on the scoresheet for the Jambos in the thrilling 3-3 Hampden showdown with Celtic two years ago only to lose out on penalty kicks.
And the 25-year-old, who also won the National League with Lincoln, said: “At Hearts you are expected to win things and we've got a great chance to do that.
“I've been part of some trophy-winning games and they were all great days but this would be, without a doubt, the biggest achievement of my career.
“I had one with Lincoln in the Conference going up and the year after I went up through the play-offs with Tranmere.
“We had a man sent off 54 seconds into the game, Liam Ridehalgh.
“It was a weird day. I got bottled.
“Somebody threw something out of the crowd and it hit me on the back of the head.
“It was crazy. I ended up coming off. I went dizzy. My head was pounding. It hit me on a sweet spot on my head and I went down.
“I got back up and everything was blurry. It was a full beer bottle, plastic, but it felt like a glass. It was a rollercoaster of emotions but we got over the line.
“They never caught the person who threw the bottle. I heard nothing back. To this day I don’t know who threw it but it was some throw, to come all that way and hit me on the back of the head.
“I could have gone to the hospital but I didn’t want to miss out on a day like that. We had a good couple of days and I would rather take that than go to the hospital.
“I think we made three substitutions in 35 minutes. It was a crazy day, the odds were all against us but we scored a late goal and we got over the line.
“The manager was Micky Mellon and he’s gone back there. Fair play to him, he adapted to the situation and got us over the line.
“Having experienced that winning feeling I’d love to experience it again with Hearts. We won the Championship but we did not celebrate that.
“I’m sure if we win this cup Edinburgh will go crazy for a few days. That’s what we are looking to do.
“The thing that sticks with you most is the moment the final whistle goes and you see all the joy you have brought to the fans and to your family. That’s who we will be doing it for.”
Ginnelly is likely to have to settle for a place on the bench at Hampden.
But his pace and game changing ability could be key against a Rangers side leg weary from Wednesday’s brutal Europa League Final shootout defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
He said: “That will play a factor in the final. The more minutes they play the better it is for us. We will be fresher.
“But for us it’s all about preparing right and not really watching what they are doing.
“They're a good team, but so are we and we can beat anyone in this league on our day.”
Ginnelly came so close to being a Hampden hero in December 2020 when his 111th minute equaliser against Celtic ensured that dramatic Scottish Cup Final went all the way to spot kicks.
It was to end in heartache for the Jambos as Celtic sealed the quadruple treble in front of empty stands at the height of the covid pandemic.
But Ginnelly, who has five goals to his credit this season, reckons this final feels more real as the Tynecastle side hunt down a ninth triumph in the competition at a sell-out national stadium.
He said: “It definitely feels more real.
“Everybody has come across at least a couple of fans and they’re all telling us to go and win the game. We'll need them to come in their numbers and help us get over the line.
“We've got the pain of last year. We probably should have won that game. We'll use that as a motivation to go and get the job done.
"I think the first time I have seen Hampden full was in this year’s semi-final.
“I thought to myself 'I wish I'd had the fans in here when I scored last year in the final. Hopefully I can come on and affect the game again."
