Much was made of Allan McGregor putting his 14-year Euro Final hurt behind him in Seville on Wednesday evening.
The Europa League showpiece might have ended in an agonising shootout defeat but at least the veteran shotstopper got to experience the occasion having been cruelly deprived of that same moment by injury in 2008.
However, that fixture wasn’t the only final itch McGregor was looking to scratch with those considerable mitts that have repelled thousands of shots down the years.
Incredibly, despite having three winners’ gongs to his name, McGregor has never set foot in a Scottish Cup Final.
And with his contract up in the summer and huge question marks over whether he will even continue his playing career it now looks like he never will.
Gio van Bronckhorst has decided to stick with cup keeper Jon McLaughlin this afternoon. That’s his perogative and given the form of the back-up shotstopper in the competition so far it’s hard to argue.
But it’s also harsh on McGregor who now looks to have been deprived of one final chance to bow out as a winner on the field.
McGregor’s three successes in the competition have all come as an unused sub - as back-up to Stefan Klos in the last gasp 3-2 victory over Celtic 20 years ago and then again 12 months later as Dundee were put to the sword in considerably less dramatic fashion.
McGregor was injured and played no part as Queen of the South were beaten 3-2 in 2008 but was back on the bench at Hampden a year later, playing second fiddle to Neil Alexander as the Boozegate storm rumbled on, when Nacho Novo’s goal was enough to see off Falkirk.
That, of course, remains the last time Rangers lifted the trophy.
This afternoon’s showpiece against Hearts was an opportunity for the 40-year-old to bow out a winner.
In almost any other circumstance I’d have backed McLaughlin to keep the gloves. He has been rock solid in the four-game journey to this year’s final, conceding just once along the way, and was a commanding presence in the colossal semi-final victory over Celtic.
Many believe the 34-year-old is now a better all-round keeper than the veteran McGregor. They’re probably right too.
But when it comes to big, game-defining saves, there are still few better than the veteran whose presence between the sticks is felt from the moment the opposing team sheet drops through the dressing room door.
Call it sentimental or whatever, McGregor deserved to be handed the gloves this afternoon.
Of course he could yet play on for another season.
But a Hampden showdown at the opposite end from old glove rival Craig Gordon really would have been a fitting finale.
