Arbroath striker Derek Holmes walked in the footsteps of Lionel Messi but left Celtic Park with much more than the little Argentinian did.
On what was a magnificent occasion for the Lichties and their 1,000-strong travelling support on Saturday, the wee Angus team bettered the result Messi and his fellow Barcelona superstars achieved against the Hoops in the Champions League at the same venue just last month.
As the final whistle was blown on their dramatic 1-1 draw in the fourth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup, Holmes and his teammates jumped for joy before heading for the corner of Parkhead that housed those jubilant fans.
Back in the dressing room eventually Holmes could hardly believe that Arbroath had just held the same club that had beaten Barca, the world’s best, at Parkhead just three and a half weeks earlier.
The display was all the more praiseworthy given they had to recover from one of the most bizarre own goals the cup has ever produced, with Stuart Malcolm’s clearance hitting teammate Alex Keddie on the backside and rebounding into the Arbroath net on 36 minutes.
The heads didn’t do down, though, and Steven Doris’s deflected free-kick with just three minutes left earned them a cash-laden replay at Gayfield a week on Wednesday.
Holmes admitted it took a while to sink in.
”It is a fantastic achievement and you have to be so proud,” he said.
”For a part-time club to come to Celtic Park and get a result like that is pretty special.
”It may be a cliche but it really is the stuff that dreams are made of.
”It is certainly right up there with the highlights of my career and I won the cup when I was at Hearts and played down south too.”