Sean Dillon has had plenty highs in his 10 years at Dundee United and he hopes to have a few more.
But he knows it will never get any better than that “perfect” day at Hampden back in 2010 when he was part of the side that won the Scottish Cup.
And, even six years on, he breaks into a massive smile when he recalls the moment he knew he’d be getting his hands on the trophy.
It came in the 86th minute when Craig Conway’s second goal of the final put the Tangerines 3-0 up against Ross County.
“I love being I footballer, I really do. The one thing I can’t say is I enjoy games. Don’t get me wrong I don’t hate them and I always look forward to them.
“But as a professional I’m not just going out there for a kickabout. It’s my job, I work all week to prepare for a Saturday and, in the case of a final, I’ve worked all year.
“During games, all I’m concentrating on is getting a result. In Ireland, I won the league and three cups with Longford and Shelbourne but each time the games went right to the final whistle.
“We came from behind in a couple and the only time we won by two goals was when the second came on the final whistle, so you were never thinking it was done.
“At Hampden it was different. When Craig scored the third goal, I knew we’d won it. Between then and the final whistle, as a footballer, I’ve never had a feeling like it.
“I can’t even describe how happy I was but look at me now. Even speaking about it I can’t stop myself smiling.
“It was just such a perfect day and to look back and think we played well as a team on such a big occasion is fantastic.
“Maybe the only thing we didn’t do that was perfect was score in the first half. Even then I think not scoring might’ve been a good thing.
“I remember in the dressing-room at half-time, Peter Houston kicked a foam cup of tea, or something, that was sitting in the middle of the floor.
“He told us he wanted to be kicking a much bigger cup later on and to make sure we went and got it. I think being goalless at the break kept us focused.
“We knew we’d controlled the game but we had to go out, start over again to get the win.
“If we’d been a goal up, our minds might have strayed but we couldn’t do that and it helped.”
If 2010 was the high, other finals brought lows. Being dropped for the 2008 League Cup showdown was one, as was getting sent off in 2015 League Cup loss to Celtic.
“I never take playing for granted but, when my name wasn’t read out by Craig Levein, it was a shock.
“It was the day before the game and I was rooming with Willo Flood. He was gutted for me, and Jon Daly came to the room to say how sorry he was.
“Jon told me he’d been in the lift with Darren Dods and had said he couldn’t believe I wasn’t playing. I told him Darren had been dropped as well and Jon had to rush off and apologise to him for not mentioning that!
“What I remember about the game was the boys being so down after they lost on penalties but me feeling detached from it.
“We were in the dressing-room and Eddie Thompson came in and shook everyone by the hand and thanked the boys. Then he came to me and apologised for me not playing.
“Then I did feel devastated. He was very ill and we knew he wouldn’t get better. For him to do that when his situation was so much worse was amazing.
“We all knew what the cup would’ve meant to him and not getting it was an awful feeling.
“In the League Cup Final last year, I just felt I’d let everyone down. I had my shin split to the bone in a tackle with Virgil van Dyke in the first half.
“With the adrenalin I didn’t realise something was wrong. Celtic got a throw-in and when I went into the box Rado Cierzniak pointed to my leg.
“I looked down, my leg looked awful. I had to get it stitched and we went behind when I was off.
“I don’t know if it was because I was trying to protect the leg when I got sent off for catching Emilio Izaguirre.
“I took a bad touch and was trying to get the ball under control. I certainly wasn’t trying to catch him but I went in high.
“I’m still not saying it was a red card but it was a tackle that left the referee with a decision to make and I won’t blame him for sending me off.
“I watched the rest of the game on a TV in the dressing-room and I just had this feeling I’d let the boys down.”
TOMORROW: Sean looks back on what went wrong last term.
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