Historic Hampden heroics may have helped get Craig Conway his semi-final start for St Johnstone.
And another big-game performance at the national stadium may have secured his place in next month’s Betfred Cup final.
The man of the match in Dundee United’s 2010 Scottish Cup triumph justified Callum Davidson’s selection gamble to recall him in place of in-form striker Guy Melamed.
A goal and an assist in the Perth side’s 3-0 victory against Hibs on Saturday evening was the sort of impact player and manager would have been dreaming of.
And when it comes to Davidson choosing his eleven for the Sunday, February 28 final, the ‘cometh the hour, cometh the man’ display from Conway will no doubt be fresh in the McDiarmid Park boss’s mind.
“I went in to speak to the manager after I didn’t play the next game after scoring against Ross County (Dundee United at Tannadice),” said the 35-year-old. “I felt I had played well that day.
“But we’ve got a really good group of players who all feel they should be playing.
“Maybe that experience of playing games like this did have something to do with getting picked for this one.
“Hopefully it will be the same for the final.”
Conway, who delivered a free-kick on to Shaun Rooney’s head for Saints’ second goal and scored the third with a close-range back post finish, joked: “I don’t mind Hampden to be honest!
“I’ve had some great times here, especially the cup final and today. Also the semi-final of the Scottish Cup when we won it (with United). I just love playing here.
“It would be so much better if there were fans but there’s just something about the place. I get a good feeling. I have got a lot of happy memories here.
“Hopefully we can take it one step further and give me another day to talk about.
“We have games before the final, starting with a big one against Aberdeen on Wednesday, but there’s no doubt about it, the final is a massive chance for us.”
