St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright could not disguise his delight as the Perth club booked a Europa League date in Belarus next week at Rosenborg’s expense.
A terrific 1-0 triumph in Trondheim seven days previously paved the way for possibly one of Saints’ greatest ever European nights, and the class of 2013 did not disappoint as they finished the job in Thursday’s second leg.
Rosenborg are a side with a tremendous European pedigree, but Stevie May’s first-half equaliser earned Saints a 1-1 draw on the night to complete a historic 21 aggregate victory over the Norwegians and set up a third qualifying round first leg against FC Minsk on August 1.
And Wright, who has long maintained that Saints are capable of qualifying for the Europa League group stages proper, reckons his men have proved they are not just in the competition to make up the numbers.
“It was magnificent,” he said. “It couldn’t have gone any better for us and we’ll probably wake up tomorrow morning and realise the magnitude of this result.
“To win a one-off game against a side of their pedigree is incredible, but to win over two legs is something these players should be incredibly proud of.
“It probably hasn’t sunk in because they have internationals in almost every position, but the pleasing thing from our point of view is that it was probably deserved.
“I was a wee bit disappointed the way we started and we were a wee bit gung-ho, but I think if there’s one aspect of the performance was the character we showed because we didn’t crumble.”
A crowd of 7,850 packed into McDiarmid Park for what turned out to be an unforgettable European occasion and Wright was delighted to give the crowd a reward for their fantastic support.
“We don’t get the biggest crowd but to get nearly 8,000 there may as well have been 30,000 in here with the noise they made,” he said. “We wanted to make it a memorable night for them and I’m glad we delivered because we made a lot of people happy tonight.
“We want the journey to continue and I’ve told the players long after they’ve finished playing they’ll look back on this as a great night, but we dared to believe we could beat Rosenborg and we have. Now let’s see how far we can go.”
Goal scorer Stevie May admitted he didn’t remember much about the goal but what a memorable goal it was.
“I know David Wotherspoon played it but it was just a nothing ball, the defender was in front of me and I threw a leg around the side of him and managed to lob the ball over the keeper and there’s no better feeling when the ball goes in
the net,” he added.
“It was great to start and to get the result was magnificent. The last two years I’ve loved playing football and starting games and scoring goals and everything’s gone to plan. I just hope this is another successful season.
“I’m not too sure what FC Minsk are like but I doubt they’ll be as high a calibre as Rosenborg but that’s not to say they won’t cause us problems or be more of a threat.
“We believe we’re good enough and if we work as hard as we have then we can progress.”