Scotland manager Gordon Strachan revealed coach Stuart McCall was the mastermind behind the move that led to Shaun Maloney’s wonderful winner at Celtic Park.
Maloney’s curling shot on 74 minutes gave the home team a deserved 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland and boosted their chances of qualifying for France 2016, the result tying them in joint-second spot in qualifying Group D along with Germany and the Irish on seven points three behind leaders Poland.
It was a magical moment for Maloney, himself a former Hoops man, and he soaked up the adulation as he raced to the Tartan Army after scoring his glorious goal.
He had played a short corner to captain Scott Brown, who flicked the ball back to him. The Wigan midfielder then curled an exquisite shot just inside the far post.
Those in the home dugout jumped for joy, no one more so than ex-Motherwell boss McCall, who had devised the idea.
Strachan said: “We are just fortunate that Stuart McCall came away with that setplay. It was a Stuart McCall goal, a variation on one of Stuart’s setplays.
“You can put on a setplay but for him (Maloney) to finish like that was terrific.
“I had said before that most of the games in our group outwith Gibraltar would be settled by one goal and that’s what happened.
“I also said setplays would be crucial and that’s what happened.
“As far as a spectacle of pure football it wasn’t that great but as a spectacle involving two groups of players not wanting to give an inch it was mesmerising.
“It was like one of those big heavyweight boxing matches.”
Irish boss Martin O’Neill, one of several men returning to the home of former club Celtic, bemoaned the timing of Maloney’s winner.
“I know they had forced a corner but at a stage when we were reasonably comfortable in the game we conceded a goal from a setpiece,” he said.
“I thought it was a frenetic match, stop-start a lot of times.
“There were a lot of fouls. It was like a derby game but I still thought we could have gotten something out of it.”
For full match coverage, see Saturday’s Courier.