History-making St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright was coming to terms with leading the Perth club to their first Scottish Cup final.
And now he has thrown down the gauntlet to his players to cap a memorable season by lifting their first national silverware at the expense of Dundee United.
Eight previous semi-finals had ended in bitter disappointment but a 3,000-strong Perth support was in ecstasy as their heroes bucked the odds to secure a comeback win courtesy of two second-half goals from £1 million-rated striker Stevie May.
Those fans may have feared the cup hoodoo would be extended when Niall McGinn fired the Dons ahead but Wright, in his first season at the helm, insisted he never doubted his players.
“I was well aware that we could make history,” said Wright.
“I know how much this means to the club and the supporters. They have had a lot of disappointments in the past, losing semi-finals along the way.
“I spoke about it at the team meeting and to be honest didn’t focus on the game too much. I knew we had worked on a few things so I just said to them that we can’t change history but we can create it.
“There is a belief about this squad that it could be our year. We can beat anyone on our day and we showed it here.
“I’m so proud of the players for how they went about it. Most people thought that for us to win this game we would have to go in front but we did it the other way.
“To go behind and come back and win the match like we did showed great character.
“It’s all about the players to come from a goal down against a team like Aberdeen is difficult. But when we got our goal I don’t think anyone could have grudged us the second.”
Now Wright is turning his focus to the final next month at Celtic Park against Jackie McNamara’s men.
He said: “Dundee United gave us a bit of a doing at their place and then we beat them at home the next time. The game last time was very close and this one will be a very tight game as well.
“I believe we can win the cup and Jackie will believe his team can win it as well. We play them next week in the league and we’ll see how that goes.
“We’re just glad to be in the final.”
Reflecting on May’s contribution in an Ibrox thriller, he said: “We moved Stevie out to the left because Aberdeen changed their shape.
“We went 4-3-3 and that’s something we’ve thought about because he likes coming in from out wide. The first goal came from a corner and was a great finish and the second was all about what he does.
“He can get by people and finish. Stevie will get all the headlines but it was a real team performance.
“We lost Lee Croft to an injury yesterday and brought Michael O’Halloran in, who was excellent for us. He was a real threat. The back four played well and Alan Mannus made a great save at 1-0.
“You can’t beat the likes of Aberdeen if you don’t have everyone at the top of their game. Aberdeen scored first and probably edged the first half so part of you does think ‘here we go again’ but we showed plenty of resilience.
“We got in at the break, talked about moving the ball quicker and did that in the second half.”