Flashback: 1991: Memory of incredible triumph tinged with sadness 20 years on

IT WAS the happiest, most joyful, most downright entertaining Scottish Cup final in living memory; one of those rare matches in which, as the old cliche has it, neither side deserved to lose.

Certainly, when Dundee United ended the day as runners-up - the sixth time they had reached the final and the sixth time they had been losers - they must have asked themselves what more they could have done. Having been apparently out of contention at 3-1 down, Jim McLean's team had fought back to 3-3 to take the game into extra-time, only to lose 4-3 to Motherwell.

United had gone into the match as favourites, but Motherwell were never likely to be cowed by that. They had begun their campaign that season by knocking out holders Aberdeen at Pittodrie, then gone on to beat Falkirk in the fourth round before needing replays in both the quarter and semi-finals to see off Morton (on penalties) and Celtic respectively.

Motherwell manager Tommy McLean, Jim's brother, was better placed than anyone else to get an insight into the mentality of his opponents - and in particular into the Tannadice team's growing complex about their inability to win the final. That complex might have evaporated had United scored first, but instead it was Motherwell who drew first blood when Iain Ferguson scored after half an hour.

In the second half, Ian Angus doubled the lead, and although David Bowman pulled one back, the cup seemed bound to return to Fir Park for the first time in nearly 40 years when teenager Phil O'Donnell headed Motherwell into a 3-1 lead. But John O'Neil made it 3-2, and then, with time running out, Darren Jackson equalised to take the match into extra time.

To paraphrase the words of England manager Sir Alf Ramsey in the 1966 World Cup final, Motherwell had won the game once - now they had to go out and win it again. And win it they did, when substitute Stevie Kirk grabbed the seventh and final goal of the afternoon in the first period of extra time.

There were some heavy legs out there when referee David Syme blew for full-time - a sound which is still the abiding memory of the afternoon for Motherwell defender Craig Paterson.

"The final whistle and thinking 'Thank God it's over'," Paterson, now a BBC commentator, said this week when asked his strongest recollections of that afternoon of 18 May.

"When you're winning 3-1 you do start to think 'We've got this won', and then you lose a goal in the last minute and think 'What are we going to be like if we throw this away?'

"Dundee United were throwing caution to the wind and when they equalised they were nervous as they were back in the game. At the start of extra-time it was even stevens again. "We got the goal and we managed to defend, but I've never been so relieved to hear a final whistle. Once that went we knew no-one could take it away. It was 39 years since Motherwell had won the cup, so we knew what an achievement it was."

The celebrations which began at Hampden then continued in Lanarkshire well into the following day, as Motherwell enjoyed a triumphant homecoming. "The open-top bus was sensational," Paterson continued. "I don't know how many people turned out.

"We went round Motherwell and Wishaw. Grown men were in tears.

"Andy Russell the groundsman at Motherwell, a fantastic character, went to the front of the bus, grabbing the cup and showing it to the fans. He received a fantastic ovation and when he walked past he turned to me and had a tear in his eye and said 'Best day of my life', and then it really hit home what it meant to people who eat, sleep and breathe Motherwell Football Club."

But for Paterson and his team-mates, memories of that triumph have since become touched by tragedy with the death of four members of that season's squad. Davie Cooper died nearly four years later at the age of 39. Phil O'Donnell passed away in late 2007 after collapsing during a game against Dundee United. Jamie Dolan died in the late summer of 2008 at the age of 39, and Paul McGrillen died a year later, aged just 37.When the Motherwell squad of 1991 gather together at Hampden today, they will therefore be diminished in number - and also in spirit, for now it is no longer possible for the survivors to look back on that afternoon with the simple delight they experienced then.

"I see Kirky and Dougie Arnott, because they work at Fir Park," Paterson said. "Sadly every time you see that squad it revolves around the four lads who are no longer with us. It's been sad that the only time you get a chance to mix is at funerals."

At least that will change today, though, and those who remain will be able to join together and urge on the present generation of Motherwell players to another victory. "It will be a fun get-together for the lads," Paterson added. "It's a chance to have a chinwag and remember the good old days again."