WHO’D be a goalkeeper, eh? When you save a penalty seven minutes from time in a cup final, you might justifiably expect that it might just be your day.

But the wild scenes of celebration from over 2000 Dumbarton supporters that greeted Scott Gallacher keeping out Iain Vigurs’ weak effort from the spot in Saturday’s showdown for the Irn-Bru Cup were soon replaced by a picture of devastation, as Carl Tremarco rifled into the roof of the net from close range in the last minute of stoppage time to then send the Inverness fans spilling onto the pitch in jubilation.

It was an incredible ending to what had been an insipid game at McDiarmid Park, with the enormity of the occasion for both clubs seemingly inhibiting both sets of players.

Gallacher, to his immense credit, was able to remain philosophical in the immediate aftermath of the match, shifting the praise for his penalty save onto his goalkeeping coach, and the blame for the cruel finale onto the gods of football fate.

“We’re just disappointed,” said Gallacher. “The boys all put the effort in and it just didn’t come up trumps. But there you go, that’s just the way football is.

“Credit to Jamie Ewings, our goalie coach, he got information onto the pitch about Vigurs and told me to go that way. He’s been great with me all of this season, so 10 out of 10 for him.

“Football can be cruel, that’s just the way it is.”

With the occasion representing Dumbarton’s first national final in 121 years, it was perhaps no surprise that their fans were out in force, and there was a great atmosphere building as a flurry of yellow and black greeted the arrival of the players, led out by manager Stevie Aitken.

The stage was set, but when the action got underway, there were more than a few players who seemed to be suffering from big-night nerves.

Despite the poor standard of the fare, Dumbarton were the more dangerous side throughout, and although Inverness had the bulk of possession, the Sons backline and their keeper were rarely troubled until the astonishing climax to the evening.

“The defence has been different class the whole season,” said Gallacher. “They are a pleasure to play behind, and there were no real mistakes from the back four.

“I had a couple of saves but nothing I wouldn’t expect to make apart from the penalty, which is 50/50.

“I expected to make the rest of the saves, so it’s tough for me personally. And I think that the rest of the players outwith me done really well.”

That they did. And while it wasn’t always pretty, it was certainly effective. The Sons midfield duo of Kyle Hutton and Stuart Carswell were impressive, and Inverness toiled to create anything much of note against a defence superbly marshalled by skipper Andy Dowie. That was until a cross from Aaron Doran was handled in the area by Chris McLaughlin, and referee Andrew Dallas pointed to the spot. Vigurs’ low effort to Gallacher’s left lacked any power though, and the keeper flopped down on the ball.

The heartbreak was yet to come, and when it did, as Tremarco arrived unchecked at the back post to fire young Daniel Mackay’s low cross into the net, Gallacher’s mood wasn’t helped by the posse of Inverness fans who celebrated on the pitch in front of him after leaping over the wall behind the goal.

“That’s part and parcel of it, but to be fair, if I had got a hold of one it would have been a different story!” Gallacher said.

“It was just a bit of frustration after the match, but again, that’s just the way football is.”

If the Dumbarton players can all maintain a sense of perspective in the way that Gallacher has, then this gut-punch shouldn’t have too much of a lasting effect as they now face up to a critical point in their Championship campaign.

They might not have brought back the Irn-Bru Cup to the club on Saturday evening, but they emerge with huge credit for their showing on the day, and perhaps even more so from their epic run to reach McDiarmid Park. There should be no Son of the Rock whose head is not held high.

“It’s credit to us that we managed to compete so well against that team,” said Gallacher. “The gaffer was telling us before the game that they have come down from the Premiership last season and they’ve still got most of those players.

“They’ve got the likes of Vigurs, who is a really good player and was good in the match, but we competed really well against them.

“In a one-off match anything can happen. We’ve played them so many times now and it’s always tough matches. We’ve taken points off of them and they have obviously taken points off us too. So, it’s always tight.

“When it comes down to the nitty gritty we all have to stick together, and hopefully we can get through this now.”