As Ryan Christie slid across the Hampden turf to celebrate what would become the only goal of the game, the cameras captured the moment. But in the fog of a damp November evening, the lens picked out Christie's parents, Charlie and Sharon; one beaming, one wiping a tear. And Christie admitted that as the whistle blew to celebrate the victory, he had a lump in his throat as he picked out the duo among the sea of faces. “It was amazing for my mum and dad to come down and see me," he smiled.

“When the final whistle went, I looked up and managed to catch eyes with them.

“I got a bit emotional myself when that happened because it has been a long road.

“I’ll be honest, it was pretty overwhelming for me.

“It was always going to be a strange day in any case coming up against Aberdeen and it shows that football can work in funny ways sometimes.

“Seeing them brought that overwhelming feeling of happiness and I was delighted for them to be able to see that.

“I wouldn’t say I had given up on it, but there was a lot of talk in the summer and I didn’t really know where my future was.

“But the manager has been so amazing for me ever since I signed for Celtic.

“He sat me down and told me I still had a fighting chance at Celtic, so it was up to me to take that chance.

“From there it’s been about working hard and making sure that I took the chance when it came along.

“I need to kick on and try and make a proper impact.” Rodgers grinned after the game that when he arrived at the club, the 23-year-old midfielder was known as Charlie Christie's son whereas now Christie senior is known as Ryan's dad. “He was joking with me about it," laughed the Scotland internationalist. "If you get a chance, say that to my dad!

“He has helped me so much in my career and it was nice to almost pay him back here." What has been more serious has the manner in which Christie has emphatically turned around his Parkhead career. A new contract has been signed to secure his long-term future at the club and the manner in which he has impacted in recent months on Rodgers' side would suggest that he will not be drifting out of the starting XI any time soon.

“It’s been a great spell," he said. "I have been wanting to do things like this ever since I signed for Celtic.

“Obviously, it’s been a very long road to get here, but it’s nice to not just play but make an impact of games.

“That’s my job as an attacking midfielder to score goals and chip in with assists.

“When it comes in a Cup Final, that makes it even better.

“I had great memories winning a trophy with Inverness and it was very frustrating when I couldn’t play [in two Finals against Celtic] with Aberdeen.

“So to come back to the football club and manage to get silverware is amazing, especially given it’s been a long road since that time of my career at Inverness." There was a chance to enjoy the victory last night but not for long.

Celtic head to Fir Park on Wednesday night with Rangers' leading the pack after their result at Tynecastle.

“Celtic is relentless," said Christie. "With other results on the day, we have been knocked off the top of the table, so we need to make that right as soon as possible.

“Hopefully, that’ll be with two good wins this week and you cannot afford to rest on your laurels with this club.

“Motherwell are going to pose a big test for us on Wednesday night and we need to look to try and kick on from here and ensure we keep winning games.”