BRENDAN, you’re immortal now. At the end of a week-long festival of nostalgic celebration as Celtic commemorated their greatest ever side, it seemed somehow fitting that the current inhabitants of the hoops should also write their way into the history books.

Victory on another dramatic, incident-filled afternoon at Hampden brought success on so many levels; a first William Hill Scottish Cup triumph for four years, the club’s first domestic treble since 2001, and an entire domestic campaign concluded without a single blemish on their record. A run of 47 league and cup ties without defeat will surely never be repeated. For both Celtic and Scottish football in general, this was another season for the books, even if matching the achievements of the legendary Lisbon Lions was never realistically on their radar.

The treble was clinched in dramatic, almost poetic fashion. With the game tied at 1-1 and extra-time creeping every closer, Brendan Rodgers’ side launched one last attack. Stuart Armstrong fed the ball to Tom Rogic, a first-half replacement for the stricken Kieran Tierney, and the rest was down to the gifted Australian who glided beyond both Anthony O’Connor and Andrew Considine until he could see the whites of Joe Lewis’ eyes.

As he prepared to shoot, a flash of lightning illuminated the leaden Glasgow sky and Rogic did not waste the moment, shooting low and hard inside Lewis’ near post. The match at this point had moved into injury time and, one more half-chance aside, Aberdeen knew they were finally beaten. They had made it harder for Celtic than any other side throughout the season and still left Hampden clutching nothing more than runners-up medals.

Winners have a habit of getting the job done even in adverse circumstances, something Celtic have shown time and time again this season. As captain Scott Brown stood motionless on the touchline as bedlam unfurled all around him at the final whistle, he held up three fingers to an Aberdeen support still reeling with shock. Celtic have waited a long time for this treble.

This was the outcome most had predicted beforehand but few would have guessed the route Celtic would take to get there. Aberdeen scored first, created a raft of other chances, throttled their opponents’ attacking intent and matched them in desire and commitment.

Derek McInnes’ decision to start Jayden Stockley – six goals and three red cards in his first season – in attack over the proven Adam Rooney was a surprising but effective one. Stockley did not see much in the way of chances but his physical presence unsettled Celtic and allowed Aberdeen to get up the pitch quickly.

Behind him Ryan Jack and Graeme Shinnie, in particular, were combative, while Aberdeen’s back four gave Celtic little room for manoeuvre. Patrick Roberts struck a post following one mazy run but was otherwise uncharacteristically quiet. Aberdeen looked to have found a way to finally overcome Celtic at the sixth attempt only for the champions to again wriggle off the hook.

There was an ironic twist that the winning goalscorer may not have been on the pitch had Celtic not been forced into a first-half change. Stockley swung an arm backwards as he contested a ball with Tierney and caught the defender flush on the mouth. Unable to stem the flow of blood, the 19 year-old went off after five minutes of treatment with what he, perhaps in jest, later described as “a broken jaw”. Celtic were incensed that referee Bobby Madden and his assistants chose to take no action.

Rodgers elected not to deploy a like-for-like replacement, sending on Rogic and asking Callum McGregor to fill in at the back.

“You have a choice there: do you put a defender on, or do you stay offensive and reshape to get your attacking players in the game?” pondered Rodgers aloud after the match. Given his coaching philosophy it was the most rhetorical of questions.

The switch, however, clearly unsettled Celtic initially and Aberdeen looked to take advantage. They may harbour regrets for some time that they didn’t, a first Scottish Cup success for 27 years having slipped from their grasp.

Niall McGinn and Ryan Jack had shots in quick succession saved by Craig Gordon, Stockley had a header blocked from a corner, and Shinnie had a thundering effort on goal also repelled by the goalkeeper. The most glaring miss, though, came after 53 minutes. McGregor was dispossessed by Jonny Hayes, creating a two-on-one opening in front of the Celtic goal. Kenny McLean would surely have scored had the cross been in front of him instead of agonisingly just behind his stride.

“I think if you were to re-enact that position when Jonny Hayes robbed McGregor, nine times out of 10 we would score there,” lamented McInnes.

Celtic had missed decent chances of their own – Scott Sinclair was twice sloppy right in front of goal, Leigh Griffiths came close on a couple of occasions, while Dedryck Boyata should have got a header on target – but the longer the match wore on, the feeling grew that they would find a way to win it.

Rogic’s intervention was a fitting denouement to a match that had crackled with intensity from the first whistle. Aberdeen drew first blood after nine minutes when Hayes evaded Griffiths to thump home Niall McGinn’s inch-perfect corner, only for Celtic, through Armstrong, to equalise soon after. That set the tone for a breathless encounter. By the end Celtic had come out on top. It has been the story of their season.