FROM subterranean lows to the most incredible highs. Nicky Law's personal narrative epitomises the transformation in Rangers' fortunes in the last 12 months, so the midfielder was a fitting taker of what proved to be the decisive penalty at Hampden.

A year ago he slunk out of the national stadium as an Old Firm loser, his time at Ibrox hitting rock bottom soon afterwards when he was one of a job lot of Ibrox players written off after their failure against his former club Motherwell in the play-offs. Yet here he was, with the championship clinched by March, climbing off the bench to play his part in the frantic closing stages of this William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final, and holding his nerve to send Craig Gordon the wrong way at sudden death in the shoot-out. No wonder the euphoria was such that Law felt it was as if they had won the cup already.

“I have gone from the lowest point of my career for part of last season to the best feeling in my career," said Law. "It is a day I will remember for the rest of my life and that was shown from the reaction from the players, club and the fans. Everyone is delighted and it feels like we have won the cup really.

"Hopefully, we can go on and finish the job. We will finish our season and then concentrate on the final, where we will face another good team in Hibs.”

Law's first taste of Old Firm glory has whetted his appetite for more. The only problem is, with his contract due to expire at the end of the season, it remains unclear whether the cup final could be his last outing for the club. It is safe to say that Law dearly hopes that isn't the case.

“I would love it [to stay]," he said. "Hopefully it will happen but it will be the end of the season before anything is decided. That has been the message from the off. We can sit down and discuss things but for me personally, who wouldn’t want to stay? To play in four of them [Old Firm matches] next season would be unbelievable.”

Penalty shoot-outs are always a source of drama, and you can magnify that by whatever variable you choose when you are talking about the first one between Rangers and Celtic in a major competition. Craig Gordon attempting to psyche out Wes Foderingham by throwing away his water bottle was one thing, but even the dynamics of which player would go when were ripe with intrigue. It wasn't so long ago, of course, that Gordon was training at Murray Park, which supposedly gave the Celtic goalkeeper a source of valuable inside information.

“There weren’t many takers [to hit the seventh penalty], I can tell you that!" said Law. "[Gedion] Zelalem skipped the queue. He wasn’t meant to take one of the initial penalties but he just went up and took one. Danny [Wilson] was next and I thought I was one further on but he said: ‘No, it is you.’

“It was a difficult one because Craig was training with us and we used to take penalties against him, so he sort of knew where we would go," he added. "There were a bit of mind games, so I was delighted to score and luckily for me it proved to be the decisive penalty and it left me with a great feeling.”

While the players had practised penalties the day before the match, there wasn't anything more than that. Both teams had chances on the day, the outcome was merited on the balance of play, with Rangers proving adept at keeping the lion's share of possession and territory.

“We were delighted with the win and thought on the day we thoroughly deserved our win because we played the better football," said Law. "Some people felt we couldn’t play our usual game because of the atmosphere and the pressure but from the first whistle we did. "We were outstanding in the first half and we could have gone in even further ahead. If we could pick a way to win it then via penalties was the best we could have done it.”

Whether or not Law is still around to play his part, the burning question is whether Rangers can reclaim the Premiership title at the first time of asking. Law accepts that Celtic have greater depth to their squad but fully expects Mark Warburton's revolution to continue to make incremental improvements.

“They [Celtic] probably do have the stronger squad, full of internationalists, who couldn’t even make the bench," said Law. “We couldn’t even fill our bench and in those terms there is a big difference. But we felt we could give them a game and we did. I am sure we will go from strength to strength as we have all season. We have got better and better and I am sure that will be the case again next season. Hopefully we can take them all the way. It is a long hard season but Sunday gives us a lot of confidence.”