ALAN STUBBS addressed his players the night before Hibernian history was made and told them not to become just another losing team to be sneered at and mocked for all time.

No more gallant losers, no more Hibsing it. Not this time.

Stubbs saw in the eyes of the troops that they were ready, not only to win the Scottish Cup for the first time since 1902, but to stop their football club being a joke. He asked them to present Leith with its greatest footballing day and every last one of them delivered.

“It is not their fault the club has had a 114 year wait,” said Stubbs. "What we spoke about before the game, and over the last couple of days, was that they had an opportunity. All you ever want as a player, whether it’s being selected in the team or to play in cup finals, is that you have an opportunity to change something.

“They had that on Saturday. We spoke about on Friday night, as in don’t be another chapter in terms of being another team (that loses). Be the team that creates a whole new chapter and a whole new place in history. They certainly did that.

“I don’t know when it will hit home. You can see how much it means to the football club. It has been that other people have mocked us. If I was a fan, and it was Everton-Liverpool, I would be the same. When you are a fan of another team and it keeps happening, you embracing peoples' inability to change.”

It did appear as if the final was going keeping to the script. Hibs were the better team, had taken the lead, missed lots of chances but with the game coming to its conclusion they were trailing Rangers. How familiar.

But this time was different. Anthony Stokes equalised and after that there was really only going to be one winner.

And when Hibs captain David Gray, with huge determination, sent the ball into the net two minutes into injury time, the manager knew that was it. Their time has come.

“My emotion straight away after the third goal was that we’d done it,” said Stubbs. “When you score so late in the game it does rip the stomach out of the other team. We have experienced that ourselves and so I know how difficult it is to come back from that.

“It was everything; relief, excitement, euphoria. But probably the biggest one is relief.

“Even when we went 2-1 down I didn’t feel as if the players had taken a big sigh. I didn’t feel as if the energy drained from them, I thought they went again. I was looking at the clock, there are 15 minutes to go and I was thinking to myself ‘come on, one last little push and we can get back in the game.’

“Then Dave has shown a lot of desire to get on the end of it. We managed to edge it. I thought it was a really good game, worthy of a Scottish Cup Final.

So is Hibsing it consigned to the rubbish bin?

"We have to play our part because when we do lose a lead or do lose a game, then you are open for criticism.” said Stubs. “I think some of the criticism can sometimes be right, and there are other times it is harsh.”

Stubbs is now a messiah down Leith way and far beyond. There was not parting of the sea but there was some passing of water which seems to have brought much-needed luck.

“I missed the second goal because I had gone for my routine toilet break,” he revealed. “We scored in the last couple games when I was away so there may have been an element hope rather than anything

“I have done it a few times this season. It’s because I drink so much water and coffee before a game. As we know, once you feel that urge to go, it’s like after a few pints, once you go you go all the time.

"I’ve done a couple of times and we’ve scored. It doesn’t work all the time, unfortunately. Today was great. I didn’t have to force on out. It was a full bladder.”

Hibs victory was not overshadowed as some have suggested, nor will it become some footnote. To suggest this is a nonsense.

But the scenes at the end did tarnish the day and Stubbs is aware that his club could end up being hurt depending on what punishment the authorities deem appropriate.

“It is going to be difficult,” said Stubbs. "Obviously we are just going to have to wait and see what the ramifications are and the fall-out from the game. Whatever it is we will have to take it on the chin or see if we can somehow get around it.

“I don’t condone that (Rangers players and staff were hit) whatsoever. In fact if that’s the case then it is very poor. I will try to contact Rangers.

"Everything was cut short, that’s speaking to Mark (Warburton), Davie (Weir) their staff and commiserating the players, I never had the chance to do that and I always do.

“I do that because we have tasted how it feel to lose in the final. I have been in their shoes and it's not nice. I hope it’s not true but then Rangers would not have put a statement out if they felt that hadn’t happened.”

It did happen but then so, too, did Hibernian winning the Scottish Cup. Stubbs’s side will go down in history for all the right reasons. Well done to them.