LYLE TAYLOR and Derek Adams' paths crossed three times during their respective spells at Partick Thistle and Ross County. The latter man did not finish on the losing side during the 2013/14 season when the two teams squabbled over who would finish highest in the Scottish Premier League's bottom six. Adams and County took that dubious honour a couple of points in seventh as Taylor's goals went some way to keeping Thistle in the top flight.
With the stakes somewhat higher for yesterday's League 2 play-off final between Taylor's AFC Wimbledon and Adams' Plymouth Argyle, the tables turned.
Taylor's goal and a 99th-minute penalty from Adebayo Akinfenwa guaranteed that Wimbledon continued their fairytale rise with promotion to League 1.
It sparked the mother of all birthday parties at Wembley. They have now been promoted six times since the current club was formed by supporters at the Fox and Grapes pub, in Wimbledon, 14 years ago to the day.
Their manager Neil Ardley, a former player with the old Wimbledon, said: "It's immense, it's what you dream of. It's surreal and it hasn't really sunk in. "To stand there in front of 20 to 25,000 people, who 14 years ago had their club ripped away from them. To be there in front of them, as one of their own, having joined at the age of 11, you can write whatever you like."
After a cagey first 78 minutes top scorer Taylor broke the deadlock when he tucked in Callum Kennedy's cross.
And deep into stoppage time substitute Adebayo Azeez was tripped in the area by another man with Scottish connections, the on-loan Hibernian defender Jordon Forster.
Man mountain Akinfenwa demanded the ball from regular penalty taker Kennedy and slammed his last touch as a Wimbledon player home to really get the party started.
As Akinfenwa, who is now out of contract, urged other managers to get in touch about signing him next season, Ardley pitched for a role in the proposed AFC Wimbledon movie.
Scriptwriters want to tell the story of the club from when they first held open trials on Wimbledon Common in 2002 to their promotion to the Football League just nine years later.
But Ardley insisted: "The movie was going to end when they got into the league but now they have got to extend it to Wembley! I've got to try and get a part in it now."
Promotion also means AFC Wimbledon now find themselves in the same division as the club their fans still refuse to acknowledge, MK Dons, created when the old Wimbledon was so controversially relocated.
"I am looking forward to playing in League 1," Ardley added. "It was inevitable that if we continued being successful our paths would cross in league games. There will be an edge to the MK Dons games, but they are just two games towards our points tally."
Plymouth finished two places and six points ahead of their opponents but seemed to be overawed by the occasion in front of a 30,000-strong support.
"We didn't perform well enough," admitted Adams. "Credit to Wimbledon, but we are disappointed not to have won. It wasn't an exciting game and we probably played into Wimbledon's hands a bit, we didn't trouble their goalkeeper enough.
"It's a huge disappointment to come here and not show people what we can do. We are disappointed but we've come a long way with a threadbare squad and it's testament to the players to have even got here today."
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