CALUM ELLIOT missed his bus.
Another might be along before the end of the season.
It had been a conscious decision when the striker abstained from the revelry of Zalgiris Vilnius' victory in the Lithuanian Cup final last year, Elliot excusing himself from a meandering tour round the streets of the Lithuanian capital on an open-top bus in order to catch an earlier flight home.
A few messages sent by the Vilnius squad as they cavorted with their silverware had painted a colourful scene for him, but it was one which paled in the absence of family.
His nearest and dearest have been closer at hand this season as the 26-year-old grasps at another trophy; his Raith Rovers side reaching the semi-finals of the Ramsdens Cup following this win over Falkirk on Saturday. The Fife club might anticipate that they will be the only team from the SPFL Championship among the last four - Rangers face Queen of the South in the last quarter-final tie next week - yet the details of Raith's progress will fade should they come to alight at April's showpiece, since players will always be sure to make room for all the minutiae of a cup final.
That practice will be followed by a Raith squad which would only have toyed with the notion of having a serious go at a cup at the start of the campaign. Reciting a need to concentrate on the "bread and butter" of the league is unappetising when a player is asked to chew over success in a cup, then, although Elliot's insistence belied a hunger to lift a trophy in his home country.
"Of course [it would mean more], because here it's more of a football country. Playing in finals and winning cups is what we want to do when we first start playing," said the striker.
"I remember winning the trophy [after defeating Ekranas on penalties], lifting it at the end. That is the moment which stands out more than anything. I came home before all the celebrations. That was going to be at the end of the season, but I came home after the last day of the season and missed it all. It was a good experience but I was desperate to be close to my family."
Some within the Falkirk squad might have sought comfort from their loved ones at the weekend, too, with their own cup memories coloured by shots that missed their target and the words of a manager who did not miss his. Gary Holt was affronted by his defenders' inability to prevent Greig Spence from turning his shot into the net from close range late on - "I'd expect an under-10 side to deal with it better" - and he was hardly enamoured with the idea of allowing his side to use their inexperience as an excuse either. On Saturday, he fielded a starting XI with an average age of just 20, but their presence in senior football denies them any sense of immaturity.
"The goal is poor defensively and that's got nothing to do with their age," said Holt. "We need to grasp the ugly side of the game and that's something I keep harping on about - 'you've got a clean sheet, hang on to it; it's the most precious thing in football and you have it before you start a game, so don't give it away with sloppy goals'."
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