'Old ladies were hanging out windows' - remembering St Mirren's 2013 League Cup win

For Steven Thompson, it was when he had to have a word in the ear of Esmael Goncalves. For Danny Lennon, it was once he'd finished his breakfast from Angie and Bunty at St Mirren's training ground.

Each member of the Buddies' 2013 League Cup-winning squad will have their own moment where they thought something special might be on the cards at Hampden.

Having defeated Celtic at the national stadium in the semi-final, Lennon's men made the march to Mount Florida as underdogs again with Hearts waiting in the showpiece.

BBC Scotland recalls the build-up, the match and the much-deserved celebrations with manager Lennon and striker, goalscorer and lifelong Buddie Thompson.

For a club to win a competition for the first time, a humdinger of a run is the way to go.

Though they opened up with a routine rout of then Second Division side Ayr United, St Mirren required a 92nd-minute finish from Lee Mair to hop the third round hurdle of Hamilton Academical.

That set up a quarter-final away day to Aberdeen, and after a penalty shootout win, a date at Hampden against treble-hunting Celtic was set.

Neil Lennon's side had beat Barcelona just months before and so, as Thompson said: "I don't think anybody gave us any chance in the semi-final.

"We had a really tough run to get to the final, but I believe the performance in the semi-final was as good a St Mirren performance as I was certainly involved in.

"We were absolutely incredible that day."

Thompson scored what proved to be the winner as St Mirren progressed 3-2 to set up a showdown with Hearts, with Lennon insisting his team were "still underdogs".

"Most people go and spend a few days at a hotel the weekend of the cup final, but we totally reversed that," the then manager explained.

"We went away a week to 10 days before, up to St Andrews, and did all our preparation.

"Then, coming back down the road, you think your work's done and it's about just trying to get everybody through for the game.

"We didn't even stay over in the hotel the night before the game. We kept it very, very normal and left from the training ground... After we had a lovely breakfast for the girls, Angie and Bunty.

"It probably wasn't until then that you realised how important it was, or what the occasion itself was.

"When you're driving from Paisley to Hampden, coming over Mount Florida, and you're starting to see the black and white scarfs at that time of day, that's when it really hit, what memories and history we could create.

"Paisley and Renfrewshire must have been emptied that day, they were all at Hampden."

While it hit Lennon on the day, the final was "all-encompassing" for his star striker and St Mirren fan Thompson.

"Because I'd grown up as a St Mirren supporter, and the first game I went to was the 1987 Scottish Cup final, I knew you didn't get these opportunities very often, and so I was aware of the size of it," Thompson explained.

"There was a lot of experienced players in the team and we were trying to make sure everybody was focused.

"I remember we'd recently signed Goncalves and I was trying to get into his head about just how big this was for the club in the week leading up to it.

"While we were training up in St Andrews, he was kind of messing about a bit and I had to have a very stern word with him to just underline how big an occasion this game was."

It was so big, that both Lennon and Thompson admitted the Buddies were "too wrapped up in the occasion" in the opening 20 minutes - to the degree they were "very lucky" to only be behind to Ryan Stevenson's deflected-goal in the 10th minute.

A "tactical tweak" from the touchline helped them get a foothold in the game, and the aforementioned Goncalves scored a "fantastic team goal" to level things before the break.

"After that, when we got them in at half-time, we just spoke about having to play," Lennon recalled.

"It's the only opportunity that some of us might have, to play in a cup final and having gradually got ourselves back into the game, we couldn't have started the second half any better."

Thompson - who Lennon labelled "an absolutely fantastic penalty-box striker" - peeled off the shoulder to strike what would prove to be his favourite goal in a stellar career.

"I can't really remember the 10 seconds after the ball hit the net," the goalscorer said.

"I remember making a really good connection with the ball and seeing it fly high into the roof of the net and then after that it was just 10 seconds of absolute madness.

"That just flipped the whole script, really."

Connor Newton capped off a cracking move with a thunderous strike to send St Mirren well on their way to glory and Lennon didn't miss the chance to savour the special occasion.

"I just remember turning round and taking that moment in, watching the St Mirren fans rather than what was happening," Lennon said of the "fantastic" third goal.

"That lives long in my memory, that moment," he added.

"At that stage, there's still a long way to go, 25 minutes or so and it was at that stage, you think 'do you stick, do you twist, do you do anything?'

"We really had the momentum at that stage, but when you're holding on to something, in a cup final, you tend to get a little bit deeper and give up a little bit more territory.

"Hearts had nothing to lose at that stage and threw everything at us - including Stevenson's second in the 86th-minute.

"But, we handled it well and fortunately for us, came through and managed to bring that big cup home."

And bring the cup home they did. Once it'd done a fair few rounds of the Hampden pitch and changing room, of course.

Following a thrilling final, though, most in black and white just needed a wee moment to take it all in. This was history, after all.

"When I joined St Mirren, I certainly didn't think in my wildest dreams that I would end up lifting the first League Cup with them," Thompson said.

"So, when the game was over, it was actually a relief more than anything because the pressure and the build-up had just been so intense."

The celebrations didn't let-up either. The Buddies were given the big treatment.

"The celebrations for me didn't really start until we got on the open-deck bus," Lennon added. "As a manager, you don't really get to celebrate with the players, because you're doing media, so you miss out on a great deal.

"But once we were on that open-deck bus and were going down the streets of Paisley, where the town centre was full of every man, woman, dog... There were old ladies hanging out the windows - it was fantastic, a great memory."

Thompson recalled: "It's our moment and it's a moment nobody can ever take away from us.

"It's an indelible mark in the club's history that will be there forever.

"It's just such an incredible feeling to know that you've been part of history."