Lisburn man Stephen Robinson hails St Mirren's 'faith over fear' mantra after Premier Sports Cup triumph over Celtic who 'we should never beat'
Lisburn-born manager Stephen Robinson acknowledged “on paper we should never get close to Celtic” – but hailed St Mirren’s mantra of “faith over fear” after masterminding their 3-1 Premier Sports Cup final triumph against the Scottish giants at Hampden Park.
Former Northern Ireland international Robinson had only defeated Celtic once in 31 previous attempts across spells at Motherwell and St Mirren, who he joined in 2022 and has since led to three consecutive top-half Premiership finishes.
The Buddies went ahead after only two minutes as captain Marcus Fraser headed home from a corner before Reo Hatate equalised.
However, Jonah Ayunga’s second half brace had St Mirren in dreamland as the Paisley club sealed only their second League Cup crown.
Northern Ireland’s Conor McMenamin started and played 72 minutes while fellow countryman Liam Donnelly was an unused substitute.
"I ran across to my youngest son Charlie and wife Robyn, it’s brilliant to have my family here,” reflected Robinson on BBC Sport Scotland. “My oldest boy Harry and his girlfriend, Charlie, Robyn – they’re the ones you try to do it for and they’re probably more nervous than me during the game.
"I’m delighted for everybody involved. We have a fantastic group. When you speak to people in England about top-six finishes, they don’t understand the parameters and disparity of the league...there’s a huge disparity.
"For us to get a trophy at a small club like St Mirren, and to do it in the manner we did, I’m so, so pleased for the boys.
"It’s pride. We’re a small squad, small staff, and everybody pulls together. We should never beat Celtic, on paper we should never get close to them, but we came with belief.
"We said to play with faith over fear, the fans had banners up all week with that, and we had a brilliant team meeting before. I knew they believed and they proved that.
"I’m not a big one for attention, I’ll probably be home by 10pm with my dogs and wife while they’re celebrating!
"You’ll look back on your career and be proud of what you achieved...with a small club like St Mirren, people have no idea the parameters we work under – we’re way behind in terms of staff and money.”
McMenamin, who joined St Mirren in 2022 after starring in the Irish League for Glentoran, felt his side deserved to lift the trophy.
“It’s an unbelievable day for us,” said McMenamin, who celebrated with daughter Daisy at full-time. “I’m proud of all the team.
"It was an amazing effort from us all. We worked hard all week on how we could nullify Celtic and play our own game. I thought we were brilliant.
"We came here and believed in ourselves...we believed we would beat Celtic. It wasn’t luck today, we were the best team and deserve to put our hands on that trophy.
"We’ll enjoy this. The belief we have in each other, we believe in what we do and what the manager tells us. Before the game he had emotional family messages and what it meant. It’s about seizing moments like this, they don’t come around too often when you’re at a club like this.
"You might never get another chance. Thankfully we grasped that. I’ll take this weekend to the grave with me and I’m going to enjoy it.”