Euan O'Reilly revels in scoring winner for Stenhousemuir against boyhood team St Johnstone

The 23-year-old, who hails from Auchterarder and has been a Saints supporter from childhood, netted just after the break against Steven MacLean’s men to seal the three points for the Warriors on the opening day of the Viaplay Cup group stages.

“I got a good touch and a good finish,” O’Reilly beamed. “My head just went mental when I scored, I was buzzing.

"All my family were here, as well as a few friends who are Saints fans and were sitting in our stand, to be fair to them.

"It’s bitter-sweet for them. For me, it was extra special that it was the winning goal. I’m proper chuffed.

“I was a big Saints fan, growing up I went lots. I remember getting my picture taken with Derek McInnes after training one day.

“To do that, it was extra special being the winning goal. When I got taken off I was like: Please hold on lads, please.”

“It’s Ayr on Tuesday now. If it was Saturday to Saturday I could probably go out for a few days.

“We knew against St Johnstone we might not have as much of the ball as in a league game.

“We got the game-plan down to a tee and we’ve got good players going forward so knew, if we defended well enough, we could get them on the counter attack.

“We actually passed the ball about really well. It wasn’t just sit in and hit long balls.”

The ex-Saints ace came through the Perth club’s youth set-up and was heralded at the time as one of the best prospects around.

However, a serious pelvic issue forced O’Reilly out for almost two years, and he says there is no ill-will for being let go.

“There are quite a lot of people still at St Johnstone from my time,” he explained. “Liam Craig was probably a big influence on me. I had quite a few injuries so senior players like him, Steven MacLean, Brian Easton, Steven Anderson were really good.

“They could see a young player feeling down. They are good at keeping your head straight and keeping you positive.

“After coming on against Sunderland, I thought I might have a chance of the bench a couple of times that season. I made a few squads.

“But by November, I felt done. I was getting cortisone injections in my pelvis, I got an operation.

“I didn’t play for two years. The club looked after me really well but they couldn’t have given out a contract. You can’t blame them.”

“I’m 23, still young enough. I have ambitions to go League One, Championship, hopefully Premiership at some point as well."