From Hampden sore to a Hampden roar for Declan

Pain of last two visits to Mount Florida made cup glory sweeter for John

- BY ANDY NEWPORT

DECLAN JOHN had every reason to wish he would never see the inside of Hampden again... until Sunday's win over Celtic to lift the Premier Sports Cup trophy.

Before joining St Mirren, the Welshman’s two previous visits to the National Stadium were nightmarish.

But now he's in dreamland having helped Stephen Robinson's side make history for Paisley at the weekend.

John was on the books at Rangers back on October 22, 2017, when he first made the journey from Ibrox to Mount Florida for a League Cup semifinal shootout with Motherwell.

But, if seeing Ibrox teammate Fabio Cardoso having his nose spread across his face on the day Louis Moult fired the combative Fir Park side to a 2-0 win wasn't painful enough, more agony was to follow six months later.