Gordon Chisholm spent his ten months out of management by creating a mortgage company and renovating some Glasgow flats. It was the perfect preparation for his most audacious makeover of all: transforming Queen of the South from country bumpkins – his words – into Scottish Cup heroes.

Fittingly, the team that “Chis” built chose the home of Scottish football to unveil the most remarkable semi-final in the history of the competition. The Irn-Bru first division side demolished Aberdeen’s dreams and will now return to Hampden Park on May 24 for the first leading final in the Dumfries club’s 89-year history.

Chisholm took over at Queen of the South only last summer. He was burning with a passion to prove himself after being jettisoned by Dundee United not long after he had guided them to the 2005 Scottish Cup final, where they lost to Celtic. The fans of the only British club to be listed in the Bible must thank the good Lord for the day Chisholm walked into their lives.

The messianic acclaim that the 10,000 supporters from Dumfries gave to Chisholm and his players long after Kenny Clark, the referee, had brought this epic encounter to an end, illustrated an incredulity that a long trek through a barren desert had actually seen them reach the promised land. A second division title win and the Bell’s Challenge Cup are the only items to trouble the Palmerston Park trophy room since the club were formed in 1919.

Chisholm and David Rae, the 70-year-old chairman, were locked in an emotional embrace on the Hampden pitch. It was Rae’s gut instinct to agree to Chisholm’s demand when he took the job that his players should train in Glasgow, rather than force many of them to make the 180-mile round trip to Dumfries.

“It’s the only way people will get rid of the idea of the old Queen of the South, the idea of farming country bumpkins, and think of them as a professional outfit,” Chisholm said before the semi-final. The man known within Scottish football simply as “Chis” insisted that he did not want to steal the club’s identity. His radical move may well have created a new identity for Queen of the South.

The moment that John Stewart’s thunderous 60th-minute shot flew into the net to decide this contest, Queen of the South knew this was their day. It was a sign from the football gods. Stewart had been recruited on loan from Falkirk by Chisholm during the January transfer window but the moment the 22-year-old striker came off the bench for the injured Steven Dobbie just before the interval, he seemed fated to score against the club who jettisoned him.

Jimmy Calderwood offloaded Stewart last season, convinced that he flattered to deceive despite a prolific scoring rate against Celtic. Stewart came back to haunt the Aberdeen manager and the 14,000 Pittodrie fans who jeered his arrival on to the pitch. If those supporters had nursed some misgivings about the occasion when another of their former players, Steve Tosh, had given Queen of the South a 22nd-minute lead, that anxiety grew into a state of unquenchable fear once Stewart had finished with them.

The striker’s pace shredded Zander Diamond in the 48th minute before setting up Paul Burns to restore the lead that had been cancelled out by Andrew Considine’s header ten minutes before the interval. That was the start of an astonishing spell containing five goals in just 12 minutes. Barry Nicholson swiftly plundered an equaliser, then Sean O’Connor’s deftness put the first division team back in front. Considine provided an immediate response with a thumping header in the 58th minute, but Calderwood’s team could not protect that parity for any more than 90 seconds.

This time, Queen of the South did not relinquish their grip. The bravery of Jim Thomson, the long-serving captain, and Andy Aitken at the heart of Chisholm’s defence saw Queen of the South through a torrid closing period that even saw Diamond cruelly denied yet another equaliser when the Aberdeen defender’s header struck the bar and then his follow-up shot hit a post.

Chisholm had taken his players to Hampden Park the day before the game to soak up the aura of the place but they were no idle tourists once Saturday came. The manager drummed into his team that they were not there simply to enjoy being part of the club’s first Scottish Cup semi-final since 1950, they were there to seize the day.

The traditional club of southwest Scotland may have felt rather put out by Gretna’s meteoric rise that took them to the Scottish Cup final in 2006, but Chisholm is not interested in a day out when Queen of the South return next month, he wants the old trophy itself. He would, though, rather face a fellow first division side.

“Getting to Europe is a reality depending on how the other tie goes,” Chisholm said. “I have been to the Uefa Cup with Dundee United and I would love to do it again. There is still a lot of football to be played in the other half of the draw but personally, I would rather have another first division club in the final. It’s been 58 years since we were at a semi-final but this is amazing. It is my best moment in football.”

R e m a r k a b l y , Chisholm may need his chairman’s negotiating skills to ensure that he has a team for the final. The first division campaign ends on April 26 and some short-term deals at Palmerston Park end soon after.

“I think most of my players are out of contract on May 15,” he smiled. “They were all rubbing their hands and saying, ‘boss are we getting an extension?’ It is a dream to get to a Scottish Cup final. It must have been a great game for neutrals to watch, but I thought that we kept blowing it. We would get our noses in front and give another goal away and it just went on and on. I thought Aberdeen would come back for the fourth time and the game could have been 6-5 or 7-4 but credit to the boys, they made history.”

For Aberdeen, read infamy, not history. Calderwood’s side blew the best chance Aberdeen have had to embrace a first piece of silverware since 1995 and at the end frustrated fans threw scarves on to the pitch to register their anger.

“It was one of the worst moments of my career and I hope my players are feeling the same,” the Aberdeen manager said. “We had a massive chance to go and do something and we have not taken it. Losing four goals in any game at this level is a joke. To do it in a semi-final yet again is no good.

“We let the fans down at Tynecastle in the CIS Cup semi-final [when Aberdeen lost 4-1 to Dundee United] and we let them down badly again. I can understand the fans’ frustrations – if I was a supporter I would have done the same. I told the players that this will never leave them. In 20 years they will think, ‘what a chance I had’ and they might never get that again.”

Chisholm’s players already have that statement imprinted upon their minds. And that is why Queen of the South could provide another piece of history in four weeks’ time.

How they rated

Queen of the South (4-4-2): J MacDonald 7 R McCann Y 7 J Thomson 8 A Aitken 7 R Harris 6 P Burns 8 S Tosh 7 N MacFarlane 7 J McQuilken 8 S O’Connor 8 S Dobbie 7 Substitutes: E Paton (for McCann, 90min), J Stewart (for Dobbie, 42 9). Not used: S Grindlay, J O’Neill, B Gilmour.

Aberdeen (4-4-2): D Soutar 5 A Maybury 4 Z Diamond 5 A Considine 6 J McNamara 5 R Foster 6 B Nicholson 8 S Severin 6 S Aluko 6 C Maguire 8 L Miller 6 Substitutes: D Young (for Maybury, 80), D Mackie (for McNamara, 62 3). Not used: J Langfield, S Duff, K Touzani.

Referee: K Clark
Attendance: 24,008

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