Aberdeen were left shell shocked on Monday night, after the Scottish Premiership giants were ousted from the Cup by sixth-tier side Darvel.
Irish coach Jim Goodwin's Aberdeen had most of the big chances, but could not find a way past Darvel's heroic defence, on the most famous night in their club's history.
Hitherto, the greatest achievement in Darvel's history was arguably gaining promotion to the sixth tier, or finishing runners-up in the Scottish Junior Cup in 1975-76. This instantly famous win surely takes the cherry now, and we imagine goalscorer Jordan Fitzpatrick won't ever have to buy himself another drink in Darvel again.
For Aberdeen, however, the opposite side of the coin is true, and they return to the north of Scotland feeling "humiliated" and "embarrassed" in the words of their coach Goodwin, after one of the great cup shocks in any U.K. competition.
Aberdeen v Darvel: Jim Goodwin utterly defeated in post-match interview
Aberdeen coach Jim Goodwin spoke to the BBC after his side exited the Scottish Cup at the hands of Darvel FC.
Waterford man Goodwin - who won one senior international cap for the Republic of Ireland - has seen his side struggle this year, lying in 5th in the Premiership table, 32 points behind leaders Celtic after just 22 games.
Despite this, they would have been overwhelming favourites for Monday night's cup tie against Darvel, and Goodwin made no excuses for their defeat.
🗣️'Disappointed, embarrassed, humiliated. We have a bit of assessing to do tonight, that's for sure'
Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin after his side were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by sixth-tier Darvel ⤵️#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/S3XKf962o9— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) January 23, 2023
Speaking to BBC Scotland after Aberdeen lost to Darvel, Jim Goodwin congratulated the Dons' lower-league rivals, while hammering home just how shocking the defeat was for his side:
I don't want to talk about how bad my team's performance was. I would rather congratulate Darvel. They were excellent on the night, got their noses in front, defended for their lives, and thoroughly deserved their victory.
We're clutching at straws when we're asking for decisions [to go our way] - we've come here as a Premier League team against a team who are many tiers of the pyramid system below us. We should have put on a better performance, it's as simple as that.
Extremely disappointed, embarrassed, humiliated. All of those things. We have a bit of assessing to do tonight, that's for sure.
Credit to Goodwin for giving such effusive praise to Darvel on their most famous night, but his criticism of his own Aberdeen team also rang through.
His job security will now surely be called into question, with the team's poor league form only adding to the tension at Pittodrie.
For Darvel, however, Aberdeen 2023 will go down as their greatest ever night, and fans will now look forward to a fifth round tie against League One side Falkirk. After their victory over the giants of Aberdeen, Darvel will feel that anything is possible in this year's Scottish Cup.
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