St Mirren pulled off one of the biggest cup shocks of recent times as they defeated Celtic 3-2 at Hampden yesterday to book their place in the Scottish Communities League Cup final.

Danny Lennon’s side had lost their last eight games against the Scottish champions without scoring but ended that hoodoo in the most dramatic fashion to seal a meeting with Hearts in the final on March 17.

Debutant Esmael Goncalves gave Saints the lead in the eighth minute but Gary Hooper levelled a minute before the interval.

Buddies goalkeeper Craig Samson saved Charlie Mulgrew’s penalty four minutes into the second half and Mulgrew compounded his error in the 83rd minute by handling a Gary Teale cross inside the box, allowing former Celt Paul McGowan to score from the spot before Steven Thompson grabbed a third.

Mulgrew ended a desperate afternoon by scoring with the last kick of the match as St Mirren registered their first victory at the national stadium since the Scottish Cup final in 1987.

Celtic, flying high at the top of the Premier League, will play Juventus in their Champions League last-16 clash next month but once again they came up short at Hampden under Neil Lennon, having lost to Ross County, Kilmarnock and Hearts in the last three years.

Meanwhile, Hibernian manager Pat Fenlon brushed aside questions over Leigh Griffiths yesterday after starting the striker in a 0-0 draw at Aberdeen despite reports the player had been arrested over an alleged shoplifting offence.

Hibs confirmed the 22-year-old had been involved in an incident involving the police and Fenlon admitted he had to think about whether to start the on-loan Wolves striker in the Premier League clash at Pittodrie.

Fenlon said: “I wanted him to play today and he did okay, although he didn’t really get a lot of service.

“You always think about decisions; who you’re going to play and how it’ll affect the game, and that was no different with Leigh today.”