Mark Hateley took one look at the young lad standing next to him in the Ibrox tunnel and thought one of the ball boys had got lost.
Within a matter of minutes, he had slammed the youngster to the turf, shortly afterwards bulleted an iconic header past him into the roof of the net and then completed the job in the second half with an easy tap-in.
It was really no-contest as the England striker dominated the most remarkable title showdown when Aberdeen had the chance of claiming the Scotland’s major prize 30 years ago but came up short.
It was a watershed moment as Walter Smith, who had taken over from Graeme Souness just three games earlier, made sure of three in a row for Rangers and then proceeded to dominate for close to a decade.
For Aberdeen fans it remains a massive moment of regret as the Dons had gone into the titanic match just needing a draw to be champions after a fantastic run of form in which they had dropped just one point in 12 matches.
Hateley said: “We were standing in the tunnel and they were coming from a portacabin because work on Ibrox was being done.
“I’m looking at this boy and I’m saying to myself ‘he must be the goalkeeper, but he looks like a ball boy’.
“So, I tapped Gary Stevens and said ‘the first chance you get, hang a ball up and it’ll give me a chance to ask a question of the goalkeeper’.
“Sure enough, Gary hoicks one in, Michael Watt comes out, leaving himself completely open and I went in to head the ball but also to welcome him to the game.
“I led with my elbow and it went right under his armpit and you could hear all the air come out of him as he hit the floor.
“I fully expected Brian Irvine and Alex McLeish to come flying at me but they didn’t and that told me this can only go one way here.
“They were supposed to be looking after their young goalkeeper but it set the tone for what was to come.”
Hateley had taken time to gain full capacity having had two injury-prone years with Monaco before joining Rangers in 1990 – but it all came together that fateful day on May 11, 1991.
Mark Walters slipped as he swung over the cross from the left but the ball was perfect.
Hateley said: “Alex McLeish had the wrong body position when Mark’s cross came over and I could see the whole picture to get a jump on him.
“I could see the keeper was off his line too so I knew exactly where it had to go – into the top right corner.
“Then I ran off to the east enclosure to suggest to a few people that their comments earlier in the season were not very fair.”
It was a killer for the Dons who should have been ahead earlier in the game, something Stephen Wright still rues to this day – especially as Rangers had injuries and suffered even more during the game.
He said: “I actually saw the game back recently and I didn’t realise the number of chances we had.
“I supplied a cross and Hans Gillhaus could have scored with a back-post header and Peter van de Ven was clean through on Chris Woods and fired straight into his arms.
“We had to get ready in a portacabin right under the main stand and the noise was unbelievable.
“We looked at their team sheet and there were some key players missing.
“Big Mark set the tone when he battered into Michael Watt early in the game but as I say we had big chances.
“Then the first goal happened. I got stick for that because I let the cross in, but Tom Cowan had made an overlap and the normal rule is you go with that man and a midfielder comes over to face the ball.
“Peter van de Ven didn’t get over quick enough and that put me in two minds.
“What a cross it was, and big Mark got up above Alex and scored and you could just the feel the nervousness in the Rangers fans completely disappear.
“I don’t really remember us having any real chances in the second half and Rangers got the second goal and that was it really.
“It was a massive occasion and looking back now I feel more disappointed that we didn’t do it than I did at the time. What a chance we had to make history.
“I’ve never experienced at atmosphere like it. And when I joined Rangers later I used to speak about it with Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant and Ian Ferguson.”
