ALTHOUGH Leeds had somehow survived until half-time, Celtic were undeterred. And, after the break, the constant pressure finally paid off.

Hay took a short corner, Bertie Auld whipped the ball in and John Hughes, in for the injured Willie Wallace, stole in front of his marker and headed home.

Just four minutes later it was 2-0. Jimmy Johnstone sped down the wing and found Bobby Murdoch inside the box, who fired in at the near-post.

With a 3-1 aggregate lead, the match was effectively over. And, again, Jinky had played a significant part in the triumph, turning in another exceptional display. Leeds full-back Terry Cooper could just not cope with his pace and trickery. However, Hay believes everyone in the team rose to the occasion.

“Jimmy at his best was a match for anyone,” he said. “He was as good as anyone in the world at that time. He was special that night, but I feel the whole team were special on the basis there were occasions where we had to defend as well against a top Leeds side.

“To a man everyone was in top of their game. As a team, everyone was superb and merited the victory. It was a fantastic experience as a player.”

The final whistle sparked great celebrations on the Hampden pitch and among the crowd. Celtic had proved beyond any doubt they were the best team in Britain, with a display of fluent, attacking football. After all the build-up and tension, at last, the players could savour the triumph.

“It was great moment,” said Hay. “You did your lap of honour which was fantastic and I think we went to the Beechwood afterwards, which used to be run by Kenny Dalglish’s father-in-law, Pat Harkins. I am sure we went in there for some celebrations.”

For the 22-year-old Hay, it must have felt as if he was riding the crest of a wave. And his week just got better – after an early morning call from his manager.

“Strangely enough, on the Saturday after that, I got my first cap for Scotland against Northern Ireland, so I had to leave on the Thursday, which I didn’t know about though,” said Hay.

“So I got a phone call from Jock in the morning to get me out my bed to say that the Scottish team is meeting up in Glasgow. I didn’t realise it was that day, so big Jock picked me up from Uddingston and took me to the North British Hotel in George Square, and that was me off to Belfast to play a home international. And on Saturday I was up against George Best.

“So it was quite a week,” he went on. “It was a fantastic game and a fantastic feeling to win. And it must go down as one of Celtic’s greatest ever performances.”

The match against Leeds has probably become more memorable because of the result in the final. This time Celtic were hot favourites against Feyenoord for the fixture in Milan. Although Tommy Gemmell gave the Hoops the lead, they eventually crashed to a 2-1 extra-time defeat to the impressive Dutch side.

Hay admitted that Celtic’s confidence in their own ability probably, for once, went too far, allowing them to underestimate their opponents. And he still feels things could have turned out differently, if Jock Stein had kept the same team which conquered Leeds.

“We always felt we had players who were always capable of beating almost anyone if we played as we could do,” he said. “Unfortunately that was probably our let-down in the final where we probably underestimated Feyenoord.

“I wouldn’t say there was over-confidence. But I would say we underestimated Feyenoord to our cost and they deserved to win. But I believe to this day that if Big Jock had kept the same midfield combination that had played against Leeds then it might have been different.

“It’s a bit too late now right enough. I think we thought having beat Leeds no-one could stand in our way and it proved to our cost that wasn’t the case.”

50 years ago today: Davie Hay’s Leeds at Hampden Story Part Two