DARVEL full back Chris McGowan didn't return from celebrating his side's historic cup win against Aberdeen until the day after the game.

The Irvine man joked that he was "still in Darvel trackies" as he got a train home from Glasgow the morning after he and his teammates went to the city to marvel at their victory.

And who can blame him after playing 90 minutes in one of the most memorable games in Scottish Cup history - and one of the biggest upsets ever in the competition?

McGowan, or Gowzer, is now back at the day job - working as a painter and decorator.

It was a harsh return to reality for the former Buffs man, who spoke to the Times before he returned to training with Darvel on Thursday.

McGowan joked: “We’ve got Arthurlie away on Saturday, it’s just back to reality.”

He was still coming to terms with everything that happened on Monday, January 23 - which included making a bit of 'unofficial' history of his own.

It is believed that he and his dad, Chris McGowan Snr, became the first father and son to feature for non-league sides against Premier League opposition in the Scottish Cup.

McGowan Snr had previously featured for Irvine Meadow against Hibernian when the two sides met at Easter Road in a fourth-round clash in 2010.

McGowan Jnr joked he had outdone his dad when Darvel went one step better than Meadow's 3-0 loss.

And while many may not have seen Darvel's victory coming - McGowan said it's something the squad believed they were capable of.

He told the Times: “You obviously believe that you’ve got a wee chance because if you didn’t have that then what have you got?

“Before it, it was probably only ourselves that thought we had a chance.

“They’re expected to come and turn you over no matter what form they’re in.”

However, this didn't make pulling off the shock to beat all shocks any less magical.

“It was a surreal feeling," McGowan commented.

“When we scored, it was massive, and then as it’s gone on, it wasn’t just backs against the wall, I think that’s what made it surreal.

“Even though Aberdeen have had a couple of poor results, you saw them against Rangers, it was only a deflected goal that took Aberdeen to extra time.

“It’s hard to put into words even now, the fact we won and people were saying it was deserved, that’s what hasn’t really sunk in.”

What made the win even sweeter for McGowan was the vital role he played - featuring in the game in its entirety.

He did joke, however, that "everything felt longer" in the game.

He added: “I watched the game last night, I was planning on watching it the night after but I was a bit rough that day.

“It felt like in the game, everything early doors was coming down my side – it felt like 20 minutes but when I watched it back it was only like five minutes!”

McGowan only joined Mick Kennedy's Darvel side this season after leaving Kilwinning Rangers.

Though it's fair to say, now, it certainly isn't a move he regrets.

He added: “It’s definitely been justified, the way the club is moving at Darvel and the ambition they’ve got is what brought me there.

“It’s the kind of team you want to be at just now – they’re the team on the up.”

And Darvel will once again be the team everybody wants to watch when they play live on TV again in the next round of the Scottish Cup.

They face League One side Falkirk for a place in the quarter-final and it will be shown on BBC Scotland, live on Monday, February 13.

And McGowan says people have now raised the bar ahead of the game.

He said: “We’re going to go into that now and there’s a bit of expectation.

“It’s weird because they’re full time and the fact they are in this round of the cup shows that they’ve been beating teams as well.

“I think we’ve given ourselves belief that we can win with our performances against Montrose and Aberdeen.”

While it's easy to get ahead of ourselves, who knows, two more Scottish Cup wins and Hampden is calling for Chris McGowan...