Having seen Queen of the South shock Aberdeen just 24 hours earlier to reach the final for the first time in their 89-year history, the on-loan Hibs kid was convinced the Jags could produce another upset to leave three First Division sides fighting
it out for silverware.
But, instead, it will be Rangers who face St Johnstone this coming weekend to decide who will meet Queens in the final on May 24.
However, even when presented with the bald statistic that Rangers had scored two goals through Nacho Novo and Chris Burke to his side's none, the 19-year-old insisted the final scoreline masked a heroic effort from the Firhill outfit.
Gray, who stunned Ibrox into silence a month ago only for a Kris Boyd equaliser to force this replay, said: "I cannot say Rangers outplayed us. At times we passed the ball very well but it was disappointing to miss chances and be beaten."
The Geordie striker revealed Queens' thrilling 4-3 victory over the Dons at Hampden had acted as an extra incentive, the firm belief among Ian McCall's Thistle being that they could take care of St Johnstone and then the Dumfries club. He said: "No disrespect to Queen of the South but they are beatable for a team like Partick Thistle.
"We played St Johnstone just the other week and drew with them so they are another side we are capable of beating so, I think, had we beaten Rangers, we could have gone on to the final."
McCall, too, was convinced Partick had passed up a glorious chance to create their own piece of history, convinced a missed penalty by Simon Donnelly, the former Celtic midfielder driving his spot-kick wide of the target after David Weir had been adjudged to have tripped Mark Roberts, was a pivotal moment.
It came three minutes into the second half with Rangers already those two goals to the good but, as McCall insisted, had Donnelly scored the nature of the game, played on an atrocious surface not helped by a rugby match between Glasgow and Edinburgh having been staged on it less than 48 hours previously, would have drastically altered.
Rangers, too, were to miss a penalty, Jags goalkeeper Jonathan Tuffey saved substitute Daniel Cousin's effort four minutes from time. It was of no consequence, but that couldn't be said of Donnelly.
McCall said: "Anyone can miss one, but it was pivotal – it would have changed the course of the game. When you see the penalty not going in you know you are not going to win. I think even our fans realised at that moment it wasn't going to be our day."
Unfortunately for Donnelly, he had one of those days he'll love to forget as he watched Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor somehow block his sweetly-struck volley, only for the Ibrox side to sweep to the other end of the park where Burke nodded home their second goal. And even after his penalty gaffe, Donnelly clipped the top of the bar from only eight yards. McCall, who had also seen McGregor dive at the feet of David Rowson to prevent a certain goal after just six minutes, said: "I counted seven chances, four of which were 100 per cent chances. We were confident we could get a good result.
"One or two of them will have regrets at missing very good chances, you cannot do that against a big club like Rangers. I couldn't have asked any more of them but my overwhelming feeling is that if I'm here for another ten years we won't get a better chance to win the Cup."
Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist was just thankful to be in the semi-final, making no apology for "winning ugly" given the underfoot conditions, but added Queens' triumph had acted as a timely reminder to his players of the dangers facing them at Firhill. He said: "It gave us a wee reminder if there was any complacency – and there wasn't – of just what can happen."
Now the Ibrox club able to turn their attention on Wednesday night's Old Firm clash at Celtic Park, one which could all but end the SPL title hopes of Gordon Strachan's side. But, while conceding that was the case, McCoist insisted neither he nor boss Walter Smith were beginning to talk in terms of trebles or even a quadruple with a hectic end to the season still to encompass matches in the SPL, the Scottish Cup and, of course, the UEFA Cup.
As for the title itself, McCoist added: "We can win the game and if we do that we put a massive dent in their title hopes and that's what we aim to do. It wouldn't be over, you just have to look at what happened a few years ago (Rangers snatched the title from Celtic on the final day] to see anything, absolutely anything can happen."
The full article contains 876 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
