Rooney headed home from a 32nd-minute corner at Hampden on Sunday before the Perth side held on without any scares to become the first club outside Celtic to win a major Scottish trophy since Hibernian triumphed in the 2016 Scottish Cup final.

The goal came from St Johnstone's first real opportunity and there were few others.

Livingston had created a couple of half-chances to take the lead but could not carve out anything of note in response to Rooney's goal.

The wing-back had also scored in the two previous rounds and in St Johnstone's recent league win over Livingston.

It was an emotional afternoon for Rooney as he paid tribute to his late mum.

His first thought as the final whistle blew was of his mother Elizabeth, who died from cancer back in 2019 just two days short of her 25th wedding anniversary.

"I want to thank my mum. She has passed away but this is massive for my whole family," he said.

"I think everyone in the family will have a tear in their eye but I'm absolutely buzzing.

"This is the second trophy in the club's history and absolutely massive for everyone in Perth."

Australian Associated Press