The Irishman, 22, who has struggled to pin down a first team place in recent years, was deputising again at left-back in place of injured Lee Naylor.

O'Dea notched his first goal in over two years in the first minute of extra-time when he headed in a Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick and the Hoops' first cup final win over their great rivals in 20 years was sealed seconds from the end when Aiden McGeady scored the second from the spot after Ibrox defender Kirk Broadfoot had received a red card for bringing him down.

Far from going over the top about his goal O'Dea, who has been prevented on several occasions by manager Gordon Strachan from going on loan, looked forward to keeping his place for next Sunday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League trip to Dundee United.

"It was more special to be playing than to score to be honest with you," O'Dea said.

"I've not played as much as I would have liked. Obviously to get a goal is the icing on the cake.

"It is good to score in any game but to score in a cup final is brilliant. My last goal was against Livingston in the cup - I think it was my last game as well!

"Every time I go up I look to score, you don't just go up to make up the numbers. But I can't look too far forward. I just want to play in the next game, that's all I want."

O'Dea insists retaining the SPL title is still the most important goal this season.

He said: "Winning this cup gives us a massive boost. But if we don't win next week then all our good work will have been undone.

"It was brilliant to win and we will enjoy tonight but we will wake up in the morning and realise that there is a run-in still to come. We really need to win the league."

Boss Strachan wad delighted for O'Dea.

"I couldn't be more pleased," Strachan said. "If anyone deserved something today...

"Because he's had disappointments. He wanted to go on loan, just to be a better player and come back and be a better player for us.

"But I thought we were going to need him between then and the end of the season.

"He was disappointed but didn't let his disappointment affect himself or the squad.

"And it's great when you see young men getting their rewards like that.

"It's great that the two guys who scored today came through the academy, which is good. That's a bonus for us."

Strachan added of McGeady: "He played as a striker in the first half. Then he went wide because we knew he still had plenty of energy in him. That's what he's got - he's got fantastic energy.

"You could see the pitch wasn't conducive to running, but he got it right today."

Although Celtic were the better side, Strachan insisted the major difference between them and Rangers was the opening goal.

He said: "That makes a difference because I thought both sides were up for it.

"Great spirit, both sides.

"The first goal makes a big difference but I liked our composure after we scored the first goal.

"We didn't panic when there was a bit of pressure on us. I thought we made more chances after that because we were composed."

Scott Brown won the official man of the match award but Strachan refused to single anyone out.

He said: "I wouldn't like to say. I thought we had some really good performances, really good performances. Everybody can be pleased with their performance, I think."

Both sides fielded unfamiliar line-ups and formations but Strachan played down the significance of playing Gary Caldwell in midfield and leaving Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras on the bench.

He said: "You have to make decisions as a manager. Sometimes you make good ones; sometimes you make bad ones. But it worked out all right today.

"I could've gone with Jan and I'm sure we'd have still won; I could've gone with Sammy and Marc Crosas, but I explained to them what we were going to try to do and they were good about it.

"They didn't let their disappointment affect the squad in any way."

Despondent Rangers boss Walter Smith insisted the game could have gone either way.

He said: "I think everybody agreed it would be a tight affair - it was.

"There wasn't a great deal in terms of creation overall, not many clear-cut opportunities for either set of strikers.

"Any opportunities that were going to come were going to come from shots from outside the box.

"As the game goes on, obviously a little bit of tiredness comes in.

"It looked as though a set play would be the type of goal that would settle it and, unfortunately, we lost it."