A stunning strike from the old master in his final appearance in a Linfield shirt seemed the perfect goodbye from legendary hitman Glenn Ferguson.

As ‘Spike’ milked the acclaim from the adoring Bluemen on Saturday however, Windsor Park boss David Jeffrey endured an uncomfortable day to say the least.

Jeffrey, who has won everything the game has to offer several times over in his 12 years at the helm, suffered the wrath of disgruntled fans for releasing the popular striker.

Boos rang out as Jeffrey took his place on the bench and although it was mainly pantomime during what was a testimonial game, the message would have hit home .

But has Jeffrey regretted bringing the curtain down on Ferguson’s illustrious Blues career just a year before he was due to call it a day? Not one bit. In fact, he insists he’s had tougher calls to make down the years.

“Not one. You make decisions and you live or die by them,” said Jeffrey. “I let Chris Morgan leave and he won the league the following year with Glentoran but I still don’t regret that; it allowed Peter Thompson to come through and what a player he became.

“I know fans are annoyed and I understand that but the harsh reality is that we have a budget and with Glenn leaving I was able to bring in a young striker with immense ability in Curtis Allen.

“To be honest, I would say it was harder when I let John Easton leave but that doesn’t take away from what Glenn achieved personally here as well as what he helped the club achieve.

“I don’t have the words to describe just how important he has been and I have no doubt he will score a lot of goals at Distillery but the decision had to be made. He will always be an icon and rightly so.”

As for the abuse he took for what was a shock decision?

“Being booed isn’t nice, especially by Bluemen but I’ll get on with it. I am confident I have assembled a squad to win the league title back and time will tell whether decisions have been correct,” added Jeffrey.

But that last word must go to Ferguson, who played the final 15 minutes with Thompson — reliving the glory years as the Blues won three doubles on the bounce.

“It was a very strange day going back into the dressing room, knowing it was the last time but I really enjoyed myself,” said Ferguson, who opened the scoring with a trademark dipping volley from 20 yards.

Stockport bagged three second half goals thanks to Greg Tansey, Danny Pilkington and Adam Griffen to win the game but the day will be remembered as Windsor said goodbye to a hero.

It was also an important day for William Murphy who signed a one-year extension to his contract as he sets about putting his Spanish nightmare behind him.