Conor McMenamin, who Robinson brought over from Northern Ireland two years ago, joked: “I didn’t think it motivated us, we were all sad getting on the bus!”
Injured captain Mark O’Hara admitted: “There were a few tears.”
It perhaps sums up Robinson and his management best that he was still able to surprise the squad he knows so well on the day they needed it most.
Few would think getting the waterworks going would work wonders, but it did that and then some as St Mirren carried the weight of responsibility on their shoulders with little fuss.
Before a ball was kicked, the team saluted their supporters in a way that, even then, 22 minutes before Marcus Fraser headed them in front, suggested they knew this was their day.
“We just felt it, we had that belief all week,” said the second-minute goalscorer.
“We knew what we had,” Freckleton stressed. “We’ve got unity, do you know what I mean?
“They’ve obviously come in with a new manager, and that togetherness might not be there, because the manager’s not built that yet, but we knew we had that.”
“We met the fans at the calendar signing this week and this was all they spoke about,” two-goal hero Jonah Ayunga told BBC Scotland.
“To get the chance to play in this, let alone win it and score, I couldn’t imagine it any better. Not a bad day’s work, eh?”