in May 1977. However, Liverpool were defeated in the FA Cup Final by Manchester United, which ended their "treble" dream. There was joy for McDermott four days later, though, when he opened the scoring in the European Cup Final against Borussia Mönchengladbach as Liverpool won 3–1. On 6 December 1977, he scored a hat-trick in the second leg of Liverpool's victory over Hamburg in the UEFA Super Cup Final. Liverpool reached their first League Cup final in 1978 and this occasion was to prove memorable for McDermott for the wrong reasons. The first game at Wembley against Nottingham Forest ended goalless, but McDermott had a goal disallowed after the officials decided that Kenny Dalglish was in an offside position when McDermott struck his shot. In the replay at Old Trafford, after Forest had opened the scoring with a hotly disputed penalty, McDermott scored what he thought was the equaliser with a well-struck drive, only for the officials to deny him again, claiming he had controlled the pass with his arm. Forest held on to win 1–0 and McDermott offered to swear on oath in an after-match interview that he had trapped the ball legally with his chest. Consolation at missing out on the League Cup was found at the end of the season when McDermott featured in the Liverpool team which retained the European Cup thanks to a 1–0 win over Club Brugge at Wembley. The following season, McDermott scored one of Liverpool's most memorable goals. It came at Anfield in a League match against Tottenham Hotspur on 2 September 1978. Liverpool were defending a corner which was cleared from their own penalty area to striker David Johnson, who hit a long pass to the sprinting winger Steve Heighway on the left flank as McDermott started to chase forward. Within just a few seconds, the ball was in the Spurs net as Heighway raced down the line and crossed the ball, without stopping to control it, for McDermott to head home after a 70-yard run. This was the final goal in a 7–0 win. By the end of that season, McDermott and Liverpool were champions again and they retained the title in 1980, with McDermott being voted the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year - the first player to win both awards in the same season. He scored another memorable goal against Tottenham