Craig Gordon admits his first ever double save in a penalty shootout came down to GUESSWORK. But the Hearts hero is adamant nothing is being left to chance as the never-say-die Jambos look to end a 12-year wait to lift the Scottish Cup.
Gordon went left then right to deny St Mirren‘s first two takers, Oisin Smyth and James Scott, as the Jam Tarts edged Monday’s pulsating fifth round ding dong in Paisley. Now he hopes his heroics can inspire Neil Critchley’s side on a journey straight back to Hampden.
The manager had his players practice from 12 yards the day before the trip to face Saints. Gordon too studied the Buddies’ recent takers. But the veteran keeper was left to his instincts as Saints had subbed those players he had put the hours into researching by the time the shootout began. It didn’t matter in the end as Gordon – a spot kick hero when Hearts beat Gretna in the 2006 final – came up trumps. Now a home quarter final tie against Dundee stands between them and a second successive Scottish Cup semi final at the national stadium.
And Gordon, who made a string of crucial saves during the 120 minutes too, said: “I’ve saved a penalty in every shootout I’ve been in. I think it’s six shootouts. But that’s the first time I’ve saved two.
“I did a little bit of research, but they actually took most of the penalty takers off so there’s actually a little bit more guesswork than there might normally have been. We did some practice in training. Everything in football, you get better the more you practice. So it was good to make a few saves and give you that confidence going into a penalty shootout.
“It’s getting that timing right of the run-up and making sure you get there at the same time as the ball. It’s not easy. To get the first two and really put the pressure on the guys coming after that and taking the pressure off my team was nice.
“We’re on a good run at the moment. That breeds confidence. We look to continue that. We don’t know when we’re beat. I think we could have easily folded under the pressure on Monday, especially in the first half.
“We were getting bombarded with corners and balls into the box. But we still managed to tough it out. That was very pleasing. You can go a long way just off the back of that, especially with the quality that we’ve got as well.
“We feel as if we can stay in games, we will create chances. We’ve got guys who can score goals. It’s nice to get through and get rewarded with a home tie. That’ll be a difficult one. But at home, we’ll look to try and win that and get ourselves a trip to Hampden.”
Gordon did his job stopping the Buddies from 12 yards. And four of his teammates were spot on to take full advantage as James Wilson, Kenneth Vargas and Jorge Grant netted to hand James Penrice the honour of slotting home the clincher. Wilson, at just 17, showed nerves of steel to slam the Jambos’ first past Zach Hemming.
And Gordon said: “Not only that, he hammered it in the top corner! That’s just the innocence of youth to step up there and probably take that much risk with your penalty to hit it high into the net like that. I don’t think many goalkeepers are going to save that.
“It was a fantastic strike. He comes on now and you expect something to happen. He’s lively. He’ll run defenders. He’ll make a nuisance of himself. He’s got a few goals this season.
“For somebody that young to be able to come in and make the impact that he has already, not just on the pitch but in the changing room as well. He’s a real prospect. I hope he develops and stays at Hearts for a while yet. He’s some talent.”
It wasn’t just Gordon hogging the headlines on Monday night. Calem Niuewenhof’s late leveller was the stuff of fairytales. With the Jambos a goal down and heading out the Aussie climbed off the bench in the 83rd minute for his first action in 11 months after a series of hamstring injuries.
Two minutes later the Australian midfielder netted the equaliser and saved Hearts’ skins. And Gordon said: “You come on to a game and you’re 1-0 down. Not long to go to try and help turn it around. He was fantastic.
“He’s so laid back. I would never worry about him in any situation. There was absolutely no way he was going to be fazed by coming back into that sort of action to help the team out. He’s come up with a hugely vital goal for us.
“He’s a great player to have coming back and being fresh at this stage of the season. Absolutely delighted for him to get a goal. He hasn’t got too many but that was a very important one. Hopefully, he can continue to kick on and get more minutes because that’s an area of the pitch where it’s great to have somebody else coming back out of the fold at this stage.”