Craig Gordon reveals what Hearts penalty heroics relied on as veteran makes huge statement on Jambos’ mentality
Goalkeeper rolled back the years with two huge stops in Monday night’s shootout drama against St Mirren.
It took GUESSWORK for Craig Gordon to make his first-ever double save in a penalty shootout. In their quest to win the Scottish Cup after a 12-year wait, the Hearts hero is certain that nothing is being left to chance.
In Monday’s thrilling fifth round ding dong in Paisley, the Jam Tarts defeated St Mirren’s first two takers, Oisin Smyth and James Scott, thanks to a left and right move by Gordon. With his heroics, he now aims to motivate Neil Critchley’s team to return directly to Hampden.
The day before the trip to the Saints, the manager had his players practice from 12 yards out. Gordon also looked at the new members of the Buddies. By the time the shootout started, however, Saints had substituted those players he had spent hours investigating, leaving the seasoned goalie to rely on his gut. Gordon, who was a spot kick hero when Hearts defeated Gretna in the 2006 final, ultimately prevailed, so it didn’t matter. They are now separated from a second consecutive Scottish Cup semi-final at the national stadium by a home quarterfinal matchup against Dundee.
Gordon, who also made a number of important stops throughout the course of the 120 minutes, added: “I’ve saved a penalty in every shootout I’ve been in.” It’s probably six shootouts. I haven’t saved two before, though.
“I did some research, but they actually removed the majority of penalty takers, so there’s a little bit more guesswork than there might have been otherwise. During training, we practiced. You grow better at everything in football the more you practice. In order to boost your confidence before a penalty shootout, it was beneficial to make a few saves.
It’s about timing your run-up correctly and arriving at the ball’s location at the same moment. It is not simple. Getting the first two relieved some of the burden on my squad and put a lot of pressure on the men who came after.
“We’re now having a successful run. That gives you confidence. Our goal is to keep doing that. When we’re being beat, we’re not sure. I believe that on Monday, particularly in the first half, we could have easily crumbled under the pressure.
“We kept getting balls into the box and corners thrown at us.” We were able to endure it, nevertheless. It was really nice. That alone can get you a long way, especially when combined with
“We believe we can continue playing games and will generate opportunities.” We have goal-scoring players. It’s satisfying to get it through and receive a home tie as payment. That one is going to be challenging. At home, however, we will attempt to win that and secure a trip to Hampden for ourselves.
Gordon performed well in stopping the Buddies at a distance of 12 yards. With goals from James Wilson, Kenneth Vargas, and Jorge Grant, four of his teammates were perfectly positioned to capitalize, and James Penrice was awarded the honor of scoring the game-winning goal. At the age of 17, Wilson displayed steely nerves by slamming the Jambos’ first past Zach Hemming.
We believe that we can continue playing games and generate opportunities. Our players are capable of scoring goals. It feels good to make it through and receive a home tie as a reward. That will be a challenging task. However, we will attempt to win that at home in order to secure a trip to Hampden.
The Buddies were stopped at 12 yards by Gordon, who did his duty. And four of his teammates were perfectly positioned to capitalize, as James Wilson, Jorge Grant, and Kenneth Vargas all scored goals to give James Penrice the honor of scoring the game-winning goal. Wilson smashed the Jambos’ first past Zach Hemming at the age of just 17.
That young player is capable of making the kind of effect he already does, both on the field and in the locker room. He’s a serious possibility. I’m hoping he grows and remains at Hearts for some time. There is some talent in him.
Gordon was not the only person who took center stage on Monday night. The late leveler that Calem Niuewenhof created was the stuff of legends. After a run of hamstring problems, the Australian came off the bench in the 83rd minute to make his first appearance in 11 months as the Jambos were walking out with a goal behind them.
The Australian midfielder equalized and saved Hearts’ skins two minutes later. “You enter a game and you are behind 1-0,” Gordon added. It’s not too late to try to help make it better. He was amazing.
He’s quite relaxed. In any case, I wouldn’t be concerned about him. Coming back into that kind of action to support the team was not going to deter him in the slightest. He has developed a very important objective for us.
Having him return and be fresh at this point in the season is fantastic. Totally thrilled that he scored a goal. Although he doesn’t have many, that one was crucial. It’s nice to have someone else returning to the field at this point, so maybe he can keep up his good work and get more minutes.
