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Question |
Answer |
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Nominated By | Andy Watt |
Where Do You Live | London |
Against | Rangers - League Cup Final |
Approx Date | November 1996 |
Venue | Neutral, League Cup |
Score | Hearts 3 Rangers 4 |
Scorers | Us - Fulton, Robertson, Weir
Them - McCoist 2, Gascoigne 2 |
What Happened | What didn't happen ? Having been gubbed 5-1 in the Scottish Cup Final 6
months previous it would be fair to say that expectations were not overly
high for this game. And when we went two down early on through some slack
defending, it looked like being another case of Hearts bottling it on the
big occasion.
However, when Baggio banged one in just before half-time things looked a bit better. The first 15 minutes of the second half can only be described as the best I have witnessed at any game. McCann was unbelievable and when he skinned the Huns defence for the umpteenth time and crossed the ball for Robbo to bang the ball home, I thought that Celtic Park was going to collapse under the strain of the Hearts fans celebrations. For 5 minutes, there was a genuine belief that we were going to do it. What happened afterwards was, to an extent, irrelevant. OK, so we lost, and to make matters worse, their third goal should never have counted. However, for 5 minutes, there was genuine belief that we were going to do it. In the three Cup Finals since 1976, this had never looked likely. OK, so we didn't win again this time, but a year and a half later, we laid the hoodoo to rest. And as enjoyable and memorable as that day was, I still reckon the atmosphere and the celebrations were better in the wind and the rain at Celtic Park when Robbo banged that goal in. |
Other Comments | The next day, I was in a Glasgow pub with a Hun mate (don't ask why) when
who should walk in but Gough, Durie, Durrant, McCoist, Davie Dodds, Goram,
Bollan and, unbelievably, John Robertson.
Apparently they were meeting for a drink before headin' off to Gough's testimonial dinner. Still wearing my Hearts strip from the day before, Durrant and McCoist came across and sat down at the table and started chatting away. A few drinks later (they were buying I should add) and they joined in in a quick rendition of the Hearts song. Unbelievable ! They couldn't have been more friendly if they had tried. Robbo sulked in a corner and never said much but I reckon he was still thinking of what could of and should have been the day before. How does it go Coisty ? - 'H-E-A-R...............' |
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