Tears of joy for Ritchie as drought finally ends at Parkhead

TWO years ago young Hearts defender Paul Ritchie sat on the Hampden turf in tears.

He had just suffered 90 minutes of humiliation as Rangers tortured their Edinburgh counterparts in a 5-1 Scottish Cup rout.

As he sat with his dreams shattered, a few words of comfort came from Rangers skipper Richard Gough.

Ritchie explained: "He said to me 'don't worry son, you are only young - your day will come' and that meant a lot to me.

"He spoke to me after the game today and he said 'I told you your time would come', so I was delighted.

"Rangers were gracious in defeat.

It must have been hard for them because it was a lot of their players' last game.

"So to go out not winning anything in their last season and in the final here must be disappointing.

"But Andy Goram came into the dressing room at the end and said we deserved to win which was nice of him.

Bitterness

"The Rangers supporters also stayed behind and they applauded us so it was great there was no bitterness between the two teams."

Twenty two-year-old Ritchie had an outstanding game, marking Gers hit- man Gordon Durie out of the game for long periods.

Hearts boss Jim Jefferies' plan to build his side around his defence paid dividends and the back four of Ritchie, Gary Naysmith, Dave McPherson and David Weir looked almost invincible.

Ritchie said: "I usually get a hard time off Gordon Durie.

"He has a habit of scoring against us, in the 5-1 game he scored a hat-trick but we sorted that out on Saturday.

"We defended well enough to limit them to one goal and we knew we could score more."

It was Hearts' day through and through.

But despite that, Ritchie had a nasty feeling before the game that one man was going to ruin their party.

He said: "Ally McCoist was on the bench today and it's probably his last game for Rangers so the script was set for him.

"Parkhead, Scottish Cup final - it had Ally McCoist written all over it.

"Fortunately we got a couple of goals in front before he managed to score."

But despite his admiration for the great striker he wasn't planning to give him too much respect on the park.

The two clashed several times and McCoist's frustrations showed when he reacted angrily to a challenge by the youngster in the box.

"He accused me of going over the ball and trying to do him but that's not in my game.

"It was a 50-50 ball and there to be won and I was just looking after myself.

"If he thought I was trying to go over the ball and do him some damage I apologise but that's not my intention.

"It was all forgotten after the match.

Football is a passionate game and lasts for 90 minutes and when the final whistle goes that's it - we are all friends again."

Ritchie may have suffered heartache after his last cup final clash but Saturday banished the bad memories from his mind forever.

He said: "I think we needed a good start and we got that.

"We got the penalty and Colin Cameron slotted it away perfectly.

"Rangers brought the game to us but I thought we defended well and that was the way we set out to play.

"We let Rangers attack try and break us down and they failed to do that until the last ten or 15 minutes so we were delighted."

Hearts received a major scare four minutes from time when Weir brought down McCoist on the edge of the box.

Walter Smith and the Rangers fans thought referee Willie Young had awarded a penalty but when the euphoria died down the crowd realised Brian Laudrup was taking a free kick from the edge of the box.

And as his effort bounced harmlessly off the wall Hearts breathed a sign of relief.

Ritchie said: "McCoist's decision could have gone either way - it was borderline.

To be fair we were fortunate to get out of that one.

"When they scored earlier on in the second half the worry crept through my mind.

"With ten minutes to go they had the upper hand but we just threw everyone behind the ball and when McCoist broke through again and Davie Weir gave away the foul I thought 'oh no here we go'.

"The referee could have given a penalty.

I was thinking to myself 'not again, I've seen it all'.

"But fortunately it went our way and we defended for the last five minutes and got the victory."

Now Ritchie is looking to continue the Jambos revival into next season in a complete contrast to how they carried their defeat in 1996 over into their next season.

Challenge

"Depending on what the gaffer does over the summer, I think we can go on from here.

"If he goes out and strengthens the squad, which I think he needs to because Rangers and Celtic will, we can certainly make an even bigger challenge for the league.

"We don't have the money they've got but the gaffer's got the know how so next season we can hopefully run with the Old Firm once again.

"After falling out of the title race this definitely makes up for the other disappointments we've had this season.

"One out of three isn't too bad and especially makes up for the last Scottish Cup final because that day Rangers just demoralised us.

Durie and Laudrup just destroyed us, so that was nice today."

Ritchie ended any speculation on his future when he signed a two-year deal with Hearts last week.

The youngster's dispute over his wages saw his form suffer but he was back on track to take a winners medal.

He said: "It was completely different from the past couple of weeks.

"I went back to enjoying my football as I did before the speculation started and before I knew my contract was up, so I was delighted to get that out the way and concentrate 100 per cent on helping Hearts win the Scottish Cup.

"Hopefully the fans will not have to wait another 36 years for another trophy.

"It's a long time for any team - especially the so-called third biggest team in Scotland.

"So that's the first in my three seasons here and hopefully it won't be long before I'm adding to that.

"My wedding's in two weeks' time so that's set up brilliantly and if it can be half as good a day as today I'll be over the moon."

Meanwhile veteran defender Dave McPherson made his comeback in style, walking away with a winners medal against his old club.

The 34-year-old former Gers man has been plagued by a knee injury that has sidelined him for most of the season.

But Big Slim did have some sad feelings as he watched a downcast Walter Smith end his seven- year reign without any silverware.

He said: "I did feel sorry for Walter.

You could tell how dejected he was.

"It certainly wasn't the best way to go out after a glittering and glorious career.

"But he wished the boys all the best, which must have taken a lot, all credit to him.

He was delighted for the boys.

He knows how much hard work we've put in over the season.

"He came in the dressing room after the game and spoke to the manager and Billy Brown."

And as McPherson watched Ally McCoist pull on his beloved light-blue jersey for the last time he was still apprehensive - despite Craig Brown's dismissal of the tried- and-tested striker.

McPherson said: "McCoist gave me a scare but then again he always does - even when he's not playing!

"He's one of the players who are liable to come onto the park and score a goal but fortunately, we hung on to the end." And McPherson was another of the Hearts players unsure of either penalty decision.

He said: "It happened so quickly that I didn't see whether it was a penalty.

"I was just stood there praying the referee wouldn't give it."

Two stints with Rangers saw McPherson pick up the Scottish Cup, three league titles and four League Cups.

So he found it quite difficult to rate Saturday's win in order of merit.

He said: "It's difficult to rate this moment along with everything else I've won.

"I mean if you win the treble with Rangers it's hard to beat a moment like that.

"I think when you win something it's a special moment.

You can tell by the reaction from the fans how special it was for them.

"But this is a bit different because the supporters have waited so long.

Reaction

"I think we will see such a reaction from the fans over the next week then I'll find out what it really means.

"They've waited so long that it will be a special moment for them.

"Of course it's a special moment for the players and everyone involved with the club and for Edinburgh itself.

"I think it will probably sink in for me in the next 48 hours how big a day we've had.

"It's actually the first cup tie I've played all season.

"I was delighted to bounce back with a winners medal in the last game of the season.

I can't complain at that.

"But I was thoroughly disappointed for John Robertson.

To go out today and not get a game was hard for him.

"It must have been very hard for Gary Locke and the lads to sit and watch this game.

"I've sat and watched games week in, week out through injury but watching a league game is a lot different to missing out on a cup final."