Craig's surprise at seeing red

PAUL KIDDIE

HEARTS goalkeeper Craig Gordon today reflected on his red card nightmare against Falkirk and revealed: "I thought Darryl Duffy was going to be booked for diving."

Referee Iain Brines sent the 22-year-old packing in the first half of Sunday's clash with the Bairns after Duffy went down in the box under a challenge from the Gorgie star.

The official wasted little time in dismissing the Hearts No.1 for the first time in his career but Gordon revealed today that he thought it was his opponent who was actually in trouble when he heard the blast of the whistle.

He said: "I tried to win the ball then tried to take my hands out of the way when I didn't get near it.

"He knocked the ball to the left and kept running to the right to make sure he made contact with my body. I'd taken my hands away but he ran into my stomach and went over.

"It was clever play and I'm sure our strikers would have done the same as players in that position are always going to try to nick it past you and go down. You have to say it's good striking play although it is difficult to see it that way sometimes.

"When I heard the whistle I was hoping the ref was going to book their guy for diving."

There was little doubt over what fate awaited the Scotland star after Brines had decided Duffy had been impeded and while frustrated at seeing his run of 99 consecutive games for the club come shuddering to a halt, Gordon was philosophical about the incident which will now see him automatically suspended for the trip to Parkhead a week on Saturday.

"I thought it was a wee bit harsh to get sent off. A penalty and possibly a booking would have done as he was taking the ball a wee bit wide and not going direct towards the goal.

"It was one of those decisions which a referee has to make and I'm not going to complain about it. I did try to ask him why it was a red and not a yellow card but he wouldn't answer me.

"I was only looking for clarification but couldn't get any so I'm still in the dark about that one. A lot of people will say I was the last man but the key is whether or not it was a clear goalscoring opportunity if he takes it wide.

"There were a lot of things to take into consideration and the referee has decided what he thought was the right thing to do.

"I'll accept that as I'm not in the business of slaughtering referees. They have a difficult job to do but it would have been nice if he'd just explained it to me."

Gordon accepts such dangers come with the territory, goalkeepers often finding themselves skating on thin ice with officialdom as the last line of defence.

"The way rules are for goalkeepers this sort of thing was bound to happen some time and I'm maybe fortunate that it hadn't happened until now.

"It is hard to take when you see some players kicking opponents all over the park and nothing happens to them yet I get sent off for making a genuine attempt to win the ball.

"But such are the rules and I can't complain as it happens in leagues all over the world.

"It's my first red card, it wasn't nice at the time but it's important to bounce back from it. I didn't have long to think about it but I spent most of that night going over what else I could have done.

"I could have stayed back and tried to save a shot, I could have tried to get there before him but I stood up and attempted to force him wide and then made an attempt to get a touch on the ball."

Duffy picked himself up to slot home the resultant spot-kick past substitute Steve Banks before Steven Pressley put through his own net in the second half to leave the Jambos trailing 2-0.

The skipper, though, had the last laugh, smashing in two goals at the other end to stun John Hughes' Bairns and snatch an unlikely point - much to Gordon's delight, not to mention relief.

"The manner in which we lost the second goal was very unfortunate and it was very difficult to come back from that but the players turned the game round in remarkable fashion," he said.

"That second goal would have taken a lot out of some teams but we showed what we are made of and how good our spirit is."

Gordon was back working in tandem with Banks and coach Malcolm Webster, pictured below, at the club's Riccarton academy yesterday, the disappointment of Sunday's dismissal slowly ebbing away. "It would have been nice to reach 100 consecutive games for Hearts but it wasn't to be," he said. "I'll just have to go back to scratch and start all over again when I get back in the team. Simple as that."

Veteran keeper Steve Banks will take over the gloves for the trip to Parkhead when the Jambos return to SPL action against Celtic a week on Saturday.

The Englishman coped well with his sudden and unexpected introduction against the Bairns and was impressed by the never-the-say die attitude of his team-mates.

"It's never easy when your first touch of the ball is picking it out of the back of the net but I thought we showed our mettle in the second half and I thought we were worthy of taking something from the game," he said.

"We had a bit of bad luck at the second goal when I made a save and the ball's bounced back off Elvis' knee and trickled into the corner.

"But we kept battling away until the last few seconds and we're still undefeated in the league which is very pleasing. We were very confident going into the game that we'd get another good result. But football never goes the way you plan it and we ended up fighting bravely for the point.

"I think the comeback underlines the belief in the team. There are a lot of new players, particularly foreigners, at the club but the team spirit here at the moment is as if they have been here for a number of years.

"Maybe that's what pulled us through against Falkirk.

"We were the dominant force in the second half and if the game had gone on just a wee bit longer, I think we might have gone on to win it."

Echoing the sentiments of captain Pressley, who is convinced Gordon won't allow the events at Falkirk Stadium to affect him, Banks is equally confident of the youngster's ability to cope with his large chunk of misfortune.

"A lot of players get sent off at some stage in their careers and when it happens, it's a test of character for them," said man of many clubs Banks, who will be 34 in February.

"We'll have to see how he bounces back but I'm sure he will. I am confident he will be absolutely fine."

Taken from the Scotsman