Ryan McGowan's Scottish Cup Final diary: Hearts ace is flying high after dad jets in for Hampden win

May 20 2012 by Gordon Waddell, Sunday Mail

JAMIE McGOWAN flew 12,000 miles to watch his son play in the game of his life.

And Jambos star Ryan could have flown back to Australia with him last night without the use of a plane!

All of the Socceroo’s dreams came true at once yesterday at Hampden.

Scoring in a Scottish Cup Final romp, keeping alive the 110-year-old Hibs hoodoo that fuels a rivalry like no other – and doing it all in front of his Coatbridge-born father seeing him in a maroon shirt for the first time in his life.

The 22-year-old got the shock of his life when his old man pitched up unannounced in Edinburgh from the family home Down Under on Monday.

Here Ryan talks us through a week that started with his chin on the floor and ended with his head in the clouds:

SUNDAY:

Weird day. Losing 5-0 to Celtic is never going to do anything other than depress you but the one thing we couldn’t do was arrive back in Edinburgh with our bottom lips trailing on the ground.

Football has a funny way of working things out for you, though.

I got home in time to see the second half of the Premier League finale and the drama just consumed you, stopped you thinking about feeling sorry for yourself.

And watching the Manchester City fans celebrating at the end – the joy and the tears – it was hard not to think about the same thing happening at Hampden.

Joined in a little bit of Twitter chat after the game – I do like a tweet – but I’m going on radio silent before the final.

MONDAY:

Day off and a chance to relax. Instead I play snooker. For most people, it’s a pretty therapeutic game but not when you play as badly as I do. All it does is get me riled.

I’m just not a good loser, especially playing with two mates Allan Walker and Johnny Stewart.

But one thing put a smile on my face on Monday – dad arrived from back home!

I had resigned myself to none of my family being at the game, apart from all my relatives who live here. But dad then called to say he was in Edinburgh!

He just found himself sitting at home thinking: “This might be the only time I get to see my son play in a cup final.”

Dad wanted me to keep it quiet, though, so he could just turn up at Hampden and sit next to my aunts and uncles as if it was the most natural thing in the world!

TUESDAY:

Back in training but it was a lighter session for the lads who had played on Sunday.

Then it was the last of our media duties before we went into lockdown. The gaffer had a big thing the week before about no one talking about the Cup Final because we still had a game to play.

In a way it was good because if you start talking it up too much, you end up playing the occasion rather than the game.

But when the photographers are there and you’re doing a few interviews for radio and the papers and you’re suddenly talking about the big game it feels close.

Once that was done I headed home to the digs I’ve stayed in since I came here.

It’s a good place to live and the only downside is that the landlady Carol – whose daughter Claire works in the club’s PR department – is a mad Jambo.

So when there’s a bad result, you fear walking through the front door a bit!

I watched Sheffield United against Stevenage at night and it’s great watching games in the evening after turning on the TV in the early hours to see matches when I was living in Australia.

WEDNESDAY:

It’s Tynecastle for training from today onwards – partly to give us the feel for playing in a stadium and mainly to keep our work away from prying eyes!

We’ve done it throughout the season ahead of games and it helps you focus more. It gives you more of a feel for a game.

It’s a normal training session but you’re conscious of every ball you kick in a week like this. I’ve started the last 10 games but there’s always a doubt in your mind.

One bad training session and you’re suddenly hoping the gaffer realises it’s just an off day.

You have to be on your toes every day because the last thing you want on the Saturday is not to hear your name read out by the manager.

THURSDAY:

Back to Tynie in the morning and the training is far more focused on the game – shape, set-pieces, a few games.

The manager hasn’t announced the team as such but with every set-piece and formation he’s working on you’re looking for little clues and reassurances.

However, in the next 20-minute game he’ll go and tweak something that makes you wonder again. After that, there was some massages for a few of the boys and then back to the digs for me for a couple of DVDs – Taken and The Bank Job.

FRIDAY:

Nice light session followed by the dishing out of our Cup Final suits.

I’ve no idea who picked them but all I can say is thank God it wasn’t the same guy who picked them in 1998!

You can’t move inside Tynecastle for pictures of Gary Locke lifting the Cup in that beige effort they had.

This time it’s straight black and they’re absolutely fine. Then it’s on to the bus for the trip to Glasgow.

We’re staying at the Marriot and I’m rooming with David Templeton – but he snores loudly. Sometimes it’s harder to know whether to put a pillow over my head or smother it over his.

SATURDAY:
Ryan McGowan large

Savour every moment because it will be over before you know it – how many times have you heard it said about a cup final? Well, I’ll never forget a second of this.

To win a cup final at a club like ours is big enough at the best of times. To win 5-1 in THIS one? I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many grown men crying!

The goal was just the icing on the cake. When it was hanging in the air waiting for me to head it in, it was like slow motion – I could almost see my name in lights as I went for it.

I’ve no idea what I did to celebrate!

But the feeling of lifting the trophy, the weight of the medal around your neck, looking up and seeing the pride in my dad’s face in the stand – these moments will live with me forever.

Taken from the Daily Record