Winning goal given to Wotherspoon

Published on Tuesday 4 December 2012 03:43

HIBERNIAN midfielder David Wotherspoon was delighted yesterday to learn that he had been officially credited as the match-winner in Sunday’s Edinburgh derby, after some sources suggested it should go down as an own goal by Hearts skipper Marius Zaliukas.

Wotherspoon’s shot from the right of the penalty area in the 83rd minute took a wicked deflection off the stretching Zaliukas to evade Hearts goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald and loop into the net, and some camera angles seemed to suggest that his effort would have drifted wide had it not been flicked goalwards by the Lithuanian.

However, referee Calum Murray officially attributed the goal to Wotherspoon in his match report, and the Perth-born 22-year-old will now go down in the history books as the man who won the William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round tie for Hibs.

“I’m delighted to have been credited with the goal. It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” Wotherspoon told Hibs’ website.

“The goal and our win is dedicated to our supporters, who have been through a lot over the past six months, but have always stuck by us.”

Wotherspoon knows that Hibs face another tough assignment in the fifth round of the cup, having been drawn at home to Aberdeen or Motherwell, but he is relishing the challenge.

“We’ve been handed a home tie which is good,” he added. “We’ll see which team progresses (from the replay) and take it from there.”

Hibernian captain James McPake, who missed Sunday’s derby as he continues to recuperate from a back problem, said: “The draw could have been a little kinder, but first and foremost it’s a home tie and that’s what we wanted.”

Taken from the Scotsman