Mac’s the star of scream test

By BILL LECKIE
Published: 27th January 2013
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JAMIE MacDONALD had kept his mates in with a shout of glory all afternoon.

So when it came to the crunch, he knew exactly what he had to do — start screaming.

The Hearts keeper doesn’t know what he was screaming. All he remembers is opening his lungs and letting rip as Caley Thistle sub Philip Roberts put the ball on the spot for the tenth penalty.

It blazed over the bar — and suddenly every Jambo in the place was roaring their lungs out.

MacDonald said: “I’d tried everything else to stop a penalty and nothing worked, so I thought anything was worth a go.

“I remembered seeing Joe Hart shouting at a penalty-taker once, so that’s what I did. I just stood there, shouting and screaming.

“I don’t know if it had an effect or if the guy even heard me, but when it went over the bar it was a fantastic feeling.

“Even better, the rest of the guys came to me to celebrate even though I hadn’t saved it. I was gutted not to stop one, but they still ran straight to me, which can’t be bad!”

MacDonald’s role was crucial as Hearts rode their luck before netting all five of their spot-kicks to make it to Hampden.

Early in the first half, he made himself big as Billy McKay raced clear from halfway and took aim.

Then, deep in extra time, he clawed away the rebound after McKay had somehow missed an open goal from three yards.

It was a terrific performance from a guy who not so long ago was a bit-part player at Tynecastle, but now finds himself cast as one of the mainstays of an ever-younger side.

And he heaped praise on kids like Fraser Mullen and Callum Tapping, who grew up with every passing minute of a dramatic tie.

He added: “The young lads were fantastic, brilliant. They’ve been asked to take on more responsibility, but they’re handling it well.

“Their work-rate’s great, but more than that they tried to play football, with plenty of one-touch stuff and good link-up play in the middle.

“We also only met big Michael Ngoo for a day’s training after he came on loan from Liverpool, so to see him fit in so well was fantastic.

“He held the ball up well, laid it off time and again and took his goal superbly. Here’s hoping that’s only the start from him.

“All these guys have set their own standards now and it’s up to them to maintain them.

“They’ll be desperate to keep their shirts for the final and that’s some incentive. As for the saves, you just have to do your job. You know McKay and Andrew Shinnie have scored a barrowload and that they’ll come at you all day.

“When McKay was through early on, all you can do is stand up as long as possible, try and react and then get a good strong hand on it.

“The one in extra-time was a bit different. For a start, I thought there was a Caley player miles offside, then when the ball came in it looked like McKay had a tap-in but he didn’t put it away.

“That let us regroup and I managed to make a save before they finally put it over the bar.

“The next thing you’ve got penalties and you just hope for the best, but our guys took theirs really well.

“It’s great to be going back to Hampden so soon after beating Hibs last May. There can’t be many teams outwith the Old Firm who have back-to-back finals under their belt, so we’ve a lot to be proud of.”