The first in a new series where The Terrace podcast lads each pick their favourite moment from the big Scottish football games over the weekend.
Craig Fowler
I’m intentionally picking something a little more obscure because I don’t want to be selfish and use up all the schadenfreude in this blog before the other Hearts fans get a chance.
Of course my favourite moment was the goal. This is not an exaggeration: my mouth actually fell agape. I couldn’t say or do anything for two minutes. I just couldn’t believe it.
Anyway, my (second) favourite moment came after Sibbald’s header. The game was petering out when Moira Gordon, my colleague for the day, commented that Hibs didn’t look like getting back into it. I could only concur. The goal had knocked the stuffing out of them. They were drained mentally. It didn’t even look like they were capable.
Then Scott Allan was given the ball on the left. As soon as he received possession I said, “yeah, he’s the only one who could do anything”. As soon as the words left my mouth the midfielder came darting inside before playing a delicious reverse ball for Farid El Alagui who had his shot saved by Jamie MacDonald. It was brilliant vision from a player who, almost literally, had performed on demand. That summed up his second half performance. Every time he got the ball he made something happen. It’s one of the best individual displays I’ve seen in the flesh in a long time. I almost felt sorry for him that he ended up on the losing side.
Almost.
Gary Cocker
It’s not really a moment per se, but Jamie McDonald’s performance was a joy to watch. I don’t think I was the only one who was surprised when he dropped down to the second tier after leaving Hearts, and there’s probably a few Premiership clubs kicking themselves that they let him do so in the first place.
Although a lot of folk will remember his double save near the start of the first half – the first a chested save from McCracken’s block that I really want to believe was a deliberate attempt to avoid a back pass rather than a great reaction save, the second smothering El Alagui’s follow up header – it was his barely imperceptible finger tip save that pushed Fyvie’s shot onto his post and back into his grateful arms that swung it for me.
John Callan
Schadenfreude isn’t a victimless pursuit. And I’m sure the vast majority of supporters in Scotland weren’t indulging in it en masse over Saturday lunchtime through some deep-seated resentment or even mild ill-will towards Hibernian. Rather, in a sport often full of uncertainty and dizzying unpredictability, there’s something reassuringly comforting about a familiar pattern emerging. As such, when Hibs squandered two glorious chances after about an hour in their semi-final against Falkirk, announcing to the world their clear intention to ‘Hibs it’, was like meeting an old pal for a pint for the first time in ages.
Even the way Dylan McGeoch fluffed his lines and the back post, shortly before Lewis Stevenson lashed a panicky shin at the ball, sending it flying over the bar with undisguised contempt, was so incredibly Hibs it hurt. Their Scottish cup woes are as deeply woven into Scottish football as executive mismanagement and petty bickering, and they serve well as a neat distraction to the problems the rest of us are dealing with. Like the nationwide power surge of people sticking the kettle on midway through Coronation Street, the atmosphere across the country must have been heavy with the sheer number of wags who immediately quipped ‘Falkirk are winning this one-nothing’ after those two chances went begging.
Hibees, I’m so sorry. But those misses, and the predictable finale they set up, made us all feel a little bit better about ourselves.
Duncan McKay
It’s been said often on the podcast that there are several players in Scotland who play at the level that the team performs. When the team performs well, that player looks good. When the team is abysmal, so is that player. A case in point, it pains me to say, is Lewis Stevenson.
That isn’t to say that on Saturday Stevenson had a terrible game, but two instances when it mattered, he like Hibs, didn’t perform. One moment was being knocked over when trying to control a pass with his chest and the second was the chance that fell to him in the box when Hibs were chasing an equaliser. It personified that his despite lots of effort, this Hibs team isn’t quite the finished article and suggested that players of a higher calibre than Stevenson may be required for Hibs to win promotion.
Tony Anderson
As a Hibs fan I am hard pressed to find a moment I enjoyed. Probably the pub before the game were I had misplaced hope of making it through was my favourite moment. That coupled with a Glaswegian man, in his 50s, basically doing a stand up routine for us in the back room of the pub. This gentleman was using a carrier bag, genuinely, as a belt with the handles in a knot at the front of his jeans. As you can imagine, the jeans were still pretty low down. He said to a female friend of mine: “you remind me of my second wife.” *cough, cough* “and ave only been married once.”
I do have to admit I did like the goal celebration from Falkirk. A mass pile up on Sibbald on top of a broken advertising board is a great way to mark a winning goal.
Craig Cairns
When Peter Houston’s first appeared on my screen post-match, I wondered why he seemed so riled. It didn’t matter what carefully crafted question the interviewer opened with, Houston launched into his preprepared rant. Such was the Falkirk manager’s anger, he fumbled his words as he pointed to “…the one statistic that matters…”, deflecting from less relevant figures such as possession and shots on goal.
These comments, it transpired, we’re an attack on his Hibernian counterpart Alan Stubbs, who was sure Falkirk had been lucky to win the match.
Despite his agitation discrediting him somewhat, it is hard to disagree with Houston here. This is the third time this season Hibernian have lost 1-0 to Falkirk, with the ‘lucky’ Bairns escaping with a 3-3 draw, despite being two goals behind at one point, in their other meeting.
Perhaps Stubbs should be bemoaning the lack of cutting edge in front of goal, rather than laying blame at the feet of some mystical force. Both Lewis Stevenson and Farid El Alagui passed up glorious opportunities to score, just two of many. Or maybe he should ask why Scott Allan managed to put in a man-of-the-match display while much of the rest of his side failed to perform on the day.
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