Pope ready for Capital battle all over again
Gordon in bid to set record straight
Gordon Pope admits that he is still haunted by the linesman’s flag that ruled out his incredible equaliser at Tynecastle in 2012.
The left-back, who was capped for Scotland at U19 level, smashed the ball past now-Kilmarnock goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald in stoppage-time.
But the goal was ruled out by referee John Beaton’s whistle as his linesman incorrectly flagged for offside.
Pope and his teammates were left gutted, and they were devastated to find out after the match that the goal should have stood.
Pope, Steven White and keeper Andy Leishman are the only players left from that Talbot team of seven years ago.
And postie Pope says the heartbreak from that day will inspire them.
He said: “I always have flashbacks, and it’s disappointing to think ‘what if?’
“Obviously we would have got a replay out of it, and it would have been the biggest shock in the cup!
“I ran away to celebrate, but then I looked up to see the linesman’s flag.
“I knew for a fact I wasn’t offside which was the worst of it.
“I knew I was booked already, so I had to watch what I was doing when I was celebrating.
“It was the ultimate high to the ultimate low.
“They then had a free-kick for the offside and I didn’t even want to run back it was so bad.
“But it was a great day for the club, and everyone enjoyed themselves.”
Pope is under no illusions about the task at hand, but reckons that the team spirit will be huge.
He said: “It’s the Talbot mentality. “We always go and try and win any game we play.
“It’s just the way we are, even if it’s a friendly or a bounce game.
“The manager always wants 100 per cent, so that’s what he gets from us.”
Talbot have sold almost 2000 tickets for Sunday’s clash and Pope believes they can act as the 12th man for the Junior Cup champions.
He said: “The fans are brilliant, they took a huge support through last time we played Hearts too.
“They never stopped singing all game, they were incredible - it was some atmosphere.
“That gets us going too, because we know that Hearts are full-time so their fitness is going to be a hell of a lot better than us.
“But with the fans behind us it gives you that extra bit of adrenaline to get through the rest of the game.”
Hearts boss Craig Levein was at Talbot’s 7-0 hammering of Petershill on Saturday, in which Pope scored two.
He smiled: “Even though I’m a defender I always like to get forward.”