PAT WAS UP NEXT FOR SPOT SHOT
BILLY STARK has revealed Celtic and Ireland goalkeeping legend Pat Bonner was next in line to take a spot-kick in the 1990 Scottish Cup Final if Anton Rogan had scored.
The Northern Irishman fluffed his lines from 12 yards as Theo Snelders produced the crucial save in the competition’s only final to be decided on penalties as Alex Smith’s men won 9-8 on spot-kicks.
That was the last time the Reds got their hands on the silverware.
And Stark, a Scottish Cup winner with both Aberdeen and Celtic, wonders what might have happened had Packie been put on the spot.
Bonner went on to become a World Cup hero when he saved from Romania’s Daniel Timofte in a penalty shootout that sent the Irish through to the last eight of Italia 90.
Stark, who played in the beaten 1990 Celtic side, said: “Seeing Packie take a penalty would have been a sight to behold and he was due up next after Anton.
“Pat had a great penalty saving record and if you had said to me he wouldn’t save one out of nine I would have been amazed.
“He went to the World Cup that year and became a hero for Ireland.
“Rogi’s penalty wasn’t bad, he struck it on target but it was a good height for the keeper.
“Although I’d never have thought Aberdeen wouldn’t win another Scottish Cup for all this time.”
Stark reckons Aberdeen – beaten 3-0 by Celtic in November’s League Cup Final – are the only credible challengers to the Hoops and their quest for an invincible treble.
He added: “Aberdeen have had a terrific campaign and this is their second final.
“Derek McInnes will have done his homework on what went wrong in the last final and tried to come up with a way to win this one.
“It’s difficult to know how he’ll go about that. You could level the big-game bottlers tag at them but not too strongly.
“I remember the days Aberdeen would come to Glasgow with no problem at all. In fact they relished it.
“The current team is growing all the time and the disappointment here earlier in the season might even stand them in good stead.
“It’s vital they stay in the game as long as possible – this Celtic team thrives on momentum. Keeping it tight will be part of Derek’s plans.”