TALKING KILMARNOCK Killie given yet another Kris of life at Pittodrie
THE smile on the face of Kris Boyd after he rattled in Kilmarnock’s equaliser from the penalty spot probably told the story of the Rugby Park team’s renaissance.
With the spectre of relegation a mere memory, their transformation under Steve Clarke has been nothing short of astonishing – and forcing a replay in their William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against Aberdeen on the Dons’ home turf was as impressive as their overall performance.
They are playing with the kind of belief that had been locked away for too many years as they scuttled from one year to the next.
Indeed, they might just have broken the spell Aberdeen had them under for such a long time and while Graeme Shinnie’s early goal may have winded them, no-one – certainly not among their 1300 travelling fans – believed that was the beginning of the end of their cup run.
“We were disappointed to go 1-0 down,” said Killie goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald. “But the gaffer told us to make sure we were in the hat at the end of the day and we have done that. I think in the last three or four weeks, our character and team spirit has got us through games.
“We have good fitness levels throughout the team which helps.”
Aberdeen looked on edge at times during this tie, highlighted by the hesitancy between Kari Arnason and Shay Logan which allowed Jordan Jones to enter their penalty area before being brought down by Logan with 20 minutes remaining.
“It is a great penalty,” MacDonald insisted. “And no goalkeeper is saving that because it is right in the top corner.
“Kris thrives on these occasions because he has been doing it for years and hopefully he can get a few more in the replay. It gives us confidence having a guy like him up there.
“We have found a balance since the manager has come in and it isn’t all about Boydy. Lee Erwin came on and did well and Eamonn Brophy is up there and he puts in a shift. The boys are all chipping in when they have to and that helps.”
DEREK McInnes may already have thoughts on life without Ryan Christie, a player he would like on a permanent basis at Pittodrie but who will return to Celtic, for the final year of his contract from next season.
The midfielder, hopes confidence will be lifted by a win against Partick Thistle at Firhill this weekend as he looked ahead to how tricky the cup replay might be.
And he pointed to Shinnie as key to raising the energy levels of the team, the captain as en- thusiastic and driven as ever against Kilmarnock.
“Graeme is one of the best players when you need someone to dig in,” he said, “because he will always do that for the team.
“He was exactly the same when I was playing in the same Inverness team with him.
“He has been playing midfield for most of his Aberdeen career but it is nice that when Andy [Considine] was suspended on Saturday that he went back into that position and perform like he did.
“I’m not too sure how his goal’s gone in mind you. I can’t understand how he’s crossed it with his left foot from there and it’s gone into the far bottom corner.
“It was a very good performance from him though and it shows how important he is that when he was missing through suspension, we lost our two previous games – to Hibs and Celtic.”