Heroes at both ends as Walker gives credit to Gordon
Goalscorer thankful Celtic let go top-class goalkeeper
SHORTLY before half time at Tynecastle, Dunfermline pounced. They had started the game brightly, creating the odd opportunity here and there, patiently waiting for space to open up in Hearts’ defence to exploit. When it finally happened, they were prepared.
Fraser Murray fashioned some room down the left wing and sent a flurry of back-andwhite shirts whizzing forward. He spotted the run of Ryan Dow on the opposite flank and lofted an inviting ball over the defence to his team-mate, who leapt unchallenged to steer the ball home and hand the away side a precious lead in the capital.
Or so it appeared, anyway, but for the intervention of Craig Gordon. The 38-yearold, released from Celtic in the summer on the grounds they could not guarantee him regular first-team football, sprang to his left. His outstretched left arm strained as his fingertips made slight yet solid contact with the ball, diverting it over the bar to safety and keeping the score level.
Those watching were astonished. But there was one man sat on the substitutes’ bench who hardly batted an eyelid.
“I wouldn’t say I was surprised by some of the saves big Craig made, because he does it to my shots every day in training! He’s a top-class keeper and I’m surprised Celtic let him go,” said Jamie Walker, who would enter the fray with 15 minutes to go before striking the winner five minutes later.
“It was a fantastic save he made in the first half and he seems to make them every week. He’s a top-quality keeper, he’s played many times for his country, and we’re delighted to have him.
“It’s actually like he’s getting better with age. I don’t know if that’s just to do with being a bit more experienced each year. We’re very lucky to have him.
“Some of the saves are ridiculous. And this is a guy I grew up watching. I remember watching him at Easter Road make that famous save from the Rob Jones header.
“I’ve seen it many times from the stand. I’m just delighted to be on the same pitch with him now.”
Gordon might well have kept Robbie Neilson’s men
in the game with that superb reflex save but it was Walker who provided the winning goal after a clever pirouette took the midfielder past Pars defender Euan Murray, striding into the box before lashing the ball in at the far post.
It was a goal worthy of winning any game, never mind one between two teams with promotion aspirations. Murray, while disappointed to have been beaten, had the best view in the stadium for Walker’s goal and admitted that occasionally you just have to applaud your opponent’s ingenuity.
He said: “Sometimes there’s not a lot you can do. Sometimes you look at it from a defensive point of view but you can also look at it and think, ‘fair play to the attacker’. It’s brilliant play. When he gets past me he still has a fair angle to try and hit the target, but he’s produced a worldie finish across the goal. That’s been the difference on the day – that one wee bit of magic.”
While disappointed with the result – one that leaves Hearts 12 points clear at the top of the table, albeit having played more games than Raith Rovers and Dunfermline in second and third respectively – Murray believes it will not be too long until Stevie Crawford’s side recapture their early season form.
“Things aren’t going our way in front of goal at the moment but that’s a collective thing,” he rued.
“I think we’re due the rub of the green at some point and if we keep putting in performances like that then we’ll start picking up wins again.”
It’s actually like he’s getting better with age