Dembele’s cheeky flick shows he is world-class
SAYS MATT GILKS
“I wanted the match to go all the way to penalties”
CONSOLATION is difficult to find among the ranks of beaten Old Firm combatants. As they left Hampden after a painfully late semi-final defeat, the best of the Rangers players could at least seek solace in the knowledge that it took something out of the ordinary to put them away.
‘A cheeky finish from a world-class player,’ was how goalkeeper Matt Gilks described Moussa Dembele’s winner with time fast running out. As an eyewitness to the split-second flash of brilliance, the ball skidding between his legs from point-blank range, Gilks knows of which he speaks.
Restored to the starting line-up in place of Wes Foderingham, with Rangers boss Mark Warburton keeping a promise to field his ‘No 2’ goalie in cup competitions, Gilks could hardly be faulted for conceding on this occasion.
As he pointed out: ‘It’s probably one of the places a goalkeeper can’t do anything about. You know, how quick can you shut your legs? It’s just one of those things.’
The 34-year-old deserved to feel hard done by, given the performance he’d put in up until that point. Time and again Celtic had tested him. Time and again he had stood firm, stretching out a foot, an arm, a fingertip to deny them.
‘It’s disappointing,’ said the one summer signing from Burnley still making a contribution to the Ibrox cause. ‘We kept ourselves in the game until 85 minutes and more, so to concede so late is tough.
‘We were probably looking to go to extra-time and capitalise on another 30 minutes. It just wasn’t to be, unfortunately.
‘We held out as long as we could as a back five. I thought the defence was excellent. Lee Hodson coming in, he was brilliant, Rob Kiernan is getting better every day, Clint Hill’s experience shone through — and we all know what to expect from Lee Wallace, the ultimate professional.
‘The goal went through my legs. I think it went through Rob’s legs, as well. He’s three or four yards out — and it’s a cheeky finish. It’s a good finish from a good player, we’re not going to deny that he’s a good player.
‘He’s a world-class player, he is firing for Celtic and is a massive asset to them. And they’ve gone on to win it because of that goal. But we will have a look at why it came about and see if we can rectify any faults.
‘There’s not much Rob could do about the goal because he tracked him all the way and it’s a cheeky finish. There’s no blame attached to Rob whatsoever.’
Admitting that he’d begun to dream of his heroics becoming more than just a frustration for victors who would eventually find a way through, Gilks said he believed that an upset was definitely on the cards.
He explained: ‘As the game goes on, you are making saves and the game stays at 0-0, you think: “Ooh, we’ve got a chance here”. If the game went to extra-time, I would have fancied us massively. If it went to penalties, I would have backed myself all day long.
‘So I was actually hoping it would go to penalties rather than win it in extra-time. But it’s a 90-minute game and it’s not over until the referee blows that whistle.’
As soon as Rangers beat Queen of the South in the quarter-finals, goalkeeping coach Jim Stewart assured Gilks that he would be playing in the semi-final, come what may. Whether or not he does more than play cup cameos in future remains to be seen.
‘One of the reasons I left Burnley was to get games and, thankfully, the manager has trusted me enough to put me into the cup games,’ he said.
‘I think the manager knows what I can do. I’ve been at the club long enough and I work hard day in, day out. I’m thankful that I did my part for the team — until that point.
‘Being a No 2 as a goalkeeper — and I’m not a good one — I’ve been around longer than some of these lads I’m playing with and I need to be professional about it.
‘Wes has been doing well in the league. Just because you’ve done well in the cup doesn’t mean you’re going to be selected in the next league match. I’ve got to keep working hard. I’ve got to keep working and see if I can get in the team.’
If Gilks emerged from defeat with credit, defenders Kiernan and Hill also did their reputations no harm. On his Old Firm debut, Hill was not exposed. By standing firm for 87 minutes, he helped Rangers to avoid the kind of defeat suffered the last time these teams met; however dominant Celtic might have looked at times, they weren’t going to win this one 5-1.
‘Considering what the last game was like, I thought we did really well in holding them out for so long,’ said Hill. ‘Unfortunately, we couldn’t get to extra-time but I was very proud of the lads and very proud of the team.
‘We’ve come a long way in a short space of time, so there’s a lot of confidence to be taken even though it’s a bitter pill to swallow.
‘The performance showed we can match them. We weren’t able to take the chances we made — but hopefully we’ve closed the gap and we’ll take confidence from that.
‘It’s an Old Firm derby, so there’s loads of pressure. They’ve got great strikers, top goalscorers in this league and they give a lot of teams problems. But I’m very proud of the way we handled it today.
‘When you’re up against players like that, you need your goalkeeper and Matt was outstanding, with three or four massive saves for us. We can take positive from this.’