I’m still haunted by cup loss to County
HE WILL always have Hampden. For good or ill. In triumph and despair. Frankly, it seems remarkable that David Gray — the man who lifted the Scottish Cup above his head with one mighty arm, ending a 114-year-old curse in the process — should associate the national stadium with even a fleeting whisper of regret.
Yet the Hibs captain will be on something of a personal mission in tomorrow’s Betfred Cup semifinal against Celtic.
His aim? To make amends for the 2016 cup final that fans don’t talk about in hushed tones of almost religious reverence.
Amid recollections about that magical May afternoon when Gray played a Roy of the Rovers role in leading his team to a victory over Rangers, Gray lasers in on a less enjoyable day in Mount Florida a couple of months earlier — when the League Cup was wrested from their grasp by Ross County.
Admitting that the defeat ‘still haunts me a little bit’, the fullback said: ‘I used it as motivation.
‘The feeling I had that night, going home and never wanting to experience it again.
‘To have done so well in the final and not win it was disappointing. It felt like something that got away for us that season.
‘The way the season ended, we forgot about it — up to a point.’
Clearly that point stops at Gray, whose desire to add another winners’ medal to his collection drives him on.
For starters, he’d love to share some ‘bragging rights’ with teammate Lewis Stevenson — the least showy footballer on earth, despite his unique status as the only cup Double winner in Hibs history.
The Easter Road side have become knockout specialists in recent seasons, with tomorrow’s match taking their Hampden appearances in the last 30 months to an even half dozen.
‘It might be six times in 30 months — but it might never happen again, so we need to grasp every chance,’ cautioned Gray.
‘We’ve had good success in the cups. We’ve been underdogs because we’ve been playing in the Championship but we’ve been quietly confident because we’ve felt we could challenge at the top end of the SPFL.
‘We’ve shown we can hold our own. So we go in as underdogs but we’re more than capable of putting in a good performance.’
Hibs came close to busting Celtic’s unbeaten domestic record — now 59 matches — in their last meeting in Glasgow, the home team needing a late equaliser to retain their Invincible status.
Easter Road gaffer Neil Lennon would love to be the man who claims that scalp, of course, with Gray noting: ‘It’s a good thing when you’re coming away from Parkhead disappointed at not having won the game. It shows how well we did on the day.
‘But it won’t have any bearing on this weekend. Celtic are a fantastic team and their record is there for everybody to see.
‘It’s up to the rest of the teams to stop them and we’ve a chance to do that this weekend.
‘It would be nice to be the team who goes and does that. But the gaffer just wants to win.
‘That is regardless whether it is Rangers, Celtic or whoever we were playing in this semi-final.
‘He instils that every day in training, whether that be a daft five-a-sides or a game of shooting. That is just his mentality.
‘He wants to win every single day and, if we go in with that mentality, then we have what it takes to overcome.’
Gray isn’t a guaranteed starter these days, but there won’t be many Hibs fans who would begrudge him some involvement tomorrow.
After all, most of them have his winning goal in the 2016 Scottish Cup final forever stored in memory banks both virtual and very real.
‘I haven’t watched it today yet,’ quipped Gray, when asked how often he had seen his winner.
‘Initially I watched it a lot and I’d get reminded of it on social media. It was nice to get pats on the back.
‘Once the dust settled, it was time to put it behind me. I can reflect on it when I’ve retired, hopefully.
‘My first game at Hampden was the Victory Shield at the age of 15, a 1-1 draw. Lewis Stevenson was in that team, too.
‘I went to maths in the morning and was telling everyone I was going to be on the television that night. Going back to school after it was a bit surreal as well.
‘Then I went back and played down south (with Manchester United, Preston North End, Stevenage and Burton Albion).
‘The dream is always to play here again for your country. To represent your country in the national stadium would have been a dream come true.
‘But to play here at any level is fantastic — and we are all looking forward to the weekend.’