SAVE OF A LIFETIME
For Motherwell, it was sheer agony. For Craig Gordon, it was the...
WHEN it comes to making spectacular interventions, Craig Gordon has spent his entire career setting the bar high.
The Scotland international holds an award for the greatest save in English Premier League history after somehow keeping out a close-range effort from Bolton’s Zat Knight at the Stadium of Light in 2010.
It was a piece of goalkeeping brilliance that Alan Shearer insisted was on a par with Gordon Banks’ famous save from Pele at the World Cup in 1970.
Earlier this season, another breathtaking stop from Gordon — this time to deny Steven Whittaker — was also described as ‘Gordon Banks material’ by Hibernian boss Neil Lennon.
Yet, for the Celtic keeper himself, no save in his illustrious back catalogue tops the stunning block he made to thwart Motherwell’s Louis Moult at Hampden on Sunday.
With the score poised at 1-0, it was a pivotal moment in the Betfred Cup final as Celtic went on to secure the first silverware of the campaign with a 2-0 victory.
‘That save gave me as much satisfaction as any I’ve made in my career,’ beamed Gordon.
‘You have to look at the context of the game and when the save was made.
‘It was 1-0 for us and, a few minutes later, we went 2-0 up and it was game over.
‘It’s unusual for me to have to do that in this Celtic team, but it was great to play such a big role on the day.
‘To do something like that in a cup final — and for it to have such a big bearing on a match — doesn’t happen too often for a keeper.
‘Louis Moult said he thought he had scored when he headed it, so, from that point, the save is as good as a goal.
‘If it had gone to 1-1, Motherwell would have got a lift and it would have made things more difficult.’
Gordon has spent his career defying the odds ever since bursting through as a talented young keeper with Hearts and Scotland.
But the 34-year-old is proof of the old saying that the harder you work, the luckier you get.
‘There have been quite a few close-range reaction saves in my career,’ he continued. ‘It’s one of the better parts of my game. But it isn’t an accident. It’s something I work on a lot in training with Woodsy (Celtic goalkeeping coach Stephen Woods).
‘In the pre-match warm-up, I also get Woodsy to smash balls at me from close range. So it doesn’t just happen. I’ve been working on it for years.
‘To pull off a save like that in a cup final to help us win a trophy is vindication for all the hard work and the hundreds of balls that have flown past me in training. The one ball that mattered didn’t fly past me on Sunday.’
Gordon recently earned a place in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame for breaking through the barrier of 50 international caps.
But his mind has now turned to the legacy he leaves in his club career.
Sunday’s triumph was his seventh trophy since signing for Celtic, but, after spending two years of his career on the sidelines with injury, he will never take winning silverware for granted.
‘I’m nearly 35 now and it’s not just about playing football,’ he said. ‘You want to leave something behind. I’ve played almost all of my life and, now, getting towards the end, you start to look at these things.
‘Becoming the third Scotland goalie to reach 50 caps was special. I’m one behind Alan Rough. He sent me a card and wished me all the best for my 50th.
‘That was a nice touch, a bit of class. I replied by saying I was gunning for his 53 caps, but he was great.
‘Now I’ve won seven honours with Celtic, but I want more. I’d won one (the Scottish Cup with Hearts in 2006) before I came here.
‘You don’t get tired of winning trophies. It’s been mentioned a lot that I’ve come back from where I was (with injury) to winning seven honours.
‘I don’t have that long left now, but, hopefully, I’ve a few years left at Celtic and I want to keep playing to the levels I reached on Sunday.
‘If I can do that and continue to help the team win, it’ll be a good final few years of my career.’
Gordon and his team-mates are now 65 domestic matches unbeaten under Brendan Rodgers — beating the club’s own 100-year-old record — and have won four consecutive trophies.
He knows the good times won’t last forever, but is determined to be part of a Celtic side whose achievements are never topped.
‘To be a member of this team, it will probably be years down the line before we realise what we have achieved,’ said Gordon.
‘But the feeling we have is we are not finished yet. We want to try to set as many records as we can.
‘It’s football and we know that one day we will get beat. That’s a certainty. But we want to try to make sure that day is a long way away. We want to stretch it as far as we can to leave the record at the highest possible point for anyone coming behind us. We want to push it as far as possible so nobody can get close to us.’