From video star to bit-part role
Internet wrestling sensation Cummings can’t stop silverware being grappled from Hibs’ hold, writes Graeme McGarry
Neil Lennon might as well have thrown on The Undertaker, with his side looking dead in the water, but his inspired substitution dragged Hibs off the canvas
ALL the talk in the lead-up to yesterday’s William Hill Scottish Cup semifinal between Hibernian and Aberdeen had centred on one Jason “Cumdog” Cummings, the newly-crowned wrestling champion of Twitter, after the video of his bout in the Hibs canteen with Impact Wrestling’s Grado became an internet sensation.
Cumdog-mania was at fever pitch, and unlike many of the sparselyattended semi-finals at the National Stadium over the years, it certainly felt like you were in place for the main event in the build-up to kick-off.
Hampden may not have been packed to the rafters, but compared to Scotland’s last outing here, the stadium was jumping, with both sets of fans were in fine voice prior to kick-off. There were certainly more supporters in the green corner, but their jovial mood lasted a matter of seconds. Neil Lennon has never been one for managerial cliches, and he clearly hadn’t felt the need to get the message across to his players to “keep it tight early doors”.
The Hibs squad may have a viral video to their name, but the only thing being caught here in the opening stages was a collective case of the jitters. Marvin Bartley played the ball back to Darren McGregor straight from kick-off, and he sold Efe Ambrose short with the type of pass the big Nigerian has specialised in throughout his career. Adam Rooney nipped in and finished emphatically.
The manner of the goal might have prompted Grado to proclaim: “Hibs, it’s yersel!” At this stage, it looked as though the afternoon would end in meek submission from the cup holders. Fraser Fyvie chopped down Ryan Christie with a leg-drop that Hulk Hogan would have been proud of, before the Aberdeen man picked himself up and prepared to deliver the subsequent free-kick from wide on the right.
His sneaky attempt to catch out Ofir Marciano at his near post should have been batted away, but the Hibs goalkeeper’s wrist gave way like the top rope as he simply helped the ball on its way into the net. Such was the surprise around the stadium that Christie celebrated for several seconds before the Red Army joined in.
If you had heard the ding of the final bell at this point, even some Hibs fans would have accepted it.
Former Pittodrie player Fraser Fyvie was taken off with a little over half-an-hour played, much to the delight of the Aberdeen support, with Grant Holt replacing him. There was a feeling that Hibs boss Neil Lennon might as well have thrown on The Undertaker, with his side looking dead in the water, but his inspired substitution dragged Hibs off the canvas.
The big striker and Martin Boyle proved a useful tag-team, as a fine ball from the winger found the front man with the freedom of the area to head home.
Suddenly, Holt-mania took over and early in the second half, he also played his part as Hibs’ equaliser. A driving run from Dylan McGeough saw him play a neat one-two with Holt on the edge of the area, before he opened up his body and slammed the ball beyond Joe Lewis.
It looked as though it would take something special if the Scottish Cup was going to be wrestled from the Edinburgh side’s grasp but, as it turned out, the finishing move produced by Aberdeen owed more to fortune than design. Where Hibs had ignored the footballing cliches to fall behind, it was the heeding of one that brought Jonny Hayes the winner. If you don’t buy a ticket, you can’t win the raffle, and Hayes’ numbers came up bigtime when his speculative effort skidded off McGregor and wrong-footed Marciano to nestle in the goal.
There was one last moment of drama when Marciano went up for a corner and hammered a header on target, only for Lewis to save.
Had it flown in, the pitch invasion from the Hibs end might have made the one following David Gray’s winner in last season’s final look like a mere Royal Rumble by comparison.
Cometh the hour, cometh the Cumdog? Not this time, as the striker’s performance became a mere footnote to a bout that ended with Aberdeen going for the honours in May.