FLASH BANG WALLOP
Sky above Hampden lights up but Tom’s too focused on thundering home Treble
Tom Rogic admits his lightning bolt moment was the highlight of his career.
The Aussie ace struck a dramatic last-gasp winner to clinch the Scottish Cup – just as the thunderous sky lit up above Hampden.
Rogic admitted he was too caught up trying to find the back of the net to notice what was happening in the air.
But he was on cloud nine when his stunning goal completed Celtic’s domestic clean sweep.
Rogic said: “What was I thinking when the ball came to me? Just try to be positive and take the ball forward.
“It opened up for me and then it was all just a blur. I can’t really remember what happened after that.
“It was a bit of a five-a-side finish with my right peg.
“I didn’t know there was a lightning bolt just as I scored. Maybe it was meant to be.
“It’s hard to describe what it feels like to score a goal like that and then go and jump into the crowd.
“It’s impossible to really put it into words and do it justice.
“But it’s probably the best feeling you can have on a football pitch to score the winner in the last minute. “I have scored a couple of late goals for Celtic but nothing comes close to that. “It was an amazingly proud moment for me.” Rogic admitted he was in a daze after becoming the cup hero – and it will take some time for it to really hit home the scale of achievement after going through all three domestic competitions unbeaten. He said: “It feels pretty good to score the winner – in fact it’s an amazing feeling, although it hasn’t really sunk in yet to be honest. “For everyone it’s been a perfect end to what has been a special season for all of us. “To go unbeaten domestically, to get the Treble is just amazing. “It’s something that we will look back on forever.” Celtic had to fight for the trophy but Rogic admitted it was all the better to bag it in such dramatic style. He said: “We would rather have won the game 3-0 or something instead of waiting until the last minute. “But when you get the goal that late it makes it even sweeter. “We would have liked to be cruising but it wasn’t to be – and we got our reward in the end.” It was a late show at Hampden but an even later show in his homeland. The playmaker had family and friends glued to the box in the wee small hours to see their man become a legend. Rogic said: “Everyone was watching back home in Australia. “My phone went nuts after the game. It kicked off around midnight over
there so it was a late night but I know they’re all proud.”
Rogic was the man of the hour but insisted there was no hard feelings at being left on the bench – and he was ready to do his bit when the call came.
It arrived sooner than he thought when Kieran Tierney was forced off following a nasty bash on the chops.
But Rogic insisted his Celtic mates knew they could keep their heads and get over the finish line.
He said: “It’s not about me. It’s about the squad and nothing else. “That’s the way it’s been all season. “Everyone has to be ready. The manager is calm in his decisions.
“I didn’t expect to come on so quickly and it wasn’t good to see KT go off. He’s a massive part of what we have done and we didn’t expect that. It maybe rocked us a bit.
“But in the second half we showed our quality and had a number of chances to put it to bed.
“There was no panic at half-time. We knew if we played the way we can then we’d get the result we wanted.
“We had a number of chances and it was a matter of time.
“It’s about the group. The boys who started, the boys on the bench and the manager and his coaching staff.
“Everyone is together. It’s been a long season – around 60 games – and to do it like that was special.”