BRING ON RANGERS...
Hayes wants an Old Firm upset for Christie’s sake
ABERDEEN winger Jonny Hayes last night crossed his fingers for a Rangers victory over Celtic in order to allow team-mate Ryan Christie to play in the Scottish Cup Final. Hayes struck the late goal that won the weekend’s first semi-final for the Dons, with the on-loan Christie also on target in the 3-2 victory over Hibernian at Hampden.
The two Glasgow clubs face off at lunchtime today to finalise the line-up for the May 27 showpiece but Christie will be ineligible to play if his parent club prevails.
Hayes said: ‘I didn’t know until after the game that Ryan can’t play (if Celtic win), so for him I’d like to play Rangers.
‘He has been superb. I know he hasn’t gotten as much game time here as he would possibly have liked but he’s a great boy with a first-class attitude.
‘For me there’s no real preference but, for him, I hope that we play Rangers.’
Hayes’ 86th-minute goal settled a thrilling match, the Irishman’s 25-yard strike spinning off Darren McGregor and swerving inside Ofir Marciano’s post.
He continued: ‘I don’t think we have had a goal like that where we’ve had a major slice of luck but you’d take that every day. But it will only matter if we go on and are successful.’
AS A young Celtic fan, Ryan Christie’s allegiances were crystal clear whenever he settled down to watch an Old Firm match. Today is a completely different story. Although his Celtic connections have only strengthened since he left Inverness Caledonian Thistle to sign for the club last season, Christie now faces the mother of all quandaries as he tunes in to the weekend’s second William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final.
His instincts may scream at him to side with Brendan Rodgers and all the pals he has trained with so regularly at Lennoxtown, yet there is an inner voice yelling just as loud in broad Doric.
Christie may technically remain a Celtic employee but his current allegiances are to Aberdeen, the club he joined on loan in January, and for whom he scored an exquisite free-kick in yesterday’s 3-2 semi-final win over Hibs.
The terms of his loan transfer mean he will be ineligible to play if Rodgers’ men make it to the final, so for selfish reasons he would actually be better served rooting for Rangers.
The 22-year-old admits he does not know what to make of the situation, especially as he is due back at Parkhead this summer.
‘I don’t think I’m allowed to say too much!’ he laughed. ‘It will be interesting either way.
‘Obviously, there’s a great bunch of boys at Celtic, so I wish them all the best but sometimes you have got to be a bit selfish. It’s very strange. I’ll just sit back and enjoy the game and see what happens.
‘I’m not too sure how I’ll feel. Either way, it’s a win-win. Celtic are having an incredible season and I would be happy for them to reach the final, but at the same time I would like to play in the final myself.
‘It would be strange regardless of who Celtic are playing but because it is Rangers it’s even more interesting. We’ll wait and see.’
Christie has found game-time limited since moving to Pittodrie mid-season but, with winger Niall McGinn out injured, he started and scored in a 2-1 victory over St Johnstone last weekend.
He was named in Derek McInnes’s team again yesterday and played a key role, extending the lead established by Adam Rooney’s goal in the 12th second of the match when he curled a free-kick inside the near post from an angle near the corner flag.
Christie admitted he was shaping to cross the ball until Rooney advised him otherwise.
‘When I first stepped up, I was going to cross it,’ he explained. ‘But Adam had a word in my ear and told me to have a look at the goalkeeper — he was trying to read a cross.
‘I always look for things like that at free-kicks and it’s nice when they come off in a game. I practice them every day and I’ve got Barry Robson helping me, who was a free-kick specialist back in the day.
‘The wall also split at the last moment which helped, but Adam has to take the credit for an assist.’
Aberdeen needed the cushion. Hibs boss Neil Lennon reacted to Christie’s goal by bringing on Grant Holt and almost immediately the veteran striker scored to hand the holders a lifeline.
Christie was sacrificed by McInnes early in the second half but the introduction of extra defender Anthony O’Connor only seemed to muddle the backline and Dylan McGeouch slotted home an equaliser after combining with the influential Holt.
‘I wasn’t disappointed to come off,’ insisted Christie. ‘The manager sees the game differently to how you do on the pitch and if he feels changes were necessary, that’s up to him.
‘I feel the ones he made today were the right ones — and they paid off in the end. It’s good to have made an impact but I don’t think I played the best game today.
‘There was definitely a feeling of relief at the end. It sounds stupid to say but when you go 2-0 up, it’s hard to keep calm and composed and Hibs getting a goal just before half-time didn’t help us. ‘But we showed good determination. Even at 2-2, we didn’t completely crumble and eventually managed to get the winner.’
It was not until the 86th minute that the Dons regained the edge, when Jonny Hayes shot deflected off Darren McGregor and spun inside the left-hand post of goalkeeper Ofir Marciano.
‘It was very nervy to watch after I came off,’ added Christie. ‘Hibs came on to a good game and pushed us back a bit.
‘We had little spells but it took a shot from Jonny to win us it. He showed positivity to take a couple of people on and get a shot away. The ball seemed to roll the slowest ever towards the net but thankfully it got there.’
McInnes’s players will now focus
on locking down second place in the Premiership before their thoughts drift back towards Hampden.
‘I’ve been very lucky to come to Aberdeen and I am enjoying it,’ added Christie. ‘This is a team which is desperate to get to a final and all the boys are delighted we have managed to do that.
‘For me personally, if it goes my way and I get to play in a final it will be very interesting.’
Aberdeen will now contest their second final of the season after the first ended in a 3-0 League Cup defeat to Celtic back in November. More reason, perhaps, for the Dons to hope for a Rangers win today.