CALEY THISTLE KEEPER ESSON IS GOING ON A TRIVIA PURSUIT

Caley keeper determined to become subject of pub quiz questions for all right reasons

EVENTS in finals down the years have spawned a myriad of trivia questions. Own goals, great goals and golden goals. Hat-tricks, red cards and wonder saves. Fifteen years ago, Ryan Esson’s name was etched on Scottish Cup folklore in indelible fashion through the minimum of effort.

Restricted to listing three substitutes in those days, Aberdeen manager Ebbe Skovdahl played percentages by running without a back-up goalkeeper on the bench. Just four minutes into the Final against Rangers, Jim Leighton came off second best in a nasty collision with Rod Wallace. When it emerged that the veteran could play no further part in the contest, Robbie Winters volunteered to go in goals purely on the basis of his form in five-a-sides.

For the frustrated figure sitting in the stands, watching a striker kitted out in his top for what proved to be a doomed assignment at l east guaranteed him his own dubious slice of history.

‘I’ll always be a decent pub quiz question after the 2000 Final,’ Esson said. ‘It’s a great question to ask people — whose strip played in a Scottish Cup Final but they didn’t?

‘Robbie went in goal and had my top on. It was a decision the manager had to make then — what’s the chances of the keeper getting injured?

‘In hindsight, you can look back and say it was the wrong decision but, at the time, he made the right call.

‘Those decisions had to be made in those days and it’s one which came back to haunt us.

‘They changed the rule afterwards, so keepers have been on the bench every season since, but that’s life. It wasn’t a great day, to be fair, but you learn from those days.’

Given Dick Advocaat’s side were seeking to complete the Double against a Dons outfit that had only been spared relegation by virtue of Brockville not complying with SPL regulations, a convincing Rangers win was widely predicted in any event.

Leighton’s i njury denied t he Pittodrie men what little chance they had. By time-up, Winters had picked the ball out of the net on four occasions but the winning margin was almost academic.

‘It spoiled the Cup Final,’ Esson recalled. ‘I just remember hoping it wouldn’t be a cricket score because nobody wants to see that.

‘It was just a case of the boys trying to stick in as much as they could, but when you don’t have a proper keeper for 80-odd minutes, it’s tough.

‘ My first reaction when he got injured was worrying about Jim and thinking about how he was. I went in to see him when he came off because I was just behind the dugout.

‘But that’s football, these things happen. There wasn’t any advice I could give to Robbie.

‘He was one of the guys who used to go in goal and mess about in training sometimes. So he put his hands up to say he’d do it.

‘But there’s not much advice you can give an outfield player when they go in goals, they’re pretty much out there on their own.

‘I remember he had a decent save onto the bar during the first half, but he was really up against it.’

It has taken 15 years for events to be turned on their head. Deprived of the chance to shine after the misfortune of another as a 20-year-old, Esson today will benefit from Dean Brill’s sidelining with a dislocated knee last month.

‘I don’t look into it too much and believe in fate or anything like that,’ Esson insisted. ‘What’s happened has happened. I’ll be playing and I have to just focus on that. You have to keep it day-to-day, do the things you normally do and the day will take care of itself.’

Now at the veteran stage of his career, Esson has experienced enough in the game to savour the chance that has fallen in his lap.

He added: ‘You look back on things and learn more from bad experiences than you do from the good. That’s how it works, you look at bad defeats and bad injuries then learn about yourself.

‘If everything is just nice and rosy, it’s easy to get complacent. The bad experiences are the ones that mould you to the player you are today.

‘I don’t tend to look back too much, you can’t have too many regrets in any walk of life. You have to keep moving on and that’s what I’ve tried to do my whole career. Now I’ve got a second chance to win a cup final, it’s a dream.’

Certainly, throughout two un remarkabl e seasons wi t h Shrewsbury and Hereford prior to j oining I nverness i n 2008, t he prospect of playing in a Hampden Final seemed faintly absurd.

With the memory of 2000 still fresh in his mind, Esson may be the only man on either side today happy to be given the moniker of jersey filler.

‘ You always dream of getting another chance in a final,’ he said.

‘But when I moved to England and then came back, I didn’t ever think I’d get the chance again.

‘You always hope you’ll get there but you don’t expect it. We got to one last season but it just didn’t happen for us on penalty kicks.

‘Because we’ve had two cup finals in two years, people might expect it all the time now.

‘That’s not always the case because it takes a long time and a lot of work to get to a cup final. So I hope people embrace it and enjoy the day.’