Keiltygafferhails unbelievableboys
Kevin Thomson hailed his “unbelievable” players’ belief after Kelty Hearts pulled off a memorable Scottish Cup shock.
The League Two leaders had belief right from the first whistle and Kallum Higginbotham was the right man in the right place in extra-time to seal a famous victory.
Thomson, the former Rangers and Hibernian player, sensed an upset was on the cards and praised his side for sticking to the game plan and not viewing the tie as a “free hit”.
He said: “We were playing against a team three leagues above us, a Premiership team, and we knew we would have be disciplined and patient.
“And when we did get the ball back we had to be good on it.
“And, to a man, I have to say the boys were unbelievable.
“I said to them at the start of the game, ‘if you trust our shape and show a bit of quality, you will get chances’.
“When those chances come, you hope they fall to the right player and, thankfully for us, it did with Kallum.
“It’s brilliant for the town. I’m delighted for everybody because the backing we’ve had has been unbelievable.
“What we achieved was through sheer quality and desire and drive.
“I said to them before
the game that we ain’t here to make the numbers up. This isn’t a free hit for us.
“That’s not the way I want us to think. I wanted us to think we were capable of winning this game.
“Fair play to them. They executed the game plan. We were stuffy, we were difficult to break down and we were well organised.”
Kelty skipper Michael Tidser admits St Johnstone’s poor run of form gave the part-timers confidence they could pull off a shock.
He added: “It’s huge for the club. I came here a couple of years ago when we were still in the Lowland League and the progression we’ve shown in the last couple of years has been outstanding.
“We backed ourselves. Sometimes when you get that winning mentality you almost feel you can take on anybody, especially at home.
“We knew they’ve not been great but they’ve still got good players.
“People say it was a free hit for us but we backed ourselves.”