Gordon's dream will come true in Gorgie cup clash

GRAEME CROSER

CRAIG GORDON will fulfil a boyhood ambition when he steps out for Hearts at Tynecastle tonight.

The young goalkeeper is in line to start the CIS Cup clash with Falkirk and the occasion will mark his first top-team appearance at the Gorgie ground.

As a child Gordon dreamed of running out in front of the maroon-clad hordes and, having made his first start of the season at the weekend he is certain to play again tonight.

Gordon was one of five players drafted into head coach Craig Levein’s side for Saturday’s win over Partick Thistle - a reaction to the 5-0 drubbing the team endured at Celtic Park a week earlier.

The 20-year-old replaced Tepi Moilanen and performed competently enough to retain his place for tonight and Levein has challenged him to try and make the position his own.

The Scotland under-21 internationalist will be watched by a posse of friends and family this evening and while the occasion will mean everything to him he’s intent on making sure there are plenty more appearances in front of the Jambos’ home crowd.

He said: "Playing at Tynecastle will be a dream come true for me. It’s where I’ve wanted to play since I was a boy and I used to come here and watch the team regularly wondering what it would be like.

"I normally get my parents tickets to come to the games anyway but I think there’ll be a few more coming along to watch me this time.

"My mum and dad will be here as will my sisters, my girlfriend and her family - I need about 20 tickets and I just hope the ticket office can cope!

"It’s nice that the manager has decided to show a bit of faith in a young goalkeeper and I want to repay that belief. He has said that if you’re good enough then no matter your age you will be in the team.

"I have been given a chance to go and show what I can do and I intend to make the most of the chance.

"I found out last Friday that I was going to be playing against Thistle and I tried to make sure I was as well-prepared as possible. We did some work on set-pieces and the like in training and the boss also took me aside before the game and told me what was expected of me.

"I felt the game went pretty well. We got a great start to go 3-0 up in the first half and although we conceded in the second half we were pretty comfortable.

"The Thistle goal took a deflection off Steven Pressley but to be fair to Ricky Waddell it was a great strike."

Ironically enough, Gordon’s last first-team start came in a cup tie against Falkirk.

The young shotstopper was left cruelly exposed that day as a Collin Samuel- inspired home team romped to a 4-0 victory at Brockville.

Gordon could not be blamed for the events of that day but he is still determined to erase the memory of what was a painful defeat for the Jambos. "It’s a big game tonight, especially with it being Falkirk. Obviously, I’ve played against them before and my memories of that game are not the happiest," he said.

"I want to make up for that day and hopefully this is the time to do it. Maybe we were complacent when we played them at Brockville but after what happened then there’s no danger of that this time.

"We know they can be a very dangerous side and they still have a lot of good players."

In the Jambos’ favour is the fact key players like Samuel, Lee Miller, Mark Kerr and Owen Coyle have moved on since that Scottish Cup tie along with manager Ian McCall.

However, Hearts assistant boss Peter Houston - himself a former Bairn - knows they will arrive at Tynecastle fired up by manager John Hughes.

The ex-Hibs skipper’s will to win is legendary and Houston believes he will arrive in Gorgie determined to put one over on the team he used to face so regularly in Capital derbies.

Houston said: "There’s a lot of spice about tonight’s game which gives it an extra edge.

"No-one needs reminding of what happened the last time we played them and they have a lot of former Hibs players in their side who will be eager to come back here and do well.

"The likes of Russell Latapy and John Hughes are quality players and big Yogi will have them fired up. He has a tremendous will to win as I well know having played alongside him at Falkirk. He was a guy who never needed any motivation and one of his greatest strengths is the way he can motivate others.

"They probably haven’t been as consistent as they’d have liked this season but I’m sure Yogi will turn them round and have them challenging for the First Division title."

Taken from the Scotsman