Andy Walker Breaks Hearts In The Semi Final Comeback To End All Comebacks.
Before United in the final, before McAvennie wrote himself into our history, before those joyous scenes on that beautiful summer’s day, there was perhaps the best example of Celtic’s “shock and awe” ability to raise itself above the moment and fight to the final whistle.
Not only did we knock Hearts out of the Scottish Cup at the semi-final stage with Andy Walker’s injury time winner, but Mark McGhee’s equaliser that day came with around ninety seconds of normal time left; this was an incredible win, literally snatched from the jaws of defeat.
So unexpected, and shocking to Hearts, was this win that their players literally sat and cried on the Hampden turf at the end, reminiscent of those wonderful scenes from Love Street three years before when Albert Kidd sunk them and we won the title on the last day.
This one had to have hurt like a sonofabitch.
Which made it all the sweeter.
Hearts took the lead after 60 minutes, with a goal that ought not to have counted at all after McPherson virtually flattened Bonner to allow Whittaker to score. The next 30 minutes were to be frustrating, infuriating, but ultimately futile; no matter what we did, we couldn’t seem to break down the Hearts defence.
So what finally happened? Did they lose concentration, or were we simply too much for them? Only their players know that for sure, but as the game looked to be drawing to a close Henry “Drop the Ball” Smith (as he became known) came out to take a corner and did just that; the ball fell, Aitken hit it, it was blocked, and McGhee followed it up. It snaked through a forest of legs and suddenly the game had been turned on its head. We were level.
Hearts were still reeling from the shock of it when another Henry Smith disaster befell the Edinburgh men; under pressure from McGhee he again dropped the ball, and this time Andy Walker was on hand to put it into the net.
Celtic had secured the victory with literally the last kick of the ball, and my old man still talks about how my grandfather left with the score at 1-0, was almost out of Hampden when Celtic equalised, turned, thought about going back inside and decided not to bother. He was still standing there when another roar went up to announce the winner.
He wouldn’t have been the only one who missed both goals that day.
A lot of Hearts fans certainly wish they had.
