Imrie: I thought: ‘I’ll just go down the middle’
Dougie Imrie has revealed he suffered no nerves as he stepped up to smash home the spot-kick that fired Morton to an unforgettable League Cup victory over Saturday’s William Hill Scottish Cup opponents Celtic.
In his solitary season with the Ton in 2013/14, Imrie served as club captain and scored a career-best tally of 11 goals in all competitions.
Despite suffering a heart-breaking relegation that year, the 34-year-old Hamilton Accies ace still holds fond memories of his time with the club.
The shock 1-0 success at Celtic Park on 24 September 2013, in which he converted the match-winning penalty in extra-time, naturally stands out above all others.
And when asked about his emotional state as he stepped up 12 yards out, Imrie insisted he felt no weight on his shoulders, only a sense of relief after his decision to go straight down the middle paid off.
Speaking exclusively to media and communications officer Jonathan Mitchell, the forward said: “The time I spent at Morton was great.
“Obviously it didn’t end well with relegation, but I had a great time there and just wished things could have been better.
“Beating Celtic at Parkhead was the highlight of the season. That was a great night for the players who played and a great night for the club and fans. To go there and win 1-0 was excellent.
“Don’t get me wrong, it was a tough old night – a long, long night that’s for sure. Celtic had a lot of the ball and put us under a lot of pressure.
“I think they had about 28 corners in the game, which tells you the amount of pressure we were under. But don’t get me wrong, we played well.
“Any time you go to Celtic Park you need to give yourself a platform and I think we did that. We got to half-time, and that’s what you need to do at these places.
“Celtic had numerous opportunities to score, but we managed to get it to extra-time and score the goal. There was a really good build up.
“Jonathan Page won a great tackle on the edge of our box and plays it in to Reece Hands who switches the play to Tony Wallace.
“Tony then plays a great ball into the channel for wee Archie [Campbell] and he does really well to come inside his man and [Efe] Ambrose handles the ball.
“We then manage to score the penalty and hold out. That all just comes from my memory because it was a really good play with a couple of great passes.
“With the penalty I wasn’t nervous; I was just hoping it would hit the back of the net. I just thought to myself: ‘I’ll just go down the middle. I’ve never seen a goalkeeper just stand there yet.’
“If the keeper stood on the spot it would have been a red face, but thankfully for me it went in and we managed to hold out.
“I get a lot of Morton fans getting in touch on Twitter, asking how I’m getting on and obviously a lot of it is to do with that night at Celtic Park.”
Image: Kenny Ramsay
