Relieved Blair Currie was even happier than normal at saving the decisive kick to send Stirling Albion through to the Scottish Cup third round – as it saved him stepping up himself.
The keeper made the crucial low save from Nathan Cooney’s penalty – the 15th of a marathon shootout – to edge a highly competitive affair with Highland League table-toppers Brechin City on Saturday 8-7 in the shootout after a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes.
The win earned them a tough trip to Championship cracks Inverness Caledonian Thistle, currently sitting joint top of the second tier, in the next round of the showpiece competition.
Keeper Currie admitted his satisfaction at making the final save and said the squad showed their determination in the face of a strong challenge after falling behind twice during the game.
He said: “It’s a good feeling for
sure, although penalties are a bit of a lottery.
“I was just hoping to go the right way and I did a few times, but there were some good penalties there but I was glad to get the two saves and move through to the next round, that was the main objective.”
The confident stopper joked: “That was the last penalty before it went to the goalies so I had to make sure I saved that one because mine likely would’ve went over the bar!”
He added: “It’s a difficult pitch and a bit heavy and you know in the cup, while you want to play well, it’s all about being in the hat.
“We’ll look back at things and think we might have done better but getting through is really the main thing for us.”
The win followed up another tough win at Stenhousemuir in the league which took the Binos to the top of the League Two table.
Another tough test awaits back in the bread-and-butter action this weekend in Bonnyrigg Rose, who claimed the spoils between the teams last time out.
But Currie says the strong bond between the players in the dressing room is helping them grind out results during their current unbeaten run and believes that’s an improvement compared to previous seasons.
He added: “We’ve got a great dressing room and the boys really dig in for each other and I think maybe a couple of years ago having gone behind, I don’t know if we would’ve come back but the squad is really good and it shows a lot of resilience after going behind twice.
“Good dressing rooms can do that, to help come together and get the job done when you’re maybe not playing so well.”
