Hibs’ midfielder John McGinn insists that none of the players were angry with Jason Cummings following his penalty miss in the first half against Dundee United in Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final victory at Hampden Park.
With Hibs on top but the score level, the Easter Road side were awarded a spot kick after Coll Donaldson blocked Fraser Fyvie’s cross with his arm.
Cummings had scored from 12 yards against Falkirk in midweek and on that occasion he fired an unstoppable strike into the top corner and the travelling supporters were looking for more of the same however the youngster instead tried a ‘Panenka’ type dink which floated just over the bar sparking groans then anger from the stands.
Pundits and former players took to social media to criticise his effort with one ex Hibs player suggesting that had he been playing he would have ripped the youngsters head off however according to McGinn, that was not the case in the dressing room at half time.
Cummings subsequently made amends and scored the winning penalty in the shoot out which sees Hibs back at Hampden for the fourth time in five years.
McGinn told Hibs TV: “Jason is a confident boy, everyone knows that. Even his penalty in the first half, none of the boys were angry with him. He actually beat the goalkeeper but he hit the it too much and it went over the bar. Nobody would have said anything of it had went in but we were all right behind him and he showed the class and composure to score the winning one.
“He is a big game player and he loves the semi-final and final and I had not doubt when he was stepping up that he would score.
Hopefully we can use the confidence from the penalty shoot-out into our performances for the rest of the season.”
“I knew which side I was going to put the ball. I’ve never been involved in a penalty shoot out before so I knew they wouldn’t have any history of me and thankfully their keeper didn’t get it. I was just delighted to get that first one but it was important to stay focussed. we hadn’t won anything at that point so big credit to Boyley (Martin Boyle) and Paul and the other boys for staying calm and focussed.
The big man (Conrad Logan) was inspirational. Even during the game he made some really good saves and Marvin Bartley told me when we were lining up on the half way line that he was really good at penalties.
“I wasn’t sure but during the shoot out he was amazing which gave us a chance to go through which we took and that’s us in the final. It’s always nice to have trust in your keeper and its the same when big Ox (Mark Oxley) is in.
“We didn’t have a cutting edge today but we dug in and made sure we kept a clean sheet and took it to penalties, not that it matters as we are in the final.
It’s a chance to turn our season around. We’ve got a lot of games coming around. If we work as hard as we did today, I’m sure we’ll turn it around.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
