There were many heroes for Aberdeen on Tuesday. Joe Lewis for his penalty heroics, and for his saves throughout the game; the defenders for keeping a clean sheet and Graeme Shinnie for the way he lifted everyone in extra time with his remarkable energy levels.

Then there was Bruce Anderson.

Aberdeen’s fourth penalty taker. With strikers James Wilson and Sam Cosgrove both off the field, it fell on his young shoulders to take one of the first five spot kicks.

Bruce, who just turned 20 last week, spoke to the Red Matchday editor this afternoon:

“The gaffer spoke to me and basically said, ‘do you want to take a penalty?’.

“Obviously, I have taken a few penalties before, so I was confident that if I had to take one I would score. I wanted to take one.

“So I said yes and I was not really bothered which penalty I would take. I was not surprised I had to take one of the first five. We had practiced them in training and I had scored mine! So if I was on the pitch I was expecting to take one.

“I am not going to lie, my heart was pumping. The noise the fans were making, it was a long walk. Then when I got there the keeper was dancing around. I was just focused on keeping calm and then sticking it in the back on the net. All I was thinking about was the ball hitting the net. Focusing so hard on that and nothing else.

“Thankfully that is exactly where it went.

“I scored a few last year for the U20s and I do practise them in training. Adam Rooney used to take a lot of penalties in training and I would take a few with him. The more you practice anything, the better you become at it.

“But I have never felt that pressure. No mater how much you practise, you can’t replicate that. I have never felt pressure like that before. In that situation it is just about keeping a cool head and sticking to the side I had decided upon. It is important you do not change your mind when you walk up and stick to the side you want to go.

“I knew where I was going right from the start. So then it is about getting a good contact on the ball.

“It was certainly character building! It was good for my career. I have felt that pressure now so hopefully if there is another penalty shoot-out I will be on the pitch and volunteering to take one.

“It was a great feeling when the ball hit the net and then looking up and seeing the fans happy.

“My poor Dad was listening on the radio. He said he could hardly listen when I was walking up! So I think it was even harder for him!”

 

It’s hard to imagine how much bottle it must take for a 20-year-old boy to do that.

Bruce’s bravery was a reminder of another Aberdeen youngster who scored a vital penalty at a very similar age.

Graham Watson’s contribution to the Aberdeen cause was brief, but it was glorious.

A month before the 1990 Scottish Cup final the then 19 year old hadn’t made a single professional first-team appearance. But then he played against Celtic in a league game 10 days before the final, and scored in a famous 3-1 win inspired by the Aberdeen young players, forcing his way into the cup final squad.

But then he found himself having to step up in a cauldron of 60,000 frenzied fans and face a veteran international goalkeeper from 12 yards, knowing that if he missed, Celtic would win the cup and his name would always be in the history books.

As the youngest of the 22 players left on the Hampden pitch when shoot-out started, Graham never expected to have to take what would be his first – and what would prove to be only – penalty in a competitive game. But the 1990 shoot-out proved to be the most dramatic so far in the long history of the Scottish Cup.

Aberdeen’s Brian Grant and Celtic’s Polish international Dariusz Wdowczyk missed with their efforts during the regulation first five, which meant it would be sudden-death from then on.

By going last, the Dons knew a miss would hand the cup to Celtic. It was 8-7 to the Hoops when it came time for either Graham, Brian Irvine or keeper Theo Snelders, the only Dons yet to take a penalty, to step forward.

Graham recently spoke to Charlie Allan for Red Matchday Magazine’s AFC Former Players Association feature and tells his story:

“Brian was less keen than I was about taking one but one of us had to go so I just took a deep breath and stepped forward. I remember somebody shouting, it might have been Hans Gillhaus, ‘just pick a side and don’t change your mind.’

“I kept thinking about that as I walked up to the spot, I knew by the time I got there exactly where I was going to put it.”

Referee George Smith then added to the drama by ordering Graham to replace the ball after he had laid it on the penalty spot.

“The penalty spot was a bit rough, probably because there had been so many kicks taken already so I couldn’t get the ball to sit right,” he said.

“I decided to place it just forward of it a little but could hear the Celtic fans reacting when I did that.

“The ref obviously heard them too and told me to replace it, which didn’t exactly help my nerves.

“I took my time because I wanted to make sure it was sitting right so that I could make as good a contact as possible. I didn’t want to be sclaffing it, or anything like that, because I knew what was at stake.

“I then hit the ball as hard as I could to my right.

“Pat Bonner the Celtic keeper dived the other way and never got close to it, but I was still delighted to see the ball hit the net.”

Television images of the time show Graham looking to the heavens in relief as he turned to walk back towards the halfway line and he still remembers what was going through his mind at that moment.

“It was a massive relief knowing I hadn’t missed and lost us the cup,” he said.

“Everyone dreams about maybe scoring the winner in a cup final, so I would have hated to be remembered as the first to lose one by missing a penalty.”

 

You can read more of the interview with Graham Watson by Charlie Allan in an upcoming edition of Red Matchday Magazine.