Saintly display by Hibs
22 SPORT
Zander’s zero to hero rise
Friends help Hearts
star climb back to
claim Scotland slot
By NIGEL DUNCAN
ZANDER CLARK recalled that almost two
years ago he was training on his own in a
public park, sometimes with his mates, to keep
in shape while he did not have a contract.
Now, he is Hearts’ No 1, has three Scotland
caps and eyes a slot in the international squad
for the UEFA European Championships in
Germany from June to July.
The 31-year-old opened up on his dramatic
change of fortune admitted that the pressure he
is under is nothing compared with that
experienced daily by his wife Robyn, a midwife,
who worked extra shifts to keep the household
going while he was waiting for a fresh
opportunity.
That opportunity arrived when he joined the
Tynecastle team in 2022 and Clark, who has
played over 50 games for the Gorgie club, said
this season has been enjoyable so far, playing
football regularly and being involved in the
international set-up.
He argued there is time left to make it an
even more memorable season, but looking back
to being jobless, Glasgow-born Clark admitted:
“It was a tough period for myself, but I was
always confident.
“There was stuff going on in the background,
but getting that message across to my wife was
By CALLUM NAPIERWITH HIBS NARROWLY MISSING
out on the top six, they approached
the first post-split game safe from
relegation and with the prospect of
five relatively meaningless games.
But for Nick Montgomery, that is far
from the case following the board’s
recent statement saying that the
season has been unacceptable, the
head coach must prove that he is
the man for the job in the remaining
fixtures.
Goals from Emiliano Marcondes,
Dylan Vente and club captain Paul
Hanlon, saw the Leith side take
three points at McDairmid Park
leaving St Johnstone peering over
their shoulder at the prospect of the
relegation play-off.
Hibs couldn’t have asked for a better
start only six minutes in after Martin
Boyle was fouled by Saints’ skipperDan Phillips, Marcondes placed the
ball down from 35 yards out and
unleashed one of the strikes of the
season. The on-loan Bournemouth
man whipped the ball from right to
left, and despite Dimitar Mitov’s best
efforts, it sailed into the top corner.
With 24 minutes on the clock, Nick
Montgomery was forced to make a
change. After a tussle with Nicky
Clark, Will Fish went down with a
back injury, and he was replaced by
Paul Hanlon, who made his first
appearance in over a month.
For all the superlatives used to
describe Hanlon throughout his
career, super-sub has likely never
been one of them, but it was the
defender who doubled Hibs’ lead.
St Johnstone failed to deal with a
long Joe Newell throw in the 44th
minute, and with the ball bouncing
around the box, it was Hanlon who
was quickest to react, finishing wellin the bottom right-hand corner.
Midway through the second half,
Hibs’ substitutes combined when
Josh Campbell looped a header over
the St Johnstone defence for Dylan
Vente to chase, and the Dutchman
emphatically finished to put Hibs
3-0 up in the 76th minute.
Ten minutes later Vente returned the
favour and set up Campbell who
was driving into the penalty box, his
effort was well kept out by Mitov,
who was outstanding, not for the
first time against Hibs this season.
It was a much-needed three points
from Montgomery’s point of view,
who will look to build on the result
for the remaining games. He said: “If
we’re honest, we weren’t as clinical
as we should have been because we
could have scored another four
goals minimum, but their
goalkeeper pulled off some great
saves.”another story.
“I was just off the back of a wedding and
we came back from honeymoon and I did not
have a job. I had months training on my own
but I had the help of two mates who were
excellent with me.
“They got me into shape, but it was tough. A
couple of things fell through, but the
opportunity to sign here (at Hearts) was one I
was delighted to get done.
“Fast forward to now. I came here with the
hope of getting a couple of games in between
European games and, obviously, the
circumstances when I got in (Craig Gordon
suffering a double leg break) were
disappointing for Craig. It was an opportunity
for me and I had to make sure I was right at it.
“I felt, when I first came into the team, that I
was a bit rusty as when I played it wasDecember and it was seven or eight months
since I played a competitive game.
“Thankfully, I did well in the first few games
and to where I am now is night and day.”
The 6ft 3in hot-stop said that during the dark
days when he was out of contract he was too
stubborn to consider life outside football. He
added:
“I always backed my own ability on the back
of winning a cup double with St Johnstone. I
thought to myself: ‘You cannot go from that to
nothing’. I also had my old boy on at me saying
I should be doing this and doing that, but I was
stubborn. Thankfully, it worked out.”
He added: “I am a big believer that if you
believe in yourself and you put the work in
then good things happen. I had to be patient. I
am now trying to perform to the best I can be.”
From that public park around two years agoZander Clark safe
pair of handsPhoto HOMFCto being in contention to going to the Euros is a
huge change and with it comes pressure, but he
has learned to live with that.
However, straight-talking Clark praised his
wife for being “a rock” during the dark days
and added: “You can quickly fall into a dark
hole, and there were dark days, where she was
at work for three or four days on 12-hour shifts
and there was just me and my thoughts.
“She was the trooper in the household and I
wanted to make sure I could bring in another
income because of the hard work she was put
through. I probably switch off when she comes
in and explains how stressful her day has been.
We have got pressure internally and externally
(at Hearts and Scotland) but when you are
delivering a baby and you have two lives at risk I
think that is a lot more pressure than I will ever
face in my life.”Zander ClarkNick Montgomery