SPORT 21
Goalie Gordon vows to keep going
Kent: The only way is up
Hibernian heading to Hampden
Ambitious Jambo’s stopper Frankie Kent aims to get Hearts back competing at the top
By NIGEL DUNCANSCOTTISH international
goalkeeper Craig Gordon,
who turns 41 on Hogmanay,
has told Hearts fans: "I'm still
very determined to keep
going and do as well as I can."
He has been sidelined since
being in a collision with
Scottish international striker
Steven Fletcher on Christmas
Eve at Tannadice last year and
went under the knife on
Christmas Day to repair a
fibula and tibia break.
After that, the 6ft-plus
stopper had to wear a
protective boot, then moving
with the aid of crutches and
building strength.
Some feared he would
never play again and it's been
a long, slow road back to the
position he is in now, but
Gordon played for 45 minutes
in a friendly against Edinburgh
side Spartans during the
international break.
Gordon dampened
speculation about an early
comeback and he confirmed
there is still a long way to go
before he is considered for
selection for the first team
back at Tynecastle.
He told Hearts official
programme that the Spartans
appearance was a step in the
right direction and said:"During the game I felt quite
good. I've still got a few weeks
to go and some things I still
need to work on before I feel
like I'm back up to full speed.
"I want to get more minutes
now and get back in the first
team if I can, but I've still not
played a competitive game."
It helped Gordon during
rehabilitation that team-mates
Beni Baningime, Liam Boyce
and Craig Halkett were also
working their way back to
fitness, but the hot-stop said
that at the start of his rehab
and playing for the first team
again seemed "so far away".
His crocked team-mates all
had fairly similar injuries and
Edinburgh-born Gordon, a
former pupil of Balerno High
School, said: "There were four
of us were in the gym working
hard at the same time.
"There was always someonehaving a good day or a bad
day and that meant that one
of the other guys was able to
bring them up again and talk
things through.
"If someone reached a
milestone it gave you more
motivation to go and
reach yours."
Building his strength to
jump for crosses and kicking
the ball was a stage in the
process and he said: "These
little things when you are
playing seem so simple,
but when you're injured and
you can't do them, they are
big obstacles."
For now, it is about
continuing to train, working
through the soreness that
comes from hitting the grass
again and he added: "I'm
happy with where I am right
now, I'm enjoying it, but it has
certainly been hard work."By CALLUM NAPIERHIBS FANS will travel to
Glasgow for this month’s
ViaPlay Cup Semi Final
against Aberdeen.
The game gives fans a
chance to return to
Hampden Park after missing
out on the trip West last
year, a rare occurrence in
recent years as 2018/19 was
the last season Hibs failed to
reach the National Stadium.
Prior to the cup exits last
campaign the Hibees had a
fairly impressive domestic
cup record, however lifting
silverware has proved
elusive since the Scottish
Cup win in 2016.
Boss Nick Montgomery
will be hoping to change
that, he will experience
Hampden for the first time
after guiding his side to a 4-2
League Cup Quarter Final
victory over St Mirren at
Easter Road last month.
After that win he looked
ahead to the Semi Final with
Hibs TV saying: “There’s a
place in the final at stake...
hopefully there will be a
good crowd at Hampden,
and I am really looking
forward to that one.”
Montgomery, who joined
Hibs in mid-September, has
had a relatively successfulstart to life as Head Coach
and he has certainly lifted
the mood amongst the fan
base after an initial poor
start to the season.
Following a winless start
after three league games the
41-year-old was appointed
and subsequently went on a
six-game unbeaten run
before the defeat to Rangers
at Ibrox whilst stamping his
attacking brand of football
on the team.
Montgomery tends to set
his team up in a 4-4-2
formation no matter the
opposition, demonstrated in
the derby at Tynecastle
where Hibs came back from
two goals down to secure a
draw thanks to a double
from Frenchman Elie Youan.
The team will be boosted
by the recent return to
training by Chris Cadden
who has been out of actionsince the final game of last
season following injury.
The 27-year-old revealed
that he sat his coaching
badge courses whilst out
injured but will now be
looking forward to returning
to first team action.
Heading into November
Hibs find themselves in mid
table of the Scottish
Premiership with league
games coming up against St
Mirren, Kilmarnock, and
Dundee a run where they
will look to gather as many
points as possible following
a difficult run of fixtures the
previous month.
First up though is the
Semi Final against
Aberdeen, that match kicks
off at 5.15pm on 4
November at Hampden Park
and tickets can still be
purchased via the Hibernian
ticketing website.By NIGEL DUNCANFRANKIE KENT has, during his early career,
played against world-class strikers like Harry
Kane - the England captain did not score - and
now, nearly 20 games into his move to Hearts
from Peterborough United, he believes he has
forged a productive partnership with Australian
defender Kye Rowles and his other colleagues at
Tynecastle, despite having a number of injuries
this season.
The Romford-born defender is also settled in
Scotland's capital, his girlfriend having made the
move north of the Border, and his family have
travelled to Edinburgh to watch some of the
matches he has played in.
This has all helped in the transition of the
27-year-old from a lower league player into one
who is now performing against top Scottish sides
like Rangers and Celtic who regularly play on the
European stage.
Make no mistake, Kent is ambitious and
he loves to compete having tasted successearly, helping Shenfield High School win 2008
English Schools' Football Association under-12
Schools Cup, scoring in the final at Molineux,
the home ground for Premiership side,
Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Kent progressed from schools football into the
highly-rated Arsenal academy where he made it
through each age-group from seven to 16. He
was, however, released before signing for
Chelmsford where he played 127 games.
From there he moved to Peterborough who
play in League One, the third tier of English
football, and appeared in 164 games, so the
move to Hearts was, indeed, a step-up for
the affable player who admits to loving life in
Auld Reekie.
Playing against Scotland's leading clubs is
what he loves and he admitted: "The bigger
games are something you look at and look
forward to".
Recently, Hearts hosted Hibs in the Edinburgh
derby, then Celtic and also travelled to Rangers
and Kent added: "It is what you want to be doing,playing in the biggest and best games, and it is a
way of testing yourself."
Whoever you play against, said Kent, it is
another game and another three points if you
win but playing games against men who havebeen playing in the Champions League is a level
everybody wants to get to.
Kent said: "We know what we have to do (in
the big games) and we will be trying to do that.
However, when you are up against the best
players there are moments when they can just
do something."
The Englishman believes he has bedded in
successfully at Hearts and said: "The amount of
games we have had I am starting to get used to
how people play.
"I feel like as a team we are slowly building and
you can see that in the last month we are, sort of,
getting results. You can see good progression.
"There have been a few games in and out with
certain players, Nats (Nathianiel Atkinson) got
injured and so have Kings (Stephen Kingsley)
and Alex (Cochrane) as well, but I have been
quite fortunate to have played alongside
Rowlsey and Toby (Sibbick) has come in and
done really well.
"Yes, there are ups and downs during a season
but, overall, we have been doing OK."Frankie Kent in
training at The
Oriam with HeartsNigel Duncan