o'dea savours his dream derby strike

David Friel
FATE plays a big part in football. In January, Gordon Strachan had to decide whether to send Darren O’Dea on loan to Burnley or keep him at Celtic. On Sunday, the manager’s decision was vindicated as the Hoops lifted the Co-operative Insurance Cup.

Burnley beat Nottingham Forest 5-0 on Saturday. Had things turned out differently, O'Dea could have been playing in that Turf Moor contest. Instead, he scored the biggest goal of his career at Hampden as Celtic beat Rangers 2-0.

As he paraded the trophy around the National Stadium, the Irishman was living the dream. A lifelong Celtic supporter, he came through the Youth Academy aiming for this type of occasion. He deserved his moment in the sun.

“Life is a weird thing,” said O’Dea, who was joined on the scoresheet by close friend and Republic of Ireland team-mate, Aiden McGeady.

“A lot of people were trying to convince me football can change in a day but I was struggling to believe them. But I’ve worked hard and it’s now paying off.

“I was as close as you can get to leaving. It was all agreed but some of the lads had a few niggling injuries and that stopped me going. Literally, it went down to the last day.

“It looked like I may still go but thank God now I didn’t. Burnley were trying to rush it through but the minute it was over I just thought about winning trophies here.”

After the 90 minutes had finished goalless, O’Dea struck the opener early into extra-time when he met Shunsuke Nakamura’s free-kick and glanced a header over Allan McGregor.

He said: “I just got my head on to the end of it and luckily it went in. I was looking a bit scared because the lads were running for me.

“Actually, I was tempted to go into the crowd but I realised I had already been booked and had to relax as there was still a long way to go.

“All I dreamed about coming up to Hampden was playing. The fact I had the jersey was the most important thing to me and also that we went on to win.”

Celtic midfielder Scott Brown claimed the Man of the Match award after a typically industrious performance and admitted the atmosphere of his first derby final left him stunned.

He said: “It’s the best experience ever for me. We played well and thanks to Darren's goal we got the lead.

“I’ve watched games like this on the TV but this is the best atmosphere I have ever felt. We’ll enjoy it.”