Crusaders goalkeeper Johnny Tuffey has credited his “eyebrow” for Saturday’s dramatic fightback win over Ballymena United in the Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup final.
David Jeffrey’s Sky Blues looked destined to end the Braid club’s torturous 33 year wait for blue riband glory as they led in the 93rd minute of normal time.
But Tuffey went up for a corner and rose highest to glance the ball to the back post where substitute Josh Robinson stabbed home a last gasp equaliser.
Read more: Irish Cup final player ratings as Crusaders beat Ballymena United 2-1 after extra-time
And Johnny McMurray won it in even more dramatic fashion for the Crues when he rifled home the winner with virtually the last kick of the ball in extra-time.
“It came off my eyebrow,” said Tuffey of his crucial intervention with time running out.
“It was in my head to go up for the corner, I looked over to the bench and Davy McClelland, our goalkeeping coach, was like ‘go, go, go!’
“I went up and managed to get a touch. Right off my eyebrow. I was shutting my eyes, praying, all sorts, but Josh got in around the back and it’s gone in.
“Look, it has come off the side of my head and big Josh has managed to tap it in.
“I’ve never experienced that before. I’ve maybe gone up in the past but had to run back in case the other team scored.”
This time last year Tuffey was at the centre of controversy after being red carded for encroachment during a penalty shootout defeat to Larne in the Irish Cup semis.
Twelve months later the 35-year-old, who also lifted the cup with Glenavon in 2016, was reflecting on one of the most dramatic showpieces in the history of the competition.
“This goes a long way to erasing the memory of last year,” he said. “You try to use every experience, positive and negative, as a player to develop and get better.
“This goes a long way to doing that and it probably does because we have won it.”
Tuffey accepts Crusaders, who were 1-0 down early doors thanks to a Robbie Weir own goal from an Andy McGrory corner, weren’t at the races in the first half.
“I’m not being disrespectful to my teammates and we all said it at half-time,” he said. “The common theme was ‘we can’t be any worse’.
“We didn’t start the game at all or play at all in the first half. We just didn’t play and Ballymena were the better team.
“We had to roll our sleeves up and stand up and be counted. Look, we found a way to win and that was the final message from the players to each other at half-time.
“We’ve just got to win the game. It doesn’t matter how that looks, we’ve got to win the game and thankfully we did that.”
Read more: Johnny McMurray "ignored teammates' advice" to fire Crusaders to Irish Cup glory
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