Jamie MacDonald: Hearts can thrive as Scottish Cup underdogs but I just wanted 2012 final to end

Jamie MacDonald and Andy Driver celebrate Hearts' Scottish Cup final victory over Hibs in 2012

The club’s goalkeeper from 2012 is aware that this year carries some similarities. He is confident any inferiority complex will dissipate once players see throngs of excited Jambos lining the bus tunnel outside Hampden.

It was they who helped inspire the greatest result in Hearts’ history, a 5-1 victory in the all-Edinburgh final seven years ago. Instead of Hibs, this year’s opponents are a Celtic team chasing an unprecedented Treble Treble.

Hearts visit Parkhead this Sunday in their final league fixture before the two clubs do battle for the season’s last piece of silverware six days later at the National Stadium.

MacDonald rushes to embrace an emotional Hearts captain Marius Zaliukas

Could being overwhelming underdogs at the end of a frustrating season work in Hearts’ favour? MacDonald is confident it can. What will also rid the Tynecastle players of any fear factor will be the scenes awaiting them in Mount Florida.

“The Hearts players will have nerves building up to the final but I think the fact they are underdogs does help,” said the 33-year-old, currently deputy goalkeeper to Daniel Bachmann at Kilmarnock. “They are going into this game as massive underdogs. That can sometimes work for you because the pressure is on Celtic. In 2012, we were the favourites and it’s not always easy that way. Nerves kick in more when you’re expected to win. Celtic are going for the Treble Treble and Neil Lennon is trying to stake a claim for the manager’s job. There will be a bit of pressure on them.

“I’ve been fortunate to play in three Scottish Cup finals now and people have said to me each time to try and enjoy the day. Hearts can go in fairly relaxed but when they see thousands of fans lining up outside Hampden hours before the game starts, the adrenaline and the buzz will kick in.

“When you get there and the fans are standing waiting on you as the bus drives under the stadium to the car park, that’s some sight. Thousands of them are there hours before the game to see you arrive. It’s something special. For any team outwith Celtic and Rangers, a cup final is your big chance of getting silverware and that 2012 final turned out to be a great day for us.”

Perhaps strangely given he was in the process of etching his name in Tynecastle folklore for eternity, MacDonald just wanted that final against Hibs to be over.

“The build-up stands out for me,” he recalled. “It was a derby game and it was a really nerve-racking week. The pressure was all on us because we had beaten Hibs in every league game that season. They hadn’t had a great season in the league and they still had their Scottish Cup hoodoo at that point where they hadn’t won the trophy since 1902. Everybody was saying it was going to be their year and all that.

“It’s still one of the strangest games I’ve been involved in. The atmosphere at the start of the game was the best I’ve ever experienced. Then, ten minutes into the second half, I was playing in front of an almost-empty stand. The majority of Hibs fans had emptied out by then because we were 4-1 up.

“For the last 20 minutes, I can remember thinking: ‘I wish this would hurry up and end.’ That was just so we could start celebrating. You knew you had won the cup and so the last 20 minutes petered out a bit. We took our foot off the pedal, Hibs were down to ten men and were dejected. You just wanted to get on with the celebrations.

“Going round the pitch with the Scottish Cup was great, then you’re in the dressing-room and there are boxes and boxes of champagne. It was getting drunk and sprayed everywhere you looked. We were all soaked in champagne. It was just such a good day.”

His fondest memories actually came 24 hours later when Hearts paraded the Scottish Cup through the streets of Edinburgh on an open-top bus. There was an extra special feeling to the occasion after they they had beaten their rivals convincingly in the first Scottish Cup final contested by the Capital clubs since 1896.

“Probably the thing I enjoyed most about the whole weekend was the parade on the Sunday. That’s when it really hits home,” explained MacDonald. “Seeing tens of thousands of fans lining the streets of Edinburgh to see you is something that will live with me for the rest of my life.”

Comparisons between then and now can be drawn, especially in respect of league positions. Hearts finished fifth in the Premiership under the Portuguese coach Paulo Sergio in 2012 and are sixth ahead of Sunday’s trip to Glasgow.

Form has been patchy and they are currently without a victory in their last six league games. Yet a one-off cup tie remains alluring because of its unpredictability. Hearts were expected to fall at the semi-final stage against Celtic in 2012 but prevailed with a 2-1 victory thanks to striker Craig Beattie’s last-minute winning penalty.

That set up a final no-one associated with the Edinburgh club will ever forget. For Beattie in 2012 read Uche Ikpeazu in 2019. Beattie was a fitness doubt and started the final as a substitute. Ikpeazu is being protected after tweaking a hamstring.

“Hearts’ league results maybe haven’t been the best but this is a cup tie,” stated MacDonald. “I can go back to our semi-final when we beat Celtic, which took us through to play Hibs in the final. That was similar to this year. We weren’t exactly in the best of form in the league and I think we just snuck into the top six. It’s probably not too dissimilar to Hearts this season.

“We managed to perform in the semi against Celtic and carried a bit of luck. They hit the post and you just think it’s your day. Then you get a last-minute winner. Anything can happen in cup football and that’s the beauty of it.”