Adam Hammill Post Final
Monday, 28th May 2007"I saw him (Neil Lennon) and I thought I had the legs on him, so I put it over him into the space and knocked it past Pressley.
Adam Hammill has described his last week at Dunfermline Athletic as "the biggest week of my life" he said, "the build up is really really special you do not realise until you are playing in the game just how special it is.
"I think we were unlucky on the day, we were the better team in the first half and towards the end of the second half we tired but I thought we did ourselves justice and all the lads can hold their heads up.
"Players want to play in finals and there is an incentive to win a cup. You don't really need lifting; if you need lifting for a game like the final then I don't know what you are doing being a footballer. You lift yourself and you are excited anticipating the game itself and you can't wait for it."
The 19 year old from Liverpool did what every other player was doing as he lined up before the match:-
"I was looking up for friends and family. Walking out you feel a sense of achievement getting to a final, it gives you the incentive to give a bit more. The experience was fantastic."
Adam could only spot his girlfriend as he stood looking up at the crowd. His mother had just been interviewed on BBC television but the on loan player had not managed to spot the numerous family and friends who had travelled up from Liverpool. He met up with them afterwards and he admitted:-
"It's nice to spend time with them and just have a laugh; I have missed that and in a way it is nice that the season is over so that I can go home a spend a bit of time with the family but I can't wait to be playing football again. After two weeks I will want to get back to the football."
The Cup final had not been beyond Dunfermline at any stage until perhaps 85th minute and Adam was pleased with the team's performance:-
"First half was a fine performance, we created chances and had the more clear cut chances. We deserved a bit more but unfortunately you could see how tired we were towards the end and the goal was like the season that we have had. We have not had the luck, the rub of the green, it was a bit of a stuffy goal itself so to go down like that is hard."
The highlight of the game for many Pars fans was Adam's lift of the ball over Neil Lennon 11 minutes into the second half:-
"I saw him and I thought I had the legs on him, so I put it over him into the space and knocked it past Pressley. I haven't seen it on the telly yet but for me personally I thought I was clean through on goal. If he had been the last man and it was a goal scoring opportunity they'd lose him. That swayed towards Celtic maybe if it had been the other end they would have got us a man sent off.
"The tackle of McGeady on Shields was a terrible tackle too. Being an Old Firm player helps you with referees."
Adam felt that Mark Burchill's incident with Jean Joel Perrier Doumbe could have left Celtic down to ten men:-
"Initially the ref gave the throw in to Celtic but because of the reaction from Doumbe, he has booked Mark but I think it was a good tackle. I haven't seen it on the telly but if he raised his hands it is a sending off offence."
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