SUNDAY’S SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP fixture involving Motherwell and Hearts provided Colin Doyle with a harsh reminder of the unforgiving nature of life between the posts. It’s a thin line that separates a goalkeeper from being a hero or a villain.
Doyle had kept Hearts in the contest with a string of fine saves, with the Edinburgh outfit looking likely to leave Fir Park with a 1-1 draw as the game entered stoppage time.
Hearts then had Ben Garuccio sent off for a foul approximately 30 yards out from goal, which handed an opportunity to Motherwell to snatch a late victory.
David Turnbull managed to beat the wall with the subsequent free-kick. His strike was relatively tame, but Doyle failed to read the ball as it bounced in front of him. It ended up in the back of the net and the narrative changed in an instant for the Ireland goalkeeper.
Having been seconds away from being hailed for his contribution to earning Hearts a valuable point on the road, Doyle suddenly became the man held responsible for gifting Motherwell the win.
Hearts keeper, Colin Doyle, better look away now... 🙈 pic.twitter.com/6puk3d0B4Z
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) February 18, 2019
“Colin is disappointed, as we all are,” Hearts manager Craig Levein told reporters. “He held his hands up. He’s made a mistake in a game which we were in good control of.
“Colin has been doing okay and I don’t have any complaints. We just have to pick ourselves up and go again next week.”
Doyle joined Hearts last summer after two seasons with Bradford City. The 33-year-old Corkman has started the club’s last 10 games in succession after overtaking Czech international Zdenek Zlamal as first-choice goalkeeper.
Acknowledging his costly error on Twitter, Doyle said: “Gutted about [the] ending and result. No excuses. I cost us a point. I’ll learn from it and move on.”
Doyle has won four senior caps for Ireland, the most recent of which came in a 2-1 friendly win against USA last June.
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