Chalmers stunned by free kick save from Hearts goalkeeper
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Joe Chalmers couldn’t believe Zdenek Zlamal’s sensational save that denied him giving Caley Thistle an equaliser in the Scottish Cup semi final.
At 1-0 down after 57 minutes, Arnaud Djoum’s foul on Liam Polworth at the edge of the box led to Chalmers’ free kick sailing over the wall and heading towards the top left corner of the net.
But the Czech goalkeeper managed to make a fingertip save to parry the ball on to the crossbar to prevent the scoreline going level.
Chalmers paid tribute to Zlamal’s saying it was the difference in how the game turned out.
“That is the thing with semi finals, it is all about the small details.
“Sometimes you need the wee bits of luck.
“I chucked the free kick well and the goalkeeper has been unbelievable and managed to get a fingertip on it.
“That would have put us back in the game and in the semi final that can be the big difference.
“It wasn’t to be but we need to move on.”
Chalmers also agreed with his manager John Robertson that Hearts midfielder Jake Mulraney played the ball to Jamie McCart who saw his goal ruled offside which could have brought the game level.
“Again it is wee things that can get you back into the game or change the course of the game. The ball came back to Tom (Walsh) but Jake made a slide tackle.
“At the time I didn’t realise that he got it through and it’s disappointing but it is wee things that make differences. “
Hearts scored their first two goals from corner kicks and Chalmers said it was disappointing they conceded from set pieces.
But he is still proud of reaching the last four as focus goes back to league duty against Greenock Morton on Tuesday as they require just one win to seal their play-off spot.
“Hearts are strong at set pieces and they work hard on them.
“They have good imagination and are hard to defend against, they got the rewards for the good set pieces.
"As much as its disappointing, the cup run has been a big bonus.
“But at the start of the season the aim was to get promoted through the play-offs or winning the league.
“We move on to Tuesday, keep winning and look to the play-offs.”
