Goalscoring Keith goalkeeper Craig Reid lends support from former Scotland international Gordon Marshall and his own Kynoch Park manager to pull off his tenth penalty save in two seasons at Inverurie Locos
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Following up his overhead glory goal with an almost customary penalty save in his next game could make Keith’s Craig Reid the most famous goalkeeper in Scottish football right now.
The 29-year-old featured on national TV after his last-gasp volleyed equaliser at Huntly on Wednesday, sparking wild celebrations at Christie Park.
Then on Saturday, Reid made his tenth penalty save in the past two seasons to stall an Inverurie Locos comeback and inspire a 2-1 Keith victory to extend the Maroons’ undefeated run to nine games.
The ex-Cove and Huntly keeper looked back on the most amazing week of his career, and revealed some of his secrets.
While his midweek goal may be a one-off experience, Reid explained how former Scotland international goalkeeper Gordon Marshall gave him some pointers on penalty saves when he coached him during his teens.
“I’ve been coached by a few decent goalkeeping coaches during my time,” he said.
“Gordon Marshall who is the old Aberdeen goalkeeping coach, I had him at St Johnstone and he gave me a few pointers. He told me how penalties are often on TV so there’s access to footage and that can help.
“I’ve also got a good tactic based on players’ run-up and stance, their body language and where they are looking.
“On Saturday there was maybe a 15-20 seconds delay between the penalty being given and the guy standing over the ball. You always look at the body language, see where the eyes are looking and a lot of them look in one corner and end up putting it the opposite.
“There’s different things really. A little bit of research, some mind games and when you’re diving you go down with conviction and make sure you get some power behind it.
“Craig (Ewen) the manager is really meticulous with all his pre-match analysis and information on the opposition. Often before the game he will take me to the side and show me the highlight of someone taking a penalty from the opposition team.
“He said before the game that he saw (Inverurie veteran Paul) Coutts take two penalties, one he put top left and one to the top right. So he thought that day he would go for the top left.
“I ended up going down to my bottom right! It’s good information sometimes but he put his hand up for that one and admitted he got that wrong.
“Last season when we played Locos away, I chucked a goal when it went straight through my legs, one of those blooper moments. That’s the life of a goalkeeper, the highs and the lows.
“But I’ve made ten penalty saves in the last couple of seasons so it’s not down to pure luck, I don’t think.
“I think it’s eight from open play and there was the two in a penalty shoot-out against Buckie so that’s up to ten. It’s a good number and hopefully I can get a few more.
“I like saving penalties and as much as I don’t want us to be giving them away, hopefully I can get a highlights reel made up at the end of the season.”
As for his goalscoring feat, which went viral last week and led to the Keith keeper interviewed on Sky Sports, Reid will never forget the moment when the ball hit the back of the net in the 90th minute.
Huntly had taken the lead just two minutes earlier, putting the Maroons’ unbeaten run of eight games at the time under some threat.
“It was really frustrating because we played really well and had a goal ruled out, and they went and scored so late in the game.
“We had been on this run and we were thinking this could be the end of it.
“But we got a corner about two minutes later and I thought I might as well go up and try to make a nuisance of myself.
“It was a really bad corner and it hit the first man, took a little deflection so I had to run back and flick my leg out and I managed to get it going towards goal. Once it went in, it was absolute euphoria.
“I felt some shock as well, thinking ‘what has just happened?’ because there wasn’t that much pace on it but it hit the net. I remember looking at it and thinking ‘had that gone in’ and then the boys were running towards me, I took off down the pitch and the hands were in the air.
“It was a mad feeling, I can't say I’ve had that feeling before in football and it’s going to take some beating.”
The social media reaction to Reid’s scoring contribution was huge, bringing some positive publicity to the Kynoch Park club who have put together their best unbeaten run in 16 years.
“I will try and enjoy it as much as I can. It all happened very quickly and it was an incredible moment.
“It’s been really got for the club as well as getting the traction it has received. Keith have struggled in recent times having had some very successful teams in the past, so we are building something just now and something like this happening is good for the club and the community to get the Keith name out there a bit more.
“The boys are full of confidence and picking up another win at Locos was great, we have been doing well on the road and we will just look to keep it going for the rest of the season.”
