St Johnstone striker Guy Melamed was determined to show he had “no hard feelings” after his Betfred Cup final disappointment.
The Israeli spent Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Livingston at Hampden on the bench despite netting two goals against Motherwell the previous weekend, including a brilliant 25-yard strike.
He was back in the team on Wednesday and forced a series of excellent stops from Hamilton goalkeeper Ryan Fulton before netting a late equaliser in some style.
Melamed took down a long ball over the top and instantly steered it past Fulton to earn a 1-1 draw in a move which his club Twitter account quite rightly likened to a famous Dennis Bergkamp goal for Holland.
The 28-year-old said: “Obviously I had mixed emotions because every player wants to play, especially in the final. But I respect the coach. If he decides I need to be on the bench, then I respect that.
“I came into Wednesday with no hard feelings and gave everything. The main thing was we won the cup. Yes, of course, I didn’t feel so good but this is football and I need to accept that.”
Melamed’s goal was a potential boost for St Johnstone’s slim top-six hopes. They are five points behind sixth-placed St Mirren, who face Rangers on Saturday, and Callum Davidson’s side must beat Hibernian to keep their aims alive.
“I’m happy to score. I can score all kinds of goals: outside the box, inside, with the head, with the left, with the right,” he said.
“But we are really disappointed we didn’t win, we wanted a bigger chance to get to the top six.
“But we will fight until the last minute. We have Hibs on Saturday and it will be all in for us.”
