THERE was no fairytale ending to Tom Heaton’s Carling Cup adventure, despite a courageous effort from the goalkeeper and his Cardiff City team-mates at Wembley.
Pre-match favourites Liverpool got their hands on the trophy, but only at the end of a pulsating match which had to be settled on penalties.
Heaton, a former Upton High School pupil who hails from Guilden Sutton, had been the hero of Cardiff’s semi-final shootout victory over Crystal Palace.
But despite producing a remarkable one-handed save from Steven Gerrard’s spot-kick, the 25-year-old could not prevent a 3-2 loss on Sunday as Anthony Gerrard – cousin of Reds skipper Steven – missed the decisive penalty.
The match itself had finished 2-2 at the end of extra time, following goals by Martin Skrtel and Dirk Kuyt for Liverpool and Joe Mason and Ben Turner for Cardiff.
Heaton said: “We have to look back and reflect with pride that we took on one of the top clubs in world football and ran them exceptionally close.”
The goalkeeper is resigned to being back on the bench when Cardiff take on West Ham on Sunday as David Marshall has been the first-choice pick for league games this season, with Heaton appearing in the Carling Cup.
