Cowdenbeath goalkeeper Robbie Thomson has revealed how he psyched out Jordan White by telling the Livingston striker that he watched his last penalty on YouTube even though he hadn’t.
The 21-year-old pulled off a crucial spot-kick save in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at the Championship basement outfit, getting down well to his right to beat away White’s powerful drive in the 58th minute.
One commentator at the game likened the penalty block to the one that Thomson’s dad Scott made when Raith Rovers beat Celtic to clinch the 1994 League Cup.
Thomson Jr was delighted to make a telling contribution, and insists his plan to put off White worked.
Thomson said: “For penalties I try to have a wee go at the striker, and you win some and you lose some.
“I just had a wee chat and said I saw his last penalty on YouTube. I never really, but it obviously worked. The wind was blowing that way and I saw him shaping up that way so I threw all my eggs in one basket. I jumped across and thankfully I got it.
“It works quite a lot of the time but sometimes they just smash it down the middle.
“That’s the second penalty I’ve faced. There was also one against Dominique Malonga at Hibs, but he hit it straight down the middle. I had said to him as well that I saw his last one on YouTube.”
Scott Thomson is the goalkeeping coach at Ross County but, with the Staggies’ visit of Partick Thistle postponed at the weekend, he took in Robbie’s match at the Energy Assets Arena.
Robbie added: “He managed to see the game and we’ll have a wee bit of a chat about that later. He is definitely a big influence on me, he has always been great with me.”
Thomson thought he was fouled in the build-up to Livingston’s goal after four minutes. He spilled Keaghan Jacob’s cross in a challenge with Danny Mullen, allowing the striker to tap into the unguarded net.
Jimmy Nicholl’s side drew level in the 26th minute thanks to the generosity of Simon Mensing.
Lions keeper Darren Jamieson raced from his line to collect Thomas O’Brien’s wayward pass, but Mensing was unaware of his team-mate’s position and rolled the ball into the empty net.
Saturday’s draw leaves the Blue Brazil two points clear of Alloa in the relegation play-off place, and Thomson believes they can pull away from the bottom.
Thomson added: “It was important that we never lost the game, and results went for us as well. As long as we keep above Alloa.
“I think we’ve got enough in us to keep doing well and picking up results.”