HARRY BURGOYNE reckons he could have decked Mike Tyson after his spot-kick heroics against Dunfermline.
And the Bairns goalkeeper has credited advice he received as a 10-year-old for helping to leave the Pars on the canvas.
Falkirk were on the ropes when referee Willie Collum awarded Dunfermline a penalty after 17 minutes on Saturday, only for Burgoyne to make a sensational save from Bruce Anderson.
As more than 1000 travelling fans were sent into rapture behind his goalmouth, the on-loan Wolves kid hailed the moment as his career pinnacle.
Davis Keillor-Dunn then struck the knock-out blow for the visitors deep into the second half.
Burgoyne beamed: “Saving that penalty was the best moment that I have had in my career so far – without a doubt. I felt like I could have knocked Mike Tyson out when I saved it and turned around to celebrate with those fans! Just brilliant.
“When I was 10 years old and first getting into goalkeeping, Allan Hawkins was my coach and I will always remember a session he took down at my Ludlow Town, my local team.
“He gave me some really good advice from his own career to give me an idea where the taker was going to put it and a few little tells based on their run-up.
“I’m not going to give too much away, just in case!
“But I’ve got a really good record when it comes to saving penalties and I’ll always say that I’ve got him to thank for that.”
Burgoyne also credits some divine intervention for allowing Falkirk to escape East End Park with all three points.
As well as his penalty save, Burgoyne was forced into a super low stop to deny Jackson Longridge, while Pars skipper Lee Ashcroft saw a header strike the woodwork and Anderson fizzed a low drive inches wide.
When Falkirk defender Ciaran McKenna bizarrely chested the ball against his own post from a Longridge delivery in the dying embers, it was evidently not going to be Dunfermline’s day.
Burgoyne smiled: “I think the man upstairs must have been working hard to make sure that ball didn’t go over the line!
“But that’s just the luck we needed. We’ve had a couple of results that were really bitter to take in the previous week and I think we showed our character to get such a massive result.”
The triumph saw Dunfermline climb off the foot of the table at the expense of Partick Thistle as the fight for survival in the Championship hurtles towards a thrilling finale.
Just four points separate the bottom five teams, with Alloa, Morton, Queen of the South, Falkirk and Thistle all fighting for their lives.
The Bairns host the Ton next week in what promises to be a powder-keg clash after Ray McKinnon walked out on the Cappielow club to join Falkirk last August.
Grateful
And Burgoyne has called on their fans to roar McKinnon’s men to safety.
He added: “I really hope the supporters realise how much we appreciate that backing we got at Dunfermline.
“We are thankful and grateful – and they do have a massive part to play in hopefully keeping us in this league. Keep coming to the games and keep shouting as loud as you can; that’s all I ask.”
