Lewis Vaughan has revealed he felt the hand of fate before keeping his head to boot Raith Rovers into the Premiership play-off final.
The 28-year-old hammered in the decisive penalty in the shoot-out that moved the Stark’s Park side a step closer to promotion to the top-flight.
It was a dramatic end to three and a half hours of nervy and tense football in the semi-final against Partick Thistle after a 3-3 aggregate draw failed to separate the teams.
Vaughan has so often been Raith’s hero through his 13 seasons with the club and he gladly accepted the role to keep the club’s dreams on track.
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “I was speechless, it was all a bit much.
“All my life I’ve wanted to play in the Premiership and now we’ve given ourselves a chance to get there.
“We’re two games away and, for me, that’s the stuff of dreams.
“What was it like standing over the penalty? Not too nice, to be honest.
“There’s so much going on in your head, so much happening. There’s so much at stake.
“The one thing I knew was that I was never missing. I was so confident.
Vaughan: ‘I felt confident’
“When they missed the one before mine, I said to the boys that it was fate, it was almost meant to be.
“So as I was walking up, I tried not to be too cocky about it, but I felt confident.”
He added: “I was thinking their keeper had maybe watched my last couple of penalties, so I changed where this was one going.
“I went down the middle, hit it really well and, although he got a touch on it, to see it hit the roof of the net was some feeling.
“After that, the emotions that were released…well, it’s still hard to explain, to find the words for.
“It’s the biggest game in this club’s history in a long, long time.
“It meant so much to so many people and it was just amazing to help it go well.”
A testimonial match against boyhood heroes Hibernian, a nomination for players’ player of the year and goals galore, it has already been an impressive campaign for Vaughan.
Is there more to come for a player who has suffered the agonising lows of four career-threatening knee injuries.
“Touch wood, it’s been a season I couldn’t have dreamed of,” he added. “I’ve scored 19 goals, we’re in to the play-off final and looking forward to one last big push.
“For it to lead up to a moment like the one on Friday night, scoring the winning penalty, is hard to get my head round.
Vaughan: ‘It’s not done yet’
“Like I say, it’s almost as if it was meant to be.
“It’s been an unbelievable season for the club and for me, personally.
“But it’s not done yet.
“Whoever it is on Thursday, we’ll take them on. The fans will be back packing the place out and getting right behind us again.
“I was two [years old] when Rovers were last in the top division. Imagine this team getting us back there…unbelievable, unbelievable.”
