Former Hibs striker Ross Caldwell ‘had it all at his feet’ as he recalls 90th minute derby winner at Tynecastle seven years ago today

Seven years ago today, a 19-year-old striker making only his second senior appearance wrote his name into the Hibs history books with a 90th minute derby winner at Tynecastle.

Ross Caldwell took to Twitter this afternoon, sharing the video clip of his memorable strike and stating: "What an idiot that boy, had it all at his feet and where is he now."

The answer is Blantyre Victoria, who were recently declared joint-winners of the McBookie West Region Championship alongside Darvel after the campaign was cut short due to coronavirus.

Despite bursting onto the scene, Caldwell failed to make it at Easter Road and after his release in 2014, his route to the juniors came via St Mirren, Morton, Ayr United, Cowdenbeath, Brechin City and East Kilbride.

Now 26, and having endured a difficult slide down the leagues, Caldwell is clearly back enjoying his football, having struck 25 goals and 25 assists in 72 appearances since joining the Vics in September 2017.

But he still cherishes memories of the day he curled a last-minute effort beyond Jamie MacDonald to secure a dramatic 2-1 victory for Pat Fenlon’s side after Leigh Griffiths’ free-kick had cancelled out Darren Barr’s opener for Gary Locke’s Hearts team in a bottom-six Premiership showdown on May 12, 2013.

In an interview with the Evening News in 2017, Caldwell recalled: “It all just seemed to happen so quickly.

"When the ball hit the net, I was in shock. It all seemed to go still for a second and then the stadium just erupted. It took a few seconds just to register what had actually happened and how big an occasion it was because it was the first time I’d ever made such a big impact in such a big match.

"I’ve not watched it back for a wee while, but still to this day I get people occasionally bringing it up and talking about how important a goal it was. The fans really seemed to appreciate it.”

Unfortunately for Caldwell, that was as good as it got for him at Hibs. Although he appeared in four derbies – two wins, a draw and a defeat – as well as the 2013 Scottish Cup final defeat by Celtic and the 2-0 Europa League defeat away to Malmo a couple of months later, the academy graduate was released following the club’s relegation in summer 2014.

In total, he accumulated 27 appearances – three from the start – and two goals for Hibs.

“That goal against Hearts is the highlight of my career,” said Caldwell.

“It was just such an incredible moment. I’ve never done anything to surpass that moment, and I doubt I ever will. I scored the week before [in a 3-3 draw with St Mirren] and then I scored at Tynecastle, so I was hoping that would be the start of a run and I could kick on from there.

"The only problem was that those goals came near the end of the season so after that we broke up for the summer, and I just couldn’t seem to pick up where I’d left off.”