Bolton thrilled with penalty heroics

Clint Bolton says he loves the big moments after his late penalty save earned Melbourne Heart a point against Brisbane Roar on Friday.

John van ‘t Schip’s men improved in the second half and Curtis Good’s equaliser helped them secure a 1-1 draw in the A-League clash at Suncorp Stadium.

But when Roar striker Besart Berisha was brought down in the area by a sloppy Simon Colosimo challenge in additional time, it looked certain Heart would be going home without a point.

Bolton had been a standout from the outset and had the form and fortune to spoil the Roar’s party, palming away Mohamed Adnan’s spot-kick to rescue a draw.

“We’ve worked hard to get in position – we had a really good chance to go up 2-1 through Eli (Babalj) – so it just felt like we’d just thrown it away,” Bolton said.

“But then you just refocus … your head gets back to business and you start figuring, ‘how do I get into his head’ and figuring the best way to approach the pen.”

“It’s the big occasion and it’s on his back, the pressure is on him, I just have to do my best to get a hand on it and if I don’t, nobody remembers that. I love the big occasion, I love the big moment and that felt like a finals type atmosphere in that final 10 minutes.”

Heart coach van ‘t Schip commended his troops for a sterling effort against the side that he still regards as the best in the A-League and favourites for the championship.

Mitch Nichols gave the hosts a 33rd-minute lead and, having improved after a lacklustre first half-hour, Dutchman van ‘t Schip said his side’s performance was a step in the right direction.

“I think it was an intensive game, both sides creating chances, a very open game. We started a bit low and had some problems managing to close it down at times, but I think after the goal we started getting more into the way we wanted to do it,” he said.

“We started very well in the second half, created chances like we did also in the first half, and they played their game and created their chances as well.”

“I think if you take (the penalty save) away, it was a very deserved draw with maybe even more in it for us looking at the second half and the chances we had.”

“We’re very happy with the way we performed and we’ll take it with us into the next game.”