David van Zanten is struggling to take in League Cup success
Mar 17 2013
By Paul Behan
SAINTS ace David van Zanten last night admitted he was struggling to take in yesterday's sensational 3-2 win over Hearts in the Scottish Communities League Cup Final.
The Irishman can't believe Danny Lennon's side are the 2012/13 League Cup champions after goals from Esmael Goncalves, Steven Thompson and Conor Newton at Hampden.
Van Zanten spoke moments after his side's stunning victory on Sunday- and revealed that the result simply hasn't sunk in yet.
He said: "It hasn't really sunk in yet. It's pretty emotional.
"Being at the club as long as I have, I do have that attachment with the club and fans. It's a wonderful feeling."
Van Zanten knows what yesterday's historic result means to the people of Paisley and Renfrewshire.
He said: "I live in Renfrewshire and when I stepped out my door this morning, my neighbour across the road was decorating his house head to toe in St Mirren stuff.
"It was right in our face- ever since we beat Celtic in the semi-final, which seems like an eternity since that game.
"This Final is all we've waited for and all we've been looking for.
"All we've been looking forward to is this game.
"There were plenty of games in between but at the back of our minds was this game."
Ryan Stevenson opened the scoring for Hearts but Esmael Goncalves levelled matters after 37 minutes.Steven Thompson fired Saints in front seconds after the restart, before Conor Newton extended the lead after 66 minutes.
Stevenson made it 3-2 with five minutes remaining but Saints held out to win the League Cup for the first time in their 136-year history.
'Vanzy' admitted, though, that manager Danny Lennon was far from happy with his side's first half performance.
He said: "He had his say and he wasn't happy with how the first half went- and rightly so.
"We hadn't started. Midway through the half and he pulled me over and told me to relay that to the rest of the boys.
"And he was 100 per cent spot on.
"Hearts were unfortunate that they did not grab another goal when they were 1-0 up.
"But we rode our luck a little bit and at half-time he changed things.
"The manager had his say and so did Tommy Craig and we went out and followed their instructions and we got our just rewards."
