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I didn’t celebrate huge goal which knocked Rangers out of Scottish Cup but my own brother still blanked me afterwards
There was also an awkward moment for his parents - who were watching the match at a Rangers supporters club
COLIN MILLER scored a rare goal against his Rangers heroes in the Scottish Cup - and got stick from his teammates for not celebrating it.
But worse was to follow when his own BROTHER snubbed him after he'd helped knock Gers out of the Scottish Cup.
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Miller, who had had two seasons as a Gers player, had moved on to Hearts when they faced the Ibrox side in the 1995 Scottish Cup fourth round.
He fired in a free-kick to start them on the way to a 4-2 win.
Miller, 60, said: "When I scored I just sort of jogged back to my position, and I can remember guys like John Robertson and John Colquhoun giving me a stick because of my lack of celebration.
"But they all knew how I felt - and still feel 30 years later - about Rangers.
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"It was nothing against Hearts, because I was proud to play for a prestigious club.
"But I was a Rangers man and I couldn't really celebrate scoring against them, even if I didn't score all that many goals in my career.
"After the game I went up to the players' lounge at Tynecastle and my brother Dal and his wife Jackie came over.
"He shook my hand, but it was one of those ones where he looked the opposite way as he did it!
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"I was actually looking at the Rangers team that played that night and what a team they had out. None of the current team would have got on that team bus.
"Any time you played the Old Firm and beat them it was a wonderful night for our supporters.
"There's still footage of the game on the internet. I can remember my goal. At the time the vogue was for defensive walls to jump at free-kicks, and I had an inkling Rangers would do that, so I concentrated on keeping my shot as low and hard as I could.
"There wasn't any of the 'draught excluder' teams have now, with someone lying on the ground behind the wall.
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"Fortunately they all jumped and it went underneath and went in at Ally Maxwell's post.
"The other funny thing was that my mum and dad watched the game in the Rangers' Supporters Club in Vancouver and when it went in my mum jumped up cheering - and was the only one clapping her hands. My dad had to quietly pull her back down.
"Probably because I didn't score many goals, if I bump into a Hearts supporter, they seem to remember that one.
"The only other one I scored for the Jambos was against Motherwell at Fir Park.
"It was a real privilege to play for Hearts at that time because I had some good team-mates who were really top players.
"There was Craig Levein and John Robertson of course. And Jim Bett was there at the time. Gary Mackay was Mr Hearts. It was a really good group."
However beating champions Rangers wasn't enough to get Hearts to Hampden for the final.
Miller added: "We beat Dundee United in the next round then drew Airdrie in the semi-finals.
"But they beat us 1-0 and went through to face Celtic in the final, which was such a disappointment for the supporters."
Miller - now Technical Lead for Abbotsford Soccer Association near Vancouver - will be up early tomorrow to watch the game.
But he admits it's been hard watching Gers this season.
He said: "This is as low as I've been as a Rangers supporter, and that's saying a lot.
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"Surely there will be a reaction from the Queen's Park result - and that's with the greatest respect to them. It's a 4am kick-off here, but I'll be up to watch."
HEARTS: Nelson, Frail, Levein, McPherson, Miller (Colquhoun 70), Hamilton, Mackay, Bett, Millar, Robertson, Hagen (Thomas 82). RANGERS: Maxwell, McLaren, Moore, Gough, Robertson (Durrant 82), Steven, Cleland (Brown 86), McCall, Miller, Laudrup, Durie.
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page