I WAS TV STAR FOR ARABS IN THE 1994 CUP FINAL

GRETNA striker Kenny Deuchar has revealed how he featured in a Scottish Cup Final win for Dundee United when he was still at school.

Now he wants to grab centre stage for real with a couple of team-mates he used to idolise from the terraces at Tannadice.

Deuchar had never progressed beyond the third round of the Cup in his career before Rowan Alexander's shocktroops set off on this season's marvellous adventure with a 6-2 win over Preston Athletic in November.

Eight games later they have won the chance to face Hearts in the Final at Hampden next Saturday and take a memorable campaign even deeper into wonderland territory.

Deuchar, who is a doctor, will chart the build-up from the Gretna camp for Record Sport all next week in his Cup Final diary.

But in a sneak preview he told how as a 13-year-old he was caught on camera as Maurice Malpas lifted the famous old trophy after United's 1-0 victory over Rangers in 1994. The Doc said: "I was captured in the background waving my Dundee United scarf in the Main Stand as Maurice was presented with the Cup for United 12 years ago.

"My mate's dad got us tickets for the game late in the day and we basically had an hour to get to Hampden, which we made with minutes to spare after running all the way from Mount Florida railway station.

"However, there was only one problem - the tickets were for the Rangers end of the Main Stand so there was nothing else for it but to tuck my United scarf inside my jacket and not say a word.

"Amazingly, when I got to my seat the guy next to me was also a United fan trying to hide his allegiance but the Rangers fans around us quickly clocked on.

"To be fair, they couldn't have been nicer and said we deserved our win.

"And by the time Maurice went up to lift the trophy we had almost all that side of the Main Stand to ourselves as most Rangers fans had already left the ground.

"That's why we could move along closer than usual to Maurice when he was presented with the Cup and how I can still point to the wee kid in the background whenever it's shown on television and say, 'That's me'."

Craig Brewster's first-half goal handed United their first win in the Scottish Cup Final in seven attempts stretching back to the early Seventies.

Deuchar was also present at Hampden three years earlier when his boyhood favourites, with current Gretna stars John O'Neil and Alan Main in the line-up, went down 4-3 to Motherwell in one of the greatest finals ever played.

He said: "Again, I was in the old Main Stand, level with the 18-yard box, and the atmosphere was absolutely brilliant.

"I was always confident we would get the equaliser towards the end of normal time and it duly arrived when Alan's kick-out was chased by Darren Jackson and he nodded it past Ally Maxwell to make it 3-3.

"However, at 4-3 behind in extra time I knew deep down there was no way back and I was absolutely devastated when we lost.

"It's amazing to think two United players, Alan and John, are teammates now and, whisper it, John was also my favourite United player at the time.

"The only reason was because I collected stickers which listed the player position and date of birth and he shared the same birthday as me-July 6.

"I told him that story a couple of weeks ago and, not surprisingly, he looked at me as if I was a little bit weird."

Deuchar, the former Falkirk and East Fife hitman who has scored 22 goals already this season, has been in fine fettle this week with his teammates at the club's pre-Cup Final base in the south of Spain.

The players arrived back in Scotland yesterday afternoon and the top scorer, who netted the crucial opener against Dundee in their 3-0 semi-final win, reckons his Hampden place is already in the bag.

But he is no complacent bighead - but an ace golfer in the good books of gaffer Rowan Alexander after partnering him to success on the beautifully-manicured courses around the Costa Del Sol this week.

Deuchar said: "I helped the gaffer see off the challenge of coaches Davie Irons and Derek Collins in a fourball so hopefully that's my place in the team against Hearts now secured.

"I also partnered Ryan McGuffie to a nailbiting win over James Grady and Gavin Skelton.

"We won the 17th to go a shot in front and then I held my nerve on the last to sink a putt that saw us halve the hole and win the bragging rights and five euros from the lads.

"It has been great to feel the sun on our backs for a few days and the break in Spain was a nice wee reward for the season so far.

"But from this point on we're knuckling down and focusing on the massive game against Hearts."

Gretna have already secured their place in the UEFA Cup next season, courtesy of the Jambos finishing second in the SPL.

The players, mindful of their underdog status, have hardly been feeling the pressure of playing in the Final anyway so having the European issue resolved before they even kick a ball at Hampden doesn't make a blind bit of difference.

Deuchar said: "My uncle was texting me with constant updates of the score from the Hearts game against Aberdeen on Wednesday and ended on the final whistle with the message, 'Look out your passport.'

"Honestly, the European issue is a bonus - getting to the Cup Final is the greatest prize, especially for someone such as me who had never been beyond the third round before the start of the season.

"Now we want to win the Cup and it's amazing the buzz that is going around about the game - even my patients at the hospital only want to talk football.

"It's amazing for everyone at the club to be in this position, especially the gaffer, backroom staff and Brooks Mileson.

"If you had told us at the start of the season we'd win the Second Division title, qualify for Europe and make the Scottish Cup Final we'd have laughed our heads off.

"But we're deadly serious about ending the season on an even greater high - and that means beating Hearts in the Final."

Taken from the Daily Record