Hearts 1
Skacel (39)

Gretna 1
McGuffie (75)

Hearts win 4-2 on penalties
REACH for the thesaurus and look up 'drama' and every last word you find will be needed to do justice to this heart-stopping occasion. This was a glorious Cup final, all the more memorable for the fact that nobody, but nobody, expected Gretna to put up such a stirring performance or to inflict in Hearts a self-doubt that almost paralysed them.

In the end, victory came by way of a penalty shoot-out, with Derek Townsley and ultimately Gavin Skelton missing the vital kicks for Gretna. Hearts won but how can we call Gretna the losers after all they gave? No, there would be no justice in that. Nobody will forget what they did here yesterday.

We saw an epic, a final that went on and on after Rudi Skacel's first-half goal was cancelled out by Ryan McGuffie's rebound off his missed penalty in the 75th minute. Thunder followed in the remaining moments of normal time and it didn't let up when we went into extra time. Hearts had looked a beaten side at the end of 90 minutes, their spirit seemingly broken by an inspired Gretna fightback.

But in extra time, Hearts found themselves again. Or at least they found a version of themselves. In their desperate pursuit of a winner, Skacel had a free-kick deflected just wide, Edgaras Jankauskas missed a total sitter of a header before Skacel fired against a post. In the 116th minute, Skacel, the thrill-seeker, darted away on his own with only the excellent Alan Main to beat. He pushed the ball past the goalkeeper, stupidly ran into him, stumbled and never recovered his ground. Hearts screamed for a penalty that was not given.

In the maelstrom, Takis Fyssas was booked for jostling referee Dougie McDonald. Minutes later, Paul Hartley was booked. With only seconds to go, Hartley retaliated after a foul by Townsley and was sent off. We went to penalties without him. Mercifully for him, his team came through it.

What unimaginable goings-on we witnessed. It requires a deep breath to recap it all. A deep breath and a stiff drink. Hearts scored first, in the 39th minute, but by rights the day should have been done and dusted by then. After a little over 60 seconds, Hartley did Townsley on the right and squared beautifully for Roman Bednar, only for the striker to react a fraction too slowly. Not long after that Deividas Cesnauskis hit Main's right-hand post and then Skacel, Jankauskas and Bednar all missed decent chances. That takes care of the first 20 minutes.

There was little change in the second 20. Opportunities fell at the feet of a succession of Hearts men with remarkable regularity and each time they were spurned. Hartley messed up when he was put through by Skacel in the 25th minute, his heavy touch pushing the ball back to Main. Hartley threw his eyes to the heavens and clenched his hands into fists. It was an infuriating moment for a man who normally devours chances like that.

Lord knows what Gretna's psychology was at that stage. Realistically, Hearts should have been three goals to the good and but for a snappy free-kick from Skelton and a couple of uncharacteristic fumbles from Craig Gordon, Gretna hadn't done a whole pile going forward. They were under the cosh but they were level.

If they'd hung on until half-time then Rowan Alexander would, no doubt, have accentuated the positive but we thought Skacel destroyed all that when he scored. For Gretna, it was a goal of head-wrecking simplicity; a throw-in from the right from Robbie Neilson carried all the way into the penalty area where Chris Innes and Jankauskas rose to compete for it. Innes got a touch but it was a disastrous one, taking the ball into Skacel's path at the back post. The midfielder's driven finish was the first emphatic blow of the final.

He's a little enigma, Skacel. Some say he's nothing more than a pup, a petulant and arrogant presence in the Hearts team. Others adore him and the things he can do on the football field. It's possible to hold both views at the same time as Vladimir Romanov probably did when the goal went in. Pride and delight one minute, fury the next. When he scored, Skacel ripped off his shirt to reveal what can only be interpreted a farewell message to the club. "Thanks Jambos," it said on his t-shirt. "I'll never forget." Skacel was booked. Vlad won't be so lenient when he catches up with him.

The goal changed things but not in the way we imagined. Gretna grew in stature the minute they came out for the second half and what a heroic shift they put in. Man for man they were immense. Reborn. Superior to their more illustrious opponents. Within four minutes of the restart Steve Tosh had frightened the daylights out the previously untroubled Hearts defence when lashing a shot just past Gordon's post. The goalkeeper reacted to the torpor in front of him. He blasted his defenders. He would have cause to do so again not long after.

Though Bednar had a reasonable chance to make it two for Hearts the momentum was now all Gretna's. Thrillingly so. They came pouring through midfield and Hartley and Bruno Aguiar were powerless to stop them. They broke through in the 67th minute and what compelling drama there was in that moment. David Graham was played in through a chasm in the Hearts defence. Graham, a substitute, found himself all alone with only Gordon to beat. When he took it round the goalkeeper the Gretna fans steeled themselves for the most euphoric moment in their history but Neilson, appearing out of nowhere, denied them. In a sensational piece of precise defending under pressure, the full-back got his body between the would-be goalscorer and the ball and cleared the danger.

Still Hearts retreated nervously in the face of the underdogs. Just after Graham almost drew them level, Kenny Deuchar had a fine chance which he put wide. Panicked now, Hearts rang the changes, Michal Pospisil coming on for the joyless Bednar, with Julien Brellier replacing Aguiar. The message from Valdas Ivanauskas was clear: "What we have, we hold". They couldn't do it. In the 75th minute the pockets of Hampden bedecked in Gretna white erupted when the equaliser came. Cesnauskis bundled over John O'Neil in the box and Dougie McDonald did what he had to do and gave the penalty.

The responsibility now fell to McGuffie. In one of those delicious moments when despair meets delirium in the same breath, McGuffie had his first effort saved by Gordon and scored with his second.

We had 15 minutes left to play and a world of opportunities were squeezed into them. Skacel went agonisingly close and so did Hartley. At the other end, McGuffie was denied by Gordon and Innes was inches away a minute later. We went to extra time and a stunning conclusion.

Taken from the Scotsman