THEY called it living the dream. The trouble with dreams is eventually you must wake up and get to grips with reality.

Presumably everyone in Gretna except teetotal owner Brooks Mileson woke up with sore heads today after drowning their sorrows as the incredible fairytale fell just short of happy ever after.

The dream turned into a penalty shoot-out heartache that will give fall guys Derek Townsley and Gavin Skelton nightmares for years.

But every Gretna player should feel proud of what they achieved yesterday. No-one gave them a hope - hell they probably secretly didn't believe it themselves.

But for 120 unforgettable minutes this tiny Second Division club gave Hearts the fright of their lives.

It's the kind of rags-to-riches story that usually only happens when your body nods off and your imagination comes out to play.

Hey, I've had dreams of being an FBI agent recruited to infiltrate a state of the art submarine base that were less fanciful than a Second Division side going all the way to the cup final and booking their place in Europe.

That they would then face a team bankrolled by a former Russian sub officer only made it more surreal.

Especially as Vladimir Romanov had invited the K-19 naval officers who saved the world from a possible nuclear holocaust after an accident on their sub.

Gazing across to see these guys in their uniforms made you wonder if we'd all been having too much of their country's finest vodka - but they still weren't the strangest outfits on show yesterday.

The dream unfolded in glorious Technicolour enhanced by the sunshine that traditionally falls on final day. The

vibrant Hampden crowd lapped up the occasion for all its worth.

So much for the cynics who claimed the only colour at the final would be the colour of money with both teams the benefactors of their own sugar daddy.

Look around at the Hearts punters who regressed to teenagers to dress up as Elvis, the Gretna kids with their jester hats, painted faces and open mouths looking in awe at the biggest event they'd seen - and possibly ever will.

Scenes like that are not about money. On occcasions like this the cynical side of football's big business is put aside.

No-one should grudge these fans an experience they will never forget.

Gretna's players seemed to lap it up too. Few had given them a chance and you couldn't help notice a contrast between the sides before kick-off.

Having emerged to a huge ovation the Gretna boys lined up smiling and waving to friends and family, loving it.

But you could sense the quiet menacing focus of the Jambos players standing like a row of nightclub bouncers, stony-faced and staring dead ahead.

They didn't look set for an off-day and so it seemed in the first half as they dominated quietly and efficiently despite a spirited Gretna display.

Hearts appeared a cut above in their passing, movement, fitness. The whole package.

But you must get the goals to really look good and the fact is Hearts botched it big time when the big questions were asked.

Paul Hartley had clearly left his shooting boots on the bus, most glaringly when he went clear on goal only for his first touch to let him down.

When Rudi Skacel finally made the breakthrough seven minutes from the break it seemed reality had bitten- but that's the thing with dreams.

The twist always comes when you least expect it.

It looked as if Gretna had missed their chance when long rangers by Skelton and Stevie Tosh fizzed agonisingly over, then there was a superb saving tackle by Robbie Neilson to deny James Grady.

But there's something about this incredible club and their unbelievable season that you could never rule them out.

And Ryan McGuffie's fairytale leveller from the spot will go down in Borders folklore.

Boss Rowan Alexander, dressed like Harry Lauder in full Highland regalia, gestured to whip up the Gretna crowd as he returned to his dugout for the start of extra time.

But most of the 51,232 souls at Hampden could offer nothing more than a nervous hush.

The gods it seemed were with Gretna - and ref Dougie McDonald certainly was with his decision not to award Hearts a penalty when Alan Main clearly fouled Skacel to deny a certain winner.

Justice was done in the penalty shootout but it was so rough on poor Townsley and Skelton.

No-one wants to lose a cup final in such a cruel manner.

If Hearts are honest they'll admit they didn't want to make such heavy work of it either.

Taken from the Sunday Mail