Jilted by Lady Luck but dreams can soon become reality for plucky Gretna

Lawrence Donegan at Hampden Park
Monday May 15, 2006
The Guardian

Steven Pressley emerged from the bowels of Hampden on Saturday night barely able to carry the Scottish Cup trophy his Hearts side had just wrestled from Gretna after a penalty shoot-out. Bedraggled rather than energised, relieved rather than triumphant, the captain looked as though he had endured a near-death experience. He was not alone.

For the Hearts fans who had arrived in Glasgow expecting a rout, there had been the shock of watching their team struggle to hold the Scottish Second Division champions to a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes before four well taken penalties, coupled with misses by Gretna's Derek Townsley and Gavin Skelton, ended the agony.

For the black-and-white Gretna hordes who had come merely wanting to avoid a major embarrassment, there was the terrible realisation that fate can be cruel even to the most charming of underdogs. "There were two winners out there today," Gretna's ponytailed, animal-loving, ticket-selling multimillionaire owner Brooks Mileson said afterwards.

After Rudi Skacel opened the scoring in the 39th minute, Hearts played as if victory was an entitlement rather than a reward. How wrong they were. Rowan Alexander's Gretna squad might be limited but on the day his players stretched those limits to the maximum, chasing and harrying technically superior opponents to within one goal-saving tackle of an improbable victory.

With Gretna's David Graham ready to tap in from four yards after 65 minutes, Hearts' Robbie Neilson's interception not only maintained the 1-0 advantage but helped prevent the momentum continuing its swing towards the underdogs. Gretna did equalise after 76 minutes when Ryan McGuffie scored from the rebound after Craig Gordon saved his penalty but 12 minutes was not enough for a second goal, even against opponents who were utterly spent.

There was no shortage of excuses for Hearts' performance, ranging from bad luck - they twice hit the post - to the inadequacies of the referee, who denied them a penalty when Skacel tripped over Gretna's goalkeeper Alan Main, to the effects of a long season spent chasing a Champions League spot.

"We should have scored seven," said Hearts' temporary coach Valdas Ivanauskas. "I said to the players at half-time we were going to give ourselves a problem by not scoring a second. The players put a lot of effort into finishing second in the league and maybe you saw the effects out on the pitch."

Whether Ivanauskas will be around when Hearts begin their Champions League campaign this summer is an open question. "I'm going on holiday. I don't know what the future holds," he said. If the Lithuanian stays at the club for next season he might want to have a word with his talismanic midfielder Paul Hartley, who capped a very subdued performance here by being sent off in the final minute of extra-time.

Gretna have their own European ambitions. They will play in next season's Uefa Cup as well as the Scottish First Division and, given the depth of Mileson's pockets and the self-belief of his players, it is safe to assume dreams will become reality sooner rather than later.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer