GREETNA

ALAN MAIN last night revealed his waterworks were in full flow long before his tearful embrace with Brooks Mileson at the end of an emotional Scottish Cup Final.

Fifteen years on from his previous Hampden final with Dundee United, the veteran goalkeeper turned back the clock with a vintage display against Hearts.

It was a highly-charged afternoon for the 38-year-old, who broke down in tears as he got ready for the penalty shoot-out.

Beaming with pride, and rightly so, at his near-faultless performance during 120 pulsating and nerve-shredding minutes, Main glanced up to the players' box for further inspiration.

Main caught the eye of his mum, wife Ann Marie and three sons Nicholas, Josh and Kristofer and suddenly it was all too much for him.

It was a moment the big keeper admits he will never forget and one which convinced him that there would be no losers in this season's final, regardless of the outcome.

He said: "At the final whistle Brooks said to me I was fantastic. He told me I was man of the match and had been fantastic all season.

"I had a tear in my eye when he was speaking to me although I also had a tear in my eye going up to face the penalties after looking up to the stand where my mum and family were.

"It's a moment I will probably never ever forget. Hopefully, we can do it again but I don't know.

"It was just great to be part of such a wonderful occasion. The population of Gretna is 3000 and we've brought 12,000 to Hampden. Among them was abus from Lossiemouth, my home town, with my brothers, my wife and my three kids. It was just fantastic."

Back in 1991 Main also ended up with a loser's medal as Motherwell beat Dundee United 4-3 in one of the most exciting finals in recent memory.

The pain of that loss still hurts but second time around the elder statesman of the Gretna side is far more philosophical about a defeat he reckons almost felt like a victory.

He said: "The last time with Dundee United we expected to win the game. This time people were expecting us to get thumped.

"I think we came out with a lot of credit. In the second half we were the better team and I don't think we will get abetter chance to win the cup.

"I think every player in the dressing room is a winner. Yes, we are disappointed we didn't win, but it's gone to penalties and we've pushed a very good Premier League team to the very limit.

"With the chances we created in the second half we maybe even deserved to win it.

"It was still a really enjoyable day and great that all my family were here to see me.

"Even the Hearts fans gave us a tremendous reception at the end of the game. It was unbelievable.

"I think I handled the ball well and you want to do well when your playing in front of a huge crowd and a big television audience.

"I think Hearts' only danger came from freekicks around the box and their long throws.

There's no doubt Main kept Gretna in the contest in the early stages with a string of top-class stops, but unfortunately his pre-match strategy for a penalty shoot-out didn't quite yield the same results - with Hearts scoring every one of their four spot kicks.

Main said: "We talked about it beforehand and decided to go the same way for every one in the hope I might stop one of them.

"If I had gone to the other side, I might have saved Neilson's - but the others were very good."

As the majority of his team-mates geared up for a few well-earned drinks at Gretna's end-of-season party on Saturday night, Main's thoughts drifted back to his family.

He added: "I'll be taking it quite easy because I need to be at Ibrox on the Sunday. My son Nicholas plays for Rangers Under-13s and it's his last game of the season against Ross County."

Taken from the Daily Record