Thank christ for that!
So here is an account of the proceedings.
Organisation at Tynecastle was typically woeful so i had no idea when tickets for buses went on sale, ended up not getting any and had to drive through.
Being a Jambo and not much of a Scotland fan i don't tend to visit the national stadium much, so needed to get directions from http://www.multimap.com/. Have you ever had directions from here and followed them and not got lost? We got lost.
Took exit 15 off the M8, nearly wrote off the car cutting someone up to make the exit. Directions were to turn left onto Castle St, which we did and which took us east all the way to Parkhead. Should have turned right onto Castle St - gmmph. Still plenty off time so when we doubled back and drove through the centre of Glasgow it was not too much of a worry that only 2 cars were getting through any set of lights before they turned red again.
Uncle Kenny had booked a bus and they were camped out in a club about a mile South west of Hampden. We were told we could park there and they were out on the street looking for us long before we were south of the Clyde. On the phone my brother describes the car as "kind of teal green", i just about batted him in the face, for the record the official colour of the car is "Tornado Grey" it is under no circumstances any shade of bloody green, right!
Passed Hampden and headed south looking for the club, amazed Gerry seen us on the road and called us over, just as well because there is no way we would have found the place otherwise. So we are in the club and it's about 1pm. I am now reminded of the run up to the cup final in 98 - i was working in Glasgow at the time and took the train through to meet up with a few guys i was working with, blue noses to a man. Good time in the pub tho and i remember drinking 5 pints of Stella in an hour before heading off to walk to Parkhead - they offered me a lift on their mini bus but i couldn't quite handle that. So this time it is different i have the car so can't indulge - everyone else is tho and they are having a ball - big time singing like the game was already won.
Heard a few magic new ones, my favourite being (yellow submarine)
"Tony Mowbrays got a f&*k$%g monkeys heed" followed by the glorious response of
"Some poor monkeys got Tony Mowbrays heed"
Weather is kind to us as we set off for the game, passed a couple of pretty much bladdered gents one of whom is repeatedly apologising for swearing then promptly f'n n blinding - "oops there i go f'n swearin again, sorry folks". I start talking to him and he tells me that he has come all the way up from Norwich, he is really happy and proud of this and even more chuffed with the fact that it cost him £72. Not sure what he thought of things when i said "really, he's came over from Toronto for the game". Brought a smile to my face tho, not that it took much - here we were walking towards undoubted and obvious triumph and history. Back in the club talking to Colin he is totally convinced that "they are a bunch of amatuers and we will win 4 - 0". I was never that confident but i had predicted a 3 - 1 win for the good guys.
Get into Hampden and find our seats with about 1/2 hour to go, there is a lot of excitement and noise the stadium is already 3/4 full, not quite the heady heights of the semi final pre-match shenanigans tho. Don't think that could be beat. Unlike the semi final Hampden is packed to the rafters, when all is said and done i figure there must have been close on 40,000 Jambos.
So to the game, Hearts line up with what has become the standard first team squad over the past few weeks, with Aguair in for Brellier and Tall in front of both Webster and Berra. Maybe a slight surprise that Skacel is starting the game, but he is there nonetheless. Cesnauskis on the opposite wing and Jankauskas and Bednar up front. Hartley in the middle, Pressley, Fyassas and Neilson making up the rest of the back four and ofcourse Craig Gordon in goal - thats about as good as it gets i think and settle down for a comfortable 90 minutes march to lift the famous Scottish Cup. Paid no attention to Gretna's line up really?
Hearts start the game in avalanche mode and pound Gretna into what would have been submission but for a few of minor points -
This was the cup final so strange things can happen
Gretna are out of it everywhere apart from their defence which is pretty organised and solid
Bit of back luck in front of goal
Bit of decent goalkeeping from Alan Main
Bit of a lackadazical approach in front of goal
A few really good opportunities had gone abegging, Hartley miss controlled when he was right through, and Cesnuaskis had a shot hit the wood work, probably the two of note.
After 20 minutes of this the score is still 0 - 0 and Hearts could have been 2 or 3 up, obviously the game would have been totally different if that were the case. This started the seed of doubt in my head and evidently in the Hearts collective too. That seed germinated when Craig Gordon farted about with a pass back, ended up being closed down, messed up the kick resulting in a corner. I think Gretna's first attack. I received a text that simply said "OMG" - this was a theme that rattled around my head for quite a while!
At the 28 minute mark with the game looking delicately poised and still 0 - 0 i turn to Jason and say " thats Gretna lasted longer than Hibs then".
They didn't last too much longer tho, the ball came in from the right to the front post, was knocked to the back where Skacel was waiting - Skacel after his blinding start to the season had not scored since February, been in and out of the team and you could even argue maybe suffered a bit of a crisis in confidence. For this one split second it was just like the first few games, he just got the head down and took it perfectly on the half volley to send the ball into the far corner. A few weeks back i said that he might still have a big bearing on this season and that was it. Whatever Skacel does in the summer, i am delighted for him getting that one, he definitely deserves it.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club 1
Gretna Football Club 0
And for a while anyroads all is well with the world, the script has been read by all the participants and everyone is playing their part.
Not too much to write home about for the rest of the half, but. I have said about this Hearts team that "if we are not 2 - 0 up at half time then i am worried", never thought for a second that this one would adhere to that rule.
The second half starts and gretna have torn up the script, not exactly throwing caution to the wind but they have certainly stepped up in midfield and started to be counted - From this point on until a header by Pressley with a couple of minutes to go, i don't think Hearts won a single 50 - 50 inside the centre circle.
Gretna are pressing the game but Hearts are still making chances mostly down the channels, we are more or less missing out midfield, we just sort of handed it to them. Totally bizarre state of affairs i am thinking and the words "Champions League, your having a laugh" swill around my head. We could have and really we should have finished this team off, the main reason for failing in this was -
Bit of a lackadazical approach in front of goal
The two most notable examples of this were
Bednar straight through on goal, the keeper well of his line, perfect to be lobbed. Bednar lent back and chipped the ball 2 yards over the bar.
Fyassas makes it to the byline on the left and cuts back to Hartley 8 yards out with no one near him. This was a guilt edged chance to put this game beyond Gretna and make all our lives comfortable. Hartley lent back and chipped the ball 2 yards over the bar. He really should have melted that one into the net!
Gretna had a fantastic chance, they were right through on goal Gordon came out but was rounded, just as the forward is about to stroke the ball into the net, Robbie Neilson came out of nowhere with a world class challenge. This was the opposite side and we didn't even see Robbie he just seemed to come out of nowhere, to knock the ball behind. Not even a sniff of a foul, a fantastic challenge.
Not much later tho Gretna are pressing again, this time down the right, they manufacture a run into the box via a couple of neat passes. Cesnauskis does not have Robbies capabilities in these situations and clumsily bundles the Gretna boy to the ground - tiny bit soft but no option for the ref, had to be a penalty.
Craig Gordon saves but the rebound is netted - i have been told that it would have been retaken anyroads as Gordon moved before the ball was struck.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club 1
Gretna Football Club 1
The white rabbit tumbled down the whole and we all went tumbling after.
The seed that had germinated earlier in the game had surrupticiously turned into a giant tree and Gretna were reaping their fruit.
This has happened to Hearts on a number of occassions during this season, there are times when we just seem to lose our way. I don't want to take anything away from Gretna, i thought they were fantastic but this was Hearts lost in themselves. The rest of the second half i spent polarised between a fundemental need to win this game and abject fear that we could actually lose it. Once again no disrespect to Gretna whatsoever but i think that just about everything Hearts have acheived this season could have been wiped out if we did not dismiss this lesser team. "Chic had said - this would be the biggest shock in Scottish cup history". Gretna could have won it in normal time, then again so could Hearts, i hated the game, it was crap. I was not prepared for the level of slog required to get through the minutes and i could make no intelligent statement on what the game was like because i don't have a clue what it was like.
Full Time
Heart of Midlothian Football Club 1
Gretna Football Club 1
I noticed just like everyone else that in the break between full time and the start of extra time, the Hearts team were all lying down attempting to stave off cramp and the Gretna team were all jogging around, keeping warmed up. Thats another thing about this, surely it was Gretna who should have tired in this game - They never droppped a gear from about 1/2 hour in until the bitter end, like i said they were fantastic.
Extra time was much like the end of normal time, Gretna could have won it and so could Hearts. I still have no real grasp of how the game was played out, maybe Gretna maintained a better shape and discipline than we did but we have better players and that maybe gave us the advantage. I think that the tide gradually swung back in Hearts favour but we still couldn't put the ball in the back of the net and they seemed pretty comfortable to me. Apart from the moment when the ref just plain got it wrong, Skacel was through on Main, knocked the ball past him and got brought down. For me this was as much a penalty if not more than the Gretna case. Skacel has had a fair amount of abuse of late, some of it justified. Part of the abuse has been for diving, since then he has made a point of NOT diving, this time if he had stayed down i think he may well have got the penalty. Instead he got back up and tried to finish the chance, by then tho the defence had got back and the opportunity was gone. The ref stole that from us i thought, if main had not caught Skacel, he would have scored so thats a penalty. A few people talked about "Skacel ran into Main", but i don't buy that, there is no way he could have got out of the way and in any case why should he Main went straight through him.
The last thing of note in the game was - Hearts last attack Hartley got shepparded out to the sideline and was finally kicked to help him over it - a fould maybe a booking. Harley turns and has a stupid little kick back in retalliation. No chance he had to go, having already been booked for dissent after the Skacel penalty incident.
After extra time
Heart of Midlothian Football Club 1
Gretna Football Club 1
This winners of this years Scottish Cup would now be decided by penalties.
Gretna have already won the moral victory by a country mile and i have decended into abject despair, convinced that the gods were on the side of the under dog today.
Pressley
Neilson
Skacel
Pospicil
All scored very well taken penalties and Craig Gordon saved Gretnas 3rd and their fourth was sent off the bar and over.
Just as their third was about to be struck the bloke in front of us turned to Jason, who by this time was in a worse mental state than me and said "don't worry, this is the one they miss" He was right and thank christ for that!
After Penalties
Heart of Midlothian Football Club 1 penalties 4
Gretna Football Club 1 penalties 2
I have to say i was not in heaven, i was obviously very happy when the ball struck the bar and went over and Hearts had finally managed to negotiate the game and come out the winners but it didn't really feel right, somehow it was diminished because we had made such heavy weather of it. That feeleing lasted until about 9:30 that evening.
I was so out of it that i was watching the Gretna team pass the Hearts support in the North stand when the cup was being held aloft on the plynth they had set up on the park. Brookes Mileson has said alot about the reception they got from the Hearts support during that lap of honour and every bit of it is true. they deserve huge credit for their performance. If i was to some it up i would say - "they got under our skin" a few teams but only a few have managed it this season and they definitely did. They made us work harder than a lot of premier league teams.
Diggers
We arrived in Diggers at 8 and started the party, met up with a few friends, guys that i have watched a lot of cup finals with in the past. Thankyou to them for coming over to Jambo land, it must have been tough - as Jonny Crisp said "We have a Tim, a Hibee and an athiest in Diggers the night Hearts bring the cup back to Gorgie". Special thanks to Fraser the Hibee, a sterling effort mate, can't imagine going down Easter Rd to help you celebrate Hibs winning the cup, then again there ain't much danger of that now is there.
Great old party ofcourse, favourite song of the evening ( now you gonna believe us )
The Hearts are having a party
The Hearts are having a party
The Hearts are having a pa-a-arty
The Hibs are in their beds
A word for Brookes Mileson, there was a rendition of "Theres only one Brookes Mileson, One Broo-ookes Mileson etc etc" around 11 ish in Diggers. Well done mate it is not many owners of opposing football teams who get that kind of overture.
So thats it, by a couple of beers in it started to sink in and i was getting happier and happier and by 9:30 i was delighted -
To get there we beat 3 top six premier league teams and we beat them 9 - 1 and you get the cup for all the games, and we got it for a lot of things and most of all we got it for hammering Hibs 4 - 0 in the semi final and that is just fantastic. I have now seen Hearts win the cup twice and not so long ago i had resigned myself to never seeing it. And more here is a picture of me holding the cup
( for any Hibees out there who may find themselves on this site, the Scottish Cup is the big silver thing in the middle )
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