PLUCKY WEE Gretna going from Northern League to the Scottish Cup final in just a decade is quite an achievement.
With big money backing they have clocked up successive third and second division titles and now will cap their football fairytale with a trip to Hampden Park after a 3-0 thumping of first division Dundee.
But while Gretna deservedly soak up the plaudits spare a thought for defeated Dundee's manager.... Alan Kernaghan.
Alan Kernaghan got a hard time at Boro. The fans had him pencilled in as scapegoat very early on and even at the peak of his powers - as captain, as an Eire international and as a £1.6m tranfer target - he was still being barracked by the Chickenrun.
The problem was he had peaked too early. A famous hat-trick at Blackburn marked him out as teenage goal machine but he gradually drifted back down the pitch and back down the pecking order to become a defensive substitute behind inspirational skipper Tony Mowbray and fledgling England man Gary Pallister.
By the time he matured and established himself as the main man it was too late, for many he was simply second best. He took on the mantle of boo-boy target and never really shook it off.
He tried to escape, fleeing on loan to Charlton where Lennie Lawrence saw his massive potential. Then Lennie came to Ayresome, brought him back and made him captain for a famous promotion season and an inaugural Premiership campaign but he was still getting stick.
It was become a recurring theme in his career. His four years at Manchester City coincided with the club's disastrous slide down the divisions and the fans picked up on the connection and mad ehis life at Maine Road hell.
Meanwhile, as a non-Catholic playing for the Republic of Ireland he was booed there too by sectarian elements of the crowd. No wonder he quit international football and fled to Scotland.
As a player at St Johnstone he captained a young side to promotion to the Premier League and on to a third placed finish that brought UEFA Cup football and a clash with Monaco. Then he moved into management with Clydebank and on to Dundee.
After an indifferent season he almost brought glory to the club with their first final for over 20 years. In the pre-match press conference he stated that getting there would be the biggest achievement in his career, which kind of puts mighty Boro's Wembley appearance in the ZDS Cup final in perspective.
For me Kerny represents a living link with 'old Boro', the club that bumped along awkwardly, restrained by the chains of history and weighed down a century of underachievement.
Despite his ambivilence to Boro - I can't recall a single positive quote from him in all the dramatic years since, and part of my job is to actively scavenge for such nuggets - he remains a key player at an crucial period in the club's spectacular ressurrection.
He was there in 1986 as a scrawny 16 year old playing for nothing. He was there through the Rioch rebirth. He was there at our first ever appearance at Wembley. He was there when we almost got there again, taking mighty Man U to extra time in the Rumbelows Cup semi-final. And he was there as Lennie's Lions made a decent fist of the first Premiership despite having Jon Gittens in the team.
That he lost denied us the chance to revel in second glory as one of our own battled it out for silverware.
Never mind though. Hibs play bitter Edinburgh rivals Hearts in the other semi-final today. Come On Mogga!
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