Heartbreak as Ross County Scottish Cup dreams are shattered by Dundee United

Published on Saturday 15 May 2010 20:30

IT JUST wasn't to be. Ross County's David and Goliath tale, which brought them from footballing obscurity to the Scottish Cup final did not, after all, get its fairytale ending.

And for the 20,000 Staggies supporters who travelled hundreds of miles yesterday to support their team, it was heartbreak and despair.

Outside the stadium, as winners Dundee United continued to celebrate on the pitch, Staggies fans sat in inconsolable huddles. Katie Malin, 18, was crying openly. "I'm just gutted," she said.

Her father Michael was more sanguine. "We were never in the game; Dundee were the better side."

Malin's friend Kayren Gill, 21, who is the girlfriend of County goalkeeper Michael McGovern, was also in tears. "We're still going to celebrate tonight," she said. "But I don't know how everyone's going to get over this."

Others were convinced the town of Dingwall would be just fine. "The Highlands will bounce back," said Louisa Fairley, who was there with her four-year-old son Reece and partner Martin.

As the last of the Staggies made their way back north, the feeling seemed to be that all of it – the stress, the worry, the street parties – was worth it. "It's all about the whole experience," said Sinclair MacIver, who left Dingwall with his wife at 4.30am yesterday.

One of the biggest mass movements of Highlanders since the 1745 rebellion began early yesterday as fans travelled with hope and expectation. After all, having beaten Celtic in the semi-final, anything was possible.

At 7.30am on Dingwall High Street, outside Deas Bakery, the smell of hope was thick in the air. For breakfast, fans could dine on Ross County doughnuts, Ross County cakes or Ross County gingerbread men in red, white and blue. "We've made so many, I'm sick of the sight of them," remarked one member of staff boxing up six more RCFC cakes.

"If you wanted your way with the women of Dingwall, this would be the day to do it," said one Staggie making his way through the town to the club's stadium, where 30 coaches were waiting to take 3,000 supporters on the four-and-a-half hour journey to Hampden.

To get there, the fans had to pass the town's First World War memorial, dedicated to locals who fought and died for the Seaforth Highlanders. It is to this regiment that Ross County owes its distinctive nickname. The stag's head was the Seaforth's regimental badge. Today it is County's mascot.

Yesterday morning, however, the young men of Dingwall were not off to war, but off to the game.

At 8.30am, one by one, the coaches left the car park and the Dingwallians left lining the streets waved goodbye.

Coach R25 was hosting something of a reunion. Most of its occupants were Dingwallians in their thirties who, as teenagers, would hire a bus to take them to Highland League games.

"It's a bit of nostalgia, doing this," said Glyn Evans, 33. "We all grew up together, we've all been friends since we were children, and now we're grown up and have kids ourselves. We never thought we'd see a fairytale like this."

Former County player Uisdean Ferguson, 31, was off to Hampden to cheer on his team. He gave up at 19 when he realised he'd never make it professionally. "We're going to be talking about this for years," he said as the coach passed through the snow-covered Cairngorms and someone, not for the first time, put on the We're On Our Way, by Torridon and the Staggies, on the coach stereo. "This is going to change Ross County forever, whether we win or lose."

Evans was more pragmatic. "When they beat Celtic in the semi-final, in a lot of ways, that was the Ross County Cup final. Nothing can ever take that away from them."

By noon, tensions were rising. "How much longer driver?" one fan unwilling to use the onboard facilities asked. The driver didn't know. She had never been to Hampden and was unsure of the route.

When a Dundee United supporters' bus overtook there was a lot of booing. Equally, any time a car flying the Ross County flag went past, everyone cheered. With 20,000 Staggies fans travelling to Hampden, that was a lot of cheering.

At 2pm, outside the stadium with an hour to kick-off, County fans mingled with Dundee United supporters in a bulging tapestry of orange and navy. The pipe band had arrived, as promised, and struck up a skirl. Susan Thomson was there with her parents, Marion Young and Malcolm, her husband James and her son Cailean, four.

"It's a family event," she said firmly as Cailean, emblazoned in County colours, jumped up and down excitedly. "We don't get to spend that much time together as a family as my husband and I live in Kinross now, and my parents are from Dingwall, so it's been so nice to have the weekend together."

"They better win," chips in Marion. "I hardly ever go to the football." By half-time, it wasn't looking good, with Ross County looking lacklustre.

Evans, somewhere in the middle of the sea of Staggies, many of whom had spent the first half blowing horns and waving flags, insisted that, at 0-0, "there's still hope. It could go to penalties." He lowered his voice: "Dundee are looking pretty good though. To be honest, we're just holding on."

Forty-five minutes later and Ross County's grip on glory had disappeared. However, Mark Maclennan, 39, was able to look on the bright side."We're Scottish," he laughed. "When we get up the road tonight, there'll still be a huge party. That's just the attitude you've got to take."