Eat Yer Frikkin Heart Out, Roy Of The Rovers

Well, It's not often that I get to say this, but we actually won a trophy.....Picking my jaw up off the floor has taken me quite a while, but I am over the moon. It's taken quite a while to get over all of the disappointments of following Scotland over the last decade, and not making it to the World Cup or European Championship for nearly a decade has been a really bitter pill to swallow, particularly when our charming neighbours seem to get there every time. ( I expect that their extra 45 million of a population helps quite a bit in that regard)

So the Kirin Cup (A yearly tri-nation international competiton hosted by Japan) was for us a chance to have a look at some new players for the forthcoming European Championship Qualifiers starting in September. I expected us to get beaten, it has to be said, both by Bulgaria and Japan, as they're considerably higher in the world rankings than us. But what a pleasant shock. Something special happened in Kobe on Thursday morning. Not only did we beat Bulgaria. We absolutely hammered them. A debut double from both Rangers Starlets Kris Boyd (above) and Chris Burke and another from James McFadden made the final score 5-1 . And what a performance. We truly were playing like a Blue Brazil....

Basically, we had to avoid heavy defeat with Japan today to lift the cup, and in the rain and humidity in Tokyo, we did just that. A goalless draw was enough to see us claim our first silverware since a Rous Cup win in 1985. I know it was a win in a meaningless diddy cup, but it means a lot to us fans who have suffered so much over the years in our luckless quest for international footballing success, and takes the edge off the fact that we wont be at the big World Cup party. Hopefully it won't be too long before the Tartan army is back! A day to savour.

And just a wee note to big up Gretna F.C. Yes, the town more readily associated with the art of eloping than footy battled all the way to the last in the Scottish Cup Final before narrowly missing out on lifting the oldest trophy in world football. Not bad for a second division side!

Well, that's me off till I go me holidays in Florida! See you soon - if there's anyone out there?!?!