Hampden

James Murray

2008

The happiest day of my life was the day that I went to the home stadium of Scotland. We went to see the Scottish cup Final 2008. The two teams playing for this amazing prize were Rangers who are mighty giants compared to Queen of the South, their competitors.

I didn't expect to get tickets but much to my amazement I came home from school and two tickets were sitting on my bed waiting for me, one for my dad and one for me. Beside them there was a Queen of the south scarf and a special Queen of the south final top. It was safe to say that I was going to the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden.

The day arrived. It was the morning of Saturday 24th May 2008 and excitement filled my body. I was going to be sitting in the East Stand, Area G6, row QQ in seat 132. 1 knew this off by heart. As we buckled into the car my little brother was upset as he could not come as he was too young. On the dashboard I put the Queen of the South scarf to show people that I was proud to support our local team. We drove off down our street.

The motorway was bursting with cars all with either rangers merchandise inside or Queens's merchandise inside. An hour later we parked our car and decided to walk the rest of the way. We walked for about fifteen minutes and eventually the stadium crept into sight. We walked up to the gate and gave the women our tickets she kindly smiled and let us in. We got a drink and headed for our seat. We sat for half an hour and then we heard the kick-off whistle.

Queen of the south played strong for most of the first half until the first Rangers Goal. It was like a kick in the stomach. The first goal was quickly followed by another. We thought it was over.

At half time the Rangers side of Hampden was confident whereas the Queens supporters were not as hopeful. I went to get a packet of crisps and a drink for my dad and I will he kept our seats. I got our snacks and as soon as I sat down the whistle went.

Within five minutes of the second half starting Queen of the South put a goal away in the back of Rangers net to make the score now 2-1. We thought that was going to be our only goal but amazingly Queen of the South equalized with an amazing second goal bringing the score to two goals each. The smile was back on the Queens supporters faces which were a good morale boost for the very tired players.

Unfortunately with around ten minutes of play left Rangers edged back in front with a late goal. There was still a glimmer of hope but Queens didn't have the energy to fight back. Rangers won the Scottish Cup Final by 3 Goals with Queens on 2 Goals.

As we watched Rangers collect their trophy and get covered in confetti we were not at all disappointed because we knew deep down the Queen of the South had tried their hardest and it was an amazing opportunity for the small Dumfries side.

We were one of the last out of the stadium because we were watching the celebrations. As we walked down the Busy Glasgow streets to our car we along with the rest of Dumfries had smiles on our faces. We left Glasgow and headed home.

This was the happiest day of my life even if we didn't win the Scottish Cup Final of 2008.