Tosh: Someone stole my loser's gong at Gretna ..I'll replace it with winner's medal

May 18 2008 Gavin Berry

SICKENED Steve Tosh fears his last Scottish Cup medal has been stolen and flogged to help former club Gretna in their financial crisis.

Now the Queen of the South ace is determined not to let the gong he picks up at Hampden on Saturday out of his sight after the mystery disappearance of his prized possession.

Midfielder Tosh was a runner-up two years ago following a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat by Hearts.

He loaned his medal to the Borderers to display in the boardroom along with his Second and Third Division winner's mementoes.

But with Gretna on the brink of going bust this season he asked the club about his medals - only to be told two had gone missing!

Tosh is dubious about the disappearance and reckons an opportunist thief may have blagged them after the club was plunged into a cash crisis.

So the former Aberdeen midfielder won't make the same mistake again as he prepares for another final with Queens against Rangers at Hampden on Saturday.

Tosh, 35, said: "I've lostmy loser's medal from 2006. I gave it to Gretna and it turns out it has now been 'misplaced' so I will definitely be keeping the one fom Saturday.

"I even asked if the administrators had sold it. I left the medals for quite a while and didn't think about it too much.

"I was prompted to phone when the administrators sent a list of what they were trying to do to recoup money.

"They said the memorabilia was away to get valued so I phoned to say my medals belonged to me rather than the club and a nice lady told me they could only find one - ironically the Third Division one.

"My Second Division plus Scottish Cup runners-up medals have gone missing.

"I suppose it was my own fault for giving something valuable to a club that was in financial trouble.

"I dare say when things were going from bad to worse someone probably snaffled it. Maybe it's on eBay! It's sad because I have kids who might want my medals one day.

"I gave them to Gretna to display because my others in the house are just in boxes.

"I thought my Scottish Cup one was for safekeeping but maybe it would have been better in a box in my garage.

"I don't think anyone from the club has taken it but maybe people were around during administration who could get to certain areas.

"People will say they can't believe I handed them over in the first place but you don't expect them to go astray." Tosh is out to wreck Rangers' treble ambitions on Saturday - just 10 days after roaring them on in the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester.

He joined some of his Gers-daft team-mates for the trip south but insists it was purely on a scouting basis ahead of the Hampden showdown.

Tosh said: "I got my ticket for the UEFA Cup Final on Monday night for s75. Six of us make up the Queen of the South Loyal and we left after a closed-doors game on Wednesday.

"Three of the guys had tickets and three didn't. I only went on a scouting basis to see where Rangers stand on corners and that kind of thing. Honest!

"Seriously, deep down you have a team you've followed over the years and nothing stops us although I wasn't like wee Bob Harris with his Rangers top and 'Fergie' on the back. We just went down to enjoy the occasion.

"It was foot to the metal after our closed-doors game and straight on to Manchester.

"I've been lucky through the years to play against the Old Firm and they're fantastic occasions. I reckon Rangers should be applauded for what they've achieved this year.

"But it could also be history in the making for Queens because we have never been to a final and might not make it again.

"Rangers are on the brink of a treble and we're out to stop it.

"They might not win the league but I think they've been the No.1 team for what they've done throughout the season although Celtic have made a fantastic run towards the end. However, Rangers are the team I'd have picked to play because they have the chance of a domestic clean sweep.

"The Scottish Cup Final is a great occasion for players who haven't sampled it as well as for guys like mewho have been there twice."

Gers boss Walter Smith has been criticised for his side's negative style of play this season but Tosh admits the First Division underdogs will be trying to beat Gers at their own game.

He said: "If they score twice in the first 10 minutes it's finished. In the 2006 final with Gretna we knew Hearts were a fantastic first-half team who scored a lot of goals before the break.

"Our plan was not to go kamikaze like we'd done most weeks of that season. We had to play slightly differently and try to contain Hearts. We virtually did that until half-time and knew they'd tire from then on. Rangers have played a lot of games recently so providing the final is close their fans will get on the players' backs and ours will start believing.

"Hopefully some of our lads will take confidence from that as well because if we think we're going to get beat there's no point turning up.

"We're not there to just collect our loser's medals - we want to give it our best and if it's not enough then fine.

"It's quite comical Rangers are getting stick for their style because Scotland played the same in Euro 2008 qualifying and got praised to the heavens.

"We will adopt a Scotland mentality in the final. I don't think we're going to bang goals in and win 4-3 but we would happily take the worst ever, scrappiest 1-0 win and get on with it."