So near yet so far for gaffers Smith and Chis

May 25 2008 By Michael Baillie

THE feeling of what might have been was inescapable.

His team had come so close to historic glory only to bow out of a remarkable season with pride intact and heads held high.

Yep, Walter Smith knew exactly how opposite number Gordon Chisholm was feeling after yesterday's Scottish Cup showpiece.

Smith left Hamdpen with the silverware safely tucked away beside the CIS trophy yet that was the bare minimum demanded by a Rangers support still reeling from the collapse of their quadruple bid in 10 traumatic days.

And Chisholm had also come so far before having silverware ripped from his grasp in the cruellest fashion.

At 2-0 down his half-time team talk had to be extraordinary. Whatever was uttered in the dressing-room transformed Chisholm's First Division upstarts who tore into Gers, hauled themselves level and looked ready to complete a remarkable revival.

In the end Smith's decision to start Kris Boyd made the ultimate difference as the striker grabbed the winner to salvage a cup double from a season that had promised so much.

Walter's place in the annals of Rangers history is assured as the manager who guided them to nine-in-a-row.

Now he has racked up an impressive four Scottish Cups and will return next season even more determined to continue the club's resurgence.

The man in the opposite dugout had secured his spot in Queens' history simply by taking the Dumfries outfit to a first ever Scottish Cup Final in their 89 years.

For that he will always be a legend in the eyes of the Doonhamers support, thousands of whom made the journey to Hampden yesterday and hailed their gaffer a hero despite the heartbreaking loss.

Chisholm stuck with the same starting 11 who stunned Aberdeen in a nine-goal thriller in the semi-final.

His players were certainly fresh having not played a competitive game since the end of April but in the first half looked a little ring-rusty and overawed.

Smith, meanwhile, has a reputation as one of the game's best man-managers and needed all those skills to raise his players for one last huge effort in their 68th match of a gruelling season - and ninth this month.

Deprived of suspended Nacho Novo he understandably shuffled his pack from the side who crashed 2-0 at Pittodrie on Thursday when the SPL title was lost.

It proved a masterstroke as the men who came in - Boyd and DaMarcus Beasley - got the goals to save their boss from an embarrassing upset.

Boyd, partnered by Jean-Claude Darcheville up front, has not been Smith's preferred striker this year.

But just as in the CIS Cup Final he produced on the big occasion, rifling a stunning free-kick into the top corner in 33 minutes to give Rangers the lead.

When Beasley slotted the second two minutes before the interval it looked all over.

Cue Chisholm's rabble rousing and just five minutes after the restart Queens were back in the cup as Stevie Tosh forced the ball over the line.

The manager was then mobbed by his coaching staff as skipper Jim Thomson miraculously equalised. Suddenly the greatest Scottish Final shock of all time was on the cards and both bosses were at the edge of their technical areas trying to squeeze one last ounce of energy from their players.

But Boyd got the decisive goal and relieved Smith was soon celebrating another cup success.

Although he won't have a winner's medal to cherish Chisholm can hold his head high and reflect on a tremendous achievement.

He has salvaged his managerial reputation at Palmerston and admits if he'd failed he could have been finished.

If yesterday is anything to go by this is just the start for his Queens side.

"GERS BOSS KNEW EXACTLY HOW HIS OPPOSITE NUMBER WAS FEELING ..."