Telly Watch

May 25 2008 By Kevin Mcallion

THERE'S nothing telly bosses love more than a so-called "diddy team" reaching the Cup Final.

So little Queen of the South taking on mighty Rangers was TV gold for them - a David and Goliath situa-shun, as Charlie Nicholas would put it.

Like Queens, this was the day BBC Scotland had been waiting for, the crown jewel in their football coverage.

But Sky's approach to the Cup Final was more in keeping with Rangers'. This was the game they more or less forgot about - a tiresome chore that needed taken care of with the minimum of fuss.

The Beeb have looked on enviously as rivals ITV covered Gers' run to the UEFA Cup Final and Setanta reeled in the viewers for the dramatic SPL finale.

This was their chance to shine and the BBC went for it - starting coverage more than two hours before kick-off.

However, even they were forced to concede people were still more interested in Celtic's title win, kicking off with highlights from the league's conclusion.

Dougie Donnelly was in the studio with Pat Nevin plus Partick boss Ian McCall and Dundee United's Craig Levein. The Tannadice gaffer will be back at the national stadium soon to explain his rant about Mike McCurry and may even have spotted the ref yesterday as he looked for a space in the Hampden car park.

The romance factor was cranked up further when Off The Ball's Stuart Cosgrove looked at past cup upsets.

Would grainy footage of Berwick Rangers' 1967 win over their Glasgow namesakes act as an omen?

Or how about Second Division Sunderland pipping Leeds to the FA Cup in 1973?

Over at the Sky Sports empire, meanwhile, it was still all quiet. The Hampden showpiece did merit a mention on Sky Sports News but only after we were treated to thrilling live pictures and analys is of England players standing about at training.

Their coverage didn't start until 2.30pm so the BBC were first with team news while Sky's Jim White was still practising his smug grin in the mirror.

Scotland boss George Burley and Nicholas completed the Sky team with Charlie taking just eight words before the first situa-shun slipped out.

Sky then made up for their late start with a brilliant piece on charismatic Queens chairman Davie Rae.

The silver-haired legend showed David Tanner round his Dumfries farm and raised the biggest laugh of the day when he pointed out two cows destined to become "next year's Cup Final pies".

However, Sky boobed again, taking an ad break before kick-off and missed the minute's applause for Tommy Burns.

Then it was over to the commentary teams and they would have been hoping for a fairytale end to Queens' cup run. But the story followed a familiar script as the big team edged the final.

It didn't look like Doonhamers chairman Davie would be slaying the Govan Goliath as Rangers romped into a twogoal lead by half-time. But the game was turned on its head as the minnows levelled with a rapid-fire double.

However, the man with the dodgy tache had the final say - something both Dougie and Jim had all the time in their formative years on the box.