Scotland 2-2 Poland: Hampden heartache for Gordon Strachan's side

The victory was in sight, the road to France still open for Gordon Strachan and his players.

Instead, the Tartan Army was stunned, Scotland were left dejected. Poland could yet be at the European Championship finals next summer, but we won’t be.

A Robert Lewandowski goal in the final seconds of a frantic, thrilling Group D encounter, coupled with a win for the Republic of Ireland at home to Germany, ended the dream.

It had started badly but looked to be ending in style, Matt Ritchie and Steven Fletcher cancelling out Lewandowski’s opener to put Scotland within touching distance of the win they wanted so much, that they needed.

Come the final blow of the whistle, the Poles celebrated as Scottish heads were put in hands. Of all the ways to miss out, this was the toughest to take.

It was a night that could have been one of the finest of Strachan’s tenure. It will go down as the biggest disappointment.

Over the course of the campaign, Scotland can have no complaints. That won't take the sting out of the feelings of frustration though.

The Tartan Army arrived more in hope than expectation for the biggest match of the campaign, and of Strachan’s time in the dugout. The stage was set.

It was the Poles who roared around Hampden, though. In the ground long before kick-off, they made two sections of the famous stands home for the evening.

There were fireworks even before kick-off as red flares were lit during the anthems and within minutes the visiting fans had a goal to cheer.

It was that man Lewandowski who did the damage. Anyone who parted with their cash and backed the No.9 to score pre-match didn’t have to wait long to collect their winnings as he continued his superb scoring streak.

The clock had barely ticked into a third minute when Arkadiusz Milik picked up the ball in the middle of the park and fed Lewandowski for the first time of the evening.

There seemed little doubt as to what would follow. Lewandowski spun off Russell Martin, burst away from Alan Hutton and, with David Marshall rooted to his line and for some reason hesitant to come and close the angle, he found the bottom corner to give Poland a dream start.

Mission improbable seemed like mission impossible now for Scotland. On a night where everything had to go to plan, the script had to be quickly rewritten.

Strachan’s side looked nervy every time Poland ventured to within sight of the Scotland area and Jakub Blaszczykowski almost doubled the visitors’ advantage on the half hour mark, his low shot across goal going just wide of Marshall’s far post. Thankfully.

It was the Poles who were in the ascendancy, the Poles who were partying.

There were half chances for Scotland, crosses into the area that came to nothing as Ritchie was wasteful on the right and James Forrest barely involved on the left.

The Celtic man would have been as well sitting in the North Stand for all the ball he saw, Scotland’s attacks focused down the opposite flank and too often coming to nothing.

What looked like their best chance of the first half fell to Grant Hanley and the defender’s blushes at a woeful effort was spared by an offside flag as Ritchie’s free-kick broke to him in the area.

Scotland needed a moment of magic. And they needed it quickly.

The final kick of the first half was the sweetest for Strachan’s side.

Forrest was finally involved and did well to cut inside, skip past a couple of players and pick out Ritchie as he came in off the right and picked up possession 25 yards from goal. He then picked a spot.

With one swipe of his boot, he left Lukasz Fabianski flailing and gave Hampden hope, his sweet strike finding the top corner as Scotland believed. The dream was still alive.

A glance at the score from Dublin, where the Republic were still goalless, wouldn’t have dampened the spirits of the Tartan Army, but it wouldn’t have raised them that much, either. It was still on a knife edge.

The opening stages of the second half were frantic, Marshall spilling a Milik effort and Steven Naismith unable to convert at the back post after being picked out by Steven Whittaker.

It was the third Steven that would find the breakthrough, though. And he did it in style.

The man who had been the centre of attention in terms of Strachan’s selection all week repaid his manager for showing faith in keeping him in the team.

The second Scotland goal was arguably even better than the first, but it was the outcome that mattered most as the ball broke to Fletcher on the angle of the area and he curled a superb shot into the far corner of Fabianski’s net.

The win was now within Scotland’s grasps, but a play-off place still wasn’t. The news from Dublin wasn’t what the majority of Hampden wanted to hear, Shane Long’s goal giving Martin O’Neil’s side the lead against Germany.

The clock ticked down. In the final second, with the final kick of the ball, the dream was ended in the cruellest of fashions.

It was Lewandowski again, the goal the scruffiest Scotland have conceded on Strachan’s watch, and the most gut wrenching, as the striker bundled the ball over the line.

The players trudged from the park, the fans dragged themselves up the stairs and out of the stadium.

Hampden has been the stage of some great stories, this was the ultimate tale of woe for Scotland.