MATT RITCHIE was gutted his Man of the Match showing and Hampden wonder goal counted for nothing as Scotland’s Euro dreams came to a cruel end.

Gordon Strachan’s side saw their hopes of a play-off place snatched away in the final seconds last night as Poland came from 2-1 down to grab a last gasp equaliser.

Robert Lewandowski had put the visitors ahead before Ritchie and Steven Fletcher gave Hampden hope that the Scots could yet claim third place in Group D.

The Bournemouth winger pulled Scotland level with a stunning strike just before half time but was then involved in the build-up to the fourth goal of the night as Lewandowski bundled the ball over the line from a Poland free-kick.

It was a tough one to take for Strachan and his players as Ritchie and Co. were left with nothing to show for their efforts.

Ritchie said: “It’s so disappointing not to win because we performed very well. So to concede in the manner we did in the last seconds was a real kick in the teeth.

“If I could do it again I would go in for the tackle again because I’m an honest player. You get a split second to make the decision but I think it was a cheap one.

“I was trying to get goal side and he’s used his body well. But it was a soft goal to concede.

“It’s so disappointing because we did enough to win it. We controlled the second half, we pressed well and it was a good performance all round – apart from the goals we lost.

“I thought we were brilliant in the second half and we were seeing it out before we got punished late on.

“It was a bittersweet night for me. It was really pleasing to score and at the time it was a big goal.

“I was delighted and if we had won I would class it higher than my goal against Sunderland recently for Bournemouth. But it wasn’t and overall it’s a huge disappointment.”

Scotland will head into the final Group D clash with Gibraltar on Sunday with nothing to play for after the Republic of Ireland beat Germany to set up a shoot-out with Poland.

The defeat to Georgia will be seen as the one that cost Scotland dear but Ritchie knows it was a huge opportunity missed at Hampden.

He said: “There’s not many games so you do look back on the ones you have lost. But we came into tonight with a great opportunity and we have not done it.

“So it’s this game we are all looking at right now. We’ve not qualified and it’s bitterly disappointing.”

The dead rubber meeting with Gibraltar could prove to be the final match of Strachan’s tenure as Scotland boss.

His contract will expire at the end of the qualifying campaign and his future will have to be at the top of the Scottish FA’s to-do list as we pick over the bones of another failure.

But Ritchie hopes Strachan will still be in position to attempt to lead us to the World Cup in Russia.

He said: “Yes, he needs to stay. He has been fantastic with me since I’ve come into this group. I hope the people above in the SFA and the manager can talk and get his future sorted.

“The boys could not believe what happened over in Ireland. To see they beat Germany was unexpected but football throws up surprises and that’s why everyone loves football.

“We weren’t in touch with what was going on over there. We were fully focused on Poland.

“In the dressing room afterwards everyone was down but we pick each other up. But it’s a hard result to swallow.”