Scotland 2-3 Poland: ‘Capacity for self-sabotage delivers fresh horror’

The Hanley moment happened almost in slow motion, but of course, it needed the preamble of a rousing Scotland comeback to set the scene for its full horror.

The longer this game went on, the harder Scotland chased, the more Steve Clarke transformed himself from an anxious pensioner playing the penny slot machines with caution to a fearless footballing version of the great Amarillo Slim holding court at the poker table in Vegas, attacking with abandon, throwing negativity to the wind.

Clarke started with the same old characters. He then launched an array of creative players into the fray – a couple of debutants in Ryan Gauld and Ben Doak and an international rookie in Lewis Morgan.

In the parlance of the casino, at 2-2, Clarke was going all-in on victory having looked like a beaten docket at 2-0.

His team was hard-running and convincing, looking to all the world like they were going to complete an act of escapology with a winner.

Doak is still a teenager and hasn’t played a competitive game since last December, but he was a buzz bomb on the right.

Quite how the kid could go from no serious football in an age to having an influence in the maelstrom of a desperate Hampden was remarkable.

As for Gauld, he waited 10 long years for this. A decade of snubs, a career full of rejection from a succession of Scotland managers. He had a big impact, too.

Scott McTominay was denied a goal in the first half, but he powered on in his role as Scotland’s box-crasher. When Billy Gilmour made it 2-1, the Napoli midfielder made it 2-2 with a little help from Doak and the overlapping Ralston.

It was exhilarating and, with Lewandowski now substituted, there was nothing to fear from the visitors.

McTominay was outstanding, galloping forward into Poland’s heart. Hampden was as alive as it has been since the good old days when Scotland went thrusting their way through their Euros qualifying group.