Last updated 12:02, Monday, 31 March 2008

St Mirren 2 Gretna 0: On the day Gretna’s dream died, the player most synonymous with club’s fairytale rise through Scottish football had only one remaining last wish.

Gavin Skelton simply wants the club survive.

There may have been an air of inevitability about Gretna’s relegation from the SPL on Saturday, but the Borderers’ very existence is far less straight forward following their descent into administration after rich benefactor Brooks Mileson withdrew his financial backing.

It’s the first time Skelton has had to come to terms with failure since walking through the club’s rusting front gates seven years ago when they were still playing in England’s UniBond League.

The Cumbrian has collected three successive championships, a Scottish Cup Final runner-up medal and played in Europe during their incredible journey through Scottish football but now he just wants the club’s future to be safeguarded even though he is likely to be lured away to a new club in the summer.

Twenty-two players and six coaches were made redundant in the worst week in the club’s history, and Skelton is hoping a new owner will step forward to save Gretna from extinction.

He said: “I just want the club to survive. Whatever the future holds for us it would be nice to think the club will still be in existence for the fans.

“The future is up in the air and we don’t know what’s going to happen. There have been rumours for a long time and it is unsettling but it’s been happening all season.

“We’ve had a great time over the last few years and we’ve sold God-knows how many newspapers, and I think people will be happy as long as there is a club in some form.

“It has been the week-from-hell. On Tuesday at training coach Iain Scott had to call a halt and tell us there would be redundancies. To say the session died a bit after that would be the understatement of the year.

“The relegation issue has taken a back-seat over the last few weeks. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me because it’s there on your C.V and it’s not a nice feeling, but my main hope is that there is a club in the future.”

Savage cuts made by the administrators reduced Gretna to the bare bones for Saturday’s game - they started the game without a recognised striker - but those who were left could take heart from giving such a good account of themselves.

Even St Mirren fans waited long after the final whistle to give Gretna’s battlers a standing ovation as they left the pitch after giving a good account of themselves. A local hotel even provided a pasta supper for the trip home on the coach.

Skelton, who has been forced to revert to his old left-back position from midfield, added: “We were disappointed to lose the game. We felt we did OK in the second half.

“People say we’ve nothing to play for but we’ve our careers and our futures to play for. The pressure is never off in football.”

Craig Dargo drove a dagger into Gretna’s hearts when he hit Saints’ opener on 26 minutes and then Billy Mehmet sealed their fate when he made it 2-0 four minutes into the second-half after further poor defending.

The Black and White refused to throw in the towel and Brendan McGill and Nicky Deverdics went close with efforts which drifted wide.

“It was the kind of grim spectacle which would have the purists running for the hills, while the dark, gloomy weather was perfectly fitting to mark Gretna’s relegation from the SPL.

At least they went down fighting - and for that they deserve huge credit.

MATCH FACTS
St Mirren: Smith, Reid, Haining (McAusland, 27), Potter, Murray, Dorman, Mehmet, Brady, Maxwell (Docherty, 61), Dargo and Hamilton (Kean, 71), subs: Howard, Brittain, Corcoran and McGinn.

Gretna: Fleming, Naughton, Skelton, Hall (Kissock, 56), Meynell, McGill, Baldacchino (Taylor, 69), Osman, Murray, Wilkinson (Barr, 46) and Deverdics, subs: Krysiak, Hogg, Griffiths and Schultz-Eklund.

Referee: David Somers

Crowd: 3,577

Goals: Dargo (26), Mehmet (49)

STAR MAN: Greg Fleming - One of the success stories of Gretna’s sorry season after maturing into a highly-competent keeper. Made some good saves at key moments and continues to look more commanding.

KEY MOMENT: Second half arrival of Everton loan kid John Paul Kissock breathed fresh life into Gretna. Shame lively teenager didn’t start the game.