Gordon Duncan

poised Celtic have not had it all their own way getting to this stage of the competition Auchinleck Talbot Dundee after extra time Rangers on penalties St Mirren after extra time as well Dunfermline have been the giant killers it started off with Hibbs Kelty Hearts in between Aberdeen and then of course Brian Graham's Falkirk side in the semi-finals two hour left a banner in the Dunfermline end which reads 1961 and 68 in our hands

And on the right hand side in front of the Celtic fans, fight for Celtic and Celtic only.

Both sets of fans are bang up for this.

How up for it will the players be?

They're about to be led onto the field by the man in the middle who is Stephen McLean.

He's had a nice quiet end to the season and now he comes to rapturous applause, pyrotechnics and optimism in the air from both sets.

Leading out Celtic suited and bootied is the 74 year old Martin O'Neill up against

Neil Lennon for so long.

Colleagues and friends, but on opposite sides of the rivalry for this famous old trophy here at Hampden this afternoon.

As far as the stage being set, Gordon Biel, it does not get much better than this.

Yeah, that was a particularly long cuddle between Martin O'Neill and Neil Lennon.

The handshake, the pre-match routine Brian Graham got held up while those two embraced.

But it does show the depth of the feeling towards each other.

two of Scottish football's most decorated players of all time.

They've been over the course and distance, they've got more winners and medals on the mantelpiece than many players would dream of and that's the challenge for these Dunfermline players as they go over to take the acclaim of the travelling fans.

Jeremiah Chathola-Mullen, can you imagine the thought of him climbing this staircase and writing his name into Dunfermline's history books?

by lifting what would be an unlikely piece of silverware for Dunfermline this afternoon they've had to do it the hard way they've knocked out three sets of top flight opposition to get here can they add the ultimate scalp and see off Celtic by a distance the team that's won more Scottish Cups than any but even by their standards they've not had it their own way this season either these fans will remember Aberdeen

Last season in the Scottish Cup final, St Mirren in the League Cup final as well.

Even that semi-final win against St Mirren ended well by the full-time whistle.

But they had to do it the hard way, getting to extra time on that occasion as well.