IT was never going to be a hurried honeymoon. Scottish football's eternal bridesmaids had waited four decades to get to the altar. They weren't going to let the party stop.
So they came out in hordes. Up the Royal Mile, down the Mound, across Princes Street, and down to Haymarket, Heart of Midlothian pumped out an ocean of maroon which engulfed Edinburgh.
Ninety-five minutes of nail-biting defibrillation in the Scottish Cup final at Celtic Park had done the trick.
There were thousands upon thousands upon thousands. They included greeting grannies and grandads, the only group whose memory stretched far enough back into the dawn of pre-history when Hearts last lifted a Scottish Cup:1956 to be precise.
Even the foreign tourists and Hibee diehards joined in. Hearts fanatic Lord Provost Eric Milligan was pictured taking a swig of Buckfast.
Needs must when celebratory toasts are proffered, although at yesterday's reception at the City Chambers it was Mariestuart champagne for the two French heroes in the team, goalscorer Stephane Adam and goalkeeper Giles Rousset.
Manager Jim Jefferies summed it up: ''I think the party is going to last a few days yet.''
q In London, a clear-up operation was under way yesterday after trouble flared following Arsenal's FA Cup final victory over Newcastle. Riot police had to be called in to contain violence in Highbury on Saturday night when drunken thugs threw bottles at police, attacked a police vehicle, and jumped on fire engines. Two cars were burnt out.
q An Irishman was being questioned yesterday after six British men were knifed in a bar in Albufeira, Portugal, at the end of the English final. The unnamed Englishmen and Scotsmen were slashed. One was seriously injured, one lost an ear, and another lost a finger.
FA cup riot Page 2
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