There were still 30 minutes left in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Glasgow's famous Hampden Park yesterday when the Gretna supporters began to flaunt their superiority over their Dundee counterparts.
"E-say! E-say! E-say!" they sang. How is that for cheek?
Barely 12 months ago, Dundee were a Scottish Premier League (SPL) member, while Gretna ploughed away in Division Three-Scotland's lowest rung of professional football.
The final score line, which read 3-0 in Gretna's favour, spoke as much of Dundee's decline as it did Gretna's meteoric rise.
Gretna won successive league titles in Division Three and Two and will compete with Dundee in Division One action next season. If the Scottish Cup semi-final was any guide, they have little to fear.
"We are showing Scottish football that we've arrived," said Gretna manager Rowan Alexander, after the final whistle. "And we mean business." It made for a disappointing debut at Scotland's National Stadium for Trinidad and Tobago custodian Kelvin Jack.
As the final seconds ticked away, Jack looked enviously at the opposing goal and wondered where Dundee's game went.
"We didn't deserve to win," Jack told the Sunday Express. "Because we didn't make their keeper (Alan Main) make a single save of note. He had a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Hampden practising his kicking."
There were just over 14,000 fans at Hampden, which is less than a third of the seating capacity, but still a bigger audience than either club experiences regularly in league action. Both teams started with plenty gusto but there was something about Gretna's approach that might surprise typical Scottish football followers.
The Division Two champions outmanned their opponents by employing a five-man midfield but, more poignantly, they sought to utilise their advantage with good ball movement built around ex-SPL midfielder Steven Tosh.
Dundee were soon on their heels as Tosh marshalled his troops and Jack was called into action for the first time following an inswinging cross from right flanker Ryan McGuffie in the eighth minute.
The former CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh goalkeeper's response must have filled his teammates with confidence and left central defender Callum MacDonald with a ringing ear bell.
MacDonald could not clear Jack's path in time and was flattened as the six foot three goalie got power and distance with a clean punched clearance.
There was warm applause again from the Dundee end as Jack waded into a crowded penalty area in the 28th minute to claim a Gavin Skelton corner kick at the edge of his six-yard box. This time, no one dared stand in his path. The pattern continued with Gretna probing while in possession but unable to trouble Jack, while Dundee intermittently threatened with striker Bryan Deasley's pace and trickery but often squandered possession by punting balls in the direction of centre forward Simon Lynch, who was at least five inches shorter than his marker.
Both managers might have been contemplating their cup of tea at the interval and a tweaking of tactics when Dundee gifted Gretna's opening goal.
A misplaced header from right back Stuart McCluskey fell invitingly for Gretna's Kenny Deuchar and the tall striker, who already has 21 goals this season, smartly rounded Jack to drive goalward from a sharp angle on the keeper's right.
Dundee defender Bobby Mann dropped back to clear but referee Calum Murray correctly ruled that the ball had already crossed the goalline.
"We shot ourselves in the foot by giving them a goal in first half stoppage time," said Jack. Dundee were fired up at the restart but had only a few slashed shots to show for it when Gretna won a penalty after McGuffie fell over Mann in the 18-yard box.
Gretna players moved quickly to keep McGuffie from an upset Jack. "I just told (McGuffie) that he should go across and tell the referee that it wasn't a penalty," said Jack. "Because he knows it wasn't a penalty."
If there was any doubt about the decision, there was none about McGuffie's penalty kick which was too firm and well placed for Jack, who picked the right corner.
The Gretna fans, who accounted for less than half of yesterday's attendance, were rubbing it in now.
"You're not singing anymore," they teased the Dundee supporters.Jeers and sarcastic claps rang out from the Gretna supporters' end as Dundee toiled in vain for a consolation goal.
And, eight minutes from regulation time, the humiliation was complete when Dundee captain Barry Smith drove the ball past his own goalkeeper from a left side Jamie McQuilken cross.
"I felt there was a lack of zip and enthusiasm from our own players," said Dundee manager Alan Kernaghan, after the match. "It took us nearly 70 minutes to put them on the backfoot, but even then we did not have any serious attempts at goal."
Jack revealed that Hampden Park is second only to Korea's Seoul Olympic Stadium in beauty but there was little about his day there that he would remember with fondness.
"You always try to enjoy yourself when you play a game of football," he said. "But, unfortunately, we won't able to get a positive result."
Jack, whose contract with Dundee expires this summer, became the seventh Trinidad and Tobago player to appear at Hampden. The First Division club is unlikely to hold on to his talents long enough for another try at the prestigious ground.