Kelvin Jack, the Dundee goalkeeper, insisted that his side did not deserve to be beaten, and that Gretna would lose in the final.
The Trinidadian, who has the thought of a World Cup finals to console himself with, said he had had nothing to do during the game and that the penalty for Gretna's crucial second goal should never have been given.
"I honestly think we should have won," said Jack. "They're no better than the likes of St Mirren.
"With the exception of picking the ball out of the net three times, I had a cigar out."
Dundee presented their opponents with three gifts. Tam McManus' wayward pass just before half-time set up Kenny Deuchar for the opener; Bobby Mann was harshly judged to have brought down Ryan McGuffie for the second; and John O'Neil's flick bounced off Barry Smith for the third.
"For the first goal we should have been more solid, and the second was never a penalty," said Jack. "He should never have gone down that easy, he looks like he's been hit by a truck. If he's honest he would say it's not a penalty.
"I would not put money on Gretna after what I've seen today. We were extremely poor, we gave them three goals. I doubt very much Hearts will just give them three goals, and they have more than enough in midfield and up front.
"They've beaten the likes of St Johnstone and St Mirren [on their way to the final] – they haven't beaten an spl team. They've got a lot of experienced boys, but they're not as good as people make them out to be."
Jack's insistence that Gretna rarely tested him had some truth to it, though not his claim that Dundee deserved to win – they threatened even less than their opponents.
"Words can't describe how disappointed the boys are," added Jack. "We've shot ourselves in the foot. It was a massive opportunity for all of us, you never know what can happen in a final.
"We made schoolboy errors, and if you make those errors you're going to pay. We didn't defend as well as we should have in those situations, hence the reason we have lost.
"I won't say I was really annoyed with the defence – for the most part we did okay – but it's just the manner in which we lost the goals."