Scotland 2 Poland 2: Deja-vu for Scotland as their Euro 2016 hopes end

That horrible sense of deja-vu. It started as it ended, Scotland in tatters as Robert Lewandowski ended their flickering aspirations of making it to the 2016 European Championships.

The striker's brace - a goal after three minutes and another with a sickening scramble to prod the ball over the line with the last kick of the game - sounded the death knell for Scotland's dreams of making it to France.

It was cruel on Gordon Strachan's side who had hauled themselves back into the game after losing not only an early goal but their composure and belief in the opening 35 minutes of this encounter.

They had barely broken sweat when David Marshall was reaching to collect the ball from his own net.Arkadiusz Milik’s through ball was a pass of such craft that Russell Martin was left horrifically exposed as  Lewandowski scampered clear and beat the keeper at his near post.

It was galling strike for various reasons; the fact the striker was marginally offside as he collected, the cheapness with which he was allowed to take the pass and the way that a hesitant Marshall was beaten. It was a goal that utterly knocked the stuffing out of Strachan’s side. Indeed, it took until the half-hour mark for Scotland to shake off the panic and find a toe-hold into the game.

Prior to that passes had been harried, players rushed into conceding possession and for the bulk of the opening 45 minutes Scotland felt like they were the visitors, not just because of the way Poland had set out their stall but also because of the vocal visiting support who seemed to take over Hampden.

Yet, on the cusp of the break Scotland found a leveller that for the so much of the half had seemed unlikely. James Forrest, relatively anonymous for much of that opening period, jinked inside before squaring to Ritchie just outside the box.

The midfielder let fly with a rasping effort that flew into the net, a goal that proved to be the final kick before the interval.

Like Forrest, Ricthie’s involvement up until that point had been largely a frustrating one. It was not that he had not seen much of the ball but rather how often his final delivery was not up to scratch.

All was forgiven when he struck a precious leveller to thrown a vital lifeline.

The second period got better still. By then the game had opened up far more but it was Scotland who drew blood again.

Scotland’s pressing allowed them to intercept a Poland free-kick, with Hutton dinking the ball to Darren Fletcher who then slipped through to Ritchie. The goalscorer was tackled on the edge of the box but the ball broke forward and Steven Fletcher’s arching strike evaded the flailing arms of Polish keeper Lukasz Fabianski to reclaim Hampden.

Fletcher almost added another shortly after when he headed Alan Hutton’s cross directly into the arms of the keeper, but at the other end Marshall had to be alert to beat away an effort from Grzegorz Krychowiak.

But as news filtered through from the Aviva stadium in Dublin that the Republic of Ireland had stung Germany with a goal, Hampden quietened somewhat as a fraught Tartan Army did the maths. When the desperate leveller came, no fingers were required as Scotland were counted out.

So near and yet so far once again.