The Hanley moment played out almost in slow motion, but of course it took the initiation of a stirring comeback from Scotland to set the stage for all the horror.

The longer the game went on, the harder Scotland hit, and the more Steve Clarke transformed from a nervous pensioner, cautiously playing the penny slots, into a fearless footballing version of the great Amarillo Slim, holding court at the poker table in Las Vegas, attacking with recklessness and throwing negativity to the wind.

Clarke started with the same old characters. Then he brought in a number of creative players – a couple of debutants like Ryan Gauld and Ben Doak and an international newcomer like Lewis Morgan.

To put it in casino language, with the score at 2-2, Clarke was going all out to win after looking like a beaten team at 2-0.

His team played hard and convincingly, and it looked to the world as if they were completing an act of escapism with a win.

Doak is still a teenager and hasn’t played a competitive game since last December, but he was a real eye-catcher on the right side.

It was remarkable how the boy who, at a time when he was not playing serious football, could become an influential player in the maelstrom of a desperate Hampden.

Gauld, on the other hand, waited ten long years. A decade of rejections, a career full of rejections by a number of Scottish coaches. He too had a great influence.

Scott McTominay failed to score in the first half but continued to settle into his role as Scotland’s penalty area striker and when Billy Gilmour made it 2-1, the Napoli midfielder made it 2-2 with some help from Doak and the overlapping Ralston.

It was exciting and with Lewandowski now substituted, there was nothing to fear from the guests.

McTominay was outstanding, galloping into the heart of Poland. Hampden was as lively as it has been since the good old days when Scotland fought their way through their Euro 2008 qualifying group.